Rules of Etiquette by Wade H Mann

Did How do you answer a completely unanswerable proposal without losing your temper or saying anything offensive, unkind or rude? What if it’s not your first awful proposal? What if you have a mercenary mother and indolent father with at least some chance to force the marriage. What if the man who had just proposed had previously boasted of his implacable resentment, and that his good opinion, one lost, was lost forever.

Elizabeth Bennet is about to find out in this novel that starts right after Mr. Darcy finishes speaking in the Hunsford proposal.

The scene is familiar. A man alone in the parsonage, proposing without asking consent, with nobody else in the house risking a compromise. Elizabeth finds herself in a position that’s the worst combination of absurd, annoying, and frightening. She wants to refuse, but wonders if she can be certain the man will not react badly, given that Mr Collins had been unwilling to take no for an answer.

In this story, Elizabeth hears the words of people from the past giving her advice, and tries to make sense of her predicament.
Her completely unexpected answer to Mr Darcy’s proposal will propel both into the adventure of a lifetime.

After all, there really is only one way to answer such a proposal while following the Rules of Etiquette!