The story begins with a description of two wealthy, middle-aged women at a table on a restaurant balcony in Rome. After glancing at one another, both women gaze down at the majestic view with the same mildly disinterested, but content expression.

They hear their daughters laughing to each other as they descend the stairwell to the piazza beneath the restaurant. The first girl urges the second to hurry along and "leave the young things to their knitting." The second girl, "Babs," admonishes her, saying she doubts they'll actually be knitting. Babs says she meant the words figuratively, because, after all, their mothers haven't much else to do.

As the voices trail off, the women on the balcony glance at each other, embarrassed. The smaller, paler woman breathes her daughter's name - Barbara ("Babs") - in a scolding tone, and the fuller lady with the darker...