Langs lijnen van geleidelijkheid

by Louis Couperus

"Langs lijnen van geleidelijkheid" by Louis Couperus is a novel published in 1900. The story follows twenty-three-year-old Cornélie de Retz van Loo from The Haag, recently divorced and traveling through Italy to clear her mind. During her stay at a Roman pension, she meets Duco van der Staal, a Dutch amateur painter her own age, and gradually falls in love with him. Meanwhile, their hostess harbors secret intentions to convert her guests to Catholicism, adding complexity to their surroundings.