Frodo stayed to dinner at his aunt's insistence, and left Budgeford as the sun was sinking low. At this time of the summer, the sky remained light until a late hour of the evening, but Frodo knew Sam would worry if he stayed any longer. He had found precisely what he was looking for.
Aunt Del's story about Iselgrim Took had sent a flurry of new ideas into his head; they whirled furiously during his evening ride back through Buckland.
He'd heard the story of how his parents had met several times now, but his aunt had provided a new detail he'd never known before. Everyone else said simply that Primula had gone to Hobbiton. Asphodel said specifically that Primula had gone to see Bilbo. Why Bilbo? The two were first cousins and on friendly terms but, as far as Frodo was aware, not especially close. He knew that he'd never been to Hobbiton to see Bilbo himself until after his parents had died. Primula had never taken him there and Bilbo had never come to the Hall to see her and her family; it was only after he'd been orphaned that Bilbo had begun to take an interest in him. So what had prompted this visit?
Bilbo was famed as a traveler and adventurer, a friend of Elves and dwarves and, of course, of Gandalf. He might well have advised his Took cousins on their quest to find their missing Uncle Hildifons, and might therefore also have had some knowledge of where they were going. Might Primula have sought him out to learn this? Perhaps she'd hoped for news of Iselgrim, or else she may have thought that Bilbo's friends beyond the Shire could convey a message for her. Whatever her precise errand, she'd likely come away discouraged. Frodo knew how difficult it was to locate a person traveling in the Big world, even if their general whereabouts were known. Unable to reach Iselgrim, had Primula at last given up hope of his return? She was past forty, about the age he was now--an age when most hobbits were married and bringing up children. He'd never felt much desire for these things himself, but an unmarried woman at this same point in her life might feel a stronger need; forty was the point at which when people began to use the word 'spinster'. No, it wouldn't be at all remarkable for Primula to want a chance at a husband and family before it was too late. Once she'd abandoned her hopes of Iselgrim, had she begun to consider other marital prospects? While she was still in Hobbiton, had she accepted the attentions of the first suitable bachelor who paid court to her? She'd certainly chosen a husband who was exactly the opposite of Iselgrim: staid and unadventurous, not at all Tookish, and thoroughly Bagginsey.
This was all conjecture, but the facts before Frodo were that Primula had gone to Hobbiton to see her cousin Bilbo and had come home to Buckland betrothed to his cousin Drogo--a match that had astounded and bewildered her family.
If his surmise was correct, how had Primula felt when her old, lost love finally came back to the Shire, but too late? Iselgrim had come to Buckland soon after his return home. What had they said to each other when they met again after so long? Had they seen each other again afterwards? Visits between the two great families at Brandy Hall and Tuckborough were as common in those days as they were today. Primula might not have traveled alone as frequently as she had in her maiden days, but Iselgrim might have come to the Hall to see her.
According to Aunt Del, he had been born about a year after Iselgrim's return, and after Primula and Drogo had been married for four years with no previous sign of a child. As he rode back toward Brandy Hall, a horrible question occurred to Frodo: Was there a good reason why he was nothing like his Bagginsey father? Was he a Baggins at all, or was there more Took blood in him than anyone realized?
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