Anne is a 36-year-old woman staying with her friend Ruth. Anne and Ruth's brother Theo take a boat to a small island by the house. Anne gets worried when Theo is gone for a long time looking for newts, and she yells his name. When he comes back, she is crying from being worried. He kisses her, and she realizes that she is in love with him and he is in love with her. Anne decides that it would be bad for Theo to marry her because she is older, even though he has suggested it. She decides that she should try to push him towards Della, who is a young woman who has been writing him letters.
The next day, Theo wants to take Anne out on the boat, but she is worried that he will try to have sex with her and she won't resist. She goes with him, but says that they would never be happy together and that he needs a girl like Della. Anne is worried that Theo just likes her for her body and does not truly want to marry her. They return to the shore, and Anne goes to her room, miserable. She thinks about how much younger Della's face looks than hers, and decides once again that she must shield Theo from herself. A few nights later she is sitting outside when Theo approaches her, and they go out in the boat. They get out at a meadow. Anne decides to succumb to her attraction, and she and Theo begin to kiss. Then, she stops, and lies to Theo, saying that she is stopping because it is not respectable. They return to the house. In the morning, Anne hears Theo swimming and looks outside the window. Theo is swimming naked, and Anne decides she must leave.
Anne goes back to the city, but she keeps thinking about how she wants to marry Theo, and she would not resist anymore. She calls him and asks him to come to her house. When he arrives, she apologizes for leaving him, and says that she thinks that they would be happy married. Theo begins to kiss her, and she once again gets scared that he only feels lust for her, so she tells him to leave. Theo soon gets sick with pneumonia, and Anne decides that she must send him a gift. She gets him a few books about a man who sailed around tropical islands, and she sends the books to him. She soon goes to visit Theo, and he loves the books and says that he loves Anne, which gives her some hope.
Next time Anne sees Theo, he has decided that he wants to travel the world because of the books he read. He is distant and excited about his adventures. Anne watches him leave in a steamer and she does not cry but is miserable inside. She wonders if she should have given him the greater gift and married him, because her lesser gift has made him leave her forever. A year later, Ruth jokes to Anne about how Theo has been sending Della real love letters that he truly means, and he says he is coming to get her and marry her. There is a wince in Anne's heart, but she decides that she is happy that her spirit can be intact now that the passion can die.