Chapter 34. For the Sake of Love

 ‘Knowing Lalia, an anonymous gift would be best, but how would one go about it?’ Saradoc said at early breakfast the next morning. The gold had been weighed and sacked, the two ponies were waiting, and he was just having a final cup of tea before departing.

 ‘Too bad Frodo cannot simply tip-toe into the Thain’s office and lay the pouch of gold upon the Thain’s desk with a note, slipping away without being seen,’ Rorimac said.

Merry opened his mouth and shut it again without saying anything. It wasn’t his secret to tell, after all...

 ‘Frodo’s in her good books at the moment,’ Esmeralda said briskly.

 ‘How’s that?’ Rorimac grunted.

 ‘You know the auction they had when Bilbo had gone missing and the S.-B.’s took Bag End? Lalia bought two lovely little matching gate-leg tables. She was so disgruntled that she wouldn’t give them back—Bilbo had to buy them back from her, and at a higher price at that!’

 ‘I cannot see how that would make her look kindly upon young Frodo,’ Rorimac said.

 ‘When Bilbo left last September, Frodo brought those very same tables to the Great Smials and presented them to Lalia. (He’s cleaned out quite a bit of the clutter since Bilbo went away.) He’s been “dear boy” to her ever since,’ Esmeralda said. ‘He wrote me about it, seemed to think it quite astonishing, said, “Bilbo ought to have given her those tables years ago; think of the trouble it would have saved him!” ’ Despite the gravity of the situation, all chuckled at the memory of Bilbo’s run-ins with Mistress Lalia.

 ‘Well then,’ Rorimac said, ‘If Frodo’s her “dear boy” there’s a chance this might work. He’s already made a name for himself as generous and thoughtful; it should be no surprise to Lalia that he took it upon himself to pay off Paladin’s debt when he heard of the shunning. The trick will be to get Paladin to accept it.’

 ‘It seems he’ll have little choice in the matter,’ Esmeralda said soberly. ‘His tongue is tied but good.’

 ‘How will Uncle Paladin know the land’s been redeemed?’ Merry asked.

 ‘Ferumbras will undoubtedly tell him. The Thain and the Took are the only hobbits who can speak to someone under the Ban, you know. It would be better if Frodo didn’t visit Whittacres.’

 ‘And Ferumbras will be glad of it, I think,’ Esmeralda said softly. ‘He’s an honourable hobbit. I think he spends most of his time undoing Lalia’s mischief, so far as he can.’

 ‘I’m surprised he asked for Rosemary’s hand in the first place; that was hardly honourable of him,’ Saradoc said.

 ‘Ah, but an animal caught in a snare will sometimes gnaw its own leg off to escape,’ Rorimac said thoughtfully. ‘If Lalia promised him a free rein, I can see him seizing the opportunity even if it tarnished his honour. Perhaps he hoped to make it up in good deeds afterwards.’

 ‘In any event,’ Saradoc said, draining his teacup, ‘I must be off. If I leave now and ride straight through I can be in Bywater before the middle night.’ All rose from the table.

 ‘It would make more sense to break the journey,’ his father said. ‘The debt does not come due for weeks yet, my son. Do not do anything out of the ordinary, or Lalia will hear of it and suspect something. Ride to Michel Delving just as if this were one of your usual visits to the Mayor on my behalf, taking three days for the journey.’

 ‘You have the right of it,’ Saradoc said in chagrin.

His wife smiled and hugged him. ‘You’re a regular Took,’ she teased. ‘So impetuous.’

 ‘It’s the influence of all the Tooks in my life,’ Saradoc replied, returning the hug and reaching an arm out to Merry.

The youngster joined the general embrace, murmuring, ‘Safe journey.’

 ‘And swift return,’ Esmeralda added.

 ‘May the Sun smile upon your road, and the smell of supper greet you on your homecoming,’ Rorimac intoned. ‘Now be off with you!’

***

Pearl rose with the dairymaids and shared their breakfast as if it were any other morning.

 ‘I’m glad to see some colour in your cheeks, Pearl,’ Daisy said, pouring her a cup of tea.

Pearl reflected that she ought to, having pinched her cheeks well standing before the glass this morning. She’d take a brisk walk in the gardens after breakfast to complete the effect. She knew from experience that the exercise in the early-morning chill would bring out the roses in her cheeks and the sparkle in her eyes for all she’d had a short night. Her sleep had been peaceful, for all that, once her mind was made up.

