of quality and longs to be with Hellena.

At that moment, Hellena enters, dressed as a man. She recognizes Angelica and Willmore and knows that Willmore has broken his vow but loves him the more for it. Meanwhile, Willmore tries to get Angelica to dismiss him, but she demands that he stay. Hellena intrudes, saying that she is the friend of a woman in love with a charming English gentleman. Afraid the young man (Hellena) is referring to Willmore, Angelica dismisses Willmore. However, Willmore is so intrigued by this that he stays. Hellena continues, saying that the young maid was abandoned at the altar, and that the English man had come to Angelica instead. Angelica turns to Willmore and accuses him of using the money she gave him to buy wedding clothes. Hellena interrupts, saying that the English gentleman is of high quality, though inconstant. Both Hellena and Angelica accuse Willmore of inconstancy and infidelity, and Willmore paces in distress.

Willmore finally thinks he understands what is going on. He assumes some lady has seen him from her window and has sent this young fellow as an emissary to get him. He begs Hellena to tell him the name of the lady, but Hellena reproves him, asking if he has already forgotten his bride's name. The confused and distraught Willmore begs Angelica not to believe the boy, and for the first time looks at the young fellow carefully. Realizing it is Hellena, he threatens to reveal her identity to Angelica. Instead, he tells Angelica that the young boy is the emissary not of a lady, but of a smooth-talking Gypsy who is less satisfying than a dream. Angelica replies that she knows that Gypsy is a Spanish gentlewoman and demands that Willmore promise not to marry her. The nervous Hellena wonders if her "rogueries" will backfire and leave her without Willmore. Willmore tells them he would only marry a young sinner who was free with her body and her charms.

Sebastian enters to tell them that Antonio approaches, and Hellena flees before she is recognized. Angelica says she will see Antonio, and Willmore asks to leave. Seeing through his protests, Angelica releases him, though she feels pain and sorrow at how quickly and readily he leaves her.

The focus in the third Scene shifts to Valeria and Florinda, who are in new disguises, fleeing down the street. They have escaped by locking Callis in a wardrobe and are trying to meet Belvile, who has been given warning that Pedro is searching every church for him. As they speak of their plans, Belvile and Pedro enter talking, accompanied by Willmore. Florinda goes on ahead of Valeria so that they will not be recognized, and she fearfully looks back behind her. Willmore views this as an invitation and pursues her. No one recognizes Florinda or stops Willmore from chasing her. Frederick enters with the news that Blunt has returned from his date with the "lady of quality" with only his drawers and his undershirt, and Belvile laughs and persuades Pedro to come see the ridiculous, wretched Blunt, who is in a foul humor. In an aside to the audience, Belvile reveals that he wants to give Florinda time to escape.

Florinda flees as Pedro approaches, and Willmore follows Florinda. Valeria follows Willmore, and Hellena enters and sees Willmore chasing another woman and sends her page to follow him as well. Terrified, Florinda darts into an open door. The page returns to Hellena with the news of the house, and Valeria waits outside so that Willmore won't notice the lodging that Florinda has entered, which happens to be Belvile's.

The focus changes to Blunt, who is in his night shirt and drawers and prepared to die rather than lose his honor. He puts on a rusty sword and belt to defend himself against laughter and declares that he will avenge himself on all womankind forever. Florinda enters a moment later and begs Blunt to give her refuge from a terrible fate. Pleased at the sudden granting of his wish, Blunt declares he will have sex with her, protests or no. He is about to force her to the bed when Frederick enters, ready to join in the fun. Blunt tells him to wait his turn so that they may share her. Desperate, Florinda mentions Belvile and gives Blunt a diamond ring. Frederick pauses and says that they should wait and see whether she is a common harlot or a woman of quality. Blunt reluctantly agrees to wait until they ask Belvile before satisfying themselves with her.

A servant summons Blunt to a dinner with Belvile. Embarrassed, Blunt orders Frederick to take the girl and tells the servant that he will not attend the dinner.

Analysis
Willmore's constant, inadvertent meddling of the circumstances around Belvile and Florinda again causes Belvile to draw his sword upon Willmore. Yet Willmore's act this time is not inherently reprehensible – he has merely greeted a friend warmly. However, both his attempted rape of Florinda and his greeting of Belvile share one characteristic: they are both honest expressions of emotions. He genuinely wanted to sleep with Florinda, and he genuinely wanted to embrace Belvile. Then, when he realizes he has interfered, Willmore draws his sword to try and salvage the situation and return Florinda to Belvile. Yet once again he has made the wrong choice. It is as if Willmore isn't savvy enough for the delicate machinations of courtly love. He fails to connive and notice small details, and so he thwarts courtly love simply by being honest. As a penniless rover, this suggests that Willmore's penchant for lewdness emerges from the expression of his honest desires. This would of course be flattering to King Charles II, who had many mistresses and many sexual exploits. In this way, Willmore can be construed as the buffoon who loves too many, all at once, and so cannot simply love.

