The return trip to Scotland, at least the largest portion of the trip, was spent catching up on missed sleep. William had reminded Elizabeth that traveling East was always far more taxing on the body than traveling in the opposite direction, and Elizabeth was well aware of how jet-lagged she had been on her first trip to Scotland. They took advantage of the pods on the transatlantic portion of the trip and again snuggled together in one to sleep, much to the amusement of their flight attendant.
They stopped briefly in Edinburgh to give copies of Elizabeth's paperwork to the family solicitor. While in Tennessee, Elizabeth had obtained certified copies of her birth certificate, which would be needed for them to file for her visa paperwork, as well as copies of her passport, American driver's license, and social security card. Before they left Gatlinburg the second time, they had also obtained official copies of the marriage license, one of which was given to the solicitor as well.
He advised them to go ahead and file for Elizabeth's spousal visa to prevent any difficulties later on. Richard and Uncle Henry had both offered to run interference with Catherine if she tried to cause any issues. However, after some discussion of various scenarios, they decided that, like the decision to marry in Tennessee, Catherine could not do anything to create issues if the paperwork was already taken care of. Once she had the visa, it would be much harder for Catherine to do anything to prevent it.
They were informed that it would take about three weeks for the visa to be processed and they would be informed when it had been issued. Once issued, it would be very difficult for the visa to be revoked without cause. They discussed once again keeping their marriage a secret and debated telling a few people once the visa was obtained. Both Elizabeth and William decided to keep it a secret for now and determined they could make a decision once Elizabeth's visa was in hand.
After that was all done, they boarded a final plane to Inverness, where they were met by a car to take them home. It was early evening on Monday, so they decided to leave the unpacking for the next day and headed straight to bed.
They woke early the next morning, although they lingered in bed for some time, speaking of their plans and exchanging kisses.
After a while, Elizabeth surprised her new husband with a surprising comment. "I love listening to your voice, Will," she said softly as she lay in his arms, tracing lazy circles on his bare chest. "You looked rather foreboding when I first encountered you at the airport, but then you spoke, and I was entranced. And then the next day, when I saw you at Loch Ness, and you launched into that broad Highland accent - I think I fell in love right then."
She felt the slight rumble of his laugh below her cheek. "I did not know my voice had that effect on you, mo chridhe," he replied, his voice low and soft.
Smiling mischievously, Elizabeth teased. "Between the Scottish burr and the depth of your voice, it is quite … lovely and, well, at certain times, it has the ability to make me go weak at the knees."
Feeling his chest rumble beneath her cheek, Elizabeth knew that William was laughing. "Ah had nae idea mah voice hud that effec' oan ye, mah wee bonnie lass," he replied, using the exaggerated accent he had adopted that day at Loch Ness.
Elizabeth sat up and kissed him. "I love you, William," she told him before they got lost in each other once again.
Eventually, they rose from their bed and prepared for the day. Officially, William was still on vacation, but they intended to drive to the distillery to meet with Mrs. Reynolds about the wedding and to let William at least review what had occurred in his absence. It had been a number of years since he had truly taken time off, much less an extended vacation. Without a doubt, work would have piled up in his absence, and hoped that by popping in, he could get a fair idea of what was waiting for him when he officially returned the next day.
Mrs. Reynolds was pleased to see them and took them both into a conference room to share a few of the arrangements she and Lady Matlock had already made. After an hour of this conversation, William's eyes began to glaze over and, after laughing at him, Elizabeth sent him to his office to check-in. He sequestered himself in his office, hoping no one would realize he was there, and began to read the emails and phone messages that had piled up.
It was several hours later when Elizabeth was let into his office by Mrs. Reynolds. Seeing that William had not noticed her entry, she locked the door back and stealthily moved across the room, and plopped herself down into his lap. He jerked, surprised by the action, but upon recognizing his wife, wrapped his arms tightly around her.
"So, mo chridhe, how is the wedding planning going?" he asked after kissing her on the nose.
"Very well," she replied. "Mrs. Reynolds and your aunt have things well in hand. I begin to doubt there will be much of anything for me to do. But that simply means that I will not have to worry about things and can focus all my attention on you."
He kissed her on the lips this time. "I do like that idea," he told her.
She asked him about the work piled on his desk, and they spoke of that for several minutes. "I am surprised that there is not more," he admitted. "I will not have to put in many extra hours - if any at all - to get caught up. In fact, what would you think about my taking half a day on Friday so we can take a weekend trip somewhere?"
She grinned at him. "Well, since I cannot work for now, I would love the idea of you taking some time off to be with me. I thoroughly enjoyed our time in the cabin - is there anything like that nearby?"
He laughed. "I thought you would like to sightsee, but cannot complain if you would rather lock us into a little cottage somewhere." He thought about it for a minute. "In fact, I may know just the place …" he trailed off as he continued thinking about what would be required to make this little escape happen. They laughed and talked a bit longer before he shut off his computer and they departed for home.
Arriving home, Elizabeth was surprised to learn that groceries had been delivered. They worked together to prepare dinner; something they had begun doing in Tennessee. William had never been much of a cook, preferring to grab takeaways or meals that were easy to prepare with a minimum of effort, but found he really enjoyed cooking with Elizabeth. She was the one in charge in the kitchen, but she had taught him a few tricks and would act as her sous chef, although the first time she had called him that, it had led to him joking about how much he enjoyed being under her. That comment led to a rather frenzied interlude between the couple that led to dinner being significantly delayed.
The next day, the couple separated for the first time in more than a fortnight. William went to the office relatively early, and Elizabeth began to unpack her boxes and crates. She was in the kitchen, music playing loudly, as she unpacked all her kitchen tools and gadgets that she had brought over with her, and was very surprised when an arm snaked around her waist.
