Frodo was surprised when he received a note from his cousin Angelica, asking him to come and see her on the next pony-racing day. He and Angelica had never been friendly with each other, and he wondered what she could possibly want. But, since his elder cousin, and Angelica's uncle by marriage, Milo Burrows, was taking his famously fast black-and-white pony to the Lithetide races at the Michel Delving fairgrounds, and Merry and Pippin were going as well, Frodo decided to accompany them.
He rode with the trio as far as the inn near the fairgrounds, where they were to meet Angelica's husband, Lad Whitfoot, but he did not go with them to the racing field. Instead, he sought out Lad's and Angelica's handsome new house not far from the Mayor's residence. His cousin was sitting on the grass in the garden, playing with her infant daughter.
Those who cared to count noted that Angelica's baby had been born less than seven months after her marriage to Lad Whitfoot, but they did not say so above a whisper, except perhaps to observe that the child seemed remarkably healthy for one born so early. Little Willa was a very healthy-looking baby, Frodo thought when he saw her. She was also the image of her mother, blue-eyed and flaxen-curled and quite pretty.
Angelica smiled a sincere welcome when she saw Frodo come up outside the garden gate, and rose to greet him.
"I'm glad you've come early, Frodo. I wasn't expecting you 'til after the races, but this will give us a better opportunity to talk. If I know my Lad, he won't be home 'til the last pony has had its run."
"You let him stay out so late?" Frodo teased.
"Oh, Lad may stay at the races as long as he likes," Angelica answered with a toss of her curls. "I don't interfere with his fun, but I won't let him ruin us with it. I don't want him to become like Uncle Milo." She grew more serious, and told him frankly, "I adore Uncle Milo, but I saw very well the trouble he put poor Aunt Peony and the children in when he couldn't pay his racing debts. Aunt Peony spoiled him terribly and always let him have his way, and so did his mother. I won't have that happen to us. It's best I put my foot down about that sort of thing right away. Lad has an allowance for his ponies and his wagers, but not a penny more!"
Apparently, Angelica was just the sort of "managing wife" Mayor Whitfoot had hoped she'd be for his son. "What did you want to see me about?" Frodo asked her.
Angelica picked up the baby and invited Frodo into the house, where they could speak privately. "It's about a dear, close friend of mine," she explained once they were seated in the parlor. "You see, she's gotten herself into some difficulties, and of course I know how you like to investigate things--and how discreet you can be with other people's secrets. I told her I would speak to you."
"I'll be happy to help to if I can," Frodo answered, but he was already doubtful of the existence of this "dear, close friend." He had learned from his previous, confidential cases that people who spoke of "a friend" in trouble were usually talking about themselves. "What sort of difficulty is she in?"
"My friend is a young lady, recently married," Angelica told him. "She wrote some letters to another boy--not the one she married, you understand. He sent them back to her after her betrothal, and she should have thrown the lot into the fire right away, but instead she did a very foolish thing: she tied them into a packet with the letters she'd received from him and locked them up in what she thought was a secret hiding place no one else knew about."
"Why?" wondered Frodo, surprised at this tale. He had never heard of Angelica having a romance with anyone but Lad. If she'd ever been in love another boy, it must have happened while he was away.
"She still loved him, I suppose," answered Angelica. "The boy she did marry was her family's choice, not her own. He was more prosperous, and from a better family."
Frodo was hopelessly confused; the situation Angelica had described wasn't her own at all. Her family had not wished her to marry Lad. If they'd hoped for her to marry a boy from a more prosperous family, it was himself. Was she trying to disguise her own story, which he knew very well? Or was he mistaken, and was she honestly speaking of someone else?
"Can you tell me your friend's name?" he asked. "If I'm to help her, I need to know at least that much."
Angelica hesitated, then said, "Camellia Bilbury. At least, that was her maiden name. It's Stillwaters now she's married. She's been my friend since we were little girls. You don't know her, do you?"
"Not that I recall." There was a family called Bilbury that lived in Overhill who were friends of Angelica's parents, but Frodo did not recall if they had a daughter around Angelica's age.
