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annulment.”
    Wolfe’s mouth turned down in a bitter curl. “You’re right, Lady Jessica. I will never rut on you. I don’t want to be saddled for life with a creature so spoiled and useless she can’t even comb her own hair.”
    He tied off the ribbon with a few abrupt motions.
    “Wolfe, I—”
    “Start packing your clothes,” he interrupted curtly. With grim pleasure, he saw Jessica’s look of surprise and uncertainty. “Don’t know how to pack? What a surprise. You had better learn quickly, Lady Jessica. The stage leaves in an hour. You will be on it, with or without your six trunks.”
    She looked at the armoires and wardrobes that had been brought into the suite of rooms in order to hold all her clothes. Then she looked at the locked trunks. It seemed impossible that so much clothing had come from so little packing space.
    “It took Betsy the better part of a week to pack when we left,” Jessica said faintly.
    Wolfe ran a measuring eye over the armoires and wardrobes. “That’s because you brought too much. Sort out what you’ll need for a month. Leave the rest here.”
    “Are we planning to come back here so quickly?”
    “Not we. You. You’ll be back as soon as you get it through your stubborn Scots skull that you don’t want to be an American wife married to a halfbreed commoner.”
    Jessica’s head came up. “I remember other vows, Wolfe Lonetree. Whither thou goest, I will go.Whither thou lodgest, I will lodge. Thy people will be my people, and thy God, my God.”
    “My shaman grandfather will be pleased to have such an obedient granddaughter.” Wolfe’s lips curved in his dark face. “I wonder how you’ll look in buckskin, beads, and shells. How will you like chewing my meat before it comes to my mouth so that my food will be tender for me, and chewing my buckskins so they will be soft and supple against my body?”
    “You’re joking.”
    “Am I?” Wolfe smiled, showing all his white teeth and not one bit of comfort. “I’m going to walk to the stage office and buy two tickets. When I come back, I expect to see the trunks lined up and waiting to go, and you with them.”
    The door closed behind Wolfe’s broad shoulders. Jessica looked at the ill-made wood frame and the tarnished brass hinges. As she turned away, she caught a glance of herself in the dressing glass. The odd, simple hairstyle made her look like a child playing in her mother’s clothes. Each time she moved, the braid caught on the many buttons on the back of her dress. With an impatient sound, she brought the heavy braid over her shoulder and down between her breasts, where it would be less trouble.
    Setting her mouth in a determined line, Jessica pulled a key ring from the pocket of her skirt, opened the padlocks on all of the trunks, and tossed the jangling ring onto the bedside table. Then she went among the wardrobes and armoires and began assessing their contents.
    The first wardrobe contained shoes, boots, hatboxes, purses, jackets, and coats. Jessica shut the doors and went on to an armoire. It contained corsets,crinolines of varying fullness, gloves, and lingerie. The third contained day dresses. The fourth held riding dresses. The fifth held the ball gown from her twentieth birthday. And so it went, until she had looked in everything.
    Jessica heaved up the lid of the nearest trunk, which happened to be one that Wolfe had brought in. A sound of surprise came from her lips when she realized the trunk was already full. She had assumed both trunks were empty by the ease with which Wolfe had handled them, but this one contained her fishing and hunting gear, her favorite books, and a small sidesaddle that looked elegant despite its off-center horn.
    On the top of trunk, protected by a beautifully worked leather case, lay a wedding present from Lord Robert—a matched Winchester rifle and carbine, saddle scabbards, and enough cartridges to start a war. The weapons were inlaid with intricate patterns of gold and