George Howell, a cautious and guarded man in his sixties, has made a small fortune for himself over the years rubbing shoulders with the right people in the railroad industry and is now enjoying retirement. He has been left in a wheelchair because of a severe infection some years back. His caretaker, Porcia, claims he is just a doll when you get to know him. Porcia is a young woman just breaking into her twenties who has come to work with Mr. Howell since the end of the great war, although it seems a lot longer. She doesn't talk much of her life before then.