The promised ravishing went on well into the night, and when Frodo slept, he was satisfied that he'd put Sam's worries to rest for the present. He'd made every effort to give Sam exactly what he wanted--although Frodo found that he also had to be careful not to do anything to remind Sam of the months he and Merry had been lovers. No kisses with tickles of tongue. None of what Sam termed "jumping all over." Nothing shocking. Just simple and plain hobbit-style love-making.
"Wait 'til you hear what I found in the garden last night," Merry told Frodo in an undertone as the two of them served themselves bacon and eggs from hot platters on the dining-room sideboard the next morning. None of the North-Tooks who were in the dining-room had said more than 'Good-morning' to them when they'd come in for breakfast. Persifilla was regarding them with an anxious expression that Frodo didn't understand, until he'd heard the story of Merry's midnight interview with her.
"I must have a word with that young lady." Frodo murmured, and cast a glance at Persifilla as he and Merry sat down at the far side of the table from her. "As soon as I have a chance."
"Why not now?" asked Merry.
"There are too many people about--I want to speak to her alone, hear her tell her own story without interruption. Besides, I wanted to call on the Lowfoot family this morning," answered Frodo. "Perhaps there'll be time before we go to luncheon at Alamaric's house."
"Is there anything I can do before then?"
"See if she'll tell you more about how and when she discovered those seed pods. Talk to them all, if they'll talk to you. There might be other things we haven't found out."
"Is Frodo asking you to go on flirting with Persifilla?" teased Pippin as he took a seat on Merry's other side, his own breakfast plate piled high. "Or is it going to be Ulfidius today?"
Merry gave him a scornful look in reply, and Frodo could see that the two hadn't had their own reconciliation during the night.
Brabantius gave him directions to Low-wood, and Frodo took his pony from the stable. He found his way easily up the lanes to the smial, which was not as large or grand as the Thain's Hall, but a good-sized and comfortable-looking if slightly run-down home. Vidalia was in the front garden, cutting and gathering flowers into a large woven basket. Near her, lounging on a shaded bench beneath a bower with his hat pulled low to shield his eyes from the sunlight, was a gentlehobbit whom Frodo assumed must be her father. At the sound of pony's hooves approaching, this hobbit sat up slightly and opened his eyes.
Frodo had seen many tiplers before, for most hobbits liked their ale and wine in generous quantities. His cousins were famous for it. But Valumus Lowfoot had a sadly worn and dissipated look that was not usual. There was something unhealthy about the red of his nose and cheeks--it was not the natural ruddiness of a robust hobbit in his prime, but had an ugly purplish tone to it. Tiny streaks of darker purple had crept across his face like the veins on a leaf. His eyes only focused on the visitor coming in through the gate with an effort.
"Who the deuces are you?" he asked as he lifted the brim of his hat and peered at Frodo.
"This is Mr. Baggins, the investigator," Vidalia introduced him. "Mama and I told you about him last night, Father. Remember?"
Valumus obviously recalled no such thing. "Did you, my dear?"
"He and his companions are staying at Grandfather's," his daughter reminded him, "although what brings him here, I can't imagine."
"I wanted to meet your father, Miss Lowfoot," Frodo said.
The girl looked wary, but her father chuckled. "Does this have to do with someone poisoning the old wretch?" he asked. "I do remember your mother telling me about that, and I can't say I'm surprised. It's the best thing really. He's lived far too long as it is and once he goes, my wife and her brothers will finally see some of the money they ought to have to keep them in respectable comfort. I'll wager that pretty wife of his wouldn't be too sorry to see him go either, with all she has to put up with."
Vidalia was mortified at this unguarded speech, but it was another female voice that cried out, "Val, hush-!"
Althaea emerged through an open door into the garden, looking even more alarmed than her daughter. "Are you not satisfied with upsetting my father's household, Mr. Baggins?" she asked. "Must you bring your prying here too?"
"I'm afraid I must, Mrs. Lowfoot," Frodo answered. "It is what your father engaged me to do. Nothing your husband's said is new to me. I knew already that you and your brothers are all badly in need of money, and you've had to go begging to your father for it. I know that he's provided for your daughter's marriage, but refuses to give you and your husband another penny. You'll only gain your inheritance at the Thain's death."
"What a vile thing to suggest!" Althaea exploded. "Who told you what passed between my father and me?"
