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Although she never married, Jane Austen did become engaged — for one night

Jane Austen received and accepted a proposal of marriage on December 2, 1802, two weeks before her 27th birthday. According to family tradition, she and her sister were visiting longtime friends Alethea and Catherine Bigg at Manydown Park when their friends’ brother, Harris Bigg-Wither, made the offer. Five-and-a-half years younger than Austen, Harris was, according to the author’s niece Caroline Austen, “very plain in person—awkward, & even uncouth in manner . . . I conjecture that the advantages he could offer, & her gratitude for his love, & her long friendship with his family, induced my Aunt to decide that she would marry him . . . .”

Austen changed her mind overnight, however,

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