His strong hands rose to clasp the sides of her head, fingers buried in her hair, but he was still breathing too raggedly for speech. Finally, he pressed Bliss’s mouth to his and kissed her.

Through his chest she could feel the hard, steady beat of his heart. “And I love you, Duchess,” he whispered, when he could speak.

Although they were both exhausted, their young bodies had been honed for sweeter battles; within minutes, they were needing again. Loving again.

And when that skirmish was over, they fell into sound sleep, their arms and legs intertwined as if they would cling together forever.

But forever is a thing sometimes denied to mortal man.

Chapter 16

IT WAS PURE LUCK, AND NOTHING MORE, THAT NEITHER JAMIE NOR Peony was in the suite when Mrs. Minerva Wilmington came to call. She was obviously disappointed at not being able to meet the woman who had written such a glowing letter of recommendation for Bliss.

Cheeks slightly warm, Bliss lowered her eyes and said, “Won’t you please sit down, Mrs. Wilmington?”

“No time, no time,” replied the woman. Jamie would have said that was typical of a Yank, being in a rush. “I have reached my decision.”

Bliss held her breath, one hand clasping the other as she stood there facing Mrs. Wilmington, the door of the suite standing open. She longed to stay with Jamie, but he was even then out looking for a suitable place to tuck her away in, like a doll in a dollhouse.

He wanted a toy, not a wife and a partner.

“You’ll do,” Mrs. Wilmington said briskly. “We’ll discuss your wages and the payment of your passage at another time. You will be prepared to depart in six days, won’t you?”

Bliss nodded, so near tears that she didn’t trust herself to speak. It was really going to happen; she was going to leave Jamie McKenna and her homeland behind—and never look back.

When she’d closed the door behind Mrs. Wilmington, Bliss leaned against it, bit her lower lip, and let the tears spill over. Suddenly America seemed big and strange and very far away.

The fact that her mother lived there didn’t offer the comfort that it had in days gone by.

Resolutely, Bliss took herself in hand. The last few days had been a foretaste of the life Jamie meant for her; despite luxurious surroundings, Bliss was alone for the greater part of every day, and she was bored to distraction. Only when Jamie made love to her—which was always at his convenience—did she feel truly alive.

She had yearned for adventure all her life, and by heaven she was going to have it. Furthermore, she was bound to get over Jamie McKenna one day—though who knew how long that would take.

With a sigh, Bliss went into the bedroom and opened the huge armoire. It was time she decided which of the clothes Jamie had bought her were suitable for a widow’s companion and which should be left behind—along with silly dreams and wishful thinking.