"The Thain keeps no secrets from me in this matter," Frodo replied circumspectly. He didn't like to admit that he had eavesdropped. "We spoke of it after you left his study yesterday. He was quite frank. It is an ugly thing, Mrs. Lowfoot, but the truth is that all signs indicate that whoever poisoned your father was one of his household, or one of his family."
"You mean us, don't you?" said Vidalia. "Mother, Father, and me too. You have to include me in your suspicions, Mr. Baggins--before yesterday, Grandfather refused to help with my dowry. My marriage would have been delayed. But if Mother had come into her inheritance, she would certainly have settled something on me and I could be married right away. That's reason enough, isn't it, if you believe that money is all we care about?"
The words were flung out defiantly, and Frodo couldn't help but respect the girl's efforts to defend her parents by drawing suspicion toward herself. "It isn't your family alone, Miss," he answered her. "I have to consider everyone close to the Thain. The poisoner must be close to him, to enter his study or wine cellar and tamper with his wine. I've eliminated the possibility of an outsider managing it. Thain Brabantius realizes this too, which is why he's given me the authority to question anybody I need to to find the truth. He isn't sentimental about it."
"No, he wouldn't be," said Valumus.
"Knowing that someone you've loved and trusted has tried to murder you has a chilling effect on sentiment," Frodo responded.
The older hobbit laughed. "Then that lets me out! Brabantius never loved or trusted me."
But his wife and daughter were both aware that they were in this category. "Very well," said Althaea. "I admit that I have been desperate for money, and I went to my father to beg. He refused me. Is that what you came here to ask, Mr. Baggins? It is true, and yesterday was not the first time I went to Father a-begging and came away with little or nothing."
"Did you have such an interview with your father when you last visited him before he fell ill?" Frodo asked. "That would be in June. The night you and your husband came, and he went away early."
Althaea's lips tightened into a hard, straight line. "I did."
"It's why I came, and why I left," said Valumus. "I told my dear wife it was useless, but she was bound to try."
"Did you go directly home on that night, Mr. Lowfoot?" Frodo asked him.
"I really don't remember. I may have stopped off at our local pub. I have an idea that I did, but it might've been some other night. It was weeks ago, after all."
"My father came home around 10:00 that evening," Vidalia added quickly. "I remember it because I usually go with Mother when she visits Grandfather's house, but she bade me stay home that night. My betrothed, Odonto, came to see me, and we were surprised when Father came home unexpectedly." The girl's face was pink, whether from the memory of being caught in a cuddle with her sweetheart or from some stronger emotion, Frodo couldn't say.
"Did I, Vida darling?" said her father. "I beg your pardon. I wouldn't have interrupted you for the world."
"It's all right, Father. You didn't." She told Frodo, "Father went straight to his room, and he was there until Odonto left and I went to bed. I swear that he didn't go out again that night, nor did I."
"And how late did you stay at the Thain's Hall, Mrs. Lowfoot asked Althaea.
"Very late," Althaea answered. "After dinner and my conversation with Father, I sat with my sisters-in-law and the other ladies of the Hall in the parlor. We had a great deal to discuss. But in all the hours I was there, I was never alone. Father was in his study when I went to speak to him, and he was still there when I left. I never touched his wine, though I saw him take a glass as I was going out."
"Was that the last time you were there?" Frodo asked both her and her husband.
Valumus said that he hadn't been back to the Thain's Hall, but Althaea and Vidalia both admitted that they'd visited their family several times since the Thain's illness.
"I will tell you this, Mr. Baggins," Althaea added. "As badly as we need money, I would never dream of harming my father to obtain it. How could I poison him? I wouldn't have the least idea of how to go about it. In spite of our recent differences, I love my father dearly and I will sorrow at his death. I've no wish to speed him to it. You can believe that, or not."
Frodo did believe that Althaea loved her father, but it had also become obvious to him that she loved her husband devotedly, and that she and Vidalia were doing their best to defend a drunkard who didn't have the wits to protect himself.
He thanked the Lowfoots for their cooperation and left their garden. On his way back to the Thain's Hall, he rode down a different lane from the one he had come up, one that would lead him past the nearest tavern. He hadn't gone a hundred yards from Low-wood when the path took him around a knoll with a grove of decorative trees atop. Although Frodo did not have Sam's knowledge of plants, he recognized these immediately; the distinctive golden blooms had long since gone, but there were a number of equally distinctive seed pods scattered on the ground beneath.
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