The Merveilleuses
The story is set in Revolutionary France in the closing years of the 18th century, during the period when the Directoire, led by Barras, held power. Fashionable Parisian society is led by the Incroyables, or dandies, and their feminine equivalents, the Merveilleuses. The latter have adopted classical robes as their form of dress and the succouring of distressed conspirators as their mission. Act I — The Tent of the Café du Caveau in the Palais Royal Gardens Illyrine, who had been led to believe that Dorlis had deserted her and had divorced him in consequence, has just been married to a second husband, St. Amour, the rich but low-bred secretary to Barras. Dorlis intrudes on the wedding party at the Café du Caveau and demands that Illyrine return to him. She explains what had happened and tells him that she still loves him. Act II — The Stock Market; St. Amour's Town House After a visit to the stock market on the Perron at the Palais Royal, Dorlis, accompanied by his friend Lagorille, one of the Incroyables, goes to the wedding reception at St. Amour's Town House determined to kill St. Amour. However, the latter is warned by police agents, who have learned of the plot. Illyrine hides Dorlis in her private apartment, but St. Amour forces him to reveal his whereabouts by giving a false alarm of "Fire!", whereupon Dorlis and Lagorille are arrested. Act III — Tricolour Fête at the Palais of the Luxembourg At a fete given by Barras, Illyrine manages to persuade Barras to pardon Dorlis, with whom, after divorcing St. Amour, she is re-united. Meanwhile, the Merveilleuses, led by Lodoiska, succeed in freeing Lagorille, only to see him carried off by Pervenche.