A middle-aged Irish woman named Rosaleen has been married to her older husband Dennis for almost thirty years, and together they live in rural Connecticut. Dennis had been married before, but Rosaleen captivated him with her dancing and he married again despite her being thirty years younger. Now, their age difference has caught up to them as Dennis prefers to sit and relax in their home, while Rosaleen still dreams of social life and adventure. She often tells dramatic stories to cover the mundane nature of their daily life, which annoys Dennis, although he tolerates it because he knows he could never do better than her. One such story is about a young painter named Kevin who lived with them for a while until he left to travel with a woman, which Rosaleen never forgave because he still has yet to return to them. She dreamed that he died in a ditch, which upset her greatly because of her strong belief in her dreams as truth, and another night dreams of her jealous sister Honora who has fallen deathly ill. Rosaleen decides to visit her in Boston and prepares plans to travel, resolving to buy a new looking-glass to replace their cracked one as well. She’s so excited to adventure that she goes to see two films before boarding her ship to Boston.  However, when she arrives in the city, she finds that her sister has changed addresses without telling her. Distraught, Rosaleen finds a young Irish boy and takes him out to dinner, only to find that he wanted to sleep with her the entire time. This also makes her realize that she may have loved Kevin while he stayed with them. She returns home quickly to Dennis’s surprise and is cagey about her travels. The young boy she hired to watch over her husband during her absence is frightened to travel home at night, so she decides to walk him home the next morning. His parents accuse her of entertaining multiple men in her house with her good looks, which horrifies and upsets her so greatly that she storms home. Back with her husband, they realize finally that they are happy with each other even though she forgot to buy a new looking-glass.