The two live quietly in a small apartment in London. Their income is adequate, Anne fulfills her duties as a mother, and Zoe goes to school. Neither seems depressed or unhappy. They both, in fact, resent intrusion into their peace. They wait only for direction.
All motivation is external and both women seem completely contented in their passivity.
The pattern of their lives provides the security in which both of the women survive. When Simon, a gentleman introduced to Anne by her former husband's two sisters, asks her to marry him, she accepts. He is an older, kind man and it seems the right thing for her to do. Zoe supports the marriage without question, and loves her new father as completely as she is able. When Simon dies, Anne and Zoe find very different, yet equally effective, ways of coping.