 ‘Here, have some bread twists, and look, it’s gooseberry jam this morning!’ Violet put in, passing the basket of bread and then the butter and jam.

 ‘Mmmm, nearly as good as my mother’s jam,’ Pearl said bravely, biting into her breakfast. Thoughts of mother and home did not bring tears this morning, for she no longer felt helpless and carried about like a leaf on the wind.

The other girls were happy to see her improvement though they had enough sense not to remark upon it. All in all breakfast was a jollier affair than it had been in days.

 ‘I’ll walk you out,’ Pearl said as they rose from table, and she joined in the chatter as she threw her cloak over her shoulders.

 ‘Will you join us this morning, dearie?’ Prim said, for though Pearl did not often risk dirtying her clothes she would sometimes come out to watch them milk and join in the songs.

 ‘Not this morning,’ Pearl answered. ‘I thought I’d take a turn about the gardens, get a lungful of fresh air before being shut up for the morning.’

 ‘Ah,’ Pansy said wisely, exchanging glances with her sister. ‘So that’s how you manage it.’ She added no more and Pearl did not ask her meaning; it was better that way in the corridor where anyone could hear.

After a long walk, Pearl picked up her skirts and ran up the steps to the Great Door and paused at the top, turning round to take one last deep breath of the chilly air. The stars shone down remote in their beauty. She’d always thought the stars a friendly sight back home, but here they were as cold as the stones beneath her feet. She estimated that she had a little more than an hour until dawn. It would be enough for her purposes.

She found Ferumbras at his desk in the Thain’s study, concentrating so intently on the work of his hands that he did not hear her light step. Pearl watched as he wound a delicate wire around a tiny arrangement of feathers. Though his mother seldom gave him a free day for fishing in the Green Hills, the Thain was well-known for the fine flies he tied, works of intricate beauty that were quite attractive to the local trout.

Only when he had finished the careful operation did she clear her throat. Ferumbras looked up. ‘Yes?’ he said absently, and then recognising the intruder he rose politely. ‘Pearl? Did my mother want something?’

 ‘It is not yet dawn,’ Pearl said, and gathering her courage she added, ‘It was yourself I was wanting to speak with, Sir.’

 ‘Very well,’ Ferumbras said. He gestured to the chair by the desk and waited for her to be seated before he resumed his own chair. ‘Would you care for some tea?’

 ‘No, thank you kindly, Sir,’ Pearl answered, looking down at her hands entwined in her lap.

 ‘Very well,’ Ferumbras repeated. When Pearl did not speak further he said, ‘What did you wish to see me about, Pearl?’ He noted the colour that bloomed in her cheeks; the eyes she raised to meet his were clear and luminous. Isumbold would be a lucky hobbit indeed, to win such a gem... at least, once this sad business of her family was resolved.

 ‘I came to see you about...’ Pearl began, and swallowed. This had seemed so simple in the solitary darkness of her room. ‘That is to say, I came to tell you...’

 ‘Yes?’ Ferumbras said encouragingly.

 ‘I will marry you!’ The words came out in a rush, and Pearl added breathlessly, ‘if you’ll have me, that is.’

The expression of polite interest lingered on the Thain’s face for a moment before shock wiped it away. He opened his mouth, but no words came for the longest time. Pearl found her fingers trembling and squeezed her hands together hard.

 ‘I don’t understand,’ Ferumbras said at last.

 ‘You’re in need of a wife, and an heir,’ Pearl said, blushing at the last word in spite of herself.

 ‘What is it that you want?’ the Thain said slowly, his eyes narrowing. He’d never in a million years think of Pearl as the mercenary type.

 ‘I want...’ Pearl said, finding it hard to breathe for some reason. ‘I want...’ she said again.

 ‘Yes?’ Ferumbras said, his voice not quite so kind as usual. Indeed, he had puffed himself up like a ruffled cock about to peck at an intruding cat.

 ‘When the Mistress steps down, you can lift the Ban against my father,’ Pearl managed at last.

The Thain let out a long exhalation that seemed to deflate him back to his usual quiet unassuming self. ‘O Pearl,’ he said, his expression grieved.

 ‘Hear me out,’ Pearl said, sitting straighter in her chair. When he would have spoken, she held up her hand to stop him. ‘I’m old enough to know what I’m doing,’ she said firmly. ‘You don’t need to ask my father—I doubt he’d give his consent, but he’s not talking much these days I’d warrant.’ Thain Ferumbras winced at her choice of words.

