What if his sister invents a device which manipulates the electrical bits of the young lady's brain, so that she breaks into a rash or becomes nauseated whenever the device is near her? It could look like a tie pin or something like that. Ooh, or the device could make her think that he smells really unpleasant, so that she'll have to live with his incredibly strong man funk if she marries him.
I suppose those aren't exactly polite, but they are clever.
The polite way would probably be something like him telling her very gently that his affections are engaged elsewhere, and it would be unfair of him to subject her to a commitment where he could not return her affection. She deserves to be happy, and he cannot be the man who makes her so. He doesn't actually have to name a specific person, and to do so would probably show a lack of character. You can get some ideas on how to word such things from Victorian letter writing manuals. There's a little bit about them at Victorian Web (try Googling the titles; they're probably online somewhere) and some examples of sample letters here.
Or gosh! This is a really Victorian one, since this sort of thing actually happened and it was incredibly controversial. He could say that he believes in free love, i.e. is an anarchist sex radical, and as such, he does not believe in the institution of marriage as he feels it is too limiting of women's freedoms. Any woman he married would have to be willing to live in an open relationship, without the benefit of a legally recognized relationship. He respects her far too much to expose her to that sort of social censure, and so he has resolved to live a bachelor.
no subject
I suppose those aren't exactly polite, but they are clever.
The polite way would probably be something like him telling her very gently that his affections are engaged elsewhere, and it would be unfair of him to subject her to a commitment where he could not return her affection. She deserves to be happy, and he cannot be the man who makes her so. He doesn't actually have to name a specific person, and to do so would probably show a lack of character. You can get some ideas on how to word such things from Victorian letter writing manuals. There's a little bit about them at Victorian Web (try Googling the titles; they're probably online somewhere) and some examples of sample letters here.
Or gosh! This is a really Victorian one, since this sort of thing actually happened and it was incredibly controversial. He could say that he believes in free love, i.e. is an anarchist sex radical, and as such, he does not believe in the institution of marriage as he feels it is too limiting of women's freedoms. Any woman he married would have to be willing to live in an open relationship, without the benefit of a legally recognized relationship. He respects her far too much to expose her to that sort of social censure, and so he has resolved to live a bachelor.