The cooperation between women in this Act of The Rover is a marked departure from its source, Thomaso. Valeria and Florinda join arms in a way that allows them to not only have an adventure, but to seek their own fates. Females cooperate at different points in the play, notably in the first scene, where Hellena boldly defends her sister against Pedro.

This cooperation mirrors that of the men in the play, who come to each other's aid on a regular basis. Belvile fights for Willmore, but when granted a reprieve from death, he fights equally hard for Antonio. Blunt and Frederick are ready to gang-rape Florinda, but Florinda has no woman to help her and so cannot escape except by invoking the name of a male and flourishing a diamond ring. Fear of consequences, not fear of women or Florinda, halts the men in their shared lust.

Interestingly, another example of female cooperation occurs in disguise. Hellena and Angelica together admonish Willmore for his inconstancy. Angelica doesn't even know she has allied with a female; Angelica simply expresses her own anger. However, Hellena uses Angelica's anger to torment Willmore and exacerbate Angelica's jealous state of mind. Angelica and Hellena agree in word, but Angelica believes in the principle she espouses, while Hellena has explicitly says that Willmore's roving eye and promiscuity do not bother her. Their alliance cannot be complete because Angelica does not know that another female stands with her.

Needing to appear beautiful in order to capture a husband creates an insufferable tension, since that same beauty makes the woman vulnerable to male lust. Embarrassed at the state a woman has reduced him to, Blunt is ready to exact revenge upon the innocent Florinda, and Frederick is perfectly willing to participate. Florinda is beautiful and readily available, and just as in the scene in the garden with Willmore, this is more than enough. Yet Belvile would not love her were it not for her beauty, which is what first caught his eye and allowed their love to begin. Similarly, Willmore's attraction to Angelica is entirely based upon her beauty, which has also secured her business and future. Yet Angelica derives great pride and enjoyment from being desired. She does not seem to care about the sexual act, but she demands love continuously. Her beauty makes her an object of flattery, and so for Angelica beauty, not sex, gives her pride and ultimately makes her susceptible to Willmore's flattery, even despite his poverty.

Hellena expresses sensual desires, but Angelica has financial reasons for becoming a prostitute and then enjoys men's loutish assessments of her beauty. Unlike Hellena, Angelica desires outside approval for her beauty. Willmore's honest desire for Angelica overwhelms her reason and causes her to become envious, to ruin her business, and to pursue an obviously incompatible man. Angelica's need to be beautiful has led her into love, but her beauty alone is not enough. Behn uses Angelica to demonstrate the folly of appearance-based love.

Angelica's pursuit of Willmore, however, does not have the same ingenuity that Hellena's does. Angelica straightforwardly expresses her wish to have Willmore to herself, becomes angry when he flirts with other women, and upbraids him for inconstancy whenever she sees him. She nags and argues and offers her body. Hellena, on the other hand, gives Willmore full permission to do as he wishes. Hellena makes him swear to love only her, but then condemns herself for do that and pardons him for breaking the oath immediately. She teases him rather than argues with him, and she agrees that virtue is overrated. Furthermore, Hellena does not require that Willmore's movements or inclinations be curtailed. By saying she is against marriage, yet constantly bringing their conversations back to it, she manages to twist Willmore into thinking that he would somehow be exacting revenge if they were to marry.

This twist is particularly interesting because Hellena and Willmore are equal only at this stage of courtship. Once married, Hellena's money becomes Willmore's, and their union will remove her legal rights. As a wife, Hellena would have no rights but those that Willmore granted her. Their equality only exists when she has the power to concede or to refuse. Yet she cannot refuse, for she loves Willmore. Her power is limited only to words and teasing, to manipulation through conversation, and the strength of her imagination. She can forge a personality, a link, and can force Willmore to consider her in certain ways. She can invent costumes to hide behind, but her imaginative steps are always vulnerable to Willmore's recognition of them. Just as he recognizes her and has the potential to ruin her, Hellena must always be wary of Willmore noticing her manipulations and seeing through them. She uses her intellect to direct him without his noticing.