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Little Marigold wandered out of the kitchen with a wistful little look on her face. She had heard that the women-folk were going to begin their dressing for the hand-fasting. And little Marigold had no dress with her but the one she was wearing. It wasn't a shabby dress, and in fact very pretty, with its rich blue skirt and white blouse trimmed with lace, but it was muddy from the rain. She wondered if it would be inappropriate to attend a hand-fasting in such a dirty state. She sat down to listen to the musicians, and put her hands into her pockets, bringing out what she found there and laying it on her lap to study. Some hair ribbons, mostly blue... her father's old whistle... and this was what she wanted! It was a pretty little comb her dear mother had given her. She sat back and began to work her way through the tangles in her golden curls.
Falco Headstrong was apparently quite at ease with the players, she observed. He listened to their songs, and in the last song, he sang loudly and sat back chuckling to himself when it was done.
"Oh, lads, you don't know how much good it did me to hear that song," he said. "We used to sing it at every wedding when I was a boy. I always led them, for I had the grandest voice of them all. And then afterwards we'd go through the verse and chorus with our instruments. I would play my old tin whistle. Nobody had nimbler fingers than I... nobody had faster fingers, though of course we played this song nice and easy... just right for the stepping gaily."
"He hasn't said 'no doubt' once," thought little Marigold. "He must love music very much, if he won't be bleak about it." She took up her father's old whistle. "Mr. Headstrong," she said, going to him, "you may use my father's tin whistle if you like."
"Why!" said Falco Headstrong, peering down at her and taking it in his hands. "That's good of you, my dear. But I don't know if these young people would want an old hobbit like me joining them." Yet he glanced at Gil with a little smile. "If I can contribute to your fine talent in any way," he said, "I should be more than pleased. If you'd rather not have an aged hobbit like me, I should be equally pleased to merely sit and listen."
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