Have This Wish
an excerpt

The door shut to the library and Caro looked at the others in the room. Mr. Donaldson had taken a position by the fireplace. Lord Ashby sat behind his desk. Her Uncle and Jake stood in front of the desk facing the fireplace with Caro the center of attention.
“So, as it has been publicly stated that I am ruined I suppose you all wish me to marry Mr. Donaldson.” She said defiantly. “I will not do so, no matter the inducement.”
“Ah,” Mr. Donaldson said, “But I do have interesting information which, if it left this room, would cause quite the scandal.”
“And what would that be, pray tell?” Lord Leabridge demanded.
.... (paragraph removed for making no sense LOL)
“Lord Harrington,” disgust colored Mr. Donaldson’s voice, “was found, in bed, with the now Lady Ashby.”
Caro gasped. Lord Leabridge looked at Jake. Jake stood there still looking at Caro, but she could see nothing in his face. His shoulders slumped slightly at her expression and he sighed.
“It is true,” Lord Ashby said quietly. “It is also true that Elenor and I were not put together as a love match, but for other reasons. About a month before we were due to be married I held a party here, in honor of my gaining the title of Lord Ashby actually, and many people stayed here including Elenor and her duenna. Mr. Donaldson, and Lord Harrington stayed as they wished to join in an early hunt the next morning. When he did not arrive, Mr. Donaldson and I went to find him, and find him we did, with Elenor in his bed.”
Caro again looked to Jake.
“It is as they say,” he said dejectedly. “I was in my cups, but that is no excuse. Lord Ashby was willing to forget the incident on behalf of Lady Ashby, and I have been indebted to her for it.”
“No,” Elenor’s voice came from the doorway. Caro had not noticed the door open and saw that Elenor looked resolved, if a little pale. “It is time I told the full truth.” She paused and looked sadly at Jake.
“What happened that night is not as everyone thinks. I made sure that Lord Harrington had a full cup all evening. I could tell he was very much the worse for drink and knew, from other parties, that he was not one to stop at a limit, and that he sometimes would not remember events from entertainments, information gained through several on dits. I hoped he would not this time and was not disappointed. He did not even move when I snuck into his room and his bed. I even told everyone to not disturb him in the morning before I retired for the night, hoping that Lord Ashby would search him out before the hunt. That again, went as planned.” She paused and swallowed hard. “Lord Harrington did not touch me. He said as much when you woke him and I begged for your silence on the matter. I realized too late, after it was done, that you would want the matter resolved on the field of honor, and no matter that I did not wish to marry you, I could not subject either of you to death for my whims.”
She stopped and they all looked at her incredulously.
Jake took a step forward, “You let me believe...”
He was overshadowed by Lord Ashby’s shout, “And what about John! He was born before the time that would be appropriate for me to be his father.”
“He was early,” Elenor said, “can you not see that he is exactly in your image?”
“This is all moot,” Lord Leabridge said into the silence that had fallen. “What has this to do with Caro? She has done nothing.”
“But she has,” Mr. Donaldson said undaunted at this turn of events. “She kissed me in the garden, truth be told, and thus I proposed out of the goodness of my heart to protect her honor.” His face said that it was significantly more than a kiss and implied things she could not disprove, no matter how untrue.
“Is that true?” her uncle asked her.
Caro looked down and stayed silent. She knew any answer she gave would not result in any difference.
“I have two witnesses to the act should you doubt it, my lord.” Mr. Donaldson said.
“You can reject his offer, Caro,” Lord Leabridge said. “It would not look good for you, and you would need to retire to our estate for some time. Lady Leabridge and I would support you in that decision.”
Caro did not wish for her relatives to be burdened with her decision. “I will do as honor dictates.” She looked at Jake and saw that he had turned and was not looking at her any longer. She felt numb, thinking that he was disgusted now that he knew she had not acted as she should and was no better than a light skirt.
Lord Ashby walked over and shook Mr. Donaldson’s hand and Lord Leabridge came and put an arm around Caro. Elenor just stood as if she were shocked at her own audacity at admitting what she had done those years ago.
“What is it, lad?” Jake’s voice cut across the room.
“I have Caro’s present.” She heard John’s voice right beside her and she turned back to him.
“What have you brought me?” she asked, bending down to be on eye level with him.
“I found a treasure. It has your name in it.” He said, holding a small packet of papers in his hand. “Nurse showed me how your name went.” He added proudly.