Frodo and Sam arrived in Budgeford on Trewsday afternoon. While Sam rode into the village with their baggage to see about taking rooms at the Inn, Frodo went directly to Stillwater Hall, which was off the road to the north.
Stillwater Hall was built smial-fashion, as all the best houses were, but the land here was too flat for hills and natural tunnels; the Hall rose as a large curving hummock in the midst of a neat little park with stone-paved paths that curved around recently planted clumps of bright flowers in circular beds, and shallow, decorative lily-ponds.
Frodo was shown into the best drawing-room, where Verbena Stillwaters was waiting to receive him. She was an elderly hobbit-lady, dressed in a dark blue velvet gown; her white curls were piled atop her head, and a little lace cap was perched upon them. When Frodo entered the room, she rose to greet him.
"You are Mr. Baggins, I presume, Asphodel Burrows' nephew?" As she held out her hand, her eyes swept over him and her brows rose delicately. Frodo assumed that she was surprised to see how young he was--he was used to this response from older hobbits who had never met him before--but Mrs. Stillwaters only said, "Yes, I can see a resemblance." She returned to her seat, and offered a chair to Frodo. "It's kind of you to come all this way to aide us, Mr. Baggins. I've heard a great deal about you. Your aunt has been following your career with keen interest and speaks highly of your abilities as an investigator. When she heard of the... situation with my daughter-in-law, Asphodel insisted I write to ask for your assistance. I trust I may rely on your discretion? I only want Camellia found and convinced to return home, with no breath of scandal following her absence. I will do all I can to further your inquiries, as long as they are conducted discreetly. Will you help?"
"I will try," Frodo answered. "Do you have any idea where your daughter-in-law might have gone?" He had his own ideas on the matter, but he wanted to learn how much the Stillwaters knew of Camellia's secrets. Did Mrs. Stillwaters know that Camellia had been his client?
"No," Verbena answered, "but I can guess. Before Camellia wed my son, I heard that the girl had been in love with someone else. Her family was at pains to keep the incident a secret while we were arranging the betrothal, but I considered it nothing more than idle gossip. If there were indeed anything in it... well, young people often have these unsuitable little romances." She smiled wryly. "It was just the same when I was a girl, and the Shire hasn't changed so much since then! But any sensible hobbit can be relied upon to make the correct choice when the time comes to marry. So it seemed it was with Camellia. She agreed to marry my Val--as suitable a match as a girl could hope to find--and they have been a happy couple.
"At least, I would have said so until a month or so ago. Then, I observed that Camellia began to be quiet and unhappy. She looked troubled, though she would not speak to me of what distressed her. It might have been the usual sort of newlywed quarrel. Are you married, Mr. Baggins?"
The question caught Frodo off guard. "No, Ma'am," he answered.
"Then you mayn't understand yet how a husband and wife can find it difficult to adjust to their new lives together during the first months of marriage. It's not remarkable that they should quarrel, but I never imagined there was a serious breach between them, until Camellia disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Frodo echoed.
Mrs. Stillwaters nodded. "Ten days ago, on August 5th, to be precise. She went out for a stroll in the garden after dinner and, as far as anyone can say, she did not return to the house that night. Her belongings were left in her room, but she left no note. She hasn't gone to her family in Overhill. It was then that I thought of that earlier romance, and wondered if Camellia had been so unhappy with Val that she decided to fly with the other boy."
"Does your son know of your suspicions?"
"No, I don't believe he does," the lady answered. "I've kept my thoughts to myself. Val's never heard the old gossip. It would break his heart if he learned that Camellia had had another love before her marriage, and that she should be so foolish to prefer that lover to him."
"Do you know the other boy's name?" asked Frodo.
"I'm afraid not," the lady said apologetically, "but I believe he's been seen-" She stopped and looked up suddenly at the sound of a nearby door opening and footsteps padding down the hallway, heading in their direction.
The door to the drawing-room opened, and her son came in. He was a handsome and well-kept hobbit in his forties, with taffy-colored curls and a rose brocade waistcoat that Frodo, who had a taste for nice clothing, frankly envied.
Valerian Stillwaters was studying him with open curiosity as well. "Hullo. I didn't know we had company. Who's this?" he asked his mother.
"This is Frodo Baggins," Mrs. Stillwaters made the introduction. "Mr. Baggins, my son, Valerian."
"Oh, Mother! Good Heavens!" Val cried out as indignantly as if someone had stepped on his toes. "You didn't actually engage an investigator?"
"I thought it best, dear."
"But why? No offense to you, Mr. Baggins--I'm sure you're quite as good as your reputation, but we've no need of your services. Cammie's not missing."
"You know where she is?" Frodo asked, surprised. Mrs. Stillwaters also looked surprised, and a little discomfited, at this announcement from her son.
"Not exactly, no," Val admitted, "but I'm sure she's only gone on a visit. She was planning a stay with her family in Overhill, wasn't she, Mother?"
"Yes, but we know she isn't there," said Mrs. Stillwaters. "I've exchanged letters with Rue Bilbury, and they haven't seen her."
"Then she must have stopped somewhere along the way to see some friends," her son responded.
"Has she written to you?" asked Frodo.
"No."
"Is she in the habit of going away on long visits and not telling you where she's gone?"
"She's never done it before, if that's what you mean," Val said grudgingly, "but she's a grown hobbit and knows her own mind. She's quite capable of looking after herself. If she wants to go off, I don't feel I must have her followed and know where she is every minute of the day. I hope I'm a broad-minded husband, and not one of those possessive, jealous and clinging brutes. I've wondered why she hasn't written me, but there's no reason to think any harm has come to her--not in the heart of the Shire. What a ridiculous notion! Camellia will come home when it suits her."
Frodo didn't know how to address this astonishing degree of obtuseness. Broad-mindedness in a marriage was one thing, but Val seemed completely unconcerned about his wife's unexplained absence. Or was he mistaken? Did Val already know what his mother was trying to keep from him, that Camellia had run off with Rolo Bindbole--and was this seeming indifference his way of putting a brave face on an awkward situation?
"If you're certain you don't need my assistance..." Frodo was about to make a tactful retreat, when Mrs. Stillwaters spoke:
"Nonsense. Please, stay, Mr. Baggins. We do need your help. You are the one who's being ridiculous, Val. Don't you see that Camellia must be found and made to return? People are beginning to wonder where she is--and, worse yet, beginning to talk." She gazed searchingly into her son's face. "You don't wish to become a subject of scandal, do you?"
"No... Oh, very well," Val conceded, and turned to Frodo. "Mother wishes to have you look for Cammie, and I suppose she's right. We can't have gossip. Look all you like, Mr. Baggins, but I'm quite sure Cammie is fine, wherever she is."
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