It was the kind of afternoon that unfolded slowly, with no rush and no demands. Out on the bay, the men drifted in their boat, oars dipping lazily into the water. On the dock, the ladies sat shaded beneath a parasol, their conversation as soft as the breeze. Along the shore, the children knelt in the sand, delighted by the seashell they had uncovered, as though it were a treasure left just for them. It was an unhurried afternoon that seemed to stretch endlessly beneath the crisp, autumn skies.