The Black Domino
ACT ONE
Horace, a young Spanish nobleman, is attending the queen's masked ball in the hope of meeting the young woman he encountered a year earlier, but whose identity he never discovered. She is Angèle, a niece of the queen, who arrives with her companion Brigitte. Both are novice nuns who are attending the ball as a last venture into society - although Brigitte has decided to renounce her vows and marry. At eleven, Horace's friend Count Juliano tricks Brigitte into believing that it is midnight - when the convent gates close - and she leaves, allowing Horace and Angèle some time together. When the clock strikes twelve, Angèle rushes from the ball.
ACT TWO
Juliano's roos. The count is expecting guests (including Horace) when Angèle, locked out of the convent, raps at the door and begs his housekeeper Jacinthe to give her shelter for the night. Angèle realizes that she is bound to encounter Horace and is frightened that he will discover that she is a novice, but Jacinthe, who is expecting her niece Inèsille, dresses Angèle in her niece's clothes and introduces her as Inèsille to the guests. Horace nonetheless realizes who it is, but he is too stunned to believe his eyes.
Jacinthe summons her admirer Perez (the convent porter) and ensures that Angèle is given the keys to return to the convent.
ACT THREE
Through a series of bizarre coincidences Angèle is freed from her vows, leaving her free to marry Horace.