There are several kinds of emails, and they don't all behave the same. The flashing email icon doesn't necessarily mean that there's a marriage proposal waiting. It could be another type of email. And it's not a bug that leaving a game (by switching slots or quitting) resets emails. Many things are reset by leaving the game, by design. For emails, it all depends upon what type of email it was (and you can't know that without opening it - sort of a catch-22, huh?)