Act I plays in front of an inn at Amiens. _Edmund_ has a solo with

chorus for students and girls. _Lescaut_, _Geronte_, and _Manon_ arrive in a diligence. _Lescaut_ is taking his sister to a convent to complete her education, but finding her to be greatly admired by the wealthy _Geronte_, is quite willing to play a negative part and let the old satyr plot with the landlord to abduct _Manon_. _Des Grieux_, however, has seen her. "Donna non vidi mai simile a questa" (Never did I behold so fair a maiden), he sings in praise of her beauty.

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With her too it is love at first sight. When she rejoins him, as she had promised to, they have a love duet. "Vedete! Io son fedele alla parola mia" (Behold me! I have been faithful to my promise), she sings. _Edmund_, who has overheard _Geronte's_ plot to abduct _Manon_, informs _Des Grieux_, who has little trouble in inducing the girl to elope with him. They drive off in the carriage _Geronte_ had ordered. _Lescaut_, who has been carousing with the students, hints that, as _Des Grieux_ is not wealthy and _Manon_ loves luxury, he will soon be able to persuade her to desert her lover for the rich Treasurer-General.

Such, indeed, is the case, and in Act II, she is found ensconced in luxurious apartments in _Geronte's_ house in Paris. But to _Lescaut_, who prides himself on having brought the business with her wealthy admirer to a successful conclusion, she complains that "in quelle trine morbide"--in those silken curtains--there's a chill that freezes her. "O mia dimora umile, tu mi ritorni innanzi" (My little humble dwelling, I see you there before me). She left _Des Grieux_ for wealth and the luxuries it can bring--"Tell me, does not this gown suit me to perfection?" she asks _Lescaut_--and yet she longs for her handsome young lover.

_Geronte_ sends singers to entertain her. They sing a madrigal, "Sulla vetta tu del monte erri, O Clori" (Speed o'er the summit of the mountain, gentle Chloe).

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Then a dancing master enters. _Manon_, _Lescaut_, _Geronte_, and old beaus and abbés, who have come in with _Geronte_, form for the dance, and a lesson in the minuet begins.

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_Lescaut_ hurries off to inform _Des Grieux_, who has made money in gambling, where he can find _Manon_. When the lesson is over and all have gone, her lover appears at the door. At first he reproaches her, but soon is won by her beauty. There is an impassioned love duet, "Vieni! Colle tue braccia stringi Manon che t'ama" (Oh, come love! In your arms enfold Manon, who loves you).

_Geronte_ surprises them, pretends to approve of their affection, but really sends for the police. _Lescaut_ urges them to make a precipitate escape. _Manon_, however, now loath to leave the luxuries _Geronte_ has lavished on her, insists on gathering up her jewels in order to take them with her. The delay is fatal. The police arrive. She is arrested on the charge made by _Geronte_ that she is an abandoned woman.

Her sentence is banishment, with other women of loose character, to the then French possession of Louisiana. The journey to Havre for embarkation is represented by an intermezzo in the score, and an extract from Abbé Prévost's story in the libretto. The theme of the "Intermezzo," a striking composition, is as follows:

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