He Insulted My Entire Family Before Proposing

He had insulted her family in public. Then he proposed as if she ought to be grateful.

Elizabeth Bennet had made excellent use of Mr. Darcy’s famous assembly-room slight. Longbourn had turned it into a household joke, which was far more convenient than admitting it had ever hurt.
Then Colonel Fitzwilliam let slip that Darcy’s contempt had not remained in the ballroom. It had travelled. It had been polished into prudence, repeated as wisdom, and used to separate Jane from Mr. Bingley.
By the time Darcy arrived at Hunsford to offer Elizabeth his hand, his proposal sounded less like love than a very elegant list of every reason she ought to be astonished by his generosity.

Elizabeth refused him.
Naturally.

But refusal was only the beginning. There were letters, remarks, witnesses, and one private list of offenses that became more useful than any young lady’s needlework. Elizabeth had never been rich, titled, or obedient enough to frighten a proud gentleman.

She was, however, very good at remembering things.

And Mr. Darcy was about to discover that some insults did not disappear simply because a gentleman regretted saying them.

Trope / Promise List

• Pride and Prejudice variation
• Elizabeth Bennet wronged, witty, and keeping proof
• Mr. Darcy humbled by public accountability
• Insulting proposal fallout
• Courtship interference and family reputation pressure
• Regency social revenge
• Letters, copied notes, and witness memory as receipts
• Public-room consequences instead of easy grovel
• Clean / no heat
• Short, fast, comic, justice-forward read
• HEA with earned respect