The Chauffeur and the Chaperon

Nell Van Buren, a young American of Dutch descent, is living in England with her English stepsister Phyllis when the two inherit a modest sum of money and, less expectedly, a motorboat moored in Holland. They cross over to cruise the Dutch canals, only to find that the boat has already been let to an American painter. A polite compromise follows: they will tour Holland together, chauffeur and chaperon included, though neither the chauffeur nor the chaperon is quite who they claim to be. Written by the husband-and-wife pair who popularized the Edwardian “motoring novel,” this is a light romance built on real geography, from the harbors of Rotterdam to the windmills and market towns of the old Dutch countryside. It reads like a guided tour as much as a courtship.