Publisher's Synopsis
With the outbreak of the fourth Anglo- Dutch war in 1780, upon the British / Dutch disagreements over the legality and conduct of the Dutch trade with the enemies of Britain, the life of the Dutch people changed a lot and their lives as well as their peace were at stake while most of the best Dutch men were obliged to stand in the front line of the war, one of them was the Royal Captain Adolf Bentinck, he was a very known man and his reputation was never questioned. However, that royal Captain spent more than a month in his warship. Young lady Kimberley was the only daughter to Captain Adolf, she was a Dutch girl born into a noble family in 1764, she was a very proud girl with her noble roots and family, and she was supposed to marry Duke Clark Dudley few days later, everything had been already arranged and the only missing piece was the young lady's father. The girl was very worried about her father and she thought the only way to find out some news about him was to meet the admiral of war, Therefore, she decided to pay him a visit with a precious present in order to convince him tell her any news he would know. Henceforth, Kimberley gathered all the silk that was stored in her house with the help of her servant ad headed straight to his house in a carriage. When she arrived at her destination, all the maids noticed her arrival and told the lady of the house right away while the admiral was in the middle of a meeting with many high ranked lords. Meanwhile the admiral's wife met Kimberley instead and received the present. But having a daughter who wanted to marry the suitor of Kimberley, the admiral's wife didn't want to see the girl anymore and thanks to her daughter's help, they set a trap for Kimberley by putting trash and dirt on her coat and shoes which embarrassed her. The proud young lady refused to wear the dirty shoes and asked the admiral's lady to lay for her a red carpet to walk on but the daughter suggested that they lay for her the silk she brought as a present, and Kimberley was determined and walked on that silk. When the young lady arrived home, she received a surprising visit from her suitor who tried to convince her that he was still in love with her and that he wouldn't marry anyone else but her. Few days passed and the poor girl didn't hear anything about her father. Suddenly a soldier knocked her door telling her that her father was killed in the war. It was a strong shock and it became even stronger when Kimberley went to ask for the corpse of her father but she was told that he escaped from the battle and henceforth he was stripped of all his titles and properties while his daughters became a servant to the admiral's family who decided to offer her as a present to a special English Duke who would save her life instead and started to like her.
