Once the call has ended, Edith supposes that this arrangement gives her enough time to get ready before he'll arrive. When she doesn't know where they're going or what they're doing, she can't be sure how to plan accordingly, but still, she wants to look nice, or at least put together, and there's the weather to consider, too. The dress she settles on has light fabric and short sleeves, the skirt falling to her knees, one in which she thinks she'll be comfortable without being — or feeling — too immodest, and she pins her hair up so it won't hang too heavily over the back of her neck. In this heat, it's been a necessity of late.

Stepping out onto the sidewalk, her expression turns apologetic when she sees Thomas already standing there. "No, I should, for making you wait," she says. "You haven't been here too long, have you?"