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Audiobook editionPaperback · 6 × 9 in · printing soonHardcover · 6 × 9 in · printing soonAbout this book
New motors promise freedom, but Edwardian manners still have a firm hand on the wheel.
In The Chauffeur and the Chaperon, C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson bring a light romance to the waterways of the Netherlands. Motor-boats, canals and fine scenery frame a sunny story of travel and affection, where the pleasures of a journey meet the demands of social life.
A chauffeur drives; a chaperon watches over. Those roles bring companionship, rank and propriety into the same story. In this Edwardian world, people have their places, and manners matter. Against that ordered background, the new motor age offers freedom, speed and a little danger, while affection brings surprises of its own.
What you’ll discover
- Romance on the waterways Follow a love story shaped by water travel and the canals of the Netherlands.
- The thrill of motors Enter an age when cars and motor-boats carry the promise of freedom and adventure.
- Manners with real weight Explore a world where rank and proper conduct shape how people relate to one another.
- Warmth along the way Enjoy a bright, friendly voice that makes room for pleasant company and fine scenery.
- The surprises of affection Find gentle romantic pleasure in the meeting of social rules and unexpected feelings.
Who will love it
You will love this book if you enjoy sparkling banter, light romance with a puzzle at its heart, and travel writing that paints canals, windmills and cheese markets so vividly.
What’s inside
The key ideas, in the 15-minute summary
- A lost fortune opens a waterway
- Respectability rests on an absent aunt
- Robert expects everyone to follow rules
- A rescue leads to a bargain
- Small kindnesses unsettle Nell’s coldness
- The borrowed identity attracts real trouble
- Pretty places reveal less pretty truths
- Nell’s independence carries real risks
- Four voices expose the hidden feelings
Who’s who
- Nell Van BurenA quick-tongued American writer of serial stories who inherits a motorboat and wants to turn her small disaster into a grand adventure.
- Phyllis RiversNell's English stepsister, a gentle, rule-loving typist who follows Nell onto the water and keeps a secret she is afraid to name.
- Rudolph BrederodeA tall Dutch gentleman and sportsman who joins the boat as skipper because he has decided to win Nell, whatever she thinks of him.
- Ronald Lester StarrAn American painter with a charming smile who takes a share in the cruise and invents a Scottish aunt to make it respectable.
- Robert van BurenNell's grave, handsome Rotterdam cousin, who runs a factory, loves rules and wants to keep both girls safe.
- The ChaperonA tiny woman in blue spectacles, gray hair and a Scottish burr, who commands everyone aboard and adores her bulldog Tibe.
- Freule Menela van der WindtRobert's clever, poor and ambitious fiancee, who looks at the visiting cousins with suspicion.
- TibeA fierce-looking bulldog with an affectionate nature who lands in the middle of every crisis.
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The Chauffeur and the Chaperon
by C. N. Williamson; A. M. Williamson · 1906
Two girls with small incomes acquire a motorboat and explore Dutch canals with a borrowed aunt and a bulldog.
Medium level5–10 hours to read20 languages
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“Better to blow up on a grand scale in a thirty-horsepower motorboat than in a gas-meter bathtub in a five-room flat in Clapham”
In short
Two girls wake to news that an old friend has left them far less than they hoped. Nell Van Buren, who writes cheap serials for magazines, hears it from the bath.
The Chauffeur and the Chaperon at a glance
- Reading time
- About 8 h 30 min6 h 45 min fast, 10 h 10 min slow
- Length
- 121,800 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
- First published
- 1906by C. N. Williamson; A. M. Williamson
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
From the 15-minute summary · Key idea 1
A lost fortune becomes a motorboat
The story opens in a Clapham flat with a bath and a letter. Nell is an American girl adopted into an English household, and she has spent two days planning a rich future. She imagines burning the typewriter and never again inventing villains at a guinea a thousand words. Then Phyllis calls through the door that the lawyer has written.
Captain Noble, an old naval friend, has left Phyllis two hundred pounds. He has left Nell a thirty-horsepower motorboat, which lies in Holland. Phyllis wants to invest the money. Nell, who has no rules to live by, announces that she will take a cruise instead.
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Details
- First published
- 1906
- Language
- English
- Reading time
- 9 h 35 min
- Level
- Medium level
Cite this edition
Williamson, C. N., and A. M. Williamson. The Chauffeur and the Chaperon. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-chauffeur-and-the-chaperon.
Williamson, C. N., & Williamson, A. M. (2026). The chauffeur and the chaperon. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-chauffeur-and-the-chaperon (Original work published 1906)
Williamson, C. N., and A. M. Williamson. The Chauffeur and the Chaperon. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-chauffeur-and-the-chaperon.
@book{williamson2026chauffeur,
author = {Williamson, C. N. and Williamson, A. M.},
title = {The Chauffeur and the Chaperon},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/the-chauffeur-and-the-chaperon},
note = {First published 1906}
}
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What is The Chauffeur and the Chaperon about?
Nell inherits a motorboat in Holland and decides to cruise the canals with her stepsister instead of selling it. An artist and his hired aunt join them, and a skipper with a secret steers. The trip mixes romance, comedy and travel.
Who wrote The Chauffeur and the Chaperon and when?
It was written by the husband and wife team C. N. Williamson and A. M. Williamson, who produced light romances about travel and motoring. It dates from the Edwardian period, the early years of the twentieth century.
Who is the chaperon in the book?
She is a small woman in blue spectacles, gray hair and a Scottish burr, introduced as the aunt of the artist Mr. Starr. She travels with a bulldog called Tibe and quickly becomes the ruler of the boat.
The author
C. N. Williamson
1857–1920 · British novelist and motoring journalist
British writer and motoring journalist, novelist frequently as duo with wife A. M. Williamson.
“Better to blow up on a grand scale in a thirty-horsepower motorboat than in a gas-meter bathtub in a five-room flat in Clapham”
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