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Elin's heart sank a little at the invitation. She felt that the hobbit was as uncomfortable as she was but she couldn't see how she could refuse - she knew noone here save the inn-staff as yet and she could hardly decline to go and sit on her own, neither could she immediately retrace her steps to the sanctuary of her room without seeming odd.
"Well if you are sure it won't incommode you", Elin lowered herself into the indicated chair reminding herself that she could excuse herself on the pretext that she needed to check on Annie. Which wouldn't exactly be untrue. She smoothed her dress over her knees and tucked her knitting by her side. She had a feeling that Alferad would not appreciate her dividing her attention between him and a half finished sock however pretty the wool. She wondered what she could do to ease the tension that had increased seemingly with every word she had previously uttered - compared to Penny and Rowan he seemed a very prickly hobbit. The name Brandybuck struck another bell in the woman's mind.
"I am afraid I have offended you," she didn't give him a chance to answer before she continued, "If I have please forgive me - I am but lately arrived in this land and its customs and courtesies are new to me - but I am told that the Brandybucks are an important family in these parts so I am sure that there is much you could tell me ..." Elin's voice tailed off hoping both that the combination of flattery and humility would appease the miffed hobbit.
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