The story begins with the narrator’s description of a grand house in Buenos Aires. He and his sister Irene live there together. The house has been in their family for several generations and is large enough for a big family. It is so large that the two siblings spend five hours each day cleaning. The narrator speculates that the daily maintenance the house requires is the reason he and Irene never married. He once had a girlfriend named Maria Esther, but she died before he could propose. Irene turned down two different men for marriage over the years. The narrator and Irene are now in their forties and plan to live in the house until they die. He suspects that after their death a distant relative would have the house demolished for its valuable materials and plot of land. He thinks about knocking it down before that can happen.  

Irene spends a lot of her time knitting. Her brother claims that, unlike other women who knit, Irene makes useful garments. He picks out wool for her whenever he goes shopping. While he is out, he often stops in shops to buy books. He loves French literature, but he claims it’s been years since any books worth reading have reached Argentina. One day he finds a chest full of Irene’s colorful knitting but is too afraid to ask her what she plans to do with it. They do not need to work to earn money. Instead, they earn money passively from some distant farms they inherited. 

The narrator describes the house in more depth. It is made up of two wings that are separated by a large oak door. In one wing there is the library, dining room, living room, and spare bedrooms. The other wing includes the narrator and Irene’s bedrooms, the kitchen, and a bathroom. This is where the narrator and Irene spend most of their time. When the door is shut from the outside, the building looks like it contains a small apartment. When the door is open, it is more obvious the house is very large. The narrator explains that there is a lot of dust in the house from the Buenos Aires atmosphere, and it is nearly impossible to keep up with cleaning it.

One evening while the narrator is making a hot drink in the kitchen, he hears a commotion in the back wing of the house. He quickly runs to the oak door and shoves it closed with his whole body, then locks it with a heavy bolt. After, he finishes making the drink and goes upstairs to tell Irene that he has locked the door because he heard intruders who have taken over the back portion of the house. She pauses knitting a gray vest to ask if he is sure. When he says that he is, Irene says they will now have to live on only one side of the house. Over the next few days, the narrator and Irene adjust to living on one side of the house. They miss the things they left behind on the other side, like the narrator’s pipe and French literature books and Irene’s stationary and warm slippers. They are relieved that now the cleaning takes much less time, and they make food together and eat at the small table in Irene’s room. Irene prepares dinner in the middle of the day to be eaten cold later. 

Irene spends her extra time knitting. The narrator does not have his books, so he reorders his father’s stamp collection. Irene sometimes shows the narrator her knitting. The narrator sometimes shows Irene the stamps. Eventually, they stop thinking much. At night they can hear each other’s smallest movements even though their bedrooms are separated by a living area. Irene talks in her sleep, which the narrator finds alarming. Irene tells the narrator that he flails in his sleep and kicks off his blankets. The small noises make it hard for them to fall asleep. During the day it is quiet except for the regular sounds of knitting. The narrator and Irene talk loudly in the kitchen and Irene even sings lullabies. The narrator thinks kitchens tend to be noisy places in general. The kitchen shares a wall with the part of the house that has been taken over by the intruders. When the narrator and Irene are in the other part of their wing, they are quiet so as not to disturb each other. Their days become routine and repetitious.

One evening while Irene is knitting, the narrator heads to the kitchen for a drink of water. He hears the sound of intruders either in the kitchen or the bath. Irene comes up beside him and they listen to the noises grow louder. Abruptly, the narrator and Irene flee. The narrator takes Irene by the arm and forces her to run. They leave the house and shut the door behind them. Irene says their section of the house has been taken over. She realizes the thread of yarn that is attached to her knitting is trailing under the door. The bulk of the yarn is still trapped inside the house. Irene then drops the knitting. The narrator asks if Irene has brought anything, and she says that she hasn’t. The narrator remembers he left a lot of money in the house. He looks at his watch and sees it is late at night. He locks the door so that no unfortunate robbers will be able to enter the house, and he throws the key into the sewer. He feels terrible and suspects Irene is crying. Finally, he leads Irene away into the street.

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