"Perhaps it's best that you be introduced so you can speak to her directly about this. She's very shy, but I'll see if I can convince her to visit you and tell you her troubles."
Their business concluded, Angelica invited Frodo to stay for tea and to wait for the others to come for dinner; she was sure Lad would invite his companions home when the races were done. Rather than go and try to find his friends on the fairgrounds, Frodo agreed to stay. He was surprised that he could while away an afternoon pleasantly in Angelica's company, but it was so. Motherhood became Angelica; getting everything she wanted had taken the impatient and frustrated edge off her personality. They were much more comfortable with each other now that Aunt Dora was no longer trying to push the two of them into marrying, an idea neither had relished.
At dusk, Lad came home, bringing Milo, Merry, and Pippin with him. "I said we'd give 'em a better dinner than they'd get at the Inn," he explained to his wife as the party entered the parlor. "That's that all right with you, love?"
"Of course." Angelica kissed his cheek, then her uncle's. "I expected them. I gave instructions to Cook that we'd be having guests for dinner. Please, make yourselves at home." She excused herself and went into the kitchen. Frodo's cousins flung themselves into chairs around the parlor, and looked surprised to see him there.
"We wondered where you'd gone to, Frodo," said Pippin. "Have you been here at Jelly's all day?"
"As a matter of fact, I have. Angelica asked me to visit."
Lad looked a little leery at this information. He was as aware as anybody that the Bagginses had wanted Angelica to marry Frodo instead of him; only Angelica's lack of interest in her handsome and wealthy cousin, and the rumors going around Hobbiton about Frodo and Sam Gamgee had assured Lad that he had nothing to worry about.
Frodo did not want to discuss the case he'd been called here to investigate in front of Lad and Milo, since Angelica had obviously not wanted them to know about her friend's problem. There would be time later to explain things to Pippin and Merry, if they were going to help him look into it. But some explanation was needed to put Lad at ease.
"She wanted to introduce me to my new niece," he said, indicating little Willa, who was asleep in his lap. Angelica had bestowed the baby on "Uncle Frodo," while she'd gone to see about dinner. Willa was technically his third cousin twice removed, and even though hobbits took great delight in being able to determine these precise degrees of relationship, they found them too cumbersome for everyday use, preferring to call their relatives "aunt/uncle," "nephew/niece," and generally "cousin," as age and situation warranted. "We've been playing all afternoon."
At the mention of his daughter, Lad's expression brightened. "She's a darling, isn't she?" he said with a note of pride. "Best baby you could ask for--never frets or cries. She'll be the prettiest girl in the Shire one day, just like her mother."
"We'll be having one of our own at Bag End soon," Frodo told him. "Have you heard? Sam and Rosie are expecting a baby in the spring."
"Already?" said Milo. "Now, that is good news! I always said that was the best thing for your Sam, didn't I--settling down with a nice girl? It's put a stop to all the gossip. You ought to get married yourself, Frodo."
Frodo passed over this suggestion, and answered, "I suppose I'll have to get used to having a baby around the house, even if it's not mine."
"You'll get used to it," Merry said. "If Rosie and Jelly go around plopping babies down in your lap for you to mind often enough, it'll do the trick. You might even decide you want one of your own. Isn't that right, Pip?" He turned pointedly to his cousin. No one but Pippin understood this odd joke, and Pippin didn't find it funny.
The conversation then turned to the day's races; Milo's pony had been a great success, and had made them all a little richer over the course of the afternoon. Frodo had no interest in racing, but he listened politely to his friends' enthusiastic tales, until Angelica returned to announce that dinner was ready.
As Lad led the other guests into the dining room, Angelica retrieved her baby and whispered to Frodo, "I'll bring Camellia by Bag End to meet you as soon as I can."
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Love Letters: A Frodo Investigates! Mystery by Kathryn Ramage
Story notes: Like my previous mysteries, this story takes elements from the book, but also uses two key points from the film version of LOTR: the Shire is untouched, and the four main hobbits are all around the same age.
This story takes place during the summer of 1421 (S.R.).
Some of the names used in this story are taken from the Baggins and Brandybuck family trees in Appendix C, but the characterizations are my own.
February 2006
The Frodo Investigates! series
