Angela falls off the roof while trying to retrieve Old Tom's golf balls, and is confined to bed. She suggests getting Lavinia to look after the house for them, but Old Tom - fearing how Lavinia might treat him - offers to run the house, instead. In his own way, Old Tom manages quite well. He tidies the house, cooks dinner, looks after Angela and even does the shopping - which is where Lavinia spots him. Suspicious that Old Tom would be allowed to shop on his own, Lavinia goes to Angela's house and finds her bed-ridden. Adopting the air of a martyr, Lavinia insists on running the house, and makes Old Tom's life a misery by making him do all the actual work. So Old Tom fakes an injury and ends up in bed with Angela, while Lavinia has to wait on them, hand and foot.