A couple is in bed one night, the wife unable to sleep and the husband kept awake because of her restlessness. She comments on the beauty that the flowers outside their window make when their shadow falls in their room. The husband reflects on his much younger wife, whom he met when she was his student at the college he teaches at. He asks her to just go to sleep, though she complains of an impending toothache, but he simply thinks that she believes some discomfort is ever-present in her life, having thought recently that an earache was approaching. The next day, he is off to teach and meet with one of his peers after work, much to her dismay, as he seems to always be meeting with a coworker. She has a piano lesson and works herself into a frenzy getting dressed for it, overthinking her wardrobe and the house's attire. When the piano instructor arrives, he observes her with delicate desire, thinking about how desperately he wants to be with her. The two begin to embrace, though as they're walking through the house, he tips over the husband's pipe, which sends her into another frenzy, cleaning the pipe up and worrying because he uses it every night. The piano instructor chooses to leave. That night, the couple is settling in for bed, and again she cannot sleep. She is thinking about the vacation in New York they're supposed to go on and about how she feels a toothache incoming. She comments on the flowers again before going to bed.