Francesca Bassington is a somewhat cold and self-contained society woman who values her home and possessions above all else. She lives in a house that was left to a young, underage heiress, Emmeline Chetrof, and Francesca is free to continue living there until Emmeline gets married. Well contented to continue living there forever, Francesca is trying to find a way to stay in the house, maneuvering with her son Comus, a self-centered young man whose irresponsibility may have been excusable and endearing when he was young but whose flippancy and fecklessness has now become a sore point between him and his mother