After Arwen had gone, Frodo told Merry about the amazing thing that had happened. It seemed impossible to believe, but Arwen had indeed been there, and her gift and the promise of life that went with it, remained as proof of that.
Both hobbits were still laughing and crying and hugging each other in delight when Gandalf returned and looked in through the open bedroom door.
Merry, seeing that the wizard wanted a word with Frodo alone, jumped down off the bed and went to see about dinner. "Have you heard the news, Gandalf?" he said cheerfully before he went out. "Frodo's going to be all right after all! The Elves, Queen Arwen--they can do something for him. They're going to help. Isn't it wonderful?"
"More wonderful than you realize," Gandalf murmured, more to himself than to the hobbits.
After his cousin had gone, Frodo met the wizard's eyes and felt strangely contrite, as if he and Gandalf had quarreled, even though they hadn't. Gandalf was regarding him with a sad, solemn look. "Do you see what she gave me, Gandalf?" He held up the gemstone by its delicate chain. "It's a token. She says that I can be taken to the West like the Elves when I'm too weary to go on living."
"Yes," Gandalf answered. "The Queen told me what she meant to do."
"You knew..." Suddenly, Frodo recalled the cryptic remarks Gandalf had made when he'd visited Bag End a year ago, about conversations with the Elves and how Frodo might be repaid for his sacrifice. He hadn't understood it at the time, but he did now. "That's what you meant by 'nothing on Middle Earth' healing me! You knew that such a thing was possible, didn't you?" Aragorn must have understood it too, when the wizard had said it.
"Elrond and I have discussed it," Gandalf confirmed, and sat down at the bedside. "We'd hoped that it might be done for both you and Bilbo. The Ring has had its effect upon him too, and his time is shorter than yours. But we weren't sure that it could be done. No one not of elven-kind has yet been received in the Undying Lands. Mortals have forever been barred from crossing the sea to reach it."
Frodo thought of the ancient King of Numenor, who had once sailed for the West and had not only been destroyed for his presumption, but had caused the whole western coast of Middle Earth to fall into the sea, and he shuddered.
"It was Arwen who first thought you might be allowed to go in another's place, and that you should have hers," Gandalf continued. "While we discussed the question, she has, as usual, taken matters into her own hands. If you can be brought there safely, your pain may be eased and your wounds healed. Your life may not be extended beyond its normal years... or it might. These are, after all, the lands that do not know death." He regarded the hobbit with that same solemn look in his eyes as he had when he'd first come into the room. "Why did you never tell me, Frodo? We might have settled things more quickly if we'd realized how ill you were."
"Are you angry with me, Gandalf?" Frodo asked meekly. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you before, but I didn't think anything could be done."
"No, I'm not angry, only grieved by your silence. You never used to keep secrets."
"I never used to have so many secrets to keep. Since Sam and I went home and set up house together, I've learned to live most of my life in secrecy. Hardly any of my family knows how ill I've been. I haven't told many people, only one of my cousins--I'd proposed to her, so it was only fair that she know the worst--and Rosie before she married Sam."
Gandalf's eyebrows shot up at this last statement. "But not Sam?"
Frodo shook his head. "I've tried to once or twice, but it only upsets him."
"Merry has known for some time?"
"Oh, yes, I told him months ago, after I made out my will. Merry and I have no secrets from each other. He can usually keep them." But Frodo couldn't be very angry at Merry's breach of confidence; if Merry hadn't given him away this once, then Arwen wouldn't have come to bestow her gift and he would still be dying without hope. "Besides, Merry wouldn't blame himself for my being ill like this." He placed his small hand upon the wizard's. "You would, you know. You do, don't you?"
Gandalf didn't answer, but stared him in surprise.
"If I didn't tell you how bad it was, it's because I didn't want you to feel as if you'd done this to me. You think it's all your fault because you made Uncle Bilbo leave the Ring to me, and sent me on the quest. Aragorn feels the same way, as if he were responsible because he let me go into Mordor alone. But, Gandalf, it was my choice. Perhaps I didn't fully understand what I was getting myself into when I said I would destroy the Ring, but I did say it, and I must take the responsibility for how it's turned out. It isn't your fault."
Gandalf was still staring at him. At last, he said, "I've always known that you were a most remarkable hobbit, Frodo Baggins, but time and again you amaze me. I continue to discover depths to you that I hadn't guessed at before." Then he asked, "Which of your cousins did you propose to?"
Frodo laughed at the unexpected question. "It was Melly Brandybuck. She didn't accept, but that's an awfully long story..."
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