Courtiers have gotten accustomed, over the past two and a half decades, to leaving Gertrude be on her bench next to the wall, lest her husband get jealous that she is dancing with someone else. But her second husband isn’t like that at all, and within a few months Claudius has encouraged enough nobles to bring her onto the dance floor that they’ve finally gotten used to such a charming partner.

As she spins around the ballroom, giddy with other men’s styles of leading, she keeps glancing back at her good man and he beams back at her like a child who still can’t believe he’s gotten everything he wanted.