As Bliss stood there watching Jamie, it came home to her that she would be forced to leave him soon, and that whatever he meant to do in her absence was dangerous. A shiver touched her spine, and made her tremble.

She might never see him again after she and Peony and Reeve sailed away from Auckland.

“Do you love me, Jamie McKenna?” she demanded, her eyes burning suspiciously.

He stopped pitching hay to look at her squarely. “No worries there, Duchess. Didn’t I just surrender me virtue, without so much as a fight?”

Bliss took a step nearer, her hands clasped together. “Don’t tease me, Jamie,” she said. “I’m serious.”

He dispensed with the pitchfork and walked toward her, cupping her face in his hands. “And so am I,” he said gruffly. He gave her a little shake. “Are you listenin’ now, Duchess? I love you!”

Bliss put her arms around his neck and held on. “Let me stay with you, Jamie—please!”

He shook his head and set her away, just as she’d feared.

“No. And that’s the end of it, Duchess. I’ve done all the explainin’ I’m goin’ to do.”

Bliss drew a deep breath, let it out again. It was true that Jamie had made his position clear over the past few days. He intended to look for Increase Pipher, his old enemy, after she’d sailed for Australia with Reeve and Peony. When he’d resolved the matter once and for all, he would come for her. “There’s no reasoning with you, Jamie McKenna,” she complained.

“You’re right,” he replied stubbornly, and when Bliss left the barn, he was pitching hay again.

Peony was in the kitchen brewing tea when Bliss reached the house. She smiled and said, “Hello, Mrs. McKenna.”

“Hello,” Bliss sighed, sinking into a chair.

“My goodness,” commented Peony. “Don’t we just look like desolation itself?” She reached out and, with a frown, picked a bit of straw from Bliss’s hair.

Bliss blushed and averted her eyes, and Peony laughed.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, love,” she said good-naturedly. “The man’s your husband, after all.”

Bliss’s gaze was level as she looked at Peony. “I don’t want to share him. Ever.”

Peony shrugged and poured tea for both herself and Bliss before answering. “I don’t imagine you’ll have to, if you look after his needs. Jamie’s not a man to wander from bed to bed.”

“You seem to know him awfully well,” Bliss dared to say.

“I do,” Peony replied blithely. “Perhaps better than anyone else in the world does.” She paused, probably for effect, then went on to say, “Jamie loves you, Bliss, with his whole heart and soul, and he’d never betray you. Not unless you betrayed him first, that is.

“Let me just give you a little warning, though. If you ever hurt that man, I’ll see you pay for it if it’s the last thing I ever do.”

Bliss’s eyes widened and, for once, she had no ready answer.

The next morning, early, Jamie left the warmth of their bed and began getting into his clothes.