She started violently and managed to hit him directly in the nose when her arms went wide in surprise. His eyes watered and he yelped, and she turned to see him standing behind her.
"Oh, Will, I am so sorry," she said, running to the refrigerator for ice.
"My fault, Elizabeth," he replied, his eyes were still watery. "I don't need any ice, and it is my fault for surprising you as I did."
"I did not expect you to come home for lunch," she replied.
"I missed you," he replied simply.
She came back to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "I missed you too," she told him as she kissed his nose. "I was even planning to attempt driving on the wrong side of the road to come to visit you in a little bit. I am nearly done with my boxes in here and was ready for a distraction."
He pressed a kiss against her forehead. "I intend to return home for lunch as often as I can," he told her. "I will let you drive me back to work after we eat today though. I grabbed some sandwiches on my way here."
"Mmmm," she said, as she leaned in to kiss him soundly. "I love you, Will."
He deepened the kiss, leading them toward the living room and the chaise lounge. Their affectionate interlude led to a much-delayed lunch, although they did eventually eat before returning to Darcy's office. William encouraged her to drive on the way so she could begin to accustom herself to driving in Scotland. This was something she had not attempted yet, but he knew that it was something she needed to begin doing. Her American license was good for a year, but soon, she would need to acquire a provisional license and begin that process, which was rather more involved than it has been in the States.
It occurred to him that there were a number of other details they needed to ensure were as they should be now that they were married. He was already planning to leave work early on Friday for their little getaway, but he would need to take some more time away from work soon to handle some of these details with her. He would make a list of these things when he got back to work and they would need to talk through them soon. He mentally added a call to the solicitor to ask about things he might be overlooking.
Soon, they were at his work and Elizabeth had parked the car before she finally noticed the look on his face. "William, are you okay?" she asked.
"Aye," he answered abstractedly.
"Did I do something wrong?" she asked, still wondering what he was thinking about.
The obvious question in her voice seemed to shake him from his thoughts. "Yes, mo chridhe, I am well. I just began thinking about all we will need to do to make you legal here in Scotland," he replied seriously
She looked at him in confusion. "Legal?" she asked.
"Bank accounts, driver's license, healthcare - things like that," he replied. "I imagine the solicitors probably have a list already of things we need to take care of, but it just occurred to me that there are likely a number of things that we will need to do once you get your visa sorted."
Elizabeth nodded in understanding. "I had not thought about all of that," she said, suddenly feeling a little uncertain. She loved William and was thrilled that she was married to him and was moving, or, in all reality, had already moved, to Scotland to be with him, but every so often it hit her what an enormous change this was.
"Are you well, mo chridhe?" he asked, seeing the look of uncertainty that briefly passed over her face.
"Aye," she said, smiling at him as she copied his earlier response to him. "I'm good, William, but once in a while, all of these changes hit me and, I confess, it can be a little overwhelming when I consider it all." She hesitated a moment and then rushed to reassure him as she worried he might misunderstand. "I am not afraid, or changing my mind or anything like that, but sometimes, it is a lot to take in. There is so much I do not know or am unfamiliar with. I would have likely felt this way whenever I got a job, especially if it had required moving away from Knoxville since it would have involved a significant change."
He reached over to caress her cheek. "Thank you for explaining it to me, mo chridhe. I think I do understand something of what you are feeling, and I am sorry that it is you who is being forced to make all the changes, while for the most part, the only change I am facing is adjusting from living on my own to living with a much loved and very desirable wife. I definitely got the better end of the deal."
Elizabeth laughed at the smug look on his face. "I love you, Will," she said softly, leaning over to kiss him. "Now, I will meet with Mrs. Reynolds about the wedding for a little bit, but then you need to give me a job or something so I have an excuse to be here all the time."
"You do not need an excuse to be here, Elizabeth," he said, as he exited the car and walked around to open the door for her. "By the way, you did very well driving us here. I was too wrapped up in my thoughts earlier to tell you so." He leaned down to help her out of the car and then pulled her into him for a kiss.
She sighed. "I do need something to do, Will," she replied as they walked inside. "I cannot just sit in your office all day - I will need something to do to keep me occupied. I still have some things to unpack and I can acquaint myself with the house, but I am not one to lay around and do nothing."
"I do have a job in mind for you," he said after a moment. "I need a little more time to fully flesh out what I would like you to do, and it would involve your finding a way to tell the story of Pemberley Distillery. There are some archives you could search, but we also have several long-time employees who know portions of our story as well. You could conduct interviews and the like as you work to create a way to tell our story from its inception until now."
Elizabeth smiled broadly at him. "I love that idea, William," she replied. "I would love to work on that." She considered the idea for a moment. "Are you envisioning some sort of, I don't know, a book, maybe? Or a video? You do have a couple of rooms where we could create displays of these things for those who take the tour of the distillery. Do you get many visitors?"
He grinned at her and her enthusiasm. "I am not certain which one of these I would like. Perhaps multiple versions – I can see benefits to all three options you mentioned. I know we see a fair number of visitors here, but I do not know exactly how many. Let us discuss it and perhaps involve one or two others before we appoint you Pemberley's historian-in-residence," he responded dryly. She smiled wryly at him in return, tempering her enthusiasm with the idea that he said had not been fully fleshed out.
They had arrived at his office and were walking inside. Several people stopped and spoke to William, and he proudly introduced each of them to Elizabeth as his fiance. The two met briefly with Mrs. Reynolds before William went into his own office to continue catching up on his work from their time off. He had made the arrangements that morning for their getaway, which was what had prompted him to return home to her for lunch. William was very much looking forward to taking his dear wife to the Cairngorms National Park that weekend and surprising her with their little getaway cottage he had rented. He considered purchasing one for their own private use but decided to discuss the idea with Elizabeth before he committed to such an extravagant purchase.