Day Four: teatime to late at night

The information that Pippin was finding was really starting to make him question what he thought of as just the way things were done.  The numbers definitely seemed to be skewed toward the Thain’s benefit.

He was so engrossed that he didn’t hear the knock on the door.  He only looked up when the door opened and Merry walked in.

“I was sent to find you and bring you home to tea.  Your wife is missing you and , if I’m reading the signs aright, she’s had a bad day and needs a sympathetic ear.

Pippin hastily cleared his desk.  “I’m coming.  Thanks for coming and finding me.  If you hadn’t, I might have been here all night.”

“That interesting?” Merry asked as they walked back to Pippin and Diamond’s quarters.

“Not really but it is enlightening and is raising a lot of questions.  In fact, I would like to discuss a few things with you.”

“Fine, but I’d save it till well after tea.  Diamond might not take us talking business really well at this point, “ Merry warned.

“Oh dear, I hope the old aunts weren’t too hard on her today.”

-----

“I found your wayward husband,” Merry called to Diamond as they entered the sitting room.  

Diamond looked up from where she was seated on the sofa with the tea things on a table in front of her.  She tried to hide the handkerchief she was clutching in one hand but she couldn’t hide the evidence of a bout of crying.

Pippin went immediately to her.  “What is it, my dear?”

She shook her head as he sat down beside her and took her hands.  “It’s nothing.”

“Come, dearest, tell me what happened.  I know you don’t cry over ‘nothing’.  I may not always understand what makes you cry but I know that you have reasons for it.”

She drew a shaking breath.  “They were just awful.  They didn’t like anything I did and they complained constantly.  I thought the idea was for the matrons of the Great Smials to get together to come up with ideas to make life here better for everyone, not just the members of the Took family but the servants too.  All they did was gossip and make nasty comments about everybody.  I think they forgot I was even there because a few of the comments were about us and the way we are raising our son and why we didn’t have any more children.  When one of them finally noticed me sitting there, she asked me several personal questions that I refused to answer which will probably only fuel the gossip further.”

Pippin enfolded her in his arms and looked over at Merry.  “Why do we have all these relations hanging about the place anyway?” he asked.  “Most of them do nothing, contribute nothing.  They eat the food, use the resources and yet do nothing to earn it.”

Merry shrugged and shook his head.  “Most of the families here are the Old Took’s descendants.  They’ve just become part of the place so that you’re stuck with them.”

Pippin nodded.  “It doesn’t mean that I can’t wish that I could either ask them to do an honest day’s work now and then or throw them out on their ears.  They’re useless.”

“But they’re family,” said Diamond in a small voice, “and family is everything.”

“That doesn’t give them the right to be inconsiderate of others.  I just may have to say something.”

“Oh, please don’t,” she begged.  “They’ll know that I told you what happened and that won’t help me.  Now that I know what they’re like, I’ll know better how to deal with them.  They just caught me out this time.”

“Did my mother do anything about the behavior?”

“Oh yes,” Diamond said nodding.  “She ended the tea early and threw them all out.  She reminded me after they left that I had the right to end it at any time.  It’s hard for me to remember that I now outrank her.  She’s being very patient and helpful though.  I can’t fault anything she has done.”

“Mum always did say you were the best thing that ever happened to me and I have to agree.”

At this point, Merry cleared his throat.  Both Pippin and Diamond jumped at the sound.  “Thought you might have forgot I was here,” he laughed.  Don’t think we should let this lovely tea go to waste, should we?”

“I already had mine for the day,” Diamond said, “Even if I did pay for it with all the nonsense from the biddies.  You two enjoy it and I’ll just go fetch Faramir from the nursery.  I’m sure he’d rather have tea with his da and uncle than with the other wee ones.”

------

Once she had left and the two hobbits had poured themselves a cup of tea and selected a few dainties from the choices on offer, they each sat in companionable quiet and ate.

Merry was the first to break the silence.  “I think I’m going to give you that letter tonight after dinner.  I’m leaving tomorrow and I really want to know what you have to say about it before I go.”

“Huh?” asked Pippin.  “Oh, yes, the letter.  I’d almost forgot.  I promise to read it tonight then.  So, you’re leaving tomorrow?”

“Yes, I thought I mentioned it at supper last night, but then you were a bit distracted by the whole thing.”

Pippin placed his cup and saucer on the table and settled more comfortably into his chair.  For a moment Merry thought he looked like the young tween he had been and not the Thain he had become.

“I did manage to remember that I was meeting with Sam this morning.  That reminds me, did he say anything about the election to you?”

Merry nodded.  “He said he was thinking about not running and I told him he had to: the Shire needs him and we need him.”

“He said the same thing to me this morning.” Pippin couldn’t resist taking one more piece of cheese.  He popped it into his mouth and continued around the bite.  “I think I may have persuaded him to reconsider.  I hope I was a little more subtle about it than you were.  You may be the brains of this duo but I’ve got the silver tongue.”

They both laughed at this.  They both knew that Merry was known for his blunt honesty while Pippin was noted for his way with words.

