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The Trouble with Love by GamgeeFest	9 Review(s)
RenaissanceGrrl	Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 8/8/2005
"I have our shawls tucked up beneath the door so no light will spill out into the hall." I've done that! ^_^ Did the post messengers live in the houses? hadn't ever thought of how the letters got about the Shire sniggle Pervinca isn't quite so smart as she thinks she is, is she? I knew what Everard was doing from the moment he wheedled the red and white roses thing out of her, and it seems she's still in the dark. Lol... Author Reply: The Great Smials is quite large and houses at least 200 hobbits, if not more. Plus, the Thain does all his business from there, so I figured it would only make sense if a certain number of post messengers lived on the premises. Most hobbits though would have to go to their town centers to the post master's office to send their mail. Pervinca was a bit distracted, you have to give her that. She was in a "all boys are evil" mode, and so only saw Ev's teasing as, well, teasing. Plus, this is her kid brother's good friend, who she has known most of her life as a "pest and a pain". Even if she did figure out he was talking about her, she would have made the natural assumption that he was only teasing her further. And Ev did mean it as teasing - mostly. ~_^ She won't be in the dark for too long.

Larner	Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 8/8/2005
And Pervinca thinks LADS are dense? She is the one at the moment not seeing what is right in front of her! Poor lass, and poor Merry, still unable to discuss what's happened to him and the rest. Bless them all. Author Reply: LOL, she certainly isn't seeing the point, is she? But she can prehaps be excused for that, considering it's her kid brother's pesky friend come to tease her again. And he is teasing her - and getting very valuable information in the process, lol. Poor Merry and Estella. Merry's just trying to get through this week and the lasses aren't making it very easy for him. Estella just wants what she's always dreamt of, but has come to realize, like Merry's known all along, that some dreams aren't meant to come true - seemingly.

Bodkin	Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 8/6/2005
Such fun. Poor Pervinca - so determined to make things go the way she wants them to, and so frustrated. Everard would (perhaps) get on better without the baying friends in the background. She might notice what he's saying then - or perhaps not. And Merry is being very noble and dim. To whose advantage will it be to have Estella marry unhappily, because he feels he cannot speak? He is not helping her by pushing her into going along with her mother's machinations! That's a fine way to make them all unhappy. Still. He's distracted. And he may have done enough in his bone-headedly noble way to make her decide to wait for him anyway. Author Reply: Pervinca has seen better days. It's been some time since she had one of her plans backfire so horribly on her and it's thrown her for quite the loop. Everard knows what he's doing, perhaps better than Vinca does. The friends were just the distraction he needed, lol. Not that Vinca was really taking him all that seriously to begin with. He at least got the information he wanted from her though. ~_^ Merry had accepted long ago that he lost Estella, and he is hoping that Estella will go on and find someone she can be happy with, whether that's with Gordi or not. This will undoubtedly prompt her to come to a decision about her life, rather than sit back and let everyone else decide things for her, Pervinca included. Everyone seems to be distracted from the real point by one thing or another! Merry is missing the mark because of his fears for Frodo, Pervinca is clueless about Everard because of her concern for Estella, and Estella is missing something of importance as well because of her constant pining over Merry. Now that Merry is out of the picture, perhaps everyone will start seeing things more clearly. ;) Thanks for reading!

Nina the powerwriter	Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 8/5/2005
hops I'm enjoying this story so much! I love how pervinca is so determined to get Merry and Estella together, and also clueless to who Everard is talking about. Such a lovely mix of story. I was on the edge of my seat when Estella confronted Merry. I knew something like that would happen, and I think it panned out perfectly. Pervinca and Everard's exchange...wonderfully entertaining! applauds Please do continue soon :) Author Reply: Estella probably should have waited, but the result would have been the same. There's simply no way Merry could have declared himself at this point in his life. He knows he can't tie himself down, and he knows that it will likely mean losing Estella for good. To have to then be confronted by her and have to lie to her, breaking both their hearts in the process, is the most difficult thing he's had to do. Pervinca sees Everard as she's always seen him - an annoying friend of her kid brother's. She isn't ready to see him as anything else (or so she thinks) and she just can't wrap her mind around the fact that Ev is talking about her. She'll learn soon enough though. ;) Thanks for reading!

