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Pearl of Great Price  by Lindelea 1 Review(s)
Lyta PadfootReviewed Chapter: 22 on 1/1/2004
So Hally and Rosemary are legally handfasted. Lalia's reaction should be highly entertaining though I suspect there might be some sighs of relief at the Great Smials, just because she's been disowned doesn't mean she'll be forgotten.

Rosemary will find out she's already been disowned from Paladin and his family. Interesting with all the uproar of this that he still arranges marriages for his own children. By the way, I was confused about something - in "Jewels" the arrangement concerning Pippin and Estella was said to have been in place since Estella was born. At the time Pippin would have been just a well-to-do farmer's son. I can't see them wanting to marry their only daughter to anyone less than a wealthy hobbit. Was the timing reported by Esmerelda an exageration or did the Bolger's see which way the wind was blowing with the Tooks and figure on Pippin as a future Thain since Ferumbras was unwed and unlikely to alter his state and even if he did marry any offspring would be too young to follow him. Arranged marriages are endlessly fascinating to me (in fiction) in case you haven't noticed.

You mentioned some far-reaching consequences in one of your author replies, will a souring of the Paladin-Esmeralda relationship be among them or does that result from his personality change upon becoming Thain? In a way the Brandybuck's actions could be seen to reflect badly on Paladin's family with Esmeralda being wed to Saradoc, the recent visit, the Tooks honour, and Paladin's own arrival at Brandy Hall coming soon. I suspect that a nice, quite, visit it won't be since "Jewels" tells us that Paladin doesn't travel at all until he visits Pippin and meets Farry. Stopping what appears to have been regular travels to see your close relatives says a great deal. At least we know Merry and Pippin remain close even if their parents don't. Paladin knows the pain of losing the Pippin to his Merry and isn't apparently willing to inflict that upon his son or nephew.

Wow... a very long review. And since I neglected to say it earlier in my dissertation on this chapter - I throughly enjoyed the latest addition to this story. Each chapter is a pearl.

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