The quality of mercy is not strained,
It droppeth as the gentle rain from heaven
Upon the place beneath. It is twice blest;
It blesseth him that gives and him that takes.
'Tis mightiest in the mightiest. It becomes
The throned monarch better than his crown.
  --Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice, Act IV, Scene I

***

Chapter 1. Making Preparations

 ‘I’m sure I’ve forgotten something,’ Diamond said absently.

 ‘We have packed up enough possessions to remove to Gondor permanently, bag and baggage,’ Pippin responded.

 ‘I’m sure it’s something important,’ Diamond persisted.

 ‘My love, they have markets in Gondor and many places between,’ Pippin said. ‘Bree, for instance.’ He nuzzled the back of his wife’s neck. ‘Sarn.’

 ‘Stop that!’ she slapped ineffectually at him.

Another kiss. ‘Edoras.’

 ‘Pip! How can I concentrate when you keep distracting me?’

 ‘It’s a holiday, Diamond! What can happen? If you chance to forget something, very likely someone else has packed two of them, or the King or Queen will conjure whatever you need out of mid-air, or...’

 ‘They’re not wizards,’ Diamond snapped, ‘and you’re not helping!’

 ‘I’m not?’ Pippin said softly, breathing in her ear.

 ‘You’re hopeless,’ Diamond said.

 ‘O yes,’ Pippin breathed. ‘Hopelessly in love with a farmer’s daughter. And about to go on holiday, leaving the Great Smials to muddle along without me. Hopeless indeed.’ He released her hair from its net and twined his fingers in the cascading curls.

 ‘Pippin, be serious!’

 ‘I am always serious,’ he said, and chuckled when she snorted. ‘My dear, our illustrious cousin Bilbo left on his adventures without even a pocket-handkerchief, in a borrowed hood and cloak in the bargain! He came out all right.’

 ‘Yes, but...’ Diamond tried to protest as he tickled her ear.

 ‘And the Dwarves and their burglar set out from Rivendell fully provisioned, with excellent ponies and all they needed for a long journey, and what happened?’

 ‘They lost everything in the mountains,’ Diamond said.

 ‘O aye,’ Pippin whispered. ‘Got away with just the clothes they were wearing...’

 ‘Stop that!’ Diamond said with another slap. ‘We leave on the morrow and I still have to...’

 ‘And then,’ Pippin said, ‘look at the Travellers, why, we left Rivendell fully provisioned...’

 ‘Why do I get the distinct feeling we ought to avoid Rivendell?’ Diamond broke in.

 ‘And we left bags and baggage behind at the entrance to Moria,’ he added. She closed her eyes in spite of herself as he played with the curls on her neck. ‘And we came out all right in the end, didn’t we?’

 ‘Somehow you’re making sense, and it worries me,’ she said. He chuckled and his arms went around her.

Sandy, the Thain’s personal hobbitservant, opened the door a crack and quickly and quietly closed it again. Going back to the visitors waiting in the Thain’s sitting room, he said, ‘I’m terribly sorry, sirs, but the Thain is deep in matters of importance and cannot be disturbed. If you’d like to leave a message...?’

***

 ‘What is Gondor like?’ Pimpernel asked again as she brushed little Peregar’s curls. Of course, they would not stay brushed for more than a few moments, but then she wouldn’t see the little lad for some months.

 ‘Can’t I go play now, Gran?’ the tiny one lisped.

 ‘Mayn’t I?’ Pimpernel corrected absently.

 ‘Mayn’t I go play now, Gran?’

 ‘Mayn’t I go play, if you please?’ Pimpernel said.

 ‘Stop torturing our grand and send him off,’ Ferdi said. ‘He looks entirely too clean for comfort.’ To the tiny tot he said, ‘Go on with ye, and don’t return until you’re properly covered with dirt!’

Rudivar laughed as his littlest son joined the rest in darting out the door to his parents’ suite. ‘You know where they’re bound, don’t you?’

 ‘I’ve a good idea,’ Ferdi said with a twinkle in his eye. ‘Would it have to do with the waggonloads of sand that were dumped in the corner of the yard yesterday, to be spread on the yard and on the streets of Tuckborough in the event of ice this Winter?’

 ‘It would,’ Rudivar said with a grin. ‘But my dear wife will deal with the sand and the mess.’

  ‘Indeed she will,’ Laurel said stoutly, on her way out of the suite to join the stream of children and their cousins on their way out to the yard. ‘She’ll turn the bathing over to her husband, I think; that will be dealing with it quite efficiently!’

 ‘I can see why you married her,’ Ferdi said. ‘She’s the perfect helper in the running of Bridgefields.’ Rudivar and his wife, Master and Mistress of Budge Hall, were responsible for the welfare of the hobbits who lived near Budge Ford in the little communities surrounding the ford. The Quarry owned by the Bolger employed a great many of the local hobbits, and Rudi acted as magistrate to decide any differences that could not be settled between two disagreeing parties.

 ‘Are you all ready for the departure in the morning?’ Rudi asked.

 ‘I have all I need,’ Ferdi said, sitting down beside Pimpernel and putting his arm around her.

 ‘What is Gondor like?’ Pimpernel asked again, leaning her head against her beloved.

 ‘Big,’ Ferdi said. ‘Everything’s twice as big as it ought, excepting the special apartments the Queen ordered built on the ground floor of the palace.’

 ‘Rather like Lake Evendim, I’d imagine,’ Rudi said, leaning against the doorframe, ‘or Fornost, or Bree.’

 ‘Something like that,’ Ferdi said, leaning his head back and closing his eyes. ‘Only much, much bigger. Why, the White City is as big as a mountain!’

 ‘Imagine that,’ Pimpernel said, and shivered.

 ‘Throw another stick on the fire, will you, Rudi-lad?’ Ferdi said, rising instantly to fetch his wife’s shawl and drape it tenderly over her shoulders.

 ‘I am well, indeed I am,’ Pimpernel protested.

 ‘Of course you are, Nell-my-own, for if you were not there would be no departure on the morrow,’ Ferdi said firmly.

 ‘You’d make the King and Queen and Thain and Master and Mayor all wait on me, should I so much as sneeze?’ Pimpernel said with a smile.

 ‘Indeed I would,’ Ferdi answered.

 ‘I believe you would,’ Pimpernel said, raising an eyebrow.

 ‘Didn’t I just say that?’ Ferdi said. Turning to Rudi, he said, ‘You will help Faramir in running the Shire whilst the Thain is in the South, won’t you?’

 ‘The Shire will still be here when you all return,’ Rudi said.

 ‘I’ll hold you to that,’ Ferdi said, shaking a warning finger. ‘Now go and make a sand-castle with your sons before the morning’s gone!’

 ‘Yes sir!’ Rudi said smartly, and standing up from the doorway he marched away.

***

Note to readers: It is awkward to cover "background" material without disrupting the flow of conversation. Therefore I have added a chapter of notes to the end of the story. Thank you for your patience.