When their children announce an impending marriage, two former lovers must navigate a web of social maneuvering and verbal obfuscation to protect their own interests. Jane Weatherby and John Pomfret, once entangled in a scandalous affair, find themselves reunited by the prospect of their children's union. Facing the threat of their children's poverty and potential kinship, the pair engages in a series of circular, evasive conversations designed to stall the wedding. The narrative unfolds through these dialogues, where the characters use language not to communicate, but to obscure their true motives and manipulate the social landscape.

This novel is frequently analyzed for its sharp, minimalist approach to the comedy of manners genre. Critics often highlight the author's ability to weaponize mundane conversation, turning small talk into a tool for psychological warfare. The work is viewed as a sophisticated exercise in restraint, where the most significant actions occur beneath the surface of the spoken word. Readers familiar with the tradition of British social satire will find the stylistic parallels to Woolf and Waugh to be both intentional and effective in their execution.