Jean and Lionel are in a rowboat. Lionel seems to be having more than a little trouble with the oars. She observes that he's not very good at rowing and asks if she can give him a hand. He says no and she speculates that masculine pride might be at the root, but he assures her that reason dictates they not trade places or else both will be in the water. She suggests that they just float about for a while, but Lionel wants to get out of sight of the man who is standing at the edge of the water alongside the boat rental hut. He had earlier tried to help Lionel when they first got into the water. Lionel knows that the man knows he doesn't know the first thing about rowing. And Lionel refuses to let anyone help him and feels worse because he knows he looks foolish. Jean knows it all comes down to vanity. When she looks over her shoulder to see the hut she's surprised they are so close to where they started.
Jean continues to laugh at Lionel, something which makes him increasingly agitated. He tells her to stop making her knuckles go white -- a phenomenon caused by her hanging on so tightly. He tells her that it doesn't inspire confidence. She thought he said he could row. He has trouble with one of the oars. She laughs again. He wonders whether or not they should send up a flare. Jean just wants him to turn the boat around so they could get back to shore and have some something cool to drink. Lionel starts rowing using only one oar. This results in their continuing to circle around. Jean looks at him. Water splashes. Lionel grins: he was doing it on purpose. He enjoys it.. She tellings him more than once to stop. After a couple of circles he looks rather pleased with himself: "If this was a tiny, circular lake I'd be rather good. " During the brief course of his attempt at good humor he falls over backwards and one of the oars is seen floating in the lake.
A few moments later we revisit the gentleman man who we saw earlier standing beside the hut. This time, however, he's in his own boat, which is towing the one in which Lionel and Jean are sitting. Lionel is hanging his head. Jean splashes him with water, but he doesn't find it amusing. She covers her mouth, but can't stop from laughing. She tries to keep a straight face and heaves a huge sigh in order to choke back the laughter.
Jean and Lionel are in a restaurant. He says he thought she was thirsty, but she's not drinking because he got her cider again. She told him not to apologize because at least it shows he remembered back then when she used to like it. Back then he could do anything, he tells her. He could run, jump, spring. She doesn't remember his springing. He could have, if he'd wanted to. She wonders if he means like Zebedee in the Magic Roundabout: boing, boing boing. It's not funny -- now every day a bit of him hurts. "Which bit?" she playfully wants to know. He itemizes his aching body parts -- shoulder, elbow, knee. She looks over her shoulder, first right, then left. 
LIONEL: What are you doing?Lionel explains that women are quite different from men in the sense that women don't do as much running, jumping or springing as men. Actually Jean thinks that makes them appear to be pretty clever. He tells her he thought she was very "nifty" back then and can't remember her doing anything physical. Coyly, she says she has no intention of prompting him. He gets her drift and says "that goes without saying." He feels old -- there are a lot of things he can't do any more. He doesn't think he'll be able to protect her. She encourages him to cheer up.
JEAN: "I just wondered if there was an intensive care unit nearby."
Jean comes home and tells her daughter what happened on the lake. Judith makes her some tea. She says she's going on the lake with a crowd later that afternoon. They're going on a boat to Greenwich. Judith observes that she looks tired and Jean has to admit she is. They went on a long walk after their ride. Judith says people of her age should stroll. Jean glares at her and tells her to pour the tea. Jean actually thought they were going on a stroll but Lionel kept walking faster and faster. He was still upset about the experience on the boat and still complaining about all the things he was no longer able to do. They went twice around the path at top speed -- in fact they passed horses. She was angry with Lionel for making her feel old too. Judith sees that Lionel has really depressed Jean and she asks her to join her that afternoon on the river. Jean has had enough of the water for one day. She said she'll have a bath. Judith points out that that's IN the water. "At least I won't be towed anywhere," Jean says. The phone rings. Judith speculates it might be about the delivery of her bath chair. Instead, it's Lionel. Judith tells her it's the Ancient Mariner.
He begings by continuing his complaining. Jean rolls her eyes. He asks her something about "tomorrow." She says she's definitely free: what were they going to do -- row the Atlantic? She's surprised by what he said and obviously pleased. Judith can't wait to hear. They're going to Hampshire. Lionel wants her to meet his father. Judith beams.
