Eva uses Billy, Paul’s son, to find out where they are hiding and in a final desperate act confronts them in their hotel room.  She pulls out a knife, and lunges at Maria.  Paul disarms Eva to protect his wife.  Categorically rejected, Eva starts to wander through the village at which point an enraged Joseph, having followed Eva to the resort, attacks Paul.  As they wrestle violently, we hear the frantic whistle of an approaching train.  A distraught Eva is walking on the railroad bridge!  We hear the sound of screeching breaks and then…dead silence.

Paul weeps as Eva’s body is pulled from the river.  He clutches her in his arms, leaving Maria with the ultimate realization that their marriage is irretrievably gone.

After a couple of weeks of seclusion, Paul returns to his studio and is frozen by the sight of slashed canvases and trampled paintings.  No longer the complacent painter, Paul refuses to accept defeat at the destructive hands of Joseph.  In a bold, defiant move, Paul decides to return to New York. 

Months later in his new studio, Paul completes a portrait of Eva done in his vibrant new style.  His benefactors, an older couple, agree: it is his best work yet. Paul looks out the window into the New York City harbor and can admit at last: “ It’s only in a distance that it’s possible to see you … to love you… now.”

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