Andrea	Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 8/5/2005
Well, the trouble with love is, if you are busy trying to bring two people together, you are totally blind for your own environment ;-) Has she really not realized, that the girl Everard is speaking of, is herself? LOL! I'm curious to know, what's coming of this. I truly understand all the reasons, why Merry is reacting this way, but he must feel as miserable as Estella now. There must be a solution to lessen their pain! I'm counting on Vinca, and maybe Pippin? Author Reply: Vinca is rather dense here, isn't she? lol For someone who knows everthing there is about love, she certainly is missing the point. She can't really be blamed though. She does have quite a lot on her mind, and considering that Ev is always willing to poke fun at her expense, she wouldn't be inclined to take him seriously here. Merry isn't any better off than Estella at this point. Both of them are quite miserable. Vinca will think of something to help Estella, I'm sure, and Pippin is likely doing everything he can think of to cheer up his friend. Thanks for reading!

Isilhen Daegol	Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 8/5/2005
Oh, Vinca, Vinca, Vinca. For all your schemes and wiles, you really are quite dense. That was a lovely little sidenote with Everard there. But, that's the trouble with love. Oh, my. This chapter was heartbreakingly exactly as I expected. Of course I know why Merry refused, and I knew that he would refuse, and his heart is probably in no better condition than Estella's. And all Vinca was trying to do is help! Sometimes it amazes me how real you can make the characters. You have an extraordinary gift for dialogue. This is the work of a genius, and no, I don't mean Pervinca. Author Reply: This very "simple" matter of love has become more complicated than Vinca could have prepared herself for. No one is having a good time of this. Merry and Estella are in shambles, and Vinca is ready to mangle whoever comes in her way. And yet, she doesn't, lol. Everard comes under her radar and manages to get away unscathed, and with a good deal of knowledge besides, lol. I'm glad you enjoyed this chapter so much. I was rather nervous about it, but it played out the only way it could. Now we can only wait and see what happens.

Anso the Hobbit	Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 8/5/2005
Merry! Oh, poor Estella! Poor, poor Estella - and Merry. Now you slmost made me cry. More please! :) Author Reply: This was a difficult chapter to write. I wanted very much for this to have a happy ending, but that just couldn't happen at this point in time. Merry is simply too preoccupied with Frodo to think about anything else; he knows this is going to be far more serious than anyone can begin to guess. Estella is completely in the dark, not knowing anything about Merry's intentions. All she knows is her lad doesn't want her. She has some hard decisions of her own to make now. Thanks for reading!

Dreamflower	Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 8/5/2005
I don't see at all why anyone would be cross with you for this chapter. This is exactly how I would have expected Merry to react to such a declaration from Estella at this particular point in his life. Just goes to show you know him pretty well. As to Pervinca and Everard, I was nearly rolling by the time it was over. That lass may be shrewd when it comes to others, but when it comes to herself she is as thickheaded as it gets, LOL! I do look forward to her downfall. And I do like your Everard a very good deal--that lad's got nerves of steel to set his sights on Vinca! Author Reply: Thanks for the reassurance. :) Merry couldn't have made any other choice and he knows it. Pippin knew it as well, which is why he tried to confront Merry somewhere Pervinca wouldn't overhear them. This is a horrible case of bad timing. If it had come sooner, then things might have ended differently, but with everything starting to get serious and Merry's natural worry for Frodo in overdrive, he simply cannot allow himself to become sidetracked. Ah, Pervinca. You hit the mark exactly. She who knows everything hasn't got a clue when it comes to herself. She likes to think she's in control of these things and that she will be the one to decide when and how a lad will fall in love with her. Her inevitable downfall will be forthcoming. ;) Everard is her kindred spirit - just as wily, sneaky, scheming and analytical as Vinca is. He can hold his own against her. lol

Grey Wonderer	Reviewed Chapter: 3 on 8/5/2005
I love Pervinca. For all of her knowledge about Merry and Estella, she seems to be missing out on her own love life completely. Everard is playing with fire there. I hope he knows what he's doing. LOL Author Reply: Everard has some guts to approach Vinca in such a mood! He seems to know what's he doing though. He's still intact, at any rate. lol Vinca is quite clueless at the end of this. She so convinced Ev is just having a joke at her expense (and to a certain extent, he is) that she doesn't even bother to notice or figure out who he's actually talking about. She'll know before too long though. ;)

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