CHAPTER 41

The musicians struck up the first notes at Reginard’s announcement. As was traditional in most hobbit gatherings, the first dance was a circle dance that required no couples, just rings of a dozen or more dancers. There were several variations on these simple dances and the first one was one of the simplest. Merry and Pippin encouraged the Men to join in.

Legolas needed no encouragement. After his fey mood of the day before had passed, he had made up his mind to enjoy to the fullest everything the Shire had to offer. Laughing he found a spot in one of the circles between Pippin and Pervinca.

Gimli shook his head. “Fool Elf!” he grumbled fondly, before he went over to the sideboards to look for some ale.

With Legolas as an example, Bergil, Artamir, Leodwald and Anwynd also added themselves to one of the dancing circles. Rose smiled at Sam, and also tugged at Frodo. He would have demurred, but Esmeralda snapped “Manners, Frodo!” in a tone of voice he had not heard since he was twenty, and he was startled into obedience.

He found himself between Merry and Estella on one side and Sam and Rose on the other. Suddenly he felt another hand come between him and Merry. He looked over to see his cousin Angelica, who gave him a nervous smile. The music sped up a bit, and his feet remembered what it was to dance.

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In spite of the enthusiasm of the younger lasses and lads, most of the hobbits, especially the older males, were not yet dancing. That is to say, the dance they were doing was not the dance being played by the musicians: they were after information.

Paladin was accosted by Olo Proudfoot and Fosco Hornblower.

“Paladin,” barked Olo, “what was all that nonsense? Why did you give way to all the others?”

Although secretly pleased at the question--it was the reaction they had been seeking after all--the Thain drew himself up and managed to look offended. “Why, because they outrank me, of course! Why else?”

Olo looked startled, but Fosco snorted. “How does Frodo’s gardener outrank you?” he asked skeptically.

“Because by order of King Elessar himself, Frodo and Samwise outrank everyone else in the Two Kingdoms of Gondor and Arnor--of which the Shire is a part. I am told that in his court, he, himself, of his own will, gives precedence to Frodo and Samwise.”

This led to more questions, as Paladin had hoped. Eglantine, my love, he thought, you are brilliant!

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Saradoc found himself similarly cornered by Eglantine’s brother Clodio, and by Dago Bracegirdle. He noticed that they seemed to be avoiding Paladin for some reason.

“So,” said the Banks, with more than a hint of a sneer, “how did it feel to be outranked by your son and your nephews?”

Saradoc drew himself up, a glint in his eyes much like Merry’s when angered. “Proud. It made me feel very, very proud indeed.” He turned away. There would be no explanations for them from him at any rate. He sensed that they would oppose anything Paladin came up with. No need to waste valuable breath on them. But he marked it in his mind and wondered.

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“Captain Targon!” It was Odovocar Bolger and Merimac Brandybuck, both known to him. “How do you think it want?”

The Man laughed. “You tell me, you were there to observe the reactions.”

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Gimli and Adrahil had found the sideboard where the ale was located, and soon availed themselves of refreshment.

Just then they were confronted by two matronly looking hobbits.

“Master Gimli,” said one, “My name is Poppy Burrows; I am the Took family healer, and this is my colleague Lavender Bunce. Please introduce us to your companion; we have a few questions.”

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The circles of dancers went back and forth several times, dropped hands and moved to the center, clapping three times before stepping back out. They repeated the movements as the music went faster, faster and faster, before stopping abruptly, leaving the dancers laughing and breathless.

The next dance was for couples, and Frodo started to move to the sidelines when he was intercepted by Eglantine.

“Come along, Frodo, I want to dance, and Paladin is busy politicking.”

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After the dance, Legolas was on his own; several of the hobbits who had been hitherto friendly were hanging back, no longer certain of how to address him now they knew him to be a prince. He knew this was only temporary, as hobbits, once they had a mind to be friends, could not be formal for long. But for now it gave him a bit of respite.

He noted Gimli and Adrahil talking earnestly to a pair of hobbitesses, and moved to join the conversation.

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The dance was a slow and elegant one, done in sets of two couples. Somehow Frodo found himself and Eglantine dancing with Pippin and Angelica.

Frodo managed to lose himself in the intricate patterns of music and movement, and did not notice the speculative looks Angelica kept giving him.

Eglantine did. Uh-oh, she thought.

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Sam and Rose danced the set with Merry and Estella. Watching from the sidelines, Fredegar was amazed that the two couples did not collide, as they never took their eyes off their partners’ face long enough to see what the other couple was doing.

