Over the next several weeks, Jane Cutler slowly made peace with the memory of her afternoon with Richard Sharpe. It was a regrettable day, but what was done, was done, and all the woolgathering in the world wouldn't change what happened. As time passed, she gradually thought of it less often

Corporal Sharpe never came to visit her again, for which she was grateful. It would have been most awkward to see him once more and Jane was glad that she'd never have to introduce him to her family. One time, she saw him from a distance, apparently heading for the pub and was again thankful that she was too far away for him to have easily noticed her watching him.

She did best during the day when she had her work to distract her, especially when Obadiah came to see her. He had a way about him that made her laugh and forget about her troubles, even if just for a little while.

But, alone in her bed at night, it took her much longer to stop brooding about it, with nearly two weeks passing before she got a full night's sleep.

Inevitably, however, time softened the memory and she resumed a near-normal routine.

Obadiah Hakeswill continued to visit the cobbler shop at regular see Jane. Even though she welcomed him each time and even sometimes invited him to share her lunch, from time to time he sensed that she was troubled about something. Though her friendliness toward him had not dimmed any, she often seemed preoccupied or distracted.

He did not press her about it, figuring she would tell him when she was ready..Things were going well between them and he didn't want to do anything that might upset the progress he'd made with her. He would bide his time.

As for Richard Sharpe, he quickly forgot about the young woman whose virginity he'd so casually taken. Jane Cutler had been a momentary pleasure to him, nothing more.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/

Three months later, Jane could no longer deny the truth she'd been trying to avoid. She was fairly certain she was with child. She'd not had her monthly courses since that day with Richard Sharpe and, now, she was nauseated nearly every morning, often getting sick in the process.

Because she wasn't completely sure, however, she kept her suspicions to herself. There was no good purpose in telling anyone, when it might just turn out to be all for never mentioned her morning sickness and took great pains to conceal her frequent vomiting from the rest of her family. Jane also made a point of frequently volunteering for laundry duty, so that her sisters would not realize that she was no longer contributing bloody sheets to the laundry. Jane knew that Abby, in particular, would be quick to run tell her father, which was something she wanted to avoid if at all possible. This was something she knew she eventually needed to do herself.

As the months rolled by and it became more obvious that she was indeed in a family way, Jane continued to bury her head in the sand trying to hide her condition from her family. She let out the seams on her gowns, hoping this would be enough to camouflage her expanding waistline, which worked for awhile.

Inevitably, though, there came a day when she could hide it no longer.

/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\

"I'll be away from the shop for most of the day today," Jacob Cutler reminded his daughters at the breakfast table. Turning to his two oldest daughters, he added, "I want you both to work in the shop today. The inventory in the back room is a shambles and it will take both of you to set things back in order as quickly as possible."

Abigail suppressed the urge to sigh in exasperation, but Jane said, "We'll get it done."

"Good," her father said, smiling at her. "I know we've been busy lately, but if we let it go much longer, the job will only be that much harder." Getting up from the table, he told them, "I'll be going now, so I'll leave you girls to it. I need to have an early start if I'm going to get back home before sundown."

Three hours later, both sisters were still busily organising the back room. Jane tired quickly, as the work made her back ache. Deciding to take a short break, she clumsily eased herself up from the floor, leaning heavily on the wall for support. At the moment she awkwardly regained her feet, Abigail came around the corner in time to see Jane with her stomach thrust out for a brief moment. But it was long enough for her to see what her sister had been hiding all these months, especially considering that Jane was in front of a sunny window, which called even more attention to her protruding midsection.

Still concentrating on regaining her balance, Jane wasn't even aware of Abigail's presence until she heard the gasp. As she straightened up, her eyes fell upon her sister, standing there slack jawed in stunned surprise. Realizing that her secret was no longer one, Jane belatedly turned away from Abigail in shame.

"Oh, Jane, how could you?" Abigail said, shaking her head. "For several months I've suspected something was amiss with you, but never this." Moving around to look Jane in the eye, she continued, "And with that impossibly homely Sergeant Hakeswill, too. How could you let him do this to you? We were taught better than that!"

"It wasn't Obadiah," Jane murmured. "He's never been anything but a perfect gentleman with me."

"Who, then?" Abby demanded. "Did some ruffian attack you? Why didn't you tell someone?"

"It was another soldier," Jane told her. "And he didn't attack me. I foolishly allowed him to get me drunk and then let him ravish me."

"How very stupid of you!" Abby said. "I thought Mum taught you better than to do something so shameful. You're ruined now and it's your own fault! No doubt any potential suitors will think Sarah and I are loose, too, and we'll be shunned as well. How could you be so selfish?"

"That's enough of that talk, missy."

Both sisters turned to see Obadiah Hakeswill standing in the doorway.

"How long have you been standing there," Jane asked, her face crimson with shame.

