La corte de Carlos IV is the second novel of the first series of Episodios Nacionales by Benito Perez Galdos. In it, Gabriel returns from the battlefield and becomes an assistant to a popular actress. Soon after, he falls for Agnes, a young seamstress living with her widowed mother. Through his work he finds himself in the center of some of Madrid’s political and social scandals. He turns away from the world of politics and deciet in favor of a life of poverty, but realizes his mistake when it is revealed that Agnes is in fact a member of the nobility.