Detective Peter Smeth and his young and charming wife, Louise, visit Magasin Heiberg, where, at his wife's express request, he is to buy himself a new hat. He is not amused by the idea, but there is no getting out of it. Suddenly, however, an event occurs that causes the couple to change their minds. The daughter of the store's owner, Inge Heiberg, is found unconscious in the store's courtyard, and Peter and Louise rush to her aid. The fainting spell turns out to be shrouded in mystery.

In an old Jewish family in Copenhagen, with its loyalty and close-knit community, there are some challenges when they run into the world outside their family circle.

Knud is a farmer and dreams of running the farm together with his wife. He has both ideas and drive, but his finances are not the best.

Hilleborg always speaks negatively about her king's marriage to his left hand, Countess Danner. When it is rumored that King Frederik VII and Countess Danner are on their way to Hilleborg and her husband, Niels Parsberg's estate, Hilleborg refuses to be in the living room with the Countess. She switches roles with the housemaid, Lise Sørensen. Lise and Countess Danner quickly become good friends, while Hilleborg's situation worsens when the king decides to spend the night at the estate.

The painter Else Kant is in crisis – both artistically and personally. She is dissatisfied with her work and suffers from severe hallucinations and suicidal thoughts. She therefore voluntarily admits herself to a psychiatric ward, where the renowned Professor Cornelius reigns with great authority.

We meet the young violinist Erik Smith in the lap of his family with his wife Lise and his little daughter Lone. Erik is a young, aspiring musician who dreams of one day making a career as an interpreter of the great masters of music. At a concert where a well-known solo violinist has to interrupt, Erik Smith suddenly jumps in and gets his big breakthrough.