Frederick Winterbourne, an American expatriate visiting at Vevey, Switzerland, meets commonplace, newly rich Mrs. Miller from Schenectady, New York, her mischievous small son and her daughter, Daisy, an inscrutable combination of audacity and innocence. The Millers have no perception of the complex code that underlies behavior in European society, and Winterbourne is astonished at the girl's innocent naivete and her mother's unconcern, both of which lead to trouble for Daisy.