Having met and fallen in love with Joséphine de Beauharnais, Napoleon breaks his promise to marry Désirée Clary, calling off their engagement. Désirée later marries French General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte.
Sixteen-year-old Baroness Aurora De Geer marries her second cousin, Count Nils Gyldenstolpe, in the glittering halls of Stockholm Palace. He’s an officer eleven years older, and their match brings Aurora both a higher title and a place at court in the social circle that surrounds the young king and queen.
Countess Jacquette Gyldenstolpe is born in Stockholm — the first of three children. Her brothers, Nils and August, soon follow, and the family settles at Ingemarshof, a peaceful farm on the city’s northern edge.
Two years after Jacquette’s birth, Désirée Clary, who was once engaged to Napoleon and who is his sister-in-law, gives birth to a boy named Oscar. The father is her husband, General Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte. No one imagines that the infant, a French soldier’s son, will one day be King of Sweden.
Seven years after his lover Marie Antoinette’s death, Axel von Fersen comes home to Sweden after years abroad. At forty-four, he’s the darling of Stockholm society. Visiting Jacquette’s grandmother, he notices sixteen-year-old Emilie — Jacquette’s aunt — and is instantly intrigued. Their connection eventually grows into a long and complicated romance.
When Jacquette is six, her parents leave for Germany with the king and queen and are gone for nearly two years. Emilie raises Jacquette and her brothers. When her parents return, their marriage has fallen apart. Aurora moves out with the children, but her duties to the queen keep her away much of the time, leaving Jacquette to grow up between two worlds.
Gustaf Wetterstedt, a brilliant but self-made bureaucrat, becomes council secretary to the king. Though from a lesser noble family, his intellect and loyalty quickly earn him influence. That same year, Sweden goes to war against Napoleon — a disasterous campaign that ended when Napoleon defeated the Allies at Austerlitz, with Bernadotte helping lead them to victory.
After Jacquette’s grandmother dies, her Aunt Emilie leaves court and returns to the family estate at Finspång. She becomes hostess for her father, with Axel von Fersen advising the family — and possibly proposing to Emilie. With her mother often away, eight-year-old Jacquette and her brothers are moved to Finspång under Emilie’s care.
When the king moves his court to southern Sweden, Aurora follows with the queen’s entourage — and soon falls in love with the king’s secretary, Gustaf Wetterstedt. Their relationship becomes an open secret, but divorce for nobles is rare, and Aurora remains trapped between duty, love, and reputation.
Russia invades, and Sweden is thrown into a brutal fight. Finland — part of Sweden for six centuries — begins to slip away. King Gustav IV Adolf sends Jacquette’s father north to lead troops at the border, but the losses mount, and the once-mighty kingdom starts to crumble.
Sweden’s leaders meet to choose a successor to the aging and childless Karl XIII. Against all odds, they select a Danish prince — Christian August — shocking the old nobility, who still view Denmark as an enemy.
Only months after his arrival, the new crown prince dies suddenly during a military review in southern Sweden. Whispers of poisoning spread through Stockholm, and unrest simmers. Some nobles call for the return of the deposed king’s young son, Gustav.
After the crown prince’s death, Sweden was desperate for a new heir. Most wanted a Danish royal, but Carl Otto Mörner, brother-in-law to Gustaf Wetterstedt, had another idea. He asked Wetterstedt for permission to go to Paris on official business—then secretly approached Jean-Baptiste Bernadotte, one of Napoleon’s marshals, and offered him the Swedish crown. Whether Wetterstedt knew or not, no one can say—but Mörner’s gamble changed Sweden’s history.
A scandalous article appears in Stockholm Posten, accusing Count Axel von Fersen and his sister Sophie of poisoning the crown prince. Sophie is the queen’s closest friend, and Axel, once Marie Antoinette’s rumored lover, is deeply tied to Jacquette’s own family. The accusations spread like wildfire, igniting fury in Stockholm’s streets.
After traveling from Finspång to Stockholm, Axel von Fersen leads the funeral procession for the dead crown prince. But the crowd turns on him. Accused of treason, he is beaten to death in the street as soldiers stand idle — a horrifying scene that shocks the nation.
Bernadotte is elected Crown Prince of Sweden. He claims the emperor’s blessing and promises to use his fortune to save Sweden’s economy — promises that help win unanimous support. A French soldier will now be heir to the Swedish throne.
Bernadotte lands in Sweden, leaving his wife and son in Paris. He adopts a new name — Charles Jean — and converts to Lutheranism. The aging king soon relies on him entirely. The French general has become Sweden’s de facto ruler.
Jacquette’s father is accused of fathering a child with a servant. The claim proves true, and the scandal devastates the family. Aurora files for divorce, which she wins — but at great cost to Nils, who loses property and honor. He does, however, gain custody of Jacquette’s brothers, leaving Jacquette at Finspång with Emilie.
In the summer of 1811, Jacquette meets Prince Oscar at Drottningholm Palace during his birthday celebration. There are fireworks, music, and laughter — and in the midst of it, the two young people notice each other for the first time.
Aurora and Wetterstedt marry and move to the fashionable Douglas House in Stockholm. Jacquette lives with them, at the center of Stockholm Society and the Butterfly Game.
