Éowyn likes looking into Merry's eyes. They are simple and guileless, just as he is, and she wonders if her eyes were ever like that.
If they were, it was not for long.
"You have not had an unhappy life, had you?" she asks, as they make camp one night.
"I couldn't say that I have," responds Merry. He is cheerful, but it is nervous – not forced, but edgy, for he knows what they are riding to. He has had days to think about it. He has very few illusions left, but he has them, and they are all that keep him from running back to Rohan.
Éowyn does not say anymore, but thinks to herself.
If I knew such happiness, I would not be riding to war, she thinks, and feels a pang of guilt.
She would send him back – but she has seen his eyes, and though they are happy, they are resolute. To try to send Merry back would be like trying to stop the wind – like trying to stop her. They have gone for reasons of their own. They will not be turned back – not by any look in either one's eyes.