What metaphors are used in Lust by Susan Minot?

The title of the short-story comes from a detail the woman finds in a photograph. The photograph shows the man's previous lover wearing a toque with a feather. This informs the woman that she is neither the first, nor the last, lover of the man. In a parallel metaphor, the woman later leaves her own tortoiseshell comb hidden in the house so her successor will receive the same experience.