She cared for her ailing brother day in, day out.

The house party included Mr., Mrs., and Miss Radcliff, Masters Richard, Victor, and Miss Valmai Jenkins (Herbert Park), Mr. Trevor and Miss Giblin, Mr. Philip and Mr. Edgar Belfield, Miss Jones, Miss M. Jones, Mr. and Mrs. Charlie Simpson and their daughter, Miss Manning, Miss Brennan, and Mr. Godfrey Jenkins.

Launched last March, the H.C.C. is similar to a country club-except, instead of playing golf, members take joyrides or leisurely weekend trips in any of the top-of-the-line cars housed in a Century City garage.

First came the plague, then the flood, and now the fire. This has been a biblical summer, one where the doomsday warnings of climate scientists have felt increasingly close to the bone.