Sam looked at her a moment longer, and then sighed, shoulders dropping as the defiance went out of him. She hadn't meant any offense, after all. And, he realized now, he hadn't done a very good job at explaining himself.

"We were never slaves," he said, finally, his tone gentler. Even the word itself was distasteful, and he wrinkled his nose a bit as he said it. "Mr. Bilbo was my old gaffer's employer, and then mine; and Mr. Frodo took over Bag End when Mr. Bilbo left to stay with the Elves."

Something else occurred to him, and he added, "And we're not dwarves. We're hobbits."