The story opens at Mr. McPherson's funeral scene, where his children, James, Ellen, and Adelaide, are present. The children are now grown-ups and have their families and homes, but their spouses are not in attendance because they are attending to other urgent matters on the East Coast. After the funeral, the three children discuss their mother's fate, who is now a widow, and debate who should take care of her. However, each of these children looks at the cost of caring for their mother and the amount they will inherit from their father's estate. Consequently, they view their mother as a burden, and they must carefully do a cost analysis before taking her.
While speculating how much each will inherit from their father, James, Ellen and Adelaide wait for the family lawyer, Mr. Frankland, to come and read their father's will. During this time, their mother, Mrs. McPherson, stays upstairs alone because she asks them to stay downstairs. The reader learns that the siblings never loved growing up at their father's ranch because they argue that there was no affection. No one wants to live there anymore. The siblings start complaining that the lawyer is taking too long, and they are all supposed to return because the train will leave in a few hours.
Mr. Frankland arrives, but before he addresses the family regarding the will, Mrs. McPherson comes downstairs, her face covered in a dark veil, and announces that her husband changed the details of his will. Everyone in the room is flabbergasted and dumbfounded because the room is filled with confusion. Mrs. McPherson explains that in her husband's last days; he signed her as the only beneficiary of all his properties. Mr. Frankland looks at the will and announces that it is valid. However, Mrs. McPherson tells the three children that she has saved enough and can give each child a share of the property in cash, but no one will get the actual part of the ranch or any other property.
Finally, Mrs. McPherson opens the windows to let enough lighting in the room, she removes her black veil, and the children are shocked to see their mother in a traveling suit. The mother tells her children that she does not want to live with them because she has enough savings to travel worldwide and enjoy her life. The children are in disbelief that their mother wants to enjoy her freedom and is not interested in their offers. After all, none of them wanted to accommodate her freely. The story ends when the mother heads to the left and the children head to the right.
