Act I plays in a room in _Don Pasquale's_ house and later in a room in

_Norina's_, where she is reading a romance. She is singing "Quel guardo" (Glances so soft) and "So anch'io la virtù magica" (I, too, thy magic virtues know) in which she appears to be echoing in thought what she has been reading about in the book.

[Music:

So anch'io la virtù magica D'un guardo a tempo e loco]

The duet, in which she and _Malatesta_ agree upon the plot--the "duet of the rehearsal"--is one of the sprightly numbers of the score.