Opera Plots I - MDC Faculty Home Pages

condemned to death. He has, however, escaped to Paris, whither Gretch, the police officer, has
followed, seeking proof of his guilt; and in this the latter is aided by Fedora, who, under a show of
accepting the attentions of Loris, also seeks to draw from him the proofs she is seeking. Loris has
fallen passionately in love with Fedora, who fights against a similar passion for him; but meanwhile
she sends all the information she can gather to St Petersburg to the Chief of Police, a cruel
man of great and terrible power. On the night of her reception, Loris declares his love for her; and
in return she accuses him of the murder of Vladimir. Loris does not deny it, but declares that the
deed was not a murder, but a punishment for evil; and he promises to visit Fedora again after her
visitors have departed, and tell her the story. Fedora, full of triumph, tells Gretch that Loris has
confessed to the murder; and she arranges with him to have his men in readiness to seize the Count
as he issues from her house that night. Meanwhile, the entertainment proceeds gaily, Fedora's
friend, the merry Countess Olga, causing much amusement by her flirtations with her many
admirers, of whom De Sirieux is the most sincere, though the coquettish lady devotes her-self
chiefly to an absurd musician, Lazinski, who is her latest protégé. When the guests have departed,
Fedora awaits Loris, who presently appears. He tells her that Vladimir was a bad man, who had
tempted his (Loris') young girl-wife to become his paramour; and it was on discovering them
together that fatal night that he had challenged the Count, and shot him dead, he himself being
only slightly wounded. The wife had escaped his wrath, but had fallen ill and died soon after. On
thus hearing of the falseness and deception practised upon her by her once-lamented betrothed,
and realising that Loris had only meted out justice to a villain, Fedora relin-quishes her desire for
vengeance; and, no longer seeking to hide her love, she joyously resigns herself to the embraces of
the \ Count. At this moment a signal from the garden reminds her of the trap she has herself set for
her lover, and, rushing to the door and windows, she locks and bolts all exit or entrance to the
house, caring naught for Loris' warning that such an act will ruin her reputation, but thinking only
of the safety of the man she loves. Act 3 takes place in a châlet in Switzerland, whither Fedora and
Loris, now married, have escaped, and are living in great happiness. The Countess Olga is staying
with them, and presently De Sirieux arrives also. The latter brings bad news, which he breaks first
to Fedora, when they are alone. He tells her that the spy-work she did before wedding Loris and
the information she sent to the cruel Chief of Police at St Petersburg have resulted in the arrest of
Valerian, the innocent brother of Loris as a Nihilist; and the youth was confined in a fortress
dungeon, to which a river had access, and the water, rising with the tide, has drowned him.
Further, when the news of her young son's terrible death came to the knowledge of the aged
mother, the shock was so great that it killed her; and Fedora is plunged into grief on realising the
double tragedy resulting from her former desire for revenge, and she is filled with fear lest Loris
shall discover that she is the spy whom he has so often declared has tracked him since his exile.
Loris now enters with a telegram from St Petersburg, announcing his pardon; but, even whilst
rejoicing at this, another missive arrives, telling him of the death of his mother and brother. In his
utter grief, he wildly denounces and curses the spy who has brought this woe upon him; and as
Fedora crouches before his anger he realises that she is the guilty one. In vain are her protestations
that she has never proceeded further in the matter since he told her his reason for the act, and after
her acceptance of his love; and seeing that, in his anger, he is ready to slay her, she empties a
deadly poison from a receptacle in the Byzantine cross she wears, and swallows the liquid. As she
falls to the ground in convulsive agony, the Count's anger vanishes; and only remembering their
great love and recent happiness, he clasps her in his arms and implores her to live for his sake. But
the fatal draught has already done its work; and as her friends hover round, vainly endeavouring to
allay her anguish, the unhappy Fedora falls back lifeless into the arms of her despairing husband.