Set in Marseilles, 1673. Baudet's destiny is is foreshadowed by a mysterious old woman, who appears throughout the story, and predicts that he will do great things, to Baudet's disbelief.

John's debut novel takes place in ancient Avignon, in 1348. A plague has struck the town, killing half the populace. In the Pope's Palace - the Papacy has moved here from Rome - the pontiff, Clement, cannot give any message of hope.

John's second novel begins in 1350 in Calatrava, Spain, and later in Avignon. Albornoz was born into a well-to-do family and his father hopes that his son will follow him into a military career. However, the boy prefers learning and the Church: he will search to reconcile right and wrong.

This is John Bentley's third work: a tale of Huguenot persecution from Paris to La Rochelle. In the capital, in 1572, Catherine de Medicis, the Queen Mother, urges her feckless son, King Charles, to act against the hated Huguenots in the city.