Bliss swallowed, her cheeks burning. “I rarely talk with my mouth full,” she argued. “It’s just that I’m so hungry.”

“You’re always hungry.”

She glared at him. “And you’re always—like you were in the carriage.”

Jamie laughed and sat down on a settee to eat. “Oh? And how was that?”

“Lecherous,” Bliss said, before attacking her supper again. She hadn’t eaten since the soup and tea at Flossy’s, and she was famished.

“Tomorrow we’ll buy you some decent clothes,” Jamie speculated, between bites. He looked as though he were imagining Bliss in fancy silks and velvets instead of seeing her as she was.

“I’m working tomorrow,” Bliss said flatly. “Flossy is depending on me.”

Jamie’s voice was quiet in an unnerving way. “Flossy?”

“Of Flossy’s Tearoom,” Bliss answered, rising to carry her empty plate to the serving cart and dispose of it.

Jamie was shaking his head when she looked at him, his eyes on the bit of bread he was dragging through a pool of gravy. “Go to bed, Duchess,” he said. “We can fight this out in the morning.”

Bliss was tired, but if Jamie McKenna thought she was just going to fall into his arms, the way That Woman probably did—

“It’s in there,” Jamie said lightly, after setting his plate on the serving cart and reaching out for his coat and hat, pointing toward a separate room.

Bliss was staring at Jamie in surprise. “Where are you going?”

He smiled and gave her a brotherly kiss on the forehead. “Don’t trouble yourself about it, Duchess—I’ve got some business to attend to, that’s all.”

Bliss glanced at the gaudy gilt clock on the mantelpiece. “At this hour of the night?”

Jamie had already reached the door, and he touched the brim of his hat in a blithe gesture of farewell. “Aye, love. Sleep tight, and all that.”

An image of that blond woman greeting him at the door of some hideaway filled Bliss’s mind, and she felt an almost incomprehensible rage. When Jamie actually had the nerve to walk out, she snatched one of the china plates from the serving cart and sent it spinning after him, to shatter against the wall.

The door opened again, and Jamie stuck his head inside to say, “Don’t run the bill up too ’igh now, love, for you’re already into me for three pounds.”

Bliss gave a shriek and reached for the other plate, which he evaded by ducking outside. There was a tinkling crash as the dish disintegrated and little droplets of gravy decorated the door.

“Good night, sweetness,” she heard Jamie call from the hallway. This was followed by the grating of a key in the lock.

Too exhausted to throw another thing, Bliss whirled and stomped off into the room Jamie had indicated earlier. There was nothing to do now but sleep; in the morning, she would decide how to deal with all the problems besetting her.

The bedchamber was graced with an enormous bed that had an intricately carved headboard, and in one corner of the room, there was a fancy teakwood screen. Curious, Bliss peered behind it and was astonished to see a stationary bathtub, with spigots and a faucet. She approached, full of wonder, almost unable to believe such luxury existed, even though she’d heard that Alexander had just such a tub in his house.