Lionel and Jean are having tea in what Lionel describes as a "plastic palace" because the drinks are not served in real cups and the spoons double as toothpicks. It looks like any fast-food establishment and appears to be inside the railway staton. They're only ten minutes away from Lionel's father's house, but she needs time to collect herself because she's nervous. Lionel tells her that his father is odd. She asks him if his father knew about "us." Yes, he did. Jean wants to know if he told his father at the time. Lionel said he didn't. Jean was miffed: she didn't know what stopped him from mentioning it, unless it was the sudden realization that she was only his "bit of stuff" and had to be hidden away. It wasn't that at all, said Lionel. He never used to go home back when he knew Jean. He used all of his leave to see her. She melts. He says that he told his father about them after Korea. His father thought he was a bloody fool for losing her. Jean said she liked his father. She straightens herself up and after he assures her that she looks fine she leaves without touching her tea. He tells her that it's lucky that Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard didn't meet in a buffet like this: their brief encounter wouldn't have lasted five minutes.
In the taxi Jean mentions that Lionel never talks about his mother. She died 10 years earlier. She wants to know if his mother knew about her. The cab pulls up in front of a huge country home half-covered with vines, definitely not a cottage. Jean observes that it's very grand. 
A thin woman who is dressed completely in black wanders out of the house. She looks very like Margaret Hamilton, the wicked witch of the west in L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz. We learn that is the housekeeper, Mrs. Bale. When Lionel greets her, she merely nods. "Cheerful soul," observes Jean. He suggests that Jean think of her as Mrs. Danvers. They are in the sitting room and Mrs. Bale matter-of-factly advises them that she will make them some piņa coladas and Mr. Hardcastle Sr. will be with them shortly. Jean knows that Lionel described his father as peculiar and rather wonders why he didn't mention Mrs. Bale, who certainly may be described as odd.
This does not give the appearance of a the sitting room in the home of an old man. There's a dartboard on the wall, a jukebox, an old Victrola and a huge pinball machine in the room. Jean comments on all the heirlooms which surround them. He was a "man of fads." She pressed the buttons on the jukebox and it began to play. Lionel unplugged it. His father entered the room and Jean apologized for touching the jukebox. You could tell that he liked Jean the moment he saw her. As soon as Lionel introduced her he said "What a pretty girl!" Frankly, his father didn't look much older than Lionel himself. 
He was a personable man with white beard and mustache, white-haired, but balding and on the heavy side. Mrs. Bale walks in with the drinks and announces that lunch would be served in eighteen and a half minutes. This is only the first of her trademarks. She never rounds the time. And she always tries to be as precise as possible. She doesn't appear to be an unhappy woman -- merely an odd one. She's a bit startling at first, but you learn to overlook it. In fact, if she ever said she'd serve something in half an hour everyone would probably do a double-take. Lionel's father told her to "rock on". He says that he is going to embark on a great adventure soon, but he'll tell them more about it later. Jean takes a sip of her drink and looks horrified. Mr. Hardcastle explains that Mrs. Bale is a sullen creature, but she shakes a great cocktail. He wants to know where they're "up to." I think he means "in their relationship." Their eyes widen at the question and they explain that they're friends. His father says "yes?" expecting more. Jean tells him they went rowing the day before. He tells her he hopes she did the rowing. She lies and says Lionel did a good job of rowing. His father looks at him and tells him he can see why he likes her. He gives Jean a present. She's surprised to find a cricket ball inside the box. His father says that Lionel didn't know he kept it -- he made his first half century whacking that ball around for Winchester in June, 1948. Jean thinks it's a lovely present. As his father leaves the room Lionel mouths "oh it's so sweet." Lionel gives her one of his incredulous looks and mouths back "sweet?"
