At the beginning of Act I we see Amelia singing a beautiful song about the morning and the sea and the stars. She has a lover, Gabriele Adorno. When he arrives she warns him of the dangers of political plotting. The news is brought that the Doge is coming. Amelia is worried that the Doge will make her marry Paolo, so she asks Gabriele to ask Andrea (who is actually Fiesco) immediately for permission for them to marry. Fiesco agrees. He tells Gabriele that she was a poor orphan who had been found (he does not realize that it is his granddaughter). Gabriele says that he does not care about that, so Fiesco blesses the marriage.