The Haunted Manor
Early eighteenth-century Poland.
ACT I
Two Chevalier brothers, Stefan and Zbigniew, along with their trusted attendant Maciej, are returning home from the army after having successfully defended their homeland. They bid farewell to their comrades and swear to remain unmarried, so as to always be ready to lay down their lives for their country.
Upon arriving home, they are visited by their aunt Cześnikowa, the Chamberlain’s wife. She immediately unveils plans to marry them off, so the brothers explain their oath and inform her that they will soon leave to visit the Count Miecznik, and old friend of their father’s.
Miecznik lives in a manor in Kalinowo, and he has two highly eligible daughters that threaten Cześnikowa’s matrimonial designs, so she attempts to discourage the visit by telling the brothers that the manor is haunted.
ACT II
New Year’s Eve. At the manor, Miecznik’s daughters—Hanna and Jadwiga—eagerly anticipate the traditional custom of fortune-telling with melted wax to determine their future husbands. During the divination, they are assisted by the resident dandy Damazy, who hopes fate will pair him with one of the sisters. Miecznik himself watches on and remarks that any prospective suitor must possess a noble, brave, and beautiful soul.
Cześnikowa arrives and portrays Stefan and Zbigniew as cowards. At that moment, a hunting party led by Miecznik’s majordomo Skołuba bursts in, and a heated debate concerning the killing of a boar ensues. Skołuba is adamant that he killed it, but when the brothers arrive, Maciej claims to have actually fired the successful shot.
The two sisters decide to test the brothers’ courage by playing a trick on them that night. Damazy, anxious to eliminate his rivals, has the same idea and involves Skołuba, who had hoped to take credit for killing the boar and now resents the newcomers’ presence, in his plan.
Miecznik honors the memory of the Chevaliers’ father, a courageous man whom he loved like a brother.
ACT III
It is night. The visitors retire to sleep in a tower. Skołuba points out two life-size portraits of Miecznik’s great-grandmothers and a grandfather clock, all of which he claims are haunted.
While the others retire, Stefan is left alone to reflect upon the eventful evening. The clock mysteriously chimes, and he is overwhelmed by an emotional upheaval, brought on by the memory of his mother.
His brother enters, and Stefan and Zbigniew each admit their nascent love for Hanna and Jadwiga, respectively. Unbeknown to them, their confessions are overheard by the sisters, who are hiding behind the portraits, and Damazy, who is in the clock. Ultimately, the sisters run off, but the visitors catch Damazy, who invents a story that the manor was built from payments for dishonest deeds. The brothers decide to leave at once.
ACT IV
Hanna ponders the brothers’ strange vow when Damazy enters, telling her that they are about to depart. Miecznik is furious, believing them to be cowards after all, but Maciej repeats Damazy’s story.
A party of New Year’s revellers rushes in, and a celebratory Mazur resounds. Miecznik questions Damazy about the calumny, and as a result of the confrontation, the Chevaliers ask to marry Miecznik’s daughters.
Miecznik explains that his grandfather had nine beautiful daughters, and that every man who came to the manor would propose to one of them. Envious mothers with unmarried daughters who lived nearby therefore claimed that the manor was a terrible place—hence the rumors and superstitions.
Miecznik gives his blessing to the two young couples, and all rejoice.