Pearl rushed on, determined to do this thing before she lost her nerve. ‘He told me he’d approve any match that was my choice, if it was for the sake of love,’ she said. ‘Well, this is my choice. I’m young and strong, and I’ve been able to hold up well in the face of your mother, wouldn’t you say?’ she challenged him, her chin high.

His nod encouraged her to continue. ‘I’m not so young as Rosemary, not so likely as she would be to die in childbearing,’ she said bluntly. ‘I’ve nearly got my full growth.’ She swallowed down the lump in her throat and added, ‘My father is descended from the Old Took himself, so it’s not as if you’d be marrying beneath yourself. It’s a good match all around.’

 ‘Pearl,’ the Thain said again.

 ‘I know what I’m doing!’ Pearl said stubbornly. ‘You will not find me "fair and fickle and changeable as the wind!" ’

 ‘You are fair indeed,’ Ferumbras said softly, and something in his tone caused her to fall silent. ‘Bold, and courageous, like your father before you,’ he added. As if against his better judgment, his hand rose to touch her cheek, thumb gently stroking the roses blooming there. ‘Very fair indeed,’ he repeated, and sighed. ‘Such a gift you offer, and of your own free will! Shall I take it?’

Pearl raised a hand to cup his against her cheek. ‘Go ahead,’ she said recklessly. ‘What’s stopping you?’

Something came into the Thain’s expression then, an emotion she could not quite read, but it seemed to her that his eyes grew hard and his jaw tightened.

‘You meet all of my mother’s requirements,’ he said, his hand still on her cheek. ‘Good teeth,’ his thumb caressed her mouth, ‘good breeding,’ his eyes surveyed her from head to foot and she blushed under his perusal. ‘A sturdy frame, well-suited to child-bearing.’ She stiffened in outrage and mortification. She had thrown herself at him, she knew, but still, to be treated so! She endured his gaze until he raised his eyes again to hers and nodded, adding, ‘As you meet my requirements.’

Lifting her chin, blinking back tears for she would not cry, she demanded, ‘And they are...?’

 ‘A quick mind, a lively wit, a kind and loving heart,’ he said. Her retort died on her lips as she sat with mouth half-open in her confusion. ‘Very well,’ he added. ‘If this is truly your choice.’

 ‘It is,’ she whispered.

Ferumbras sat back in his chair, taking his hand from her cheek. ‘You are saving your father from more than the Ban, you know,’ he said.

 ‘What do you mean?’ Pearl asked faintly. She could not quite believe that her plan was to succeed.

 ‘Should I die without an heir, he will be the next Thain,’ Ferumbras said. ‘If he is not under the Ban, that is.’ Another facet of Lalia’s revenge that he would take away. Confident that Paladin would never give in, Lalia had imposed an indefinite period of shunning, ensuring that Paladin would be passed over if something were to happen to her beloved son. It would never occur to Lalia that she was doing Paladin a favour.

 ‘But...’ Pearl sputtered, ‘But his grandfather left the Great Smials. I thought...’

 ‘He did not renounce the succession when he took his family away,’ Ferumbras said. ‘Your father is next in line to be Thain, should my line fail.’ He smiled faintly. 'He may not know it, thinking as many would that his grandfather leaving the Smials was enough to release his line from any obligation, but then he has not been reading the dusty old records as I have.'

 ‘But that would kill him!’ Pearl gasped. ‘He loves the land. To leave it, to live enclosed in walls of stone, directing the affairs of hobbits instead of walking the fields...’

 ‘Well then,’ Ferumbras said, taking her hand between his own and patting it gently. ‘I’ll just have to produce an heir to spare him such grief.’

There was a tap at the door and his grip on her hand tightened before he laid it gently upon the desk. ‘The escort is ready,’ he said. ‘We’ll take care of those pesky hogs and be back in time for tea. A formal announcement is the thing, I think.’ Raising his voice, he said, ‘I come!’ Looking back to Pearl, he took her hand once more, lifted it to his lips and said, ‘You have made me very happy this day, my dear. And I bless you for the joy you will bring my mother. Until later, sweet Pearl.’ Speechless she watched him go to the door and yank it open, revealing Isumbold waiting, the new butter-yellow cloak draped over one arm.

 ‘Ready for you, Sir,’ Isum said. He looked beyond to see the blushing Pearl and added, ‘Miss Pearl.’

 ‘Isumbold,’ Pearl said, acknowledging him with a nod, but she had no smile this morning for the head of escort. Nor any other morn, from this day forward, her heart told her. She was pledged to another and must put him behind.