You get about six stories for the price of one here as they all weave in and out of each other to build up a rich and voluptuous (and sometimes dark and menacing) picture of life in the 17th Century court of King Christian IV of Denmark.
Extract
Returning from the field one afternoon, towards an evening which has not yet announced itself by any noticeable diminution of the sun's brilliance, Peter Claire sees a young woman in the garden. She is gathering flowers. As the musicians come towards her, she raises her head and smiles at them, and Jens Ingermann and the other players bow to her and she nods to them and they walk on. But Peter Claire stops.
