They were at breakfast the next morning when there was a knock on the door. Milli went to answer it. Seated in the kitchen, Frodo and Merry could hear the exchange of feminine voices in the front hall:
"Milli, good morning. Is Frodo up? May I speak to him, please?"
"Of course, Missus Celie. Mr. Frodo's at breakfast. Come in."
A moment later, the maidservant returned with Celie. Celie Brandybuck was a pretty young hobbit of thirty, small and plump, with a profusion of brown curls. Celie hesitated at the kitchen doorway, but did not look surprised, when she saw that Merry was having breakfast with Frodo. Most of the family was aware that Merry frequently spent his nights at the Crickhollow cottage and, knowing Merry as they did, must guess the reason why. "I'm not- ah- interrupting?"
"No, not at all. What's wrong?" Since she appeared rather anxious, Frodo invited her to sit down and poured a cup of tea for her while she told them.
"It's Merimas," Celie explained. "Have you seen him? He left me last night. We-ah- quarreled. You must've heard." She glanced from one cousin to the other, and both nodded. "He went off down the lane in a fit of temper. I ran after him a ways, but he was walking too fast and I didn't want to leave the babies alone to chase him. I waited up for him, but he never came home."
"We saw him go past the gate at sunset," said Frodo, "but he didn't come in."
"Could he have gone the long way 'round, past Bucklebury, to the Hall?" asked Merry. "If he didn't want to go home, he might've spent the night there."
"Yes, that's possible," Celie agreed, but sounded doubtful.
"I'm sure it's all right, Ceel. He's only gone off to sulk. Why don't I walk back to the Hall with you to see if he's there? I ought to return soon anyway." While Merry could, and often did, spend the night away from the Hall, he had to return for the day. "Uncle Merry will be expecting me."
After Celie and Merry had gone, Frodo spent the rest of the morning quietly and gave Merimas's flight little more thought. Like Merry, Frodo assumed that Merimas was off sulking somewhere and would return when he thought his wife had been sufficiently punished by his absence.
He tried to work on his book, but wrote little. Whenever he tried to remember Mordor, he saw it only in brief, vivid flashes: the tower rising between the cleft in the rocks at the end of the passage at Cirith Ungol; the sharp stab of pain that struck him unaware; the red-lit room at the tower's top, and the soul-shrinking horror he'd felt when he realized that the Ring was gone; orc faces looming at him, leering; Sam kneeling over him, smiling; the endless fields of soot and ash and the choking, poisonous fumes; the weight of the terrible burden about his neck like a millstone; the circle of fire that grew in his mind until it consumed all else; the mountain and the rocky outcropping over the pit of molten lava where he'd stood with the Ring in his hand... When he tried to put it all down on paper, he found he couldn't form a coherent sentence. These were fragments of memories, no more. Not a story.
He would have to write to Sam and say he was coming for a visit. It was only fair to let the Gamgees know in advance, rather than simply go and show up unexpectedly at Bag End when they weren't prepared for a guest.
After lunch, he gave Milli the afternoon off and went to call on Uncle Dinodas for their regular golfing session. From the lane before Dinodas's cottage, he could see that no one was home at Celie's and Merimas's cottage next door.
At tea-time, he went to Brandy Hall. He hadn't been specifically invited today, but Merry's mother, Lady Esmeralda, greeted him warmly. "Of course you're welcome, darling," she said. "Come into the drawing room--everyone's gathered for tea, except Merry and Merimac."
"Are they still working?" asked Frodo.
"It's the tenant farmers' rents. They've got to add everything that was paid into the account books. Merry doesn't need to sit through it--his uncle does the accounting--but he wants to learn how to manage Buckland properly. He never used to pay attention to such things." She lay a hand on Frodo's cheek. "You've been a good influence on Merry, dear. Since you've come home, he's matured and become more responsible. He's shown himself to be a better Master than his father or uncle anticipated. I'd like to think Saradoc would be proud of how well Merry's done, although what he might say of your part in it... Well, at least, he'd have to acknowledge that Pippin wasn't the problem. It's simply the way Merry is. If Saradoc had forced Merry to give up Pippin, there would only be another boy. I'm pleased it's you."
