Chapter 15. Family Matters

The day before 1 Yule, also called by the Tooks “Last Day”, Pearl was perched high on a step-stool brushing cobwebs from the ceilings in the great room whilst other tweens swept and brushed and dusted and hung the last of the decorations: evergreen garlands with fragrant and colourful fresh fruit wired in, bright ribbons woven together, formed into bows, and fluttering free, and candles by the hundreds awaiting the lighting of the Yule log, when the great hall would be transformed into a wonderland of light and laughter, music and storytelling.

 ‘Pearl!’ a clear voice rang from the door. ‘Miss Pearl!’ She looked to see Baragrim of the Thain’s escort standing in the doorway, searching the bustling crowd of teens and tweens.

 ‘Here!’ she called, and he found her at once. Striding forward, he said, ‘Isum sent me back to tell you... we were riding to Tookbank and encountered your family on their way. They’ll arrive at any moment!’

 ‘O!’ Pearl said, clapping her hands with the lambs-wool duster still in her grasp.

 ‘Steady now,’ Baragrim said, hastily grabbing at her arm to keep her from losing her balance on the high stool. ‘Wouldn’t do to greet them with a broken neck now, would it?’

 ‘No indeed,’ Pearl said with a laugh, allowing him to help her down to safety. She thanked him and he bowed, begging her pardon, but he must hurry to rejoin the escort. With a wink for Violet who was hovering nearby, he was gone.

Taking up her shawl, Pearl hurried to the nearest entrance, craning out the snowy window. Baragrim’s news had come just in time. Within a few moments, a waggon pulled by a familiar team turned into the courtyard from the direction of Tookbank. With a cry of joy, Pearl flung herself out of the entrance.

A small figure launched itself from the waggon as the ponies halted, setting their harness bells jingling a last time with shakes of their heads. Pearl was nearly knocked down by her little brother’s greeting, but she was ready, bracing her feet as Pip reached her and threw his arms about her, hugging her fiercely while chanting her name. She hugged him back just as determinedly, murmuring over and over, ‘O Pip.’

She was only partly aware of her father stepping down from the waggon as a stable hobbit stepped up to take the ponies’ heads. He stopped long enough to help his wife and other daughters down and then his arms were around her, strong and all-enveloping as she’d once imagine a bear’s hug must be. ‘Pearlie,’ he said simply. Was it the wind, or were those tears he was blinking away?

 ‘Come, let’s get you in out of this cold before you catch your death,’ her mother’s voice scolded, and then Paladin’s family was a knot of entwined arms, all hugging at the same time, before releasing one another to enter the Great Smials.

 ‘Your rooms are all ready,’ Pearl said, ‘and tea’s just on, and Mistress Lalia has given me four days’ holiday including today!’

 ‘That’s fine and generous, just what I’d expect of the Mistress,’ her father said jovially.

 ‘Why Pearl, you’re so elegant, I’d hardly have known you,’ Eglantine said after another long hug, putting her daughter back for a good look.

Pearl looked down at herself, thinking, This old dress? It was one of her plainest, suitable for brushing cobwebs. Her hair was tied up in a kerchief and she was sure there was a smudge on her nose.

 ‘You look beautiful,’ Pervinca whispered shyly. This fine and fancy lady was not the sister she remembered.

 ‘You’re a dear,’ Pearl said with an impulsive hug. ‘I’m so glad to see you all! However did you manage?’

 ‘Traded a heifer for some runners for the waggon,’ Paladin said gruffly. ‘We just glided over hill and dale, much smoother than slipping and jolting along on wheels.’

 ‘Wheels are in the back of the waggon,’ Pip said importantly, ‘just in case there’s a thaw before we go home!’ He grinned up at his father. ‘Da thinks of everything!’

Pearl had been so excited to see her family she hadn’t even noticed the runners in place of the wheels. ‘O Da!’ she breathed, thinking of the cost. ‘A heifer!’

