Monte Carlo is the natural habitat for someone like Mrs. Van Hopper. Rich, brash, and irredeemably vulgar, this is a place just made for the likes of this unspeakable woman. As Mrs. Van Hopper appears to have no discernible identity of her own, she prefers to mix with the rich and famous in the forlorn hope that some of their sparkling personality will somehow rub off.

It doesn't, of course, but Mrs. Van Hopper's stay at the Hotel d'Azur has not been a complete waste of time and money—because it is here that she's sized up the mysterious Maxim de Winter. While her companion is dazzled and intrigued by this dark, handsome stranger, Mrs. Van Hopper sees right through him, recognizing that there's something not quite right about him. Probably for the first time in her life, Mrs. Van Hopper's penchant for rubbing shoulders with Europe's social elite has actually been of use. For now she's in a position to warn her achingly naive young companion of the dangers of becoming the next Mrs. de Winter.