The Imposture is a Caroline era stage play, a tragicomedy written by James Shirley and first published in 1652.
[1] The Imposture was licensed for performance (as The Imposter) by Sir Henry Herbert, the Master of the Revels, on 10 November 1640.
Flaviano manipulates the situation so that Fioretta is moved to a convent, from where he spirits her secretly to his mother's country house.
Prince Leonato is outraged, and blames the Duke for bad faith; he demands a face-to-face meeting with Fioretta.
Juliana, superficially, plays her part as instructed; yet Leonato correctly interprets her replies to indicate that she would not object if he forced the issue.
Suspicious of Flaviano, Fioretta has escaped from his mother's country house and reached Ferrara in disguise, where she has taken an assumed name and is staying with Leonato's sister Donabella.
Honorio tries to explain Flaviano's villainous manipulations — but Leonato refuses to listen; he believes Juliana, and has resolved both to marry her and to go to war with Mantua.