As she lowered her hand from his cheek, she gave him a kiss on the same spot, then took his arm. They went into the drawing room.
The aunties had assembled around the tea-table: tall, elegant Mellisaunte, plump little Hilda, an older version of her daughter Celie, and Beryl Bolger, who had accompanied her niece Estella to Brandy Hall upon the girl's marriage to Hilda's younger son Ilberic. Ilbie and Estella were seated near the fire with Ilbie's brother Doderic and his wife Isalda. Frodo stopped to say hello to them, and to congratulate Ilbie and Estella on their expected baby.
Celie had taken an armchair not far from the young couples, but did not join in their chatter. Frodo thought she looked more worried now than she had when she'd visited his cottage that morning, and he guessed before she told him that she'd seen no sign of Merimas all day.
"He wasn't here when I came with Merry this morning," she confided to Frodo. "I didn't know what to do. I've brought my little boys over--they're up in the nursery. I thought we'd stay at the Hall tonight. I couldn't bear waiting at the cottage all night again, if he didn't come..."
"He'll come home, Celie," said Dodi. "Maybe it'll do him good to see you haven't been sitting and crying your eyes out over him. The way he speaks to you, you ought to be glad he's gone for the day. I don't know why you put up with it--I wouldn't if I were married to him." Dodi's and Isalda's cottage, Ivysmial, was much closer to Celie's and Merimas's home, and Frodo guessed that they had greater opportunities to hear the quarrels than he did. They must certainly have overheard more of yesterday's shouting.
Celie only answered, "You wouldn't understand," and curled up in her chair and sipped her tea. She obviously wanted to be left alone, and so Frodo went to chat with his aunts and other cousins. After awhile, Merry and Uncle Merimac finished their business in the Master's study and joined them. Merry was delighted to see Frodo there, and flopped down on the sofa and lay his feet in Frodo's lap while they told each other about their respective day apart.
The family was finishing their tea when the bells on one of Brandy Hall's three front doors chimed. No one moved to answer it--they had numerous servants to perform such tasks--but Celie watched the entrance to the drawing room anxiously until Bramblebanks, the Hall porter and major domo, escorted the Buckland Chief Shirriff Muggeredge in.
"I've come to speak to Mrs. Brandybuck," the shirriff explained--then, since there were a number of Mrs. Brandybucks in the room, clarified, "Mrs. Celandine Brandybuck, that is."
Celie rose from her chair and came forward. "Yes, what is it?"
"I've come to tell you, Ma'am, your husband Mr. Merimas has been found," the Shirriff spoke gently.
"Is he all right?"
"I'm afraid not, Mrs. Brandybuck. I'm sorry to say he's dead."
There were gasps and cries of surprise around the room. Merry sat upright. When Celie sank down as if her legs had given out beneath her, her brother Ilbie caught her by the arm and helped to her the nearest seat.
"Wh-what happened?" asked Mellisaunte. Her face had gone white at the news of her son's death. She had already lost one daughter under tragic circumstances. "Was there an accident?"
"It doesn't look so, Ma'am," the sherriff said apologetically. "He was struck down in the lane that runs along the Hedge, hit in the head. We think as it was done on purpose."
"Where is he?" cried Celie. "Can I see him?"
"We've brought him to the guardhouse at Newbury, Mrs. Brandybuck, but it might be best if you didn't see him yet. He was hit pretty badly." Shirriff Muggeredge looked even more contrite that he should have to tell the dead hobbit's wife and mother this. "But I must ask Master Merry to come."
Merry nodded grimly. As part of his duties as Master of the Hall, he was also the local magistrate; he was called upon to judge cases when Bucklanders requested his arbitration in a dispute, and oversaw the investigation of serious crimes. This was the first such crime to occur since he'd come home. "Yes, of course, Shirriff." He lay a hand on Frodo's wrist. "Frodo?"
When she heard Merry speak Frodo's name, Celie turned to them, her eyes tearful but suddenly brighter. "Yes, Frodo," she said. "Come with us, please."
Other members of the Brandybuck family were also turning to regard him hopefully. No one had asked, but Frodo understood what they expected him to do. Only yesterday, he'd told Merry that he would take up investigating again if there was a special need. He hadn't imagined then that his services would be needed so soon.
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