"To the Lakes, Sir?" she exclaimed joyfully. "But that would be but a dream come true. I had not imagined it would be possible. Are you sure you can be spared for such a length of time?"
"Dearest Elizabeth, my steward is more than capable of acting in my absence," Darcy reassured his betrothed, his gloved hand patting hers where it sat, quite comfortably fitted into the crook of his arm. "Besides, it is not every day a man takes a wife. I should take time to savour the experience, do you not agree?"
They'd set out from Longbourn determined to walk for at least an hour such was the tension from which they both longed to escape in both their residencies. For her part Elizabeth had spent the morning consoling a sniffling Kitty, attempting to provide reassurance that her turn would indeed come and that she was not destined to become an old maid. She'd been forced to make repeated promises of invitations to stay with them in London and the north once they were settled, whilst quietly hoping the idea would be found acceptable by her new husband, it not having been a topic of conversation that they'd yet broached. Despite this she considered that she'd rather escaped with the lesser of the two evils available to her, having overheard Jane attempting to dissuade their mother from inviting half the county to their upcoming nuptials. The vein of thought that, whilst being able to afford such a grand and limitless welcome to many, if not all, of their acquaintances was indeed a privilege, it did not necessarily follow that it was an indulgence that was wanted; an argument entirely lost on their dear mama who could not begin to fathom such things, for who in their right mind would not want such a display.
Netherfield was proving no less tiresome with the arrival of not only Georgiana and Colonel Fitzwilliam but further relations of varying degrees of proximity. This crowd of well-meaning, but ultimately excessively interested, parties had Mr Darcy straining under the weight of the ensuing scrutiny, his Aunt's absence proving to only encourage others in their questioning. He related a little of this as they took the path that followed the boundary line of the Bennet estate, the ground mercifully dry so their progress was not impaired in any way, but allowed for a sedate pace akin to their simple need for calm.
Elizabeth's eyes lit up as she toyed with an appropriate response to the question that dangled in front of her. She was apt to tease him and fully planned to do so for the entirety of their marriage but wondered at the need for it on this occasion, but in the end the temptation was too great.
"Indeed, I do," she offered after consideration, "For a man of great fortune, with such resources to hand, would surely be deemed careless if required to undertake the act twice or even three times over."
Darcy halted their progress to better take in her countenance as she spoke. He was not yet fully accustomed to her wit despite the spark in her character being amongst that which he admired the most. However, the last few weeks had provided a degree of opportunity to understand her a little better.
"You jest," he stated plainly in reply, "But many things may occur to make that sadly necessary. You might happen upon a well and topple downwards into it on one of your extended walks," his brow raised as he feigned seriousness. "Or perhaps my second wife will be clumsier still and take a tragic tumble that will make a third such union necessary, as you suggest."
"My! I had not considered being mistress of Pemberley would be so fraught with danger!" her mischievous tone delighting his ears before she continued more severely, "I must make every effort to enjoy the Lakes for fear the days passed there will be amongst my last."
With smiles of amusement gracing his lips, they set off once more, Darcy beginning to sketch out his thoughts on their first journey together as man and wife. Elizabeth listened attentively, attempting to hide her enrapture as he described the views to be taken at Windermere and Coniston, and how the lower sections of Scafell and Hellvelyn could be considered accessible if the weather was kind. But it was to no end, her enthusiasm for the endeavour would not be tamed and at length it burst free.
"But what of Ullswater and Grasmere?" her steps beginning to bounce in time as her animation grew. "Can we not also take in those? Oh, and we must spend a few days exploring Derwent. I have heard such things of its vastness."
Darcy frowned, "I see my efforts to read up on the subject have been superfluous. But," his tone lightening, "Whilst I fear I must cap our tour at a month, with some careful thought I am in no doubt that these sights could be accommodated."
Her beaming face proved more than sufficient reward for his concession, if indeed the squeeze of her hand against his arm had not been enough. They continued, skirting the outer line of a patch of dense woodland that ran the half mile to meet the most southerly point of the Netherfield gardens. Leaves crunched under foot as they let a silence descend between them, Elizabeth finding herself consumed by the weight of his words. A month seemed like an age to her, alone with a man that she'd admitted to Jane the previous evening, she adored with all of her heart but conceded she barely knew. Their courtship had been but brief such was the unexpectedness of a second proposal, and the rush down the aisle at her mother's urging to secure the joint wedding she'd could only have held in her dreams. The days since had been taken up in a whirlwind of practicalities, lengthy discussions of lace and silks that neither she nor her sister had much say in, and the seemingly endless hand wringing about accommodating so many distinguished guests, and it was now with just a few short days to go that the enormity of the change soon to be upon them has begun to make itself known. Jane seemed only to share her concerns about the wedding night itself, appearing at least to be far from worried about anything beyond it. But then she was to remain close to their mother and father, to Kitty and Mary, which lessened the ordeal considerably.
At last the target of Elizabeth's and Mr Darcy's endeavours was in reach, a rise in the landscape that after the final few scrambling steps, an offered hand of assistance ensuring she did not lose her footing, had them both a little breathless as they took in the sight before them. It was far from the wonder of the Peaks but the rippling fields of grass yet to be harvested, a barn roof barely visible on the horizon, the view otherwise unhindered. Elizabeth closed her eyes and took a deep breath into her lungs, the fresh scent of late autumn alive to her senses.
"Shall you miss this when we are married?" Darcy asked earnestly.
She turned to him. His face was all concern, his eyes dark as they searched her own for a trace of something, uncertainty perhaps? Worry? Fear? But she would not burden him with such trifles. She was in love but more than that, she was resolved.
She boldly reached out to brush her covered fingers against the sleeve of his coat, imagining how warm the skin beneath might be to her touch.
"These fields and forest have provided a solace to me for a decade or more, I'll not deny it, ever since my mother gave up on sending a servant to seek me out and drag me home," she said lightly, "But I have no doubt I will find new sources of strength, ones that will guide me in my new life, that I can hope and pray will ensure I can make you as happy as I intend to be myself."
Darcy shifted, her words uncomfortable as he took in the enormity of the alteration in her life and status which was about to befall her, the burden of responsibility for it sitting heavily on his shoulders.
"I am already beyond the happy state of which you speak. I sincerely wish you to know that," his voice deep and low as he leaned towards her. "And for my part I can only hope that in time you will see me as a source of that strength that you feel you will need, although..." pausing to take her hands and press them between his own, "Nothing I know of you entices me to think that you are not already strong enough."
Elizabeth nodded, her eyes shining a little at his words which were now replaced with a gaze of such intensity that she feared it might overwhelm her had it not been so intoxicating. The tangle of knots that had been tightened over recent days lurched tighter still as the look continued until, at last, he turned to take in the vista once more.