She and plump Mrs. Frederick Penhallow did most of the talking . Mrs. George Penhallow being rather out of it by reason of her newness . She was George Penhallow 's second wife , married only a year . Hence , her contributions to the conversation were rather spasmodic , hurled in , as it were , by dead reckoning , being sometimes appropriate and sometimes savouring of a point of view not strictly Penhallowesque . Romney Penhallow was sitting in a corner , listening to the chatter of the women , with the inscrutable smile that always vexed Mrs. Frederick . Mrs. George wondered within herself what he did there among the women . She also wondered just where he belonged on the family tree . He was not one of the uncles , yet he could not be much younger than George . `` Forty , if he is a day , '' was Mrs. George 's mental dictum , `` but a very handsome and fascinating man . I never saw such a splendid chin and dimple . '' Lucinda , with bronze-colored hair and the whitest of skins , defiant of merciless sunlight and revelling in the crisp air , sat on the sill of the open window behind the crimson vine leaves , looking out into the garden , where dahlias flamed and asters broke into waves of purple and snow . The ruddy light of the autumn afternoon gave a sheen to the waves of her hair and brought out the exceeding purity of her Greek outlines . Mrs. George knew who Lucinda was -- a cousin of the second generation , and , in spite of her thirty-five years , the acknowledged beauty of the whole Penhallow connection . She was one of those rare women who keep their loveliness unmarred by the passage of years . She had ripened and matured , but she had not grown old . The older Penhallows were still inclined , from sheer force of habit , to look upon her as a girl , and the younger Penhallows hailed her as one of themselves . Yet Lucinda never aped girlishness ; good taste and a strong sense of humour preserved her amid many temptations thereto . She was simply a beautiful , fully developed woman , with whom Time had declared a truce , young with a mellow youth which had nothing to do with years . Mrs. George liked and admired Lucinda . Now , when Mrs. George liked and admired any person , it was a matter of necessity with her to impart her opinions to the most convenient confidant .
In this case it was Romney XXXXX to whom Mrs. George remarked sweetly : `` Really , do n't you think our Lucinda is looking remarkably well this fall ? ''
George Lucinda Penhallow Penhallowesque Penhallows Time afternoon dahlias girlishness newness