He wondered if he would ever feel that way about a lass.

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After spending several minutes explaining the precedence to a skeptical Polo Bunce, Reginard found himself having to repeat it all over again for Chico Chubb.

Once he got away, he would have to find Hyacinth. If he did not force himself to dance at least once with her tonight, he would never hear the end of it. If he could get it over early enough in the evening he could probably safely spend the rest of the night in conversation.

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The dance ended, and Frodo escorted Eglantine from the dance floor. He had no sooner relinquished her than Esmeralda took his arm.

“Come along, Frodo. I love this dance, and your Uncle Sara will be tied up for a while.” She glanced over to where the Master was engaged in conversation with Longo and Milo Goodbody.

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It was a fairly simple dance. Pervinca coaxed Bergil. “I will talk you through it; it’s not hard at all.”

“Come on, Bergil, it will be fun!” Pippin had Viola Harfoot, Poppy’s apprentice, on his arm. “Look, we’ve Merry and Estella, Sam and Rose, Frodo and Aunt Esme for our set. No one here who will mind if you are not perfect.”

The males lined up on the right, the females on the left, her right hand lightly clasped in his left. Forward, pause, forward, pause, three steps, pause; clasp both hands, step up, step back, step up, step back, drop hands and three steps backwards…

Bergil concentrated on Pervinca’s counting. Sir Pippin was right, it was fun. And it was not like he was having to dance with a real lass. This was only Sir Pippin’s sister.

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Amethyst and Garnet had been appalled at the trouble Opal was in, and were frightened of getting dragged down with her. And then, when the guests were announced, they were aghast to discover that their Elf was a Prince, though truth to say, they still did not understand why he would be insulted by their interest. Their mother had instructed them to avoid their father, and to keep their mouths shut about Opal, or they could find themselves in disgrace and worse.

Far from enjoying the Ball, they were skittish and jumpy.

“Oh no!” said Amethyst. “There’s Father! I think he’s looking for Mother. Go warn her, Garnet.”

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When Frodo returned Esmeralda after the dance, he was not surprised to be pulled back to the dance floor by Pearl.

He balked.

“Come on, Frodo. It’s ‘Exchanges’; I want to get into a good set.”

“Pearl, why do I get the feeling that my female relatives are in a plot to keep me on the dance floor?”

Pearl looked at him as though he were daft. “Of course we are, you silly goose! As long as you are dancing, you will not be pestered with unpleasant questions you would rather not answer.”

Frodo looked at her, thunderstruck; it would never have occurred to him to avoid the curiosity stirred up by his introduction by dancing. “Ah. Well, come on then. There’s a set forming with Merry and Estella and Sam and Rose.” Now it was he tugging her towards the dance floor. Females! So devious and so practical. Amazing!

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Pippin and Bergil had managed to coax some more of the Men out to the dance floor for ‘Exchanges’, one of the most popular of the dances. He had kept Viola as a partner. Legolas was tempted to join the dance, until he saw that one of those unpleasant cousins--Amethyst, was it?--had formed part of the set. Esmeralda took Bergil, Eglantine found herself with Artamir, Pimpernel and Pervinca also partnered with a couple of the Men.

Soon there were eight sets of dancers, each set consisting of a dozen or more couples, and a great many non-partnered hobbits hovering about the edges of the dancers.

For ‘Exchanges’ was a much a game as it was a dance. The dance itself was dignified and simple to the point of being almost boring. It consisted of couples bowing and crossing over to exchange places with one another, and bowing and crossing back, and moving up the line one couple at a time. But what made it interesting was after the first few measures, hobbits who had not found partners were free to try and cut in, if possible, during one of the exchanges. There were a great many different techniques involved, and much maneuvering to either get into the dance or to avoid being cut out. Often hilarity ensued as two lads or two lasses occasionally tried to cut out the same person, or when a lad would accidentally end up on the lasses’ side of the line, or the reverse.

The music began, and for the first few measures there was no ‘poaching’. But soon the first attempt was made. Pearl and Frodo were agile, and managed to avoid being cut out several times, but suddenly Pearl found her place taken by a determined Angelica Baggins. Pearl retired to the side, to watch her opportunity to get back in. She noticed the look Angelica was giving her cousin. Uh-oh, Pearl thought. She took a chance to cut out a careless Estella. Merry looked at her reproachfully; it wasn’t usually considered sporting to cut courting couples, though married or betrothed couples were considered fair game.

