but she prevents him, saying: — You may kiss the hem of my gown, for I embroidered it myself.
Avito seizes the hem of the gown and covers it with kisses. She turns toward him little by little; he draws her closer, and takes her in his arms, half between consciousness and unconsciousness, repeating the song: "I am thirsty, I am thirsty!" And the two lovers are lost in a rapturous kiss that makes her oblivious to everything... even to the arrival of Archibaldo and Flaminio... They are struck with terror when the old king cries: "Fiora!" Avito draws his sword from its sheath and rushes at the blind man, but Flaminio bars his way; Fiora signals to her lover to flee, and he escapes in perfect calm and quiet. When the king asks who was on the terrace, Flaminio answers truthfully: "No one." But he says that Manfredo has turned his horse and is on his way back to the castle. Archibaldo orders him to go and receive his master and greet him.
The king and Fiora remain alone, and he demands to know her lover. She denies having any lover, and his anger grows at her denial. He seizes her by the throat as she sinks onto a seat beside him. Before long she confesses that she has a lover whom she loves with a true love, and that she does not love Manfredo; but she refuses to utter his name, even should it cost her her life. In the flood of his rage and fury he tightens his fingers upon her neck, and she dies strangled before he knows what he is doing.
Manfredo comes in, in agitation: he had seen Fiora and the scarf she waved as he made his way to the valley, but after a little he could no longer see them; anxiety seized him, and he returned to the castle to learn what had happened. He is horrified to see his father standing before the corpse of his wife. Archibaldo begs his son, in despair, to hand him his sword that he too may die, saying: I killed her because she was as defiled as she was beautiful!
Manfredo, his heart broken, asks the name of her lover; his father tells him that he does not know his name, for he is blind and could not see him. And he prevents him from gazing at Fiora, lest he see the marks of his fingers about her neck, saying: Walk before me, my son, and I shall follow you.
Manfredo leaves the terrace with slow steps, weighed down with deep sorrow, followed by Archibaldo, bearing Fiora's body upon his shoulders.
Act Three
The scene: the crypt in the castle chapel. Fiora's body, clothed in white garments, has been laid in a sarcophagus. From the chapel that stands above it the chants of the choir are heard. Here is a company of the people of Altura, men and women, standing in reverence and awe, their heads bowed about the bier, weeping for their beautiful princess. Some of them seethe with anger and demand vengeance upon her killer. But their anger soon melts away, and they leave
the place after the bell tolls, announcing the funeral.
Upon their departure Avito steals into the crypt to bid his beloved the last farewell. Grief overcomes him, and he bends over her still body and presses upon her cold lips a long, burning kiss... Then he rises suddenly, feeling a dreadful shudder run through his limbs. It becomes clear to him that he is dying, and he rejoices at it. He gathers his strength and makes for the door, where he is surprised by Manfredo, who tells him that Archibaldo had placed poison upon Fiora's lips to discover the identity of her lover.
But this discovery of Manfredo's does not lessen his sorrow, nor take away his misery. Knowing his wife's lover stirs in him remorse, and grief that Fiora did not love him instead of Avito. He lays his body out upon the ground, and wonders how it is that he feels no hatred at all toward his rival.
In the flood of his grief and despair he throws himself upon Fiora's body and presses his lips to hers. And as the poison begins to course through his body, Archibaldo enters, exultant that he has found the guilty lover. But he hears his son's death rattle, and cries out in great pain and great despair...
An Important Announcement — Nestlé
An Important Announcement
The management of the Nestlé Company announces that it has so far made no change whatever in the prices of its goods; furthermore, it has on hand enough goods to meet customers' orders for consumption needs.