A young clergyman named Mr. Watson is at the house of Mrs. Beneker, an older, flirty woman; Alec Beneker, her son; and Audrey Beneker, her daughter-in-law. Throughout their conversation, it appears to Mr. Watson that Mrs. Beneker and her son are enemies. Her son keeps drawing attention to the historic nature of the house and suggesting a tour, which seems to make Mrs. Beneker uncomfortable. Mrs. Beneker discusses the value of elders like herself in a post-nuclear-warfare world to teach and care for the youth who would inherit the earth. She discusses bomb shelters. Her son Alec resents her for never having cared fully for him. The clergyman gets the sense that Mrs. Beneker has a secret and that Alec has a nefarious scheme against her.

Mrs. Beneker's secret is that she had a bomb shelter built under their property, with two bunks in case she finds love again, which she hasn't told her son or daughter in law about and doesn't intend to. Alec's secret is that he knows about the shelter and altered it so he could go in through a back panel after she locks it, surprising her and giving her a wake up call about her lofty ideas of caring for youth.