"Bah, you are ma... I mean, indeed?" replied Samouard, as politely as he could.
"After all I have taught you, you question me?" returned Frodia. "Now listen, and then behold the proof of my veracity! I had a decent career as a secretary for the Count of Caras Galadon, before he passed away and my political opinions got me into water hot with the Elvish authorities. In my hours of leisure, my master encouraged me to pursue my own interests in history and geography, and I explored the archives of Lottaloria, where I found – concealed under stacks of worthless trash like Il Signore degli Anelli and Faquieux's The Harlequinades of Hurin, or the Tragical History of M. de Finrot and Erendisette la Belle - the testament of Sauron."
"Sauron left a will?" cried Samouard. "But how came it to Lottaloria?"
"Many are the amours of Galadriella," said the abbé simply. Samouard blushed, and Frodia continued: "As is notorious, Elrond attained and kept his pre-eminent position in Terre-moyenne through the simple yet effective technique of poison, being indeed for a time the greatest expert in herb-lore (though tobacco seems to have escaped him) in the northern lands. His plans were, however, rather thwarted by the existence of a puissant ruler bent upon reducing all kingdoms to a beneficent order: Sauron."