"Long enough." Turning back to Abigail, Obadiah ordered, "You. Out. I needs to talk to Jane without you stickin' your nose in where it don't belong."

Before her sister could protest, Jane said, "It's all right, Abby. Just go for now and let me talk to Obadiah for awhile."

"Fine," Abby snapped. "I'll be out front minding the shop if you need me."

After Abby had left, Obadiah took Jane's hand and led her to a chair in the back of the room by a window. He grabbed a nearby stool, then sat beside her.

"What happened, Jane?" he asked softly, twitching. "You can tell Obadiah, 'cos I won't get angry."

"How much did you hear?" she asked, turning her head away.

"All of it, missy." He took her hand gently to encourage her to confide in him.

"I'm so ashamed." Her voice was nearly inaudible. "I cannot believe how naive I was."

"Who's the miserable bugger what did this to you?" he demanded, his voice raspy with indignation. "I'll go back to camp and sort him out right quick!"

"Oh, no, you can't do that!" she pleaded. "I would be so mortified for anyone at the camp to know of my shame. And I wouldn't want you to get into any trouble for something that was my own fault." Grabbing his hand tightly, she cried, "Promise me you won't do that!"

"All right, missy, I promise," he said, willing to let it go for now. He knew she would tell him the identity of the man when she was ready. "But you needs to tell me what happened from the beginning."

After a long pause Jane cleared her throat, then began, "I met him one day as I was returning home from the bakery. It had been raining and I slipped in the mud and fell in the creek. He happened to be passing by at the time and helped me out and escorted me home." Heaving a gusty sigh, she continued, "He was quite handsome and I'm afraid I allowed that to turn my head and affect my better judgement."

"Go on," Obadiah encouraged. He was rather stung that he'd lost out yet again to a handsome face, but he kept that to himself.

"He invited me to go walking with him the next day and I accepted," she said. "I packed a lunch to take with us, intending to ask my sister Sarah to come along as a chaperone." Sighing loudly, she continued, "But Sarah had left the house early that morning before I could ask her to go with us. I should have either waited for her to return or postponed our walk, but I let him talk me into going without her. I thought it would be all right because I thought he would act like a gentleman."

"Gentleman?" Obadiah spat. "Not that lot of miscreants. Not a gentleman among them."

"After having a walk, we sat down by the water to eat our lunch," she continued. "He had a bottle of wine and I'm afraid I drank too much. One thing led to another and I ended up letting him have his way with me. I was so muddle-headed from all that wine, that by the time I thought to stop him, it was too late. I've been chiding myself about it ever since, for all the good it might have done."

Tears that she'd been struggling to hold back spilled forth then. "And now I'm ruined! I don't know what I'm going to do! I haven't even told my father yet because I know how disappointed he'll be with me."

"I take it you don't want to marry the sod what done this to you?" he asked.

"No!" she shot back, shuddering at the mere thought of being married to Richard Sharpe."Perish the thought! And I've not seen him again since that day, in any instance."

"But you needs to have a husband now to take care of you and be a proper father to your baby." Twitching nervously, he took her hand again and looked into her eyes. "Jane will you do me the honour of becoming my wife? I promise to be a good husband to you and a good father to your little 'un."

"Oh, Obadiah! That's so sweet of you, but I can't ask you to give up your freedom for me. I don't want you to marry me out of pity, nor could I ask you to raise another man's child."

"Ain't no pity about it," he told her firmly, twitching again. "Don't you know by now that I loves you? I think I fell in love with you the very first time I saw you. I knows I'm an ugly gutter bastard and not the handsome gentleman every little girl dreams of marrying one day, but I'd be a good husband and father just the same. It don't matter to me that your little 'un ain't mine, 'cos he's part of you and I'll love him for that."

"Obadiah, you dear, sweet man," Jane said, leaning forward to give him a brief peck on his bony cheek. "You're such a good friend to me and I care for you, but I don't love you the way you love me. You deserve to have a wife who loves you as much as you love her."

"I knows you don't feel the same for me as I do for you," he said quietly. "But I've got enough love for both of us and you might come to love me as time goes by. I knows you at least like and respect me and that's more than a lot of couples have."

"You're right," she said, realizing she had ruined her chances of ever getting a better offer. "And you'd be a much better husband that the one who did this to me." Taking a deep breath, she announced, "So, yes, Obadiah, I will marry you and I hope I will be the wife you deserve."

"I'm the luckiest man in the army," he said, grinning broadly. "You won't be sorry. I promises you that."

"No, Obadiah," she said quietly. "I'm the lucky one. Truly."

Leaning forward, he put his arms around Jane and kissed her for the first time. Neither of them spoke for the next few minutes.

Some time later, Jane said, "Now we'll have to tell my father. I'm not looking forward to that at all."

"It will be all right, missy," Obadiah assured her. "I'll be with you every step of the way."