TWENTY-SEVEN
By late August, summer began to signal its imminent return, cool nights and mild days interspersed with bursts of heat that had citizens expressing surprise, as though they’d forgotten Melbourne’s climate had been warming for more than a century. Perhaps it was the result of past and present governments’ insistence that the calendar year remain divided into four seasons, rather than the climatically correct two, but whatever the temperature happened to be on Sunday, August 29 – the date of Janet and Luke’s partnership ceremony – Emma was determined not to be caught out. To that end, her new outfit consisted of a calf-length sleeveless dress with a matching short-sleeved jacket, both made from lightweight turquoise and white cotton that floated around her body like wispy cloud