At this point the door opened and four-year-old Faramir bounded into the room.  “Look what I maded!” he shouted as he threw himself at his father.

Pippin caught him and plopped him down on his lap.  “Show me,” he requested.

Faramir held up a paper with what to Pippin’s adult eyes looked like random lines and blobs in various colors.  

“That’s very nice,” he told his son.  He wanted to ask what it was but knew that this would hurt the child’s feelings.  He hoped his son would tell him what it was.

Diamond came in a few seconds later.  “They had some drawing sticks that they let the children play with and Faramir was kind enough to draw us a picture of our picnic yesterday.”

Pippin gave his wife a look of thanks and relief, then he turned to his son and began asking questions to get the lad to tell the details of his picture that his father was oblivious to.

-----

After supper in the great dining room, Merry made a trip to his guest room and retrieved the letter before going to the Thain’s suite to spend a quiet evening with his cousin.

Diamond had said that she didn’t feel that good and thought she was in need of a good night’s sleep so she took herself to bed and left Pippin and Merry in the company of a bottle of Buckland’s best brandy.

The two friends talked about old times and growing up.  They talked of growing older and taking on more and more responsibility.  They remembered absent friends and loved ones and then they spoke of the future.  They did not speak as Thain and Master but simply as Pippin and Merry.  By the time they parted both of their handkerchiefs had been used and they both saw an added glimmer in each other’s eyes and the level of the liquid in the brandy bottle was much lower than when they had started.

It was after midnight when Merry let himself out of the sitting room and wandered down the hall to his bed

-----

Pippin sat long looking at the large envelop on his lap.  Finally, he slipped the blade of his pocketknife under the seal, upended the packet and watched as two separate letters fell out.

He picked up the first letter.  It was sealed with the King’s signet in black wax.  He opened the letter and began to read.

To:  Thain Peregrin I

 Great Smials

West Farthing, The Shire

From:  King Elessar

Minas Tirith

Gondor

Be it known that the King of Gondor and Arnor recognizes the elevation of Peregrin Took to the position of Thain of the Shire in our Northern lands.

And, whereas, the King may only come periodically to this region of his kingdom,

And, whereas, the King wishes to involve these lands more fully in the commerce and development of the kingdom as a whole,

And, whereas, the King needs representation to the people of these lands,

And, whereas, the King chooses to obey his edicts forbidding men to enter the portion of the the realm, Be it known that henceforth the Thain of the Shire, the Mayor of the Shire and the Master of Buckland are duly appointed as Counselors of the Northern Kingdom.

Here do I, King Elessar Telcontar affix my seal and signature and make this document binding.

Pippin looked for several long minutes at the letter.  It read more like a proclamation and he wondered if he should frame it and hang it in his office or something like that.

He wondered what it would mean to be a counselor to the King.  Why hadn’t Merry warned him about this?  Maybe he wanted his younger cousin to be just as shocked as he himself had been two years ago.

Pippin sighed.  He’d certainly have a talk with Merry about this in the morning.

A bit shakily, he picked up the other letter.  To his relief, this one was sealed with green wax with the star of the Dunedain impressed into it.

He opened it and began to read.

To Peregrin Took

From Aragorn (Strider)

I hope you read the other letter first.  I wouldn’t want to have the contents of the that one spoiled by reading this first.  I have to admit that I would have loved to have seen your face when you read it.  Of course, I’d have enjoyed seeing all three of your reactions to that little pronouncement from me.

I wanted you to know that under all the courtly language is my heartfelt wish to have you, Merry and Sam help me as I deal with the Northern Kingdom and as I deal with the Shire in particular.  I know that there are many things the hobbits can contribute to the Reunited Kingdom and I know that there are things that we can provide that will benefit your people as well.

I am hopeful that within the next few years I will be able to visit the area of the Shire and see the three of you, your families and any other hobbits that wish to make the acquaintance of the King.

On a personal note, I am sorry about the loss of your father.  I know you didn’t always have a perfect relationship with him, but I hope that both of you were able to find a measure of peace before the end.

I also want to know how that son of yours is doing.  He is very dear to my heart as you well know and I look forward to meeting him in the future.

You know, that just because I’m King doesn’t mean that you can’t write me letters.  I love hearing from those of my friends I seldom get to see and you are one of the worst about corresponding.  In other words, please write.

Everyone here sends their congratulations, and don’t be surprised if a gift or two, beyond the wine I sent, come your way.

The messenger is eager to depart so I will conclude this missive.

Congratulations again, Pippin.

With Love,

Strider. 

It wasn’t until he’d finished that Pippin noticed a mistiness in his eyes.  He really missed Strider and Faramir and all the others, especially now.  He wished he had ready access to their advice on leadership and governance and just on life in general.  Life’s complications had suddenly seemed to double.

He resolved to compose a reply to this letter as soon as he had a free moment.

Placing both letters back into the large envelop, he laid it on the table by the sofa.  He poured himself one more sip of brandy and made a silent toast to absent friends.  Then, turning down the lamp, he went to bed.