Everard tells Pippin about his courtship with Pervicna. This follows the events in "The Trouble with Love."
 
 

A Matter of Pervinca

Thrimidge 1418 SR

Pippin turned from the pony he was stabling and stared at him blankly, then blinked. "Pervinca?" he asked, not quite sure he had heard correctly. "You're courting Pervinca?"

Everard nodded. "Yes. I hope that's not a problem for you."

"Pervinca?" Pippin asked again, still every bit as bewildered. "The same Pervinca you once declared war on for an entire summer? The same Pervinca who once slathered you in honey and flour? The same Pervinca you used to sneak up on and throw mud down the back of her dress?"

Everard nodded. "Yes. I know this seems rather sudden, so I'm hoping that it is all right with you."

"My sister? Pervinca?" Pippin asked. He was simply refusing to accept this unexpected development.

Everard nodded again, getting a bit tired of this. "Yes, Pip, your sister. The only Pervinca Took that lives in all the Shire. The one who once nicknamed me Egg-hard. The same one to whom I once hid a garden snake in her bed sheets. That Pervinca."

"Did she poison you?"

"What?!"

"They say that the healer in Waymeet is also a witch, and she's known for her love potions. Did Vinca give you anything to drink recently that tasted funny?" Pippin asked, squinting up at his friend and scrutinizing him closely. "You seem a bit pale."

"She didn't poison me," Everard said. "I am perfectly well within my right mind."

"You would say that, if she gave you something," Pippin said knowingly. "Vinca likely thinks this a very funny joke, but those potions can be dangerous I hear. I think we should see the resident healer."

"I'm not ill," Everard insisted. "Just tell me, do you have a problem with me courting your sister?"

"Everard," Pippin said with sympathy. "You don't want to do this. Vinca's just having a laugh at your expense."

"I'm the one who seduced her if anything," Everard insisted. "Vinca didn't even have the slightest inclination."

"Yes, she would want you to think that."

Everard threw up in hands in defeat. "Oh bother, never mind. I'll take that as a 'yes' then. I'll give Vinca your good wishes." Then he turned and walked back to the Smials.

"Or maybe Gandalf would know an antidote!" Pippin called after him. "He's up at Bag End just now, I can be there and back again before the day is out. You can survive that long surely. ... Everard?"
 
 
 
 
GF 8/14/05