Nioche arrives at Christopher's house to drop off the painting Christopher purchased from Noémie. But when he shows up, her brother Urbain says Claire is not at home and turns Christopher away. When they meet, Christopher encourages Claire to invite him over to her house later, and she agrees. Tristram, who arranges for Christopher and Claire to run into each other at the Tristrams’ house. The refined Claire de Cintré is unknowingly set up by Mrs. Tristram immediately decides to play matchmaker and informs Christopher that she knows the ideal mate for him. Over the meal, Christopher tells them of the mission that has brought him to France: He intends to find a spouse. Not long after, Christopher crosses paths with Tom Tristam, an old friend he knew during the war, and the two meet up for dinner, along with Tom's wife. There he meets a beautiful painter Noémie Nioche who is making copies of the paintings on display, and he buys one from her. The novel opens as Christopher visits the Louvre. Finding no suitable wife in the United States, he goes to Europe in the hopes of finding a partner that meets his expectations.
Christopher Newman is in his thirties, but a life of hard work and diligent money management has given him the opportunity to retire early. It blends both comedy and melodrama to illustrate the absurdity and pomp of nineteenth-century courtship rituals the strict upper-class codes of conduct and ethics (or lack thereof) and the enduring legacy of the "garish American" stereotype. Set in 1868, American author Henry James’s novel The American (1877) is an account of a wealthy American businessman's attempts to find a wife in Parisian high society.
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