[Lucius Cornelius Sulla]

It is very funny and rather dramatic not to know what happens... and then have Merry and Pippen at the door

I think that this might be it. As I remember, one of the ways they increased suspense in novels written as an exchange of letters, as Pride and Prejudice was in part, was to have characters anxiously awaiting news, then have a character or letter arrive, telling the story.

[carton253]

Yes... and it is the reason we have the front part of the book... Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli's mad dash across the plains of Rohan. It is the reason they meet Eomer. Through the hunt for Merry and Pippen, they reteam up with Gandalf, come to Theoden, meet Wormtongue, etc.

What we are waiting for is not what happens to Merry and Pippen for we know what happens. But it is fun to see how Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli will react when they finally see their friends again. (And Aragorn loved those hobbits)