Historical vignettes, 1st series

A massive, horse‑drawn carriage rolls across the flat German countryside, carrying King George I on his annual journey to Herrenhausen. The royal entourage is a moving palace—eight horses pull a plush coach, surrounded by baggage wagons and a troop of sabres—while the evening air hangs heavy, as if warmed in a limekiln. Inside, the monarch sits slumped in a padded corner, his corpulent frame dwarfed by opulent upholstery, his weary gaze hidden beneath a fur‑trimmed cap. The king’s English physician, a dry‑tongued courtier, summons Captain von Gastein, a seasoned officer whose life has been intertwined with the monarch’s past.

When the captain steps into the coach, the silence is palpable, broken only by the distant clatter of wheels. He is thrust into a private audience with a ruler whose mood is strange and whose memories stir old wounds. The captain recalls his early assignment to the isolated castle of Ahlden, where the tragic fate of Sophia Dorothea still lingers, hinting at the unresolved drama that may surface during this uneasy encounter.