Noémie is setting out on a career of her own, a traditional one if not quite a respectable, to work herself up through society by becoming mistress to men of as high rank as her beauty can attract. The secondary characters – Noémie the artist and her father, Valentin, and Mme de Cintré’s horrible old hag of a mother – are much more fun. But then, she also has about as much passion in her as a vase, so they seem well matched.

His growing love for Madame de Cintré – she never really became Claire to me – comes over more in the way someone would admire a vase or a painting than a person. Newman himself is a moral man by his own lights, but it seemed to me this was as much because he lacked passion as because he exercised any kind of control. This was more enjoyable than I expected a James novel to be, concentrating on the contrast between the brash money-driven society of the New World and the snobbish exclusivity of the Old, with neither showing in a particularly good light. And so Newman sets out to woo her, incidentally introducing her brother Valentin to the young artist. But now her own family is in a state of financial decay, like so much of the old aristocracy, and may be tempted to sell her this time round for American money. Her first marriage had been arranged by her family, to a man many years older than her with whom she shared no affection, but who was suitable due to his impeccable bloodlines. A friend suggests the young widow, Madame de Cintré, daughter of generations of French and English aristocracy.

But Newman has also decided it’s time to acquire a wife, and here he wants a true original – a pearl, a work of art. So he finds himself in the Louvre, offering excessive sums of money to a mediocre young female artist to copy some of the great paintings there to adorn his walls. It’s the American Way, and Newman’s way tells him that to buy a copy is as good as owning the original. Not that he’s really sure what it is, nor does he make much attempt to learn – rather he wants to acquire it, with money. American nouveau riche businessman Christopher Newman has come to Europe in search of culture.

The american by henry james