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The Post Inn
(L'osteria della posta)
Carlo Goldoni - 1762.
Comedy in the elegant French style.
The Marquis de Fiorellini is betrothed to Countess Beatrice di
Ripalunga, though they have never met. On his way to meet his bride,
the marquis stops at an inn, where he encounters the countess traveling
with her father. He decides to hide his own identity until he discovers
the reason for her journey. Meanwhile, Baron Talismani, an ardent admirer
of the countess, arrives demanding to know why the two left town without
saying goodbye. A reconciliation is effected between Beatrice and the
baron, but eventually the baron angers her father and a duel seems imminent.
The marquis intervenes to prevent it, and when the baron accuses him
of being an impostor, he reveals his true identity. The countess, her
doubts overcome by the marquis's noble behaviour, decides to marry him,
and all leave together for the wedding feast.