Mr. Darcy's Indiscretions Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Contents

  MR. DARCY'S COURTESAN

  Title Page

  copyright

  More P&P Variations

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  MR. DARCY, THE DANCE, AND DESIRE

  Title Page

  Copyright

  More P&P Variations

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  THE DREAD MR. DARCY

  Title Page

  Copyright

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  EPILOGUE

  Mr. Darcy’s Indiscretions

  three Pride and Prejudice variations

  by Valerie Lennox

  MR. DARCY’S COURTESAN

  MR. DARCY, THE DANCE, AND DESIRE

  THE DREAD MR. DARCY

  MR. DARCY'S COURTESAN

  Mr. Darcy’s Courtesan

  a Pride and Prejudice variation

  Valerie Lennox

  CHAPTER ONE

  CHAPTER TWO

  CHAPTER THREE

  CHAPTER FOUR

  CHAPTER FIVE

  CHAPTER SIX

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  CHAPTER NINE

  CHAPTER TEN

  CHAPTER ELEVEN

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  CHAPTER FIFTEEN

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  MR. DARCY’S COURTESAN

  © copyright 2019 by Valerie Lennox

  http://vjchambers.com

  Punk Rawk Books

  More P&P Variations

  by Valerie Lennox

  Escape with Mr. Darcy

  The Dread Mr. Darcy

  The Scandalous Mr. Darcy

  The Unraveling of Mr. Darcy

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  CHAPTER ONE

  Lydia Bennet picked at the dress she was wearing, a blue morning dress that was a tad bit too big for her figure. She always resented wearing the clothes that Elizabeth and Jane asked her to wear in the house they shared with their younger sisters Kitty and Mary. She wanted to wear her own clothes, even though they would only raise questions from the younger girls about Lydia’s position in the world. The clothes Elizabeth gave her to wear in their house were sedate and staid and proper, unlike the rest of Lydia’s wardrobe, heaven knew.

  Their mother had resided in their house until recently, when she’d taken ill suddenly. She’d only battled two weeks with the sickness before succumbing, leaving the girls orphans in the world. It had now been five years since their father had passed on.

  Elizabeth eyed her younger sister, trying to gauge what was going on in Lydia’s mind. She knew the answer was likely precious little, since Lydia was one of the more empty-headed people she had ever known. Still, the family had to be grateful for Lydia, who gave them some financial support, even if the younger girls were unaware. And Elizabeth knew that Lydia didn’t have to do it, nor did she have to conceal her identity for the well-being of the Bennet name. She did that because she had a heart, even if she had no head.

  “I thought,” said Jane in a quiet voice, “that you had some arrangement with Mr. Chivsworth.”

  “Oh, no,” said Lydia, sighing. “It turns out Mr. Chivsworth is only interested in virgins, and heaven knows, I am not for him.”

  “Lydia, don’t use such language!” Jane recoiled, peering into her tea cup. There wasn’t much tea these days, and there certainly wasn’t anything to serve with it besides bread and butter. Usually day-old bread at that, which was all that could be gotten.

  There had been times in the family’s history when they had been better of financially, but after their mother’s death, they had discovered she had left behind gambling debts, and they were so severe that even Lydia could not pay them off. Not that Jane would have allowed them to take such a sum from Lydia, at any rate. The amount of profit from Lydia’s lifestyle that the eldest Miss Bennet could tolerate was only the bare minimum. It was day-old bread, then, and skimping and scraping where they could.

  “What?” scoffed Lydia. “Virgin? Lord, Jane, that’s a word from the bible.”

  “What if one of the younger girls overhears?” said Jane.

  “They won’t,” said Lydia. “You forbid them near the room when we are discussing finances.” For all the younger girls knew, Lydia worked outside of the home as a governess, and she contributed to the household that way. She only came home once a month, on a Tuesday, and after greeting her younger sisters, they were shooed off while the others talked about money. Both of the younger Miss Bennets resented this, as Lydia was the youngest of them all, but in the time that had passed since the death of their father, all of the girls had lost a great deal of whatever sparks that fed them before.

  “So, then are you engaged with anyone now?” said Elizabeth, sett
ing down her tea cup. It was easier if Lydia had a regular patron. She had been in a longterm arrangement once with the duke of Somerset, and she had been quite comfortable—indeed they all had—for the year that it had lasted. The duke gave her use of his carriage, and gave her a monthly stipend, and escorted her to balls and parties and dinners. But then they had quarreled and parted ways.

