Zoe and Theodore Blundell are the two central characters of the story. Zoe, peeved at the seeming negligence of her husband, retaliates by spending most of her evenings away from home, usually in the company of men. And Theodore, not sufficiently impressed with the truth of the old adage, "There is safety in number," takes issue with her, with the result that quarrel after quarrel occurs. Hon. Peter Mottram, an old friend of Theodore Blundell's attempts to establish a reconciliation between the Blundells, and almost succeeds, when Zoe's petulance overturns his plans, and a wider breach than ever is the result. Finally they separate and Zoe goes to Italy, where she is followed by an old flame, Leonard Ferris, who seeks to bring about a divorce between Zoe and her husband.