A satirical look at the employment of women in the civil service. A bespectacled gentleman returns to the office and is horrified to find the ladies of his employ making pyramids of books, chatting and staring out of the window. One woman tries to disguise the fact she's been smoking, while another reads a copy of Le Follet, the Parisian fashion plate magazine of the 19th century. The floor is strewn with books, abandoned knitting and an overturned ink bottle.