Even amid the ordinary social life of Little Alresford, Whittlestaff finds no peace as his marriage to Mary approaches, repeatedly asking himself whether his love gives him the right to prevent two younger people who still love one another from sharing a future, while Mrs Baggett’s practical observations and the opinions of those around him push him closer to a final decision. He plans and then undertakes a journey in an attempt to settle his thoughts, and during his solitary reflections, including those in London’s Green Park, he gradually accepts that Mary’s happiness must matter more than the fulfillment of his own desire, while Gordon makes his own intentions clear in a letter. Returning once more to Croker’s Hall, Whittlestaff recognizes that although he could insist upon Mary’s promise, he cannot ignore the fact that her deepest affection still belongs to Gordon, and he therefore abandons the marriage and transforms his love from a desire to possess her into an act of sacrifice for her happiness. Mary and Gordon are thus free to reunite, while Whittlestaff bears his personal loss and loneliness with dignity, bringing the novel to a quiet but powerful conclusion centered on age, love, duty, renunciation, and moral generosity.
