"You didn't have to take up this job," Sam said to him later that evening, after Frodo had reported the conversation and outlined his plans.
They lay cuddled together under the down comforter on Frodo's bed--a rare treat these days. Their old routine of Sam sharing his nights between his wife and Frodo had been set aside since Rosie had given birth to twins in the spring. With the two newborn infants, plus little Frodo and Elanor getting their parents up and down a dozen times during the night, Sam found it more convenient to sleep next door to the nursery to be at hand whenever he was needed. His only opportunities to be with Frodo during these long months, and get a good night's sleep afterwards, were during brief interludes at country inns while they were away on investigations. But the twins were nearly nine months old now, and sleeping through nights, and Frodo's namesake was past the worst of his teething; Sam had tentatively resumed his visits to Frodo's room.
"I didn't intend to at first," Frodo replied, "but Mr. Odonto Took is a rather persuasive young hobbit, Sam. He had a way of putting the case so that I couldn't refuse without seeming dishonest." But he was not entirely happy with his decision. He felt torn in two; he would do his best to find the young couple, but at the same time he felt sympathy for their plight. Since Odonto had left, he'd been trying to find a way to combine the two without betraying anyone. "It's my hope that the North-Tooks will take my agreeing to find Isigo and Diamond as a sign of my integrity and my good intentions. If they trust me to do this, perhaps they'll listen to reason and let me settle matters for them as well. I'd like to find some way that will allow Isigo and Diamond to marry someday and that Diamond's family will agree to."
"That's impossible. You know what awful snobs them North-Tooks are. You saw how they used to treat Isigo even when the old Thain was alive, and you say it's been worse since his Thainship died."
"I know, but they can't go on blaming him for his mother's crimes. Isigo knew nothing about what she was up to until after she'd gone away. He isn't like Lady Iris at all. He seems to me to be a decent young lad, and I must also try to make her family see him in that light now that his mother is dead and no longer a threat to them."
Sam's expression said clearly that he still considered this an impossible task. "Will Mr. Took be going with you to Tuckborough?" he asked.
"No. Odonto has agreed to stop on here at the Ivy Bush Inn until I send for him. It won't help me to find the runaway pair, or make them trust me, if they see him with me. If I find them, I must speak to them alone first, without his meddling."
"Alone," Sam repeated the word. "So you don't want me coming along either?" He pulled Frodo a little closer.
"No," Frodo snuggled to his chest. "There'll be no nights at an inn for us on this investigation, I'm sorry to say. I want you to keep an eye on Odonto. I'm not entirely certain I can trust him, Sam. He says he bears Isigo no ill will, but even if that's so, he's been sent here on a particular mission and the Tooks will be watching him carefully to see how well he does. He won't want to fail them, no matter what he thinks personally of Isigo. If he guesses where Isigo and Diamond are before I'm ready to tell him, he might come after them and frighten them off. He might even write the North-Tooks, and we'd have Diamond's father or those brothers of hers storming down here to try and carry her off. That will only make things worse. I'll write short reports on my progress in Tuckborough and send them to you, though they may not tell you everything. Visit Odonto at the inn and give him my news, or invite him here. Then, when I send word of where the runaways are, you'll escort him there."
"What'll you do when you find them?" asked Sam.
"I don't know yet, Sam." Frodo sighed. "I won't know until I have a chance to speak with them. I'd like to convince Diamond and Isigo to wait `til they're of an age to wed, or least until she has her parents' consent. Odonto was right about that, Sam. Two hobbits in their tweens can't just fly off and be married in secret and expect to live happily ever after. That's nonsense. The wedding isn't the end of a happy story. It's the beginning of a new life. If they are going to marry, someone must look to their future and see that they begin well."
"And that'd be you?"
"If they are too naive to do it themselves, and no one closer to them cares to, then I will take it as part of my responsibility on this investigation," answered Frodo. "I must try, for their sakes. I'd like to save them from disaster, whether they wed in the end or not."
"You can't say you don't set your sights high, Frodo," Sam sounded amused, and Frodo chuckled at this apt description of his character.
"True, but I've taken on heavier burdens than the happiness of two young hobbits before this."
"Well, if you're going off in the morning on this fool's errand of yours, and leaving me behind, we might as well make good use of tonight." The comforter flew up as Sam ducked and disappeared under it. A moment later, Frodo let out a ticklish laugh that ended in a yelp as he was pulled beneath the comforter too.
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