human
I know you are enjoying Mrs. De Castro and her lovely home, said Fritzie to Alice.
gpt
Of course, she added as Alice assented,
human
The Towers is on a much grander scale. But I think Black Rock is the ’homiest’ place on Second Lake. I suppose since I saw you yesterday you have been all around?
gpt
Not quite; but I’ve met many lovely people.
human
You can’t help liking Second Lake people. They are a kind-hearted, generous set--notably so for people of means.
gpt
Aren’t such people usually generous?
human
People of large means, perhaps, yes. Indeed, the only trouble here is, there are too many of that sort. Everybody is prosperous and everybody, with, I think, two exceptions, contented. I, laughed Fritzie,
gpt
Everything over here is pretty,
human
The place takes its name, ’The Hickories,’ from the grove back of it. You see there was nothing about the Lake itself to serve the purpose of a country club--no golf course, no polo field. All this stretch of the eastern shore is a part of The Towers estate, but Mr. Kimberly was good enough to set it apart for the rest of us--you have met Mr. Robert Kimberly?
gpt
Neither of the Mr. Kimberlys as yet.
human
There is Charles now. Fritzie indicated a smooth-faced, youthful-looking man coming in through one of the veranda openings.
gpt
That is he speaking to Dolly. They call him the handsome Kimberly.
human
For a man that’s rather a severe handicap, isn’t it?
gpt
To be called handsome?
human
It suggests in a way that good looks are exceptional in the family, and they are not, for their sister, Mrs. De Castro is very handsome, I think. Which brother is this?
gpt
The married brother; the other is Robert. They call him the homely Kimberly. He isn’t really homely, but his face in repose _is_ heavy. He is the bachelor.
human
Mr. MacBirney tells me he is completely wrapped up in business.
gpt
Rather--yes; of late years.
human
That, I presume, is why he has never married.
gpt
Perhaps, assented Fritzie with a prudent pause.
human
Some men, she went on somewhat vaguely,
gpt
I should think that kind of a man would be tiresome.
human
Robert is deliberate but not a bit tiresome, was all Fritzie said in answer.
gpt
Indeed, he is not communicative.
human
I didn’t mean in that way, explained Alice.
gpt
I should only be afraid a man like that would take himself so seriously.
human
He wouldn’t know what that meant. You had music at your dinner to-night.
gpt
Lovely music: the Hawaiian singers.
human
I was sorry I couldn’t be there. They always come out to sing for Robert when they are in the States, and they are always in dreadful financial straits when they get as far from home as this, and he is always making up their deficits. They used to sing at The Towers, from barges on the lake. But The Towers is hardly ever opened nowadays for a function. The music over the water with the house illuminated was simply superb. And the evening winding up with fireworks!
gpt
There is Robert now, she continued..
human
Do you see him? With Mrs. Charles Kimberly. They are devoted. Isn’t she a slip? And the daintiest little thing. Robert calls her his little Quakeress--her people were Quakers. She seems lost among the Kimberlys--though Robert isn’t quite so tall as his brother, only more muscular and slower.