After lunch Lionel and Jean sit outside. She likes Lionel's father and wonders what he thought of Lionel's wife. Lionel says he brought her to see him several times and it was like mixing oil and water. He tells Jean that his father likes her. She questions whether or not he would have liked her 38 years ago. Lionel tells her he would have chased her all over the house 38 years ago. Mr. Hardcastle comes out and says Mrs. Bale is bringing coffee, unless "you young things" want to play tennis or something. The coffee arrives along with the announcement concerning conditions in the English Channel. Jean wonders why Mrs. Bale passed along that information and they say it's another one of her interests along with Australian rules football. Mrs. Bale will constantly be reporting on temperatures, wind gusts, anything else she happens to hear on the shipping forecast. Lionel's father also has an announcement: he's getting married again. Lionel thinks he's joking and that it's all absurd. He walks off. His father thinks "a lead balloon" is the expression. Senior says that Jean's mouth stayed open for a long time as well. He knows it's because they think he's old. All the more reason, he says to "rock on." Considering their experiences the day before it seems as though Lionel and Jean should be taking lessons from this "old man." He tells her Madge is only 78. They absolutely must meet each other -- in fact Jean must be a bridesmaid. She says he's making her feel like a twenty year old.
Jean walks into the sitting room shortly after Lionel has called the pinball machine "stupid." He's been pouting. He knows that his father has been ingratiating himself to Jean and he's annoyed about his wedding plans. "He's 85 years old," he says. Jean tells him that he can't be Lionel's father, then, because Lionel is 90. Jean likes him because unlike Lionel he spends all his time talking about things he can do. When she mentions that his father is marrying Madge, 
Lionel is confounded. "She's as crackers as he is." Lionel claims that the only time he had the potential for being crackers was 38 years ago when he was with Jean. She finds that really sweet and walks over to the jukebox. She wants to dance. The music starts and they begin to dance together. She wants to know why he was so awful the day before. He attributes it to resentment for all the time they could have been, but weren't together. He mentions that it seems silly to dance in a sitting room. "Almost crackers," she says.
They're leaving and Lionel's father sees them outside. He says he hopes they don't think he's too crazy. Lionel relents and tells his father he wishes him good luck and and informs him that he's prepared to be the best man. His father says there's a problem with that because he's already asked someone else. Lionel's surprised and possibly disappointed. The car arrives and Jean gives Mr. Hardcastle Sr. a kiss on the cheek. He tells her he understands why Lionel is "gaga" over her. "Rock on," he says again. Jean walks to the car and Lionel walks over to say goodbye to his father. Jean overhears him tell Lionel to "marry the girl."
Jean and Lionel are back in Jean's living room. She removes the cricket ball from its box and places it on the mantle. It's the most unusual present she's ever received. He starts to tell her about what his father told him when they left, but Judith walks in just then and he can't finish. Judith wants to know if Jean got the nod from his father. Lionel tells her that that wasn't his purpose in bringing her there. Judith was just being silly. She said Alistair called and they figured that was the reason for her giddiness. Judith said the message was for Lionel and that the book launch had been advanced a week. Lionel has doubts, but Judith says that Alistair sounded very positive. They tell Judith that Lionel's father is getting married again. Judith thinks it's great, that one should grab it while one can, but Lionel says he can only be expected to live two or three more years at best and wonders why bother, particularly since they've been having an affair for the last 6 years at least. They giggle at Lionel for being so straight-laced. She says she wants to hear more but she's leaving to meet Alistair for a drink. They look surprised. "You looked just like parents then," she says. She tells them to be good, reminds herself she shouldn't be saying that and then walks off.
Lionel says he has to go home and read the "Bible" that Alistair gave him - "101 Ways to Look Like an Author". Jean agrees that he should read it. As he begins to leave he stops and asks if she has ever considered marriage. She says she must have done since she was married once. He's talking about recently. Once again, neither wants to be the first to own up. She says no. He looks disappointed. "Nor have I" he adds to protect himself. He explains about what his father said. She wants to know if he's proposing. 
He says no -- but in such a way that you figure if she would have brought marriage up first he would have said yes. His father sees things too simply, he says. Jean wants to know if he has an opinion on the subject. "Do you?" is the answer. "I asked first" she says. He finally says that he's too set. It's too late. She walks him to the door, another kiss on the cheek and goodbye. She walks sadly into her living room, takes a deep breath and sighs, removes the cricket ball from the mantle and replaces it in its box. "Too set," she muses.