CHAPTER 7
ERRANDS
On Tuesday, a day that broke with a promise of sweltering heat, Mrs Menzies sent Catherine and Lillian out to conduct errands in the city. She instructed them to first head into Finney, Isles and Sons on Edward Street to pick up an order of fabric for Mrs Shaw – who’d succeeded in persuading her husband to let her have a new dress made for the January luncheon. The occasion was only three weeks away.
‘Then you’re to take it straight to the dressmaker,’ Mrs Menzies said. ‘After that, you’ll need to go to the butcher and get a ham hock for tonight’s soup.’
An azure, cloudless sky arched overhead as the girls fastened their bonnets against the harsh blaze of the sun and carried their baskets down to the wharf to await the ferry. Catherine flashed a flirtatious smile at t
