"Suppose." Ellie did like her smart black uniform. If her employer was due to return, she would stand in front of a mirror to make sure she looked just so. "Dad really wants lads to help on the boat though. Us girls aren't much good fer that. So, what ye up to?" Ellie asked picking her next flavour, before tilting the bag towards Anne.

"Thank you," she whispered and she picked a white coloured sweet and studied it, trying to guess the flavour. "Lookin' after t' home, and keepin' our Bram out of trouble, and laundry" - losing her closest friend - "and the usual stuff. It's nicer now that they're usin' t' nets and I don't have to gather bait. I think I should see if I can pick up a small job. Do ye know of anyone who needs some housekeepin' just for a few hours?" She put the sweet in her mouth. Peppermint rather than lemons. But also nice.

If her employers were wealthier, Ellie would have suggested Anne get a job with her - It would be fun to work with a friend - But they were not.

"No, sorry. Not I. Have yet tried the newspaper?" she suggested.

"I've looked. But nothing so far. But thank ye," she said. She sucked on the sweet and stared out over the water. "Do ye always want to be a maid then? Do ye not want to get married when yer older?"

Ellie popped a sweet into her mouth, lemon again, and considered her friend's question gazing out onto the water.

"Always a maid? I don't think so. I'd love to meet a handsome man. Rich'd be nice. Be courted proper like and wed. White dress, church bells, you know the whole thing. Like yer sister had." she trailed off, her words lost in a world that was not yet reality. "What about ye? I've seen the way some of the fisherlads look at ye."

Anne blushed. "They don't look at me." At least she hadn't noticed it. But she very much wanted to believe what Ellie said and she decided to pay more attention. It was flattering to think that some lads considered her pretty. "I suppose, if I meet a nice man... in many years time. I... I think I have a lot of other responsibilities first. And I don't think I'd like to... you know... make a baby."

"Oh?" Ellie questioned. She thought having a child was a wonderful goal. Wasn't being a wife and mother the ultimate purpose for a woman? Maybe it was a question of the mechanics of it all, Ellie did not know much of such things. Maybe that desire would change as they got older.

"Do ye want to go to the pavilion and see if there's a band playing or a dance? There may be boys there."

Anne blushed but grinned wickedly at that proposal. The notion that boys were actually looking at her made her eager to see for herself as soon as possible. "Let's!" she said, and she stood up. "How's my hair? Is it alright?" She tucked a lock behind her ear.

Ellie scooted herself back from the edge of the wharf and stood up, dusting herself off. "Yer hair? Yes. just like that." Ellie responded to Anne's own idea of tucking a lock behind her. The young maid smoothed her friend's frock, dusting off the tiny flecks left over from their sugary treat. "There." Ellie took a step back to admire her handiwork. "Look out lads, Anne Ward's on the town!" Ellie giggled.

Anne blushed deeper. Ellie and her had not spent much time together since the other girl had gone into domestic service, but she decided the friendship needed rekindling. Ellie was nice, and full of good ideas. "Ye look very smart yerself." She hooked her arm with Ellie's and made her way in the direction of the band stand.

Perhaps she felt a tiny bit guilty towards Kate.