  Elizabeth had been furious with Lydia. How could the girl have quarreled with a duke? Lydia had sniffed and said that the duke liked her because she was a spitfire. She had simply pushed a bit too far. She had not expected him to break it all off.

  “Well, no,” said Lydia. “Not on a regular basis, but I am accompanying Mr. Southson to a ball on Saturday and if we get on well, perhaps we will form a more permanent arrangement.”

  Jane’s face looked pinched. “So, in other words, you have no income at all at the moment?”

  Lydia shrugged. “You make it sound so dire, Jane, honestly.”

  “Well,” said Jane, “it’s not good, and you must realize that.”

  “You mean Mama’s debts,” said Lydia.

  “Yes,” said Jane. “She had gambling debts so large that we are all in danger of being carted off to debtor’s prison. I don’t understand why I need to keep repeating this to you. Things are dire.”

  Lydia set down her tea cup. “I don’t know what it is that you want me to do. I can’t force men into a relationship with me. I’m not a common whore. I don’t charge by the night.”

  “Well, I don’t know,” said Jane, “perhaps you might flirt a bit more or something. You were always very good at flirting.”

  “I am doing my best,” said Lydia, drawing herself up. “Honestly, I hate being here. Everyone is so depressed in this house.” She turned away.

  “We are in mourning,” snapped Jane, getting to her feet.

  “Half mourning,” countered Lydia. “And I don’t see why it matters, since none of you are ever out in society anyway. And that’s not my fault, it’s Lizzy’s.”

  “That’s not my fault, it’s Lady Catherine’s,” Elizabeth countered coolly.

  “Oh, not this again,” said Jane. “I’m going to check on the other girls.” She swept out of the room.

  Elizabeth sighed and reached for the last piece of bread and butter. “Now, you’ve upset Jane again.”

  “She’s always upset.” Lydia slumped. “Oh, Lizzy, I can’t bear her. Ever since Mama died, she has been in utter despair at every waking moment. I know she is an old maid with no prospects, but you are practically as old as she is, and you manage to be cheery.”

  “Do I?” Elizabeth raised her eyebrows.

  “Certainly,” said Lydia. “When we are planning out my dresses or when we are planning my balls, you are quite in good spirits.”

  Elizabeth grimaced. “Don’t say that.”

  “Oh, I suppose you should be as dreary as she is,” said Lydia. “You know what she should do, is she should be a companion to Mr. Chivsworth herself. She was always the beauty of the family, and she is still lovely, even at her age. And then maybe she wouldn’t be in such an awful mood.”

  Elizabeth’s lips parted in shock.

  “Oh, Lord, I’m jesting.” Lydia shook her head. She stood up. “Listen, perhaps I shall take my leave. You can tell Jane that I send her my love.”

  “Lydia, wait,” said Elizabeth.

  Lydia turned to her. “Yes?”

  “This Chivsworth, you say he is really only interested in virgins?”

  “Yes,” said Lydia. “He wants a woman unspoiled, who has no knowledge of carnal pleasures. But maddeningly, he is not interested in a woman who knows nothing of the world. He wants a woman with some experience in society, someone he can also converse with. I told him there is no such woman.” She cocked her head. “Although, to be truthful, Jane would be perfect for him.”

  “And the sum of money he would settle on this virginal woman?” said Elizabeth. “Did you not say it was more than enough to pay off Mama’s debts?”

  “Listen, what are you about? You know Jane would never—”

  “It was a lot of money, was it not?” Elizabeth’s voice was quiet but fierce.

  “Yes, it was,” said Lydia. She sat back down. “Why are you pursuing this?”

  “Perhaps I could do it,” said Elizabeth, swallowing hard.

  “What?” said Lydia.

  “Quiet,” said Elizabeth. “Jane might hear you.”

  * * *

  Years ago, in the aftermath of their father’s death, Lydia had managed to become someone’s mistress. No one of any importance—a colonel in the militia, actually. He happened to also be the third son of a viscount, however, with the sort of connections that Lydia could exploit.

  Not that she would have, of course, not without Elizabeth’s help.

  Elizabeth never would have encouraged any of it, not if life had been as it was before the incident at Rosings, the one that changed the course for her and all her family. Elizabeth knew that she had been set up by Lady Catherine, and she learned later it was because Lady Catherine knew that Mr. Darcy had proposed to Elizabeth, and Lady Catherine was not going to let anyone marry her nephew except her own daughter.

