Simon Darcourt, a goodhearted priest and scholar ... Clement Hollier, a professor with a passion for the darker side of medieval psychology ... the defrocked monk John Parlabane ... Arthur Cornish, a rich young businessman who inherits some troublesome paintings and manuscripts ... and Maria Theotoky, the beguiling graduate student who exerts a strange power over all these men. Robertson Davies uses his magical touch to weave together the destinies of this remarkable cast of characters, creating a wise and witty portrait of love, murder, and scholarship at a modern university.