Read As You Wish for Free Online Page A

putting her hands on her hips.  “How prematurely you have forgotten the time you spent at war.”
    He gave her a rueful smile but let her comment pass.
    The marchioness looked to Leah and said, “I fear my stepson is a bit wild in his ways, but I assure you he has a heart of gold.  Oh, and speaking of gold, I have something of yours.”  She went to a jar on the mantel and dug inside, offering the contents to Leah.  “Molly found this in the pocket of your shift.”
    Leah held out her hand, and her ladyship placed a coin in her palm.  The golden face, scratch-free and sparkling, read “GEORGIVS III.”  How had the coin she’d thrown into the spring ended up in her pocket?
    But, on second thought, this couldn’t be the same coin.  Not even a nick marred King George’s portrait, and the gold gleamed beyond what polishing could have achieved.
    Yet she had a strong sense it was the same coin, transformed--just like the driveway had changed from pavement to dirt . . . and, now that she recalled, the house interior from shabbiness to splendor.
    At the thought of those hallucinations, her hand began to tremble.  The coin slipped through her fingers and landed on the carpet with a dull plunk.
    “What is it, Miss Cantrell?”  David Traymore stepped forward and stooped to pick up the coin, examining the face with a frown.  “Is something wrong?”
    A rush of terrifying images assaulted her, some from her nightmares, some from the waking horrors she’d experienced.  She saw the changes in the springhouse, the disappearance of the big oak tree, and the horse-drawn carriage pulling up the drive.  Vague visions from her dreams took shape: the spring surrounded in fog and a spirit forming in the mist to tell her that her wish would be granted.  Her wish ?
    Her gaze fell on the coin David held, converted from a battered antique into gold that could have been minted yesterday instead of . . .
    Suddenly, she remembered speaking aloud at the spring: “The only thing I wish is that I knew who the coin belonged to and whether they got what they wanted.”   Was this the wish she would be granted?  No, she’d only dreamed up that water sprite--but her accident at the spring had been real.
    She stared at David and Lady Solebury, who both waited for her to respond.  “What is . . . what is the date?”
    Her ladyship smiled.  “The fifteenth of May, dear.  You slept only one night, if that’s what you’re wondering.”
    Leah swallowed.  “And the year?”
    The others exchanged glances, then Lady Solebury answered, “Why, 1815, of course.”
    “Eighteen-fifteen?”  Her knees buckled.  She would have fallen if David hadn’t jumped forward to catch her under the elbows.  “Did . . . did I hear you correctly?”
    “Yes, 1815.”  Frowning, the marchioness came forward and pressed her fingers to Leah’s forehead.  “You don’t seem to be suffering a fever, dear, but that laudanum has quite undone you.  Come, let us show you to your chamber, where you will be more comfortable.”
    Leah heard only half of what she said but offered no resistance as Lady Solebury and David led her into the hall.  Her thoughts raced back to the moment normality had ceased for her: the moment David had pulled her out of the spring.
    The spring had taken her back in time, so she could learn whether the original wish was granted.  Of course, the whole idea seemed crazy but, deep inside, she knew she’d hit on the truth.
    “Goodness, you are shaking,” the marchioness said as she and her stepson directed Leah up a wide, curving staircase.  “We are right here with you, love, and we won’t allow any harm to come to you.  I promise.”
    Leah fixed her gaze on the woman’s eyes, struggling to regain some semblance of composure.  “I . . . I’m sorry.”
    “Nonsense.”  Her hostess steered her into a brightly sunlit bedroom and sat down with her on a large canopied bed.  “Don’t even think about whatever is