Adversity (Darcy's Courtesan, Part One)

Desperate times call for desperate measures...

With Mr. Bennet dead and Lydia having fled, leaving the Bennet sisters in disgrace, the widowed Mr. Collins believes he will easily persuade Lizzy to be his new bride. When she refuses, they are forced to flee the small home they've lived in at Longbourn for the last two years. Lizzy and her sisters come to unwelcoming London, unable to seek refuge with the Gardiners because of their reputations, ruined by Lydia's actions. With dwindling prospects, Lizzy accepts an offer of assistance from an unlikely source.

Much has changed for Mrs. Louisa Hurst, and she regrets the snob she used to be. She introduces Lizzy to the idea of being a courtesan and takes her to Tigerlily, where a young lady might get the proper sort of education. When Mr. Darcy learns of this, he offers marriage. Lizzy can't risk tarnishing his reputation by allowing him to make such a gesture out of honor and obligation, and he has no doubt cured himself of his reluctant love in the ensuing years, so she declines.

When he accepts her decision to stay the course, he offers a bold plan. Instead of leaving her instruction to the professionals, he will train her in all the ways of pleasure himself. It is a deal Lizzy can't refuse, for it solves some of her problems and gives her a taste of what she could have had. Though she feels strongly for him, and he is a master instructor, she must remember not to love Mr. Darcy, for she can never be more than his courtesan.

Can she?

This is part one of a completed three-part serial. The subsequent titles ("Avidity" and "Amity") will be releasing throughout August 2022, followed by a compilation of the serial.

While Abbey sometimes writes sweet JAFF, this is extra SENSUAL, and the door is wide open. It includes love scenes that are scorching. This is only for adult readers who don't object to explicit intimacies between ODC.