 ‘There’ll be more calves born in the spring,’ Paladin muttered. He took his oldest daughter on one arm, wife on the other. ‘Now where did you say that tea was brewing?’

O but it was fine to laugh with her family again. She settled them into the guest suite that the steward had assigned and ordered prepared with bowls of fresh fruit, fragrant evergreens, and flowers from the Great Smials hothouses. Pearl would be staying in the guest quarters with her family until they left the day after 2 Yule. How she had missed them!

After tea was done, Pearl took her family around the Great Smials, ending up at the Thain’s quarters for eventides at the Mistress’ request. Mistress Lalia was at her most gracious, welcoming the farm Tooks, pressing delicacies on them, asking many questions about the farm, praising Pearl to the skies, to her parents’ gratification.

 ‘I know you cannot extend your visit, what with the demands of a farmer’s life,’ she said, gesturing to her son to pour out more tea, ‘but I am so glad for Pearl’s sake that you were able to join us for the festivities.’

 ‘Very kind of you to invite us, Mistress,’ Paladin said, bowing his head politely.

 ‘Your daughter is a treasure,’ Lalia said firmly. ‘Any little thing I might be able to do to bring her joy, is my pleasure.’ She held out a hand to the girl, and taking it, Pearl smiled, thinking of all the trials she’d endured as Lalia’s attendant. Still, she knew how to manage the old harridan, and from the talk she’d overheard, she’d done better than any of her predecessors. She’d be glad to be going home when the terms of the agreement were fulfilled, however. Easy her lot had not been, and she felt she was fully earning her reward.

’Thank you, Mistress,’ was all she answered, meeting her mother’s knowing smile.

After eventides, Pearl tucked young Pip into his bed, spinning a long tale until his eyelids finally drooped closed. She sat awhile longer watching the lad sleep, thinking how sweet he looked, and how she’d missed him. She hoped they’d be able to keep him out of mischief these next few days. She didn’t want anything to spoil the holiday.

Coming out to the sitting room again, she found only her mother and sisters, having a last cup of tea before retiring. ‘Where’s Da?’ she asked.

 ‘Gone to see Ferdinand,’ her mother answered soberly. ‘Many’s the Yule the two of them roasted bacon and mushrooms over the Yule log and talked of their plans and dreams...’

 ‘How’s Ferdi?’ Nell asked softly. ‘And Rosemary?’ she added hastily, with a blush.

 ‘Rosemary seems well and happy,’ Pearl said. ‘She keeps busy, you know, helping the healers with those who must stay in the infirmary, including her father. She feeds him late supper each night, for he eats better for her than for anyone else.’

 ‘And Ferdi?’ Eglantine asked.

Pearl tried to smile. ‘No change from the last letter I wrote you,’ she said. ‘He shadows Rosie nearly everywhere she goes, unless he’s with the woodcarvers. He never speaks.’

 ‘News of the woodcarvers’ bargain has reached as far as Whitwell,’ Eglantine said hastily, seeing tears in Pimpernel’s eyes. ‘Do you think they will lose their bargain?’

 ‘I don’t know,’ Pearl said honestly. ‘They must be finished by sunset tomorrow, when the Yule log is lit, or receive naught for their work.’

 ‘What a shame,’ Eglantine said, for they’d stopped in the great room after eventides to admire the mantel. The carvers had not paused to acknowledge their greeting, but worked steadily even as they answered the few questions Paladin had asked. Ferdi had not been carving with them at the time; he usually sat with Ferdinand from eventide until late supper.

***

After late supper, Gundy Bolger came to Ferdinand’s room. Young Ferdi looked up at the tap on the door.

 ‘Who is it?’ Ferdinand said irritably.

 ‘You remember Gundavar Bolger, father,’ Rosemary said, returning from taking her father’s tray to the infirmary kitchen. ‘He’s carving the mantel in the great room.’

 ‘Yes, what do you want?’ Ferdinand said. At least he went straight to the point.

 ‘I wondered if we might borrow young Ferdi,’ the woodcarver said. ‘We’re coming down to the last stretch of the race, and there’s no guarantee that our pony will finish ahead.’