  What Lady Catherine didn’t seem to understand was that Elizabeth had refused that proud man, and she had no interest in marrying him.

  Well, perhaps after that letter, in which Darcy had explained a great many things about Mr. Wickham and about how he had interpreted Jane’s shyness as indifference, perhaps she wondered…

  But it didn’t matter. It had all gone as Lady Catherine wanted. As far as Elizabeth knew, Mr. Darcy was quite happy with his wife, the former Miss de Bourgh.

  And with the Bennet reputation already in tatters, none of it mattered. She had brought shame on all of them, and she regretted that. But nothing in her could have ever induced to her to marry that wretched, wretched Cumberbottom. No, Darcy would have been a prince compared to that man. She would have even preferred Mr. Collins to Cumberbottom, and that was saying something.

  Maybe if things had been different, her father could have arranged something else for her, and that might have saved the family, but then her father was in that awful carriage accident, and he was killed, and, well, Lydia exploiting the connections of a viscount seemed the best they could all do.

  As Mr. Darcy had pointed out all those years ago, the Bennets did not have impressive connections, so no one in the higher echelons of the ton had any idea who Lydia was. She went by the last name of Swan, and she was one of the most sought-after courtesans in London. Partly this was because of Lydia’s own vivacity and temperament. She was fearless, and she was willing to try anything. But it was also because of Elizabeth’s guidance.

  Elizabeth had steered the ship from the beginning, and Lydia had welcomed her help and also vowed to use whatever money she had to help the rest of the family.

  So, together, they had determined what had to be done. They had studied the fashions and made sure that Lydia was attired properly. They had rented a box at the opera so that Lydia could be seen and desired by all. They had made sure that Lydia had a house in the fashionable part of town. None of these things were cheap, but they were investments, and they were worth it. Lydia commanded quite a bit of money.

  She could not keep it all, of course. The upkeep of Lydia’s lifestyle was expensive. And she gave as much as she could convince Jane to take to the family.

  Of course, the discovery of Mrs. Bennet’s gambling debts had been quite a blow. None of them had realized how bad it was at the time, and now there was nothing to be done about it except to pay them off. Which they couldn’t do, not even with Lydia’s help.

  Once upon a time, Elizabeth would never have considered being involved in such a thing as the commerce of her sister’s body. She would have been appalled by it all. But so many things had changed since then, and Elizabeth had become practical.

  Lydia’s lifestyle, in all truth, was not that much different than any other woman’s
. When she was in a relationship with a man, he saw to all of her needs financially, as if he were her husband. The only difference was that Lydia didn’t have to stay with that man forever and that she got to keep her money when he was gone. There were advantages to it all. Certainly, Lydia was never going to be allowed entrance at the best dinners and parties, but then neither was Elizabeth. The places Lydia was invited, however, were often regal and marvelous.

  However, it was possible Elizabeth was only telling herself these things because she had essentially agreed to become a courtesan herself.

  But as she was trying to explain to Lydia in her sister’s house across London, it was not going to be that way. “It will only be this once, with this Chivsworth, and then I will never do it again. We will tell the others I’ve gotten a position as a governess—”

  “Oh, so we’re both governesses?” broke in Lydia.

  “Well, what else can I say?” said Elizabeth.

  “Perhaps that you will be chaperoning some daughter of someone or other,” said Lydia.

  “That’s much the same thing,” said Elizabeth. “Whatever the case, it will be temporary. I will only be part of the arrangement until the man tires of me, which I rather imagine will be soon if he only desires virgins. Because once he has despoiled me, then I shall no longer intrigue him.” Elizabeth took a long breath.

  Elizabeth knew that it was also improper for her to be out and about in society while she was mourning her mother’s death, but of the two sins, she thought that selling her body was so much more dire that it canceled the other out.

  Lydia bit down on her bottom lip. “Listen, Lizzy—”

  The door to the sitting room burst open and George Wickham appeared in the doorway.

  “Georgie!” said Lydia, putting both her hands on her hips. “Didn’t I tell you not to sneak past the butler anymore?”

  Wickham spread his hands. “Do I hear this right? Miss Elizabeth getting despoiled?”

  Elizabeth drew herself up. “Would you get rid of him, Lydia?”

  “You are to be announced,” said Lydia to Wickham. “You’re not to be traipsing around the house on your own, stealing things.”