They were both men and
women, who seemed--I can express it in no other way--to be in the
possession of a secret so great that it made everything else trivial and
indifferent to them. Not that they were impatient or contemptuous--it
was quite the other way; but to use a similitude, they were like
good-natured, active, kindly elders at a children's party. They did not
shun conversation, but if one talked with them, they used a kind of
tender and gentle irony, which had something admiring and complimentary
about it, which took away any sense of vexation or of baffled curiosity.
It was simply as though their concern lay elsewhere; they joined in
anything with a frank delight, not with any touch of condescension. They
were even more kindly and affectionate than others, because they did not
seem to have any small problems of their own, and could give their whole
attention and thought to the person they were with. These inscrutable
people puzzled me very much. I asked Amroth about them once.
"Who are these people," I said, "whom one sometimes meets, who are so
far removed from all of us? What are they doing here?"
Amroth smiled.
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