The poem satirically follows an elderly millionaire who courts and secretly marries a lively young widow, portraying their quiet domestic life and the scandalized reactions of family, the press, and society. Arranged in numbered lyrical sections, it mixes comic moralizing, social observation, and pointed lampoons of hypocrisy, vanity, and fashionable affectation. The narrator criticizes gossip and public pretensions while reflecting on human delusion, love, and the performative nature of rank and reputation, using rhythmic verse and anecdote to expose foibles in courtship, marriage, and high social life.