The story is told from the point of view of a small girl who is the niece of the protagonist, the beautiful Begum Jaan. Begum Jaan has had a very depressing life after marriage. Her husband, the Nawab, was much older than her and was thought to be extremely respectable for never having had any encounters with prostitutes. But it is soon revealed that it is because he is interested in boys. Begum Jaan starts to wither but is saved by Rabbu, her masseuse. Rabbu is a servant girl who is not so pretty but very skilled with her hands. She is constantly massaging Begum Jaan’s body in some way. When the narrator is left at Begum Jaan's place by her mother, she realises that despite her past admiration of love for Begum Jaan, there lie many secrets with her.
At night, shadows in the form of an elephant formed by the quilt of Begum Jaan leaves the narrator in fear. In the absence of Rabbu, Begum Jaan’s behaviour changes as she is irritated and sad. The stay at her aunt’s house leaves the narrator traumatised when Begum Jaan not only sexually abuses her in Rabbu’s absence but also when she turns on the light one night as the quilt is shaking and ends up seeing something she didn’t want to see. It is never revealed what that is as the story ends abruptly.
All this sheds light on the relationship between the two women which is hinted at throughout the story but never explicitly confirmed.
