Stephanotis was walking carefully, Aunt Mildred had planted her front garden with so much mint, and with so many varieties, that he felt that he was walking through a fragrant mint jungle. Much as he loved mint tea and especially crystalised mint leaves - he knew that he would smell of mint all day long. Sometimes after he had visited her he felt that even his boots smelt of mint.
He had come to ask her to make him a new hat for the Midsummer Revels. Stephanotis had reached the age, young as he was, when a little courting seemed like a very an entrancing idea. Now everyone knows that having a handsome hat is just the thing to perk up a young gnomes confidence - especially when they are about to ask another gnome if they would like to go for a stroll through the violets. Stephanotis had been practicing his opening request for rather a while, but as he still felt a little nervous, had gratefully accepted Hortensia's advice of asking for a new hat.
Aunt Mildred specialised in hats - after her garden and her mint delicacies (and maybe her elderflower cordial), matching the right hat with the right gnome was her greatest passion. She watched Stephanotis wind his way through the mint garden with a sparkle in her eye - 'feeling frisky is he, well, well, well, the time indeed has come for a courting hat.'
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