There is no darkness here; I feel it in the sun-warmed air and hear it from these fair, green trees.  No Shadow overwhelms this land, no close menace binds these Elves.  Yet still a chill prickles over me and I draw my cloak closer as I watch the Bruinen flow, clear and laughing.  I carry the darkness within me, a shadow of guilt and shame.  Aragorn’s reproaches burned no more than my own  – and no excuse, no justification can quench these.  We have indeed failed – and now, in this council on the edge of the world, I have darkened hope.