A Proper Choice

Anne de Bourgh escaped Rosings once. Can she return to it without becoming its prisoner again?

Restored in health and newly certain of her own mind, Anne comes home to a world that has not changed at all. Lady Catherine still expects obedience. The county still expects an heiress. And Anne is learning that freedom is not a feeling but a set of practical arrangements - rooms of her own, money in her own name, witnesses, a house with air in it, and a future chosen on purpose rather than permitted.

Mr. Arthur Chelmsworth complicates everything by doing the one thing no one at Rosings ever has: he sees Anne not as an invalid to be managed, nor a fortune to be claimed, but as a woman whose judgment deserves to stand.

To choose him, Anne must first choose herself - publicly, materially, and in her own hand. It is the bravest, most improper thing a proper young lady can do.

A closed-door Pride and Prejudice sequel for readers who love a spinster heroine claiming her own life * a suitor who respects a woman's mind * Austen's manners as moral courage * slow-burn tenderness * and a hard-won, hopeful ending.

A Proper Choice is Book 3 of The Smaller Proofs Collection, completing Anne de Bourgh's story. Gentle throughout, no scandal, no spice. Not as long as books 1 and 2, but just as satisfying.