Invitation to dine

Dear Limo Princess,
A invites B to dine on a specific occasion. A gets a better offer from C. A sends B a notice cancelling their date because he now has an engagement with C. A proceeds with engagement with C. Is A's conduct in accord with good manners?

Dear Richard,
Absolutely not. It is the height of bad manners to cancel an engagement because a "better" one was offered. There is only one way to cancel an engagement to go to a different engagement and it reads as follows:"I regret terribly that I have to cancel our dinner engagement as I have received an invitation to dine with the President of the United States at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue."That is the only socially acceptable reason to cancel a previous social occasion to go to a different social engagement as an invitation to the White House supercedes all other social obligations. Only the ill-bred and poorly mannered would even consider canceling a previous engagement because a "better one" came along--it is the height of rudeness.