‘I won’t have his name tarnished, Rory, not with the lies Sara is saying. You know what will be said if he simply comes to Bag End and is with me. That’s been the problem all along, and I won’t allow it. It is what has made me stay my hand, hold my tongue, but no more. If I have to, if you won’t let me adopt him, I will claim him as my own, not just here to you, but in front of all. People can count. They know I was here, with Prim and Drogo, at the right time, through Yule, 1367. Do you think anyone, looking at Frodo and me together, would doubt my word?’