Agnes and Tobias are long married and remain together out of habit. Agnes' sister, Claire, lives with them and takes refuge from life's perils in alcohol and self-lacerating wit. One night Julia, Agnes and Tobias' daughter, comes home, escaping from her fourth marriage. They are visited by Edna and Harry, their oldest friends, who are deeply disturbed by a great shock they have had. The door is locked and Tobias' family is made to recognize how they have lost love through undervaluing it.