I need to admit here that I don’t really see why this should be a problem at all. If the article is valuable and a good fit for the publication, I can’t understand why it should bother the editor to know their publication was the second or even third choice, especially if the writer is confirmed as an asset. After all, it seems to me that the writer has the right to his/her free will without this being a reason to offend anyone within the process, and that the only thing that should matter is the value and the shared respect! 😊