Stephanie de Bichette is a frail woman who owns two parasols that she uses as symbols of "regularity" in her simple life. In her tall grey stone house, she is cared for by her maid, Geraldine, and only uses one room per floor of her house. The rest of the rooms are forbidden as they are places where her family members have passed away. Geraldine has an obsession with colored buttons and spends all day taking care of her mistress. She and Mademoiselle de Bichette seem to find comfort in routine. Mademoiselle de Bichette spends most of the day making lace doilies. When she does go out, and it is rarely so, Mademoiselle gets in her carriage and lets her coachman and horse take her through the streets. She arrives home just in time for lunch.  At 6:15, Mademoiselle's brother, Monsieur Charles, comes to the house to pay his sister a visit. Geraldine looks down upon him for living a shabby life with a lowly, promiscuous wife. After having a meal at the house, Charles spends some time pacing in the drawing room, before giving his sister a kiss and heading out.  He returns home and his wife asks him how Stephanie is doing. With little affection, he answers that she is “still hanging on.”