 ‘Take him,’ Ferdinand said. ‘His constant chatter tears at my nerves as it is.’ Young Ferdi’s lips tightened – the closest he came to a smile in his father’s presence – and he rose, nodding to his father and then to Rosemary.

 ‘Come, Ferdi,’ Gundy said, taking the teen by the arm. ‘We badly need your light touch on the finishing details.'

 ‘Don’t talk yourself hoarse,’ Ferdinand called after them. Gundy’s hand tightened on Ferdi’s arm, but the teen only shook his head slightly, not looking at the woodcarver.

 ‘Are ye ready to retire, sir?’ spoke a quiet voice from the door as Rosemary fixed her father a last cup of tea. It was Tansy, one of Bittersweet’s helpers. She was a young widow, come to the Smials to live off the Thain’s charity, and she was gentle but firm in her dealings with Ferdinand. It was her duty to settle him for sleeping and watch with him through the night.

 ‘Not quite, Tansy,’ Ferdinand said unexpectedly. ‘Let me share a cup of tea with my daughter, and then you may go about your business.’

 ‘Very well, sir,’ she replied with a bob. ‘I’ll just go and see if Bittersweet needs anything else.’

 ‘You do that,’ Ferdinand answered, unusually courteous.

When the helper was gone, he nodded to Rosemary. ‘Close the door, lass,’ he said. ‘I’ve news to share with you, but only with you, for ‘twouldn’t be proper to let it out until the formal announcement is made.’ 

 ‘What formal announcement, father?’ she asked, settling down on the stool beside his bed.

 ‘You’re to be married, my dear,’ he said without further preamble.

 ‘Married!’ she gasped.

Her father chuckled without humour. ‘Don’t look like that,’ he said. ‘Marrying is better than burying, any road.’

 ‘What—Who?’ she said, her head whirling.

 ‘Thain Ferumbras has asked me for your hand, and I’ve accepted him,’ Ferdinand said.

Rosemary’s mouth opened in shock. It would have been a comical sight had she not been so distressed.

 ‘Marry!’ she gasped. ‘The Thain!’ She fought for breath. For some reason, her chest felt too tight to take in air. ‘Father! I’m only four-and-twenty! Mother always said—’

 ‘Your mother is not here; I’m the only one to look after you, and how can I look after you properly, care for you, half-a-hobbit that I am, confined to this bed? The healers won’t even tell me how much time I have left,’ Ferdinand said.

 ‘O, father,’ Rosemary said, but Ferdinand continued.

 ‘This is a better chance than you’ll ever have, my dear. You’ve no dowry, no prospects, and the Thain offers you the highest position a girl of the Tooks could dream to gain... Mistress of Tookland. When Mistress Lalia steps down, or dies – and she will not live forever – you’ll be Mistress, and your oldest son will someday be Thain.’

 ‘Oldest son! But –’ Rosemary said desperately.

 ‘You’re over-young for child-bearing, it’s true,’ Ferdinand said, not meeting her eyes. ‘But you’re strong and healthy, and Ferumbras is desperate to get himself an heir. You’ll be five-and-twenty in the Spring, after all. It’s not as much a scandal as it sounds; why, Lobelia Sackville-Baggins was married at six-and-twenty, I believe, when her parents wanted to secure Otho’s name and fortune.’

 ‘You cannot ask this of me,’ Rosemary said, her voice shaking.

 ‘I am not asking, lass,’ Ferdinand said implacably. ‘I’m telling you. The announcement will be made at the festive breakfast on First Day.’

 ‘No,’ the girl whispered, and eyes filling with tears, she stumbled from the room.

She’d come around, her father told himself. What choice did she have? No more than he had, living on the charity of the Thain.

A few moments later, Tansy poked her head in at the door. ‘Ah, Rosie’s taken herself off already?’ she said brightly. ‘Are you finished for the day?’

 ‘Quite finished,’ Ferdinand said wearily. ‘Quite finished.’