Adam looked up at the question, confused by the emotion in it and deeply worried and anxious at the pain in Ronan's eyes. His heart dropped, instantly dreading that he'd erred, and his solutions to Ronan's problems had been all wrong. He didn't even know what Ronan meant by the question, but he had to answer it. There was no way not to answer it.

"I wanted," Adam said, faltering, trying to understand where he'd gone wrong, why Ronan was turning that look on him, one he'd never seen before. "I wanted to make him leave you alone. You didn't want to have to bother with the house, and you would never marry." Remembering that he was a servant, Adam dropped his eyes, further hurt and humiliated by having stepped beyond his reach and having so thoroughly displeased Ronan as a result. "I beg your forbearance, sir. I should not have been so presumptive."