La circassienne

In a Russian fort in Circassia in the dead of winter, Lieutenant Alexis Zouboff recounts an amusing story to his fellow officers. While on a sensitive errand, he had managed to gain entrance to a Russian countess's villa by disguising himself as a Circassian lady's maid named Prascovia. The disguise worked so well that the countess's brother-in-law, the boorish General Orsakoff, fell madly in love with "her" and Alexis was forced to disappear in order to escape his advances. As the soldiers discuss putting on a play to while away the time, Lanskoi, an artist and friend of Alexis, arrives at the fort with a copy of Dalayrac's comic opera Adolphe et Clara. It is decided that Alexis will play Clara and use the same costume he had worn as Prascovia.

As rehearsals are underway, General Orsakoff arrives at the fort with Olga, his niece and ward with whom Alexis had fallen in love when he was recuperating from battle wounds at her aunt's villa in the Crimea. The General is furious at the amateur theatricals and threatens to have the officers shot for abandoning their watch. However, when he sees Alexis in his costume, he thinks he has found his lost love, the beautiful Prascovia, and calms down. Olga observes that Prascovia bears a very striking resemblance to Alexis and to deflect suspicion, "Prascovia" tells Olga and Orsakoff that "she" is Alexis's sister. Orsakoff begs Olga to take on Prascovia as her companion, to which she agrees convinced that Prascovia is Alexis's sister. At this point there is a surprise attack by the Circassian army who kidnap Olga and Alexis (still dressed as Prascovia) and take them off to Sultan Aboul-Kazim's harem.

Odalisque by Benjamin-Constant

At the harem of Aboul-Kazim, odalisques languorously sing of the pleasures to be found there: "Doux avenir, joie et plaisir" (Sweet future, joy and pleasure). The Sultan is delighted with Olga and Prascovia. He designates Olga his chief wife and appoints Prascovia as her companion. Lanskoi arrives with an offer of ransom for the two women. Orsakoff is even willing to leave Olga behind if Aboul-Kazim will release Prascovia. The Sultan refuses to release either one. In the meantime, Alexis has revealed his true identity to Olga and they declare their love for each other. Olga and Alexis are finally liberated when Russian officers and troops arrive, aided and abetted by Aboul-Kazim's other wives who wish to get rid of their rivals.

Olga and General Orsakoff are back at his palace in Moscow. A letter from Prascovia arrives which Lanskoi had concocted to explain her sudden disappearance after her liberation from the harem. In the letter Frasovia tells Orsakoff that she had fled because she loved him too much simply to be his concubine and that she will retire to a convent unless he marries her within three months. The letter had taken six months to arrive, and the General is now determined to find the convent where she is staying. In the meantime, Alexis, dressed in his officer's uniform, has called on Orsakoff to ask for Olga's hand in marriage. Still believing that Alexis is Prascovia's brother, and wishing to curry favour with him, Orsakoff promotes Alexis to captain and aide-de-camp and then to colonel. He also consents to Alexis's marriage to Olga, on the express condition that Alexis consents to his marriage to Prascovia once he finds her.

After Olga and Alexis's marriage has taken place, Lanskoi decides to put an end to Orsakoff's quest for Prascovia once and for all. He concocts another letter from Prascovia to Orsakoff. In it she declares that she is about to commit suicide out of despair at his failure to answer her first letter: "When you read these lines, I shall have ceased to live." Orsakoff accepts that she is now dead. Alexis is spared any future embarrassment, and Orsakoff's vanity is satisfied—a beautiful woman has killed herself because of her great love for him.