“Sorry, Merry. But I want you to rescue Frodo.” She nodded up the line about three couples to where Frodo and Angelica were. He looked closely. “Uh-oh,” he said. He allowed himself to be cut on the next measure, and then went up to cut his cousin. Frodo looked at him gratefully as he backed away from the dance.

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Legolas stood on the sidelines watching the dance, as Freddy filled him in on the finer points of cutting. Legolas found it very interesting. The dance itself was simple and elegant, and the element of ‘poaching’ made it a challenge. He thought perhaps this was a dance he could introduce to the Elves--of course, he wouldn’t tell them until it became popular that it was from hobbits.

Instead of trying to cut back into the dance, Frodo decided to take the chance for a breather. He walked over to Freddy and Legolas. In order to discourage anyone interrupting, and to give Freddy a chance to practice, they began to converse in Sindarin.

Angelica watched Frodo’s departure with annoyance; she saw the smirk on Merry’s face. She allowed Estella to cut her out at the first opportunity, and wandered over in the direction where Frodo had gone. She had committed herself to this course, and she wasn’t going to be deterred by a few setbacks.

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Clodio and Cado had cut in to a few sets, and quickly been cut out again. Neither of them were very nimble dancers.

“How soon do you think we can safely slip out?” Cado asked his older brother.

“Almost everyone will be on the dance floor for the last dance before they change musicians. That would probably be our best opportunity.”

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Gimli was still conversing with Poppy and Lavender, and had drawn an audience of several other hobbits who did not care to dance. He found he had their rapt attention for his description of the hunt across Rohan for Merry and Pippin.

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Angelica hesitated as she saw who Frodo was talking with. The Elf, and who was that other hobbit? Surely that was not Fredegar Bolger? She had not seen Fatty--or Freddy as most now called him--since well before the Troubles. She remembered being skeptical about his exploits as a leader of the Rebellion. The Freddy she remembered had been a silly ass, always hanging about with poor little Folco Boffin. She had felt terrible about what happened to Folco, but still, he had been a silly ass as well.

But here was Fredegar with a look of intelligent interest, speaking with Frodo and the Elf in another language. He looked quite nice. Still, it was Frodo she had business with. She steeled herself to interrupt.

Frodo saw her approach out of the corner of his eye. Uh-oh, he thought. It had been a few years, but he had not remained a bachelor as long as he had without being aware of the signs of feminine pursuit. Still, there seemed something a bit odd about the determined way Angelica was stalking him tonight. She had never struck him as that type of lass before.

He might as well nip this in the bud.

“Hullo, Cousin Angelica. Have you met Prince Legolas?” Frodo made the introduction.

To her credit, she managed not only to curtsy, but to acknowledge the introduction with a polite “how-do-you-do?” actually meeting the Elven eyes briefly, though she did blush.

“You remember Freddy Bolger, don’t you?”

She blushed again. “It has been quite a while. Yes, I do remember.”

“Pleased to renew our acquaintance, Miss Angelica,” said Freddy with a polite bow. She was a very nice looking lass.

“Cousin,” said Frodo, taking her arm firmly, “why don’t we go take the air on the terrace.”

Since this was exactly what she had been hoping for, she thought, why was she so apprehensive?

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Ponto Baggins watched them with satisfaction. He just knew all his Angelica had to do was put her mind to it. Soon enough there would be more little Bagginses running about the Shire.

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Pimpernel had allowed herself to be cut out of the dance and moved away. It was stuffy; she was hot and a bit tired. She thought maybe it was a good idea to get a bit of air on the terrace, before it got crowded with courting couples.

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Locked in the semi-darkness of her room, Opal had finally cried herself out. She had finished all the water she had been allowed, for tears made one thirsty, but she had not been able to choke down any of the bread.

Why, oh why, had she been so *stupid*? All she had thought of when she saw that box was the chance to get her hands on that necklace. It had not even occurred to her that once she had it, she would never *dare* to ever wear it. And never in a thousand years had she thought that she might get caught, or what would happen if she did.

And now, now, she had no future at all. All she could look forward to was to being marked as a thief. Even if they did not put the mark on her hand, everyone would know anyway; talk would get around, it always did, as she well knew. If this happened to any of her friends or relatives, she’d not hesitate to talk about it.

And worse, what if Paladin did decide to let those Men have a say? She had heard stories of the justice of Men--it was much worse than anything hobbits would come up with.

She looked at her window.

It wasn’t locked.

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