Therefore, members of the royal orchestra must be ready to perform at all times, day and night. He is not well and, his physicians have prescribed music. 'It may be', says a tall gentleman, who hurries on, carrying the light, that His Majesty, King Christian, will command you to play for him tonight. And now, the lamp moves and he must follow. But Peter Claire is separate from everything, cannot lean on any object, cannot rest. Beyond them he can see a table and some tall chairs. Their eyes seem to watch him in the flickering gloom. He is standing near a pair of lions, made of silver. The young man is Peter Claire, the luternist, and the curvature on his back is his lute. It appears to have a deformity, a hump, occurring along its spine from below the shoulder-blades to just above the waist. It is a long, slanting shadow and so he knows it is his own. Held high, it burns more brightly, as though sustained by purer air, and the young man sees a shadow cast onto the wall. Now, he is relieved to see the walls of a panelled room take shape around him.
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