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"Don't worry. The courthouse staff are expecting me and they are always happy to see the Attorney General."
Gladdy had some ideas:
"We can drop in on some of the clubs. The Union has members in all of the and the managers welcome me. We can say hello in the clubs at Manly and then go back to Harbord for lunch."
The day sped on in a whirl of smiling faces and outstretched hands. The staff at the courthouse were courteous, if a little cautious, in the presence of their Minister--the First Legal Minister of the State. We did not interrupt their work for long, hurrying on to the three clubs on the far side of Gilbert Park: The Civic, The Rugby Union and The Manly Diggers.
Each of these clubs represented an aspect of the conservative establishment; The Civic was the newest, having been founded during the fifties by some of the Corso traders who were recent arrivals, the Rugby was old school tie and old money, and the Manly Diggers was a bastion of the old soldiers. I had never been through the doors of any of them.
Gladdy confidently led the way inside the Civic, using her member's key to unlock the glass front door. We climbed several flights of carpeted stairs to the main bar. The manager emerged from his office at the rear and seemed delighted to see Gladdy, who greeted