May 1807
Fitzwilliam Darcy, now officially university-educated, was unsure of what to do with his life. His cousin and fellow graduate, Richard Fitzwilliam, was bound for the army; an officer's commission had been purchased for the Earl's second son. Even Darcy's occasional friend, George Wickham, had a career in the church waiting for him upon his own impending matriculation,, a year into the future. Young Darcy knew that some of his classmates were already masters of their own estates but he had no desire to join their ranks, he was grateful for his father's continued health. Some former classmates, graduates of the past year, seemed to have already fallen into the idle lives of heirs, spending their allowances as they waited for their fathers to die; another pastime he had no interest in pursuing.
One thing Darcy did desire was knowledge. He wished for nothing more than to broaden his view of the world through travel. Unfortunately the opportunity arose at an inconvenient time. The English gentry was being warned against visiting the continent due to hostilities abroad. Such things had been going on for many years and did not halt all tourism, but Darcy had heard tell of more than one young man who had gone off on a grand tour of the continent never to return. He could never do such a thing to his family.
Fortunately, he had a father who was sensitive to a young man's wanderlust and had arranged a domestic tour to sate his need for adventure until Napoleon tired of conquest. Mr. Darcy announced that his son was, in fact, to travel, if not to any place exotic. There were many places in England, Wales, and Scotland that might be of interest to a pair of young men fresh from Cambridge. He would be joined by his cousin, who would enjoy his last few months traveling as a civilian before taking up arms for England in September.
June 1807
A trip to Scotland! Elizabeth Bennet had never been so excited. In her seventeen years of life, she had never travelled further than London, and that only once, on the occasion of her uncle's wedding. Now, that same uncle had business in Scotland and had offered to take her along as a companion for his wife. Elizabeth's only regret was that her mother had refused to allow her eldest sister, Jane, to accompany them although she had, of course, been invited. Now that she had past her eighteenth birthday, Jane, according to Mrs. Bennet, could no longer waste time scampering about the country and beyond on a lark, it was time for her to use her beauty to attract a husband. Although Elizabeth was also out in society, even her meddling mother allowed that she had at least a few more months before she needed to be concerned about becoming an old maid. After all, Mrs. Bennet had not been married until she was seventeen and a half.
Edward Gardiner, brother to the excitable Mrs. Bennet, had been wed some five months before to the former Miss Madeline Cunningham. The still newly-wed Mrs. Gardiner was quite fond of her husband so, despite her generally agreeable disposition, she was not well-pleased when he announced that he would undertake alone a necessary trip north to visit the mills that supplied his warehouse. Upon discussion, she discovered that his only real objection to having her as a travel companion was that of her own lack of diversion during the trip. He was certain that due to his pressing business, she would be quite bored spending her days alone at Scottish inns. By inviting his two oldest nieces to accompany them, this problem was happily solved for Mrs. Gardiner who, being closer to their ages than those of her sisters-in-law, was delighted at the prospect of such amiable company. Even one niece was quite the treat, especially because Elizabeth, with her quick wit and lively manner, had easily become Mrs. Gardiner's favourite new relation, save her husband of course.
The upcoming visit to Scotland promised to be an exciting one.