"I see what's in Aunt Dora's mind," Frodo told Sam later that evening after he'd returned to Bag End. They'd had dinner together and were now on their way to bed. "But you needn't be afraid--I've no intention of marrying Miss Doriella Baggins, even if she does turn out to be my cousin."
"I wasn't worried about that," Sam assured him.
Once they were in the bedroom, Frodo took off his tweed jacket and unbuttoned his waistcoat. "You know how Auntie always wanted me to marry Angelica so that she could leave the Old Place to the two of us," he went on as he tossed both the waistcoat and jacket over the back of the chair near the fire Sam had thoughtfully lit before he'd come home. The room was comfortably cozy. "She never really gave up hope of her plan, even though Angelica's been married to Lad for years, has two children with him, and is expecting a third. All she sees is that this Doriella gives her a second chance to make the same sort of match for me."
"Does she mean to leave this Miss Baggins all her money and the Old Place?"
"She certainly intends to leave her some part of her fortune. But there's more to it than that, Sam. If this woman is actually my uncle Dudo's daughter, then she already has a right to one third of the Old Baggins Place property even before Auntie passes on." Frodo also owned a share of the house through his father, but since he also owned Bag End, he was content to let his aunt act as if the Old Place were entirely her own. As far he was concerned, she was free to leave it to whomever she liked. Other members of the family, however, couldn't be as disinterested about it.
The first Baggins to settle in this part of the Shire had owned most of the land for ten miles around the Hill. While that vast property had been sold off or divided among Balbo's descendants over the years, an impressive portion of it around the Old Place was still in Dora's hands. The elderly lady was generous to her relatives, but impulsive. She had made out a half dozen wills in the last ten years. While everyone in her extensive family, including Frodo, expected her to bequeath them something, no one could anticipate what they might receive, or how much. Since Frodo had already inherited enough from his parents and Uncle Bilbo to keep him more than comfortable for the rest of his life, he viewed his aunt's final will with detached curiosity. When he'd been very ill, he hadn't even expected to outlive her. Milo and Peony Burrows were counting on Aunt Dora leaving the Old Place to them. Peony's brothers Ponto and Porto also had hopes of Dora leaving them a sizeable inheritance even though they were already prominent local hobbits. Even though Angelica would receive her parents' and Uncle Porto's property one day, she had always been a favorite of Dora's and had her own expectations of a great inheritance.
"Is she your uncle's daughter? This Miss Baggins?" Sam asked him.
"I've no idea," Frodo admitted as he pulled on his nightshirt. "None of us know anything about this woman. Milo and Peony say they never saw her before she knocked on the door four days ago, asked for Aunt Dora, and introduced herself. Of course, Auntie believed her right away, but everyone else is suspicious. Any stranger of the appropriate age might easily approach our elderly, very wealthy, gullible aunt and claim to be a lost-long niece. They've no good reason to believe she's telling the truth, but they can't call her a fraud outright either, since she might turn out to be our cousin after all. That's why they were all so desperate for me to come home. Sometimes, it's useful to have a detective in the family. Even Porto and Ponto think so, although Ponto seems to think this all my fault for being so disreputably famous and drawing attention to the Baggins family."
"What do they want you to do? Find out who she is?"
"Yes, that's right. They also want me to protect their expectations. None of us likes to see Aunt Dora taken in by an imposter, but I believe my relatives would all be much happier if this woman does turn out to be an imposter. They won't like it if she really is our cousin and has some rightful claims, but they'll accept it. It's up to me to discover which is the truth."
Sam, in his nightshirt, sat down on the bed while Frodo went to the nightstand to splash water on his face. "You'll be going away again." He didn't sound at all pleased at this prospect.
"I'm afraid can't do much searching into the supposed Miss Baggins's past here in Hobbiton, my dear."
"Well, I can't come with you this time," Sam announced mournfully.
"Whyever not? Is one of the children ill?" Frodo had seen them briefly before their nurse had put them to bed; they were happy to see him and had all looked fine.
"No, but I've been too long away from them already," Sam explained. "I can't go off whenever I like anymore, Frodo. It's too hard on the little uns. You should've seen the way little Frodo came and hugged my legs when I went to the Old Place to bring 'em home, and Nellie kept saying as how she never wanted me to go away again. She's scared, you see, since... well, since Rosie went away, that she'll lose me too. "
"Oh, Sam. Of course I understand." Once Frodo had finished drying his face, he came over to the bed. Sam reached out to catch him around his waist.
"If you're going off again right away, Frodo, we oughta make up for it in the time we've got," he said, then pulled Frodo down onto the mattress and gave him a kiss. "You haven't been home in weeks, and we've been apart longer'n that. There was never much chance for us to be together when me 'n' Pippin was chasing after that Bog-Stomper, not with you in bed with a cold half the time, and me having to come home just as you were getting over it. You're over that cold now?"
"Yes, Sam, perfectly fine," Frodo replied from his supine position. He slipped both hands up beneath Sam's nightshirt and reached around to the small of his back to draw him down for a second kiss. "I missed you too." He had, after all, spend the better part of January sleeping by himself in a guest room at the Sackville Place.
It was sad to think that they would have so little time together before he must go away again, but he recognized that the children must come first with Sam. Their mother had barely been dead a year, and the entire household was still learning to adjust itself to that terrible loss. Sam was only just beginning to be like his old self again. They were almost like they'd once been, before this disaster had struck. Frodo thought they might be happy, if it weren't for these separations.
They began to move against each other, quickly finding the old, familiar rhythms. This wasn't a time to play elaborate games; both of them simply wanted to be as close as possible to the one he loved best before they must part again. The only barrier between them right now was the fabric of their nightshirts.
Frodo laughed as he struggled to pull the hindering cloth up out of the way. "At least, I won't be going for a day or two," he reassured Sam. "Before I set off in search of Miss Doriella Baggins's true past, I'll need some more information about her, and one or two other things..."
Site Info
We are the home of 1292 authors from among our 2552 members. There have been 2904 reviews written about our 3820 stories consisting of 10734 chapters and 29400445 words. A special welcome to our newest member, Rosamundeb.Categories
Skin Change
Donate
Help us keep one of the oldest running LotR archives available to all. Even the smallest donation helps!
Many thanks to our previous donors!
Many thanks to our previous donors!
