Three days passed before Sam and Odonto reached Brandy Hall. In the meantime, the Brandybucks made their unexpected guests welcome.
The ladies of Brandy Hall, both young and older, were especially interested in Diamond and, once they'd heard her story, expressed great sympathy for her situation. They were not sympathetic to the Tooks, for a coolness had arisen between the two great families in recent years. Merry's and Pippin's relationship was the original cause of it, but there had also been quarrels after Melly Brandybuck, Merry's and Frodo's cousin, had left her husband, Everard Took, and returned to Brandy Hall with her little boy. The Brandybucks blamed Everard for this disaster, but the Tooks seemed to think Melly was at fault. Even Lady Esmeralda, who'd been born a Took, had lived at Brandy Hall for forty years and placed her loyalties with the Bucklanders. Only Uncle Meriadoc suggested that Pippin had better take the young couple and that other Took girl back to Tuckborough to straighten their personal problems out.
The elder Brandy Hall ladies fussed over Diantha, bandaging her knees and seeing that she was placed before the drawing-room fire to rest and recover with soothing warm blankets over her unskirted legs. Pippin spent much of his time sitting there with her, even though Merry was not entirely happy to see the two on such friendly terms.
"No wonder Pip likes her so much--They're just the same, and you'll never again see a girl so much like a boy," he said privately to Frodo. "Even growing up hasn't changed her a bit. She's as skinny and flat as she was two years ago." Merry put a hand on his own chest. "Just like a boy."
"Well, there is that one important difference," said Frodo.
"Yes, he could have children with her. That's what bothers me most!"
Diamond also sat frequently with her cousin. As he passed the drawing-room door one afternoon, Frodo glimpsed the two North-Took girls alone and giggling together. They fell silent as soon as they realized he was there. While it was pleasant to see them in good spirits, Frodo couldn't help wondering what the cause of their giggles could be. If he didn't know better, he might guess that they were planning Diamond's wedding. Was Diamond so confident now that it would come off? No one else dared to think so far ahead but during the days before Odonto's arrival, the young girl seemed strangely untroubled about her future.
Odonto arrived on a chilly afternoon, well wrapped in his furs and red-cheeked from the long, cold ride from Hobbiton. The young Took beamed at the sight of Frodo, who came out to greet him and Sam by the stables.
"You are a marvel, Mr. Baggins! I had little hope of finding them, and you were only at it for two days."
"They weren't so difficult to trace once I realized my cousin Pippin was helping them," Frodo answered modestly. "But they have been rather hard to catch. They didn't wish to come along quietly at first."
"Yes, but you managed it magnificently. I must say, I was worried when Mr. Gamgee here brought me your first two letters." Odonto nodded to Sam, who hung back from the conversation; he and Frodo had smiled at each other in greeting, but they wouldn't have a chance to say Hello the way they would both like best until they were alone. "You said so little about where you'd gone and what you'd discovered. I was afraid you'd taken Isigo's side after all and were keeping secrets."
"I am on his side," said Frodo. "I'd like to see him marry Diamond under the right circumstances, with her parents' permission. But I hope you appreciate that my feelings didn't stop me from doing my duty to her family first."
"Oh, I appreciate it, and I hope Uncle Alamargo and Aunt Aspid and the rest of the family will too." They headed across the frosty lawns toward Brandy Hall. "I hope they'll say we've done a proper job."
"I promised Diamond that I would do whatever I could to convince her parents to give their consent."
Odonto wasn't as pleased to hear this. "Well, of course you can try to convince them, Mr. Baggins, but I don't know if it'll do any good. I doubt they'll agree to any kind of marriage between their daughter and Isigo. They have higher hopes for her. You must know who I mean, although if he's been helping them, I don't suppose there's much hope for that match. I expect they'll just want Diamond to come home as soon as possible. It'll be my duty to escort her there. You're welcome to come with us to talk to them, if you like." They entered Brandy Hall through the nearest front door. "Where is she?"
Frodo took Odonto to the drawing room, where Isigo, Diamond, and Pippin were all seated around Diantha by the hearth. While other members of the Brandybuck family made a discreet exit after the introductions had been made, Merry and his mother remained to offer their support to the young Tooks.
The first thing Diamond said with quiet determination was, "I can't go home, Odonto. I won't ever go back to Long Cleeve, not without Isigo. He's going to stay in Buckland and work for Master Merry, and I belong with him now."
"You haven't done something foolish, have you?" Odonto asked her. "No secret marriages?"
"No, but I have to marry Isigo," she answered. "Papa and Mama have to let me. Will you tell them that?"
"Yes, of course," said Odonto, touched but somewhat befuddled by her insistence. "But can't you tell them yourself?"
"I can't. You tell them..." Diamond shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Her cheeks turned pink as she announced, "I'm going to have a baby."
"What? But you can't be!"
"I am so."
"You-" Odonto whirled to Isigo, who was gaping at Diamond, mouth opening and shutting as if he wanted to speak but could make no sound. "You dared-? I thought you were a decent lad!"
He looked as if he would like to take Isigo by the coat-collar and give him a fierce shaking and slap in the face, as befitted a boy capable of such a disgraceful deed with a young girl. Diamond moved quickly, bravely, to stand between them and Diantha joined her, casting off the blanket over her knees and rising stiffly from her chair.
"He is a decent lad," Diantha said. "And he'll do the decent thing--won't you, Isigo?" Isigo could only nod dumbly. "Diamond's right. They'll have to be married as soon as possible. There's no use in trying to take Di home and hushing it all up. They might bully Di into keeping secrets, but they won't bully me."
"They won't bully me," Diamond said in that same quiet voice that might easily go unnoticed.
"I'll make an awful scandal," her cousin promised. "See if I don't! The whole Shire will hear about it."
"And I'll help her too," said Pippin. He looked as if he were trying not to laugh.
Odonto turned to Frodo. "Did you know about this?" he demanded as if a trick had been played on him, and Frodo were somehow responsible.
"Not until this very minute," Frodo answered honestly. "I had no idea..." He regarded the young girl, who was still standing protectively before her lover, blushing deeply but holding her ground. "I wondered why you changed your mind so suddenly."
Diamond didn't reply to this, only said, "They'll have to let us get married now."
Odonto was forced to agree. A hasty marriage was the only way to avoid a greater scandal. "Very well," he said, calmer now. "What's done is done, and there's only one way it can fixed now. No--I don't blame you, Mr. Baggins, if you truly knew nothing of this. You did as I asked. But it seems as if there's more going on between the two of them than anyone suspected... and has been for some time." He eyed Isigo disdainfufully. "I'm disappointed in you, Isigo. I thought better of you than this. You are going to do the decent thing by the girl, aren't you, my lad?"
"Yes, of course," said Isigo, rallying. "It's what I wanted to do all along." He took Diamond's hand.
"Well, you'll have you wish, and I do sincerely hope you'll both be happy. But I'm afraid Di's parents won't like it one bit."
"But they can't say No," Diantha said triumphantly. "They've no choice."
"No," Odonto agreed. "Unfortunately, I must be the one to tell them of it, and must return to the Long Cleeve to do so, right away. There can be no delay."
"I'll go home with you, Odonto," Diantha offered. "If you can't make 'em see it in the right way, maybe I can. Besides, I have some news of my own to tell them. I'm betrothed."
Merry's eyes went wide and he looked at Pippin, who ducked his head.
"I meant to tell you before," Pippin said. "Di and me talked it over last night, and we've agreed... that is, if it's all right with you, Merry."
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