Page 83 of To Love And To Cherish
He asked after her morning walk, her last at Castle Roy.
Elizabeth looked out across the dewy hills, her voice soft, her manner tinged with melancholy. “It is hard to say goodbye to a place and to people who have been so welcoming. And to a landscape so beautiful. I shall miss it more than I thought possible.”
Darcy followed her gaze, but his eyes soon returned to her. “We will find a church in which to marry,” he said quietly, “and then begin our journey south, while the weather is still fine.”
She turned toward him, a wistful smile curving her lips. “I can hardly believe this is true. I am to marry the great Fitzwilliam Darcy.” Her tone was teasing, but her eyes shimmered with feeling. “This has been years in the making, has it not?”
He studied her face, trying to imprint this moment in his memory. “Twisting and turning all the way,” he said. “If anyone had told me that day outside the bookshop that I would someday beg that dirt-streaked child to marry me, I would think they were touched in the head.” He grinned.
“I would not have believed it either,” she said, laughing gently. “You were the most imposing man I had ever seen. And you did not smile.”
“I was trying not to frighten you,” he murmured. “And failing utterly, it seems.”
She reached for his hand, eyes dancing. “I was only fifteen, and quite convinced you looked like a prince who stepped out of a novel. Then you opened your mouth and said the most exasperating things about women and our place in society. I believe I swatted you once or twice.”
He raised a brow. “Only twice? You showed remarkable restraint. I was forever saying the wrong thing to you. I distinctly recall being insulted in Portuguese more than once.”
He looked down at their joined hands, then back up. “You gave me that lovely, fine-crafted box, and I carried it with me across France, through war and storm and every lonely moment in between.”
Her eyes filled with sudden warmth. “And I never stopped thinking of you. Even when you insulted me most grievously atthe assembly at Meryton, and I swore I would burn the letters you sent to Uncle Gardiner.”
He winced. “I was a fool.”
“Yes,” she agreed with a smile, “but you are my fool now.”
He chuckled, low and fond. “I can scarcely eat this morning because I can hardly take my eyes from you. And all my thoughts repeat, ‘This is the woman who will be my wife, finally.’”
Elizabeth leaned closer, her voice quiet. “And I thought, ‘This is the man I’ve loved half my life. And today, I am his.’”
Adam Frazier rustled his newspaper with deliberate emphasis. Darcy heard it, but could not bring himself to look away from Elizabeth or abandon his reverie.
At last, Darcy turned and asked evenly, “Where is the nearest church?”
Adam lowered his paper and answered without inflection, “Old High St Stephen’s in Inverness. It’s twenty-three miles by horseback, but the ride is easy, and the place memorable. The church stands on St Michael’s Mount along the River Ness. You can still see musket ball scars on the walls, from when Jacobite prisoners were executed after Culloden. The history is grim.”
Darcy turned to Elizabeth. “Would you ride with me today to Inverness, and marry me in that church? If it's past disturbs you, we may find another.”
She tilted her head, considering. “I will ride to Inverness to marry you, Mr. Darcy. And the church, yes, it is perfect. Our life together will become part of the long history woven into that place.”
He felt the world tilt beneath him.
Lucas, never one to be outdone, turned to Miss Trent. “Would you marry me today, too, Ancilla? We could ride along with them. Let us be married and get on with our future together.”
She laughed. “Is that your proposal, Lucas?”
“It is. Entirely romantic, spontaneous, and practical. All the best proposals are.”
“I accept.”
Darcy saw Daniel’s gentle approach to Mary King. “Would you do me the honor of marrying me today, Miss King?”
Mary blushed but smiled warmly. “Yes. I should like that very much.”
Adam set his cup down, murmuring to Marcus, “Well, it seems we’ll be marrying off two of our brothers today. I suppose we’d best put everything else aside.”
Darcy then asked Adam a more practical question. “Will the weather hold for a journey south from Inverness, if we depart promptly?”
“Scotland has a great deal of rain,” Adam replied. “But if you keep ahead of the clouds, you’ll travel safely. You have plenty of time to stop a day or two if the roads get too wet and still make it back to your home before the cold sets in.”
