Chapter 11. Changes

A week later, Reginard knocked on the door just as Diamond and Pippin were finishing breakfast.

'O I thought you were the healers,' the Thain said, looking up in surprise.

'No, they're taking the day off,' Regi answered.

Pippin looked at him sharply. 'Are they giving it up, then?' he asked.

Annoyed, the steward answered, 'No, but Healer Woodruff's become a grandmother for the third time over and I thought I'd give her the day off to enjoy it.'

Diamond put her hand on Pippin's arm. 'You are making progress,' she said encouragingly. 'You know you are, you can do a lot more than wiggle your toes now.'

'O aye,' Pippin said gravely.

Reginard broke in. 'I thought you might like to work at your desk for a change,' he said. 'No reason why you couldn't, if we can get you to it. Besides, Sandy was telling me these rooms need a good cleaning out and he's tired of working around you.'

A tap came on the door, and the servant poked his head in. 'Ready, Sir,' he said.

'Right,' Regi answered. 'You take him from the other side, Sandy; we'll carry him between us.' He spoke now to the Thain. 'Woodruff says that as long as you keep the weight off that bone you'll be fine. But if you try to stand or walk by yourself, you'll undo all the good that's been done and have to spend another month abed.'

'We can't have that, now,' Pippin said, amused that Regi still carried on the charade in front of Sandy. Surely this servant, of all in the Great Smials, knew the secret. But Sandy, if he did know, played along beautifully.

'We'll be sure you don't put any weight on that leg, Sir,' he said.

Diamond kissed him as she rose from the bed. 'I'll see you at elevenses, then,' she said, and frowning at Regi, she added, 'Make sure he eats a hearty second breakfast.'

'Hearty?' the Thain mouthed to his steward, eyes wide with mock alarm. The steward gave a firm nod, and Diamond smiled.

Regi and Sandy lifted him between them and carried him out of the room. After a few turns, he said, 'This isn't the way to the study.'

'O yes,' said Reginard, 'Been meaning to talk to you about that. Your study needed a thorough clearing out, and things are a bit downside up there right now, so we've fixed up a temporary study for you until the paint dries.'

'You've had a month to do the work, plus the two weeks we were at Buckland,' the Thain said mildly.

'Ah, but the paint is that slow to dry, you would hardly believe it,' the steward answered, and Pippin decided to leave the subject alone.

They brought him to one of the outward facing rooms of the Great Smials, with large windows set in the bank affording a panoramic view of Tuckborough and the Green Hills beyond.

'Last I looked, this was the best parlour,' the Thain commented. He noted that most of the parlour furniture had been removed and it looked as if his entire study had been moved here, desk, bookshelves and all.

'Ah, well, the Mistress decided she didn't like the wallpaper so she had the parlour changed to another room,' Regi said easily. They settled him at the desk, which was turned to afford a comfortable view from the window. 'Thank you, Sandy, that'll be all for now.'

'Yes, Sir,' the servant bowed and took his leave.

The Thain and his steward turned to matters of business, but more than once during a pause, the steward caught Pippin drinking in the view. To his steward's satisfaction, the Thain did eat a hearty second breakfast, with no nagging needed, and then they continued with the day's work. At one point, the Thain interrupted his steward mid-sentence. 'Regi,' he said quietly.

'Yes?'

'Thank you.'

The steward looked surprised. 'For what?' The Thain smiled and went back to business.

Diamond entered with elevenses. 'I sneaked away whilst the babes were napping,' she said. 'Sandy has everything gloriously downside-up; I've not seen him so happy in weeks.'

'I'm sure there won't be a speck of dust to be found, floor to ceiling, by evening,' Pippin replied.

'Come, now, love, I want you to eat up everything on this plate,' Diamond said.

'Are you going to feed it to me?' Pippin asked.

'Yes, if I have to. What's good enough for Estella...' he stopped her by popping a stuffed mushroom into her mouth. She chewed and swallowed, saying, 'No, that's not the way it's supposed to work!' Pippin laughed and took a mushroom for himself.

'Stay, Regi, have something to eat. Diamond's brought enough for an army.'

'All right,' the steward said, helping himself. 'So have you picked out a name for that boy, yet?'

Diamond sighed in mock despair. 'I don't know,' she said. 'We may just end up naming him after his father or his grandfather, in desperation.'

'Jotham is a good name,' Pippin maintained.

Diamond gave him a push. 'Not *my* father!' she laughed.

'Well, certainly not mine,' the Thain replied. 'One Paladin at the Great Smials was more than enough.'

Regi laughed and nodded in agreement. 'And he was the second Paladin, for good measure.'

'If there's to be a Paladin III, I'm not the one to perpetrate the deed,' Pippin said, taking a cheese puff.

Diamond met Reginard's eyes and smiled. Her husband was eating with more appetite than she'd seen in a long while.