None of them wanted sleep yet. Augusta offered some more food and wine and they chatted amiably. Augusta asked Snowdrop if she had ever seen the delicate little flower whose name she had taken, “Back home it’s a flower that comes in winter, before all the others,” Augusta said.
“Snowdrop always comes first,” Poppy said, giggling. Snowdrop pushed her. “Oh, stop it,” she cried in protest, giggling too. Poppy said that Snowdrop was a dressmaker. “Perhaps she would make something for you,” she added.
Augusta wanted to know about the clothes they wore. Where did the materials come from? Snowdrop explained that of course they had wool from the sheep, though never enough of it. But wool was too warm for the clothing they mostly required. The island had a pleasant temperature all year round; clo
