SATURDAY 3/6/12

Apparently Scott could not get away from work (he is an insurance broker) until after lunch, when they again catch the 2pm train down to Thirroul, arriving about 4.30pm. They walk together towards Craig Street, stopping to watch a (Rugby League) football game on Thirroul oval. [...On the field the blues and the reds darted madly about, like strange bird-creatures rather than men. They were mostly blond, with hefty legs, and with prominent round buttocks that worked madly inside the little white cotton shorts...] It is likely that Lawrence had invited Scott to stay at "Wyewurk", in the spare bedroom, in which case he would have had dinner there, and perhaps a game of draughts with Lawrence, there being no chess set in the holiday cottage, before retiring. By now, Lawrence and Scott were developing a friendly relationship. Scott may have even mentioned Lawrence to his superior in the King and Empire Alliance, Sir Charles Rosenthal, and obtained his go-ahead to make him a tentative job offer. We do not know if Lawrence ever seriously considered working on Scott and Rosenthal's publication, or whether he was merely "stringing them along" to get material for the book he had by now started to write. (There is no sign of anything perhaps written by Lawrence in any issues of their monthly journal, King and Empire.)

SUNDAY 4/6/22

It is probable that a number of Sydney people had come down to Thirroul for the long (King's Birthday) weekend, and that most of the town's holiday cottages were occupied. The weather is balmy (64 degrees at midday). It is on this day, or the next, that Scott begins to tell Lawrence about the secret army that lurks behind the King and Empire Alliance (of which Scott is treasurer, and deputy to Rosenthal). Apparently - if the text is to be believed - this revelation takes place on the beach below "Wyewurk". [..."I say," Jack turned his face. "I shan't be making a mistake if I tell you a few things in confidence, shall I?" ...] Up to this point, Lawrence is, apparently, intending to write whatever he meant by "a romance" - probably some sort of fictionalised diary of personal events (and thoughts). But after Jack Scott begins to inculcate him into the secrets of the King and Empire Alliance and its secret army ("the garage"), he has a very different plot in prospect. [..."Well now," he said in Somers' ear, in a soothed tone. "There's quite a number of us in Sydney--and in the other towns as well--we're mostly diggers back from the war--we've joined up into a kind of club..."] It is likely that Lawrence, and perhaps Scott and others (the house next door, "Wyewurrie", may have been occupied by members of the Friend clan), go for a swim in the still-warm ocean. [...we bathe at midday...] L&F might also have done some shopping for a big lunch they are planning for tomorrow. Perhaps more games of draughts in the evening.

MONDAY 5/6/22

The day of the big King's Birthday lunch at "Wyewurk" (an occasion in those days that was duly commemorated by the non-Catholic element of Australian society - though the lunch was probably also in the nature of a "thank-you" for the help L&F had been given since arriving in NSW). [...Somers knew why Harriet had launched this invitation. It was because she had had a wonderfully successful cooking morning. Like plenty of other women Harriet had learned to cook during war-time, and now she loved it, once in a while. This had been one of the whiles. Somers had stoked the excellent little stove, and peeled the apples and potatoes and onions and pumpkin, and looked after the meat and the sauces, while Harriet had lashed out in pies and tarts and little cakes and baked custard. She now surveyed her prize Beeton shelf with love, and began to whisk up a mayonnaise for potato salad...] Scott is there, together with members of the Friend clan who had brought them down to Thirroul the previous Monday. Scott either catches the late train back to Sydney, or the early-morning one next day, as he will have to be back at work on Tuesday. It is likely that Lawrence fitted in some writing today or yesterday, perhaps when Scott was away visiting the Friends. This seemingly consisted of two sessions, the first - section #2 - from MS p9[a] to p26 (about 3700 words), recording the arrival at "Torestin", to the conversation in the garden with Jack and "Victoria Callcott". The second session - possibly written on Monday morning - consists of his initial observations about Australia and Australians [...In Australia authority was a dead letter....] (section #3, pp 26-33, about 1350 words, to the end of chapter i of the "romance").