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"Primrose, can I have some breakfast?"
Primrose's head turned around to catch a view of the speaker. It was Gable. The hobbit smiled, welcoming the intrusion. Gable's appearance was a distraction from talk about Will, and Primrose was afraid that she had been placed on the spot a bit more than was good for her.
"Of course you may! Have a seat. We've biscuits with jam and honey, eggs, and bacon this morning. I was just putting on the tea - ready in half a minute!"
Primrose busied herself with putting a plate together for Gable. As she did so, she wondered about the Elf. What strange chance had brought her to live in the Shire? Hobbits were such stay-at-home folk, other than those Tooks and that Mad Baggins away in Hobbiton. How could a respectable Hobbit couple have come into the charge of an Elf-child? Though Gable had been a fixture at the Inn for years, Primrose had never worked up the courage to ask. But she would today, if for no other reason than to keep her mind off of Will.
The plate was ready. Primrose looked at Cela and Rowan. "Yes, Cela. If you could spare me, I'd like to take the meals to Will. If you can spare me." Flustered again, Primrose snatched the plate of food and hurried it over to Gable.
Primrose asked her question. "Gable. I've been meaning to ask you. How did your kin - the Elves, I mean - come to know Hobbits? I've never heard of Elves in the Shire, and Hobbits have never been great folk for adventures, excepting old Mad Baggins, of course. How did it happen that you came here?
"Now if I'm being an old busybody, never mind me. Just have your breakfast, and we'll call an end of it." Primrose laughed lightly, hoping that Gable would answer.
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