Travelling through Europe with the Pallisers, Alice meets John again in Switzerland and gradually allows herself to accept his love, while Glencora discovers that she is pregnant and finds new stability and hope in the marriage that had seemed close to collapse. George, meanwhile, falls so far into anger and desperation that he attacks John, loses the support of both family and political allies, and eventually leaves England for America, bringing his ambitions and his relationship with Alice to an end. After the travellers return home, Mrs Greenow chooses Captain Bellfield rather than the wealthier Cheesacre, while the Pallisers look toward a more secure domestic and political future with the prospect of an heir. Alice finally marries John and accepts his entry into parliamentary life, bringing the novel’s three intertwined stories to a close through different compromises between love, independence, social duty, money, and practical reality.
