 Franckford has been paying the costs of the child's upkeep, and insists on his parental rights.The two men almost go to law over the issue (allowing for some satire on lawyers in the process), before Justice Woodroff, in a sort of mock-trial in a tavern, rules that the baby does not belong to either of the men, but to Urse, his mother.Compass and Urse renew their vows in the final scene, to make a new start as a family.