At Bath, John and Grace are married while Jane is forced to endure the discovery that Egerton has married Mary Jarvis, and Emily finally learns that the man she knew as George Denbigh is actually George Denbigh, Earl of Pendennyss, who concealed his rank while attempting to judge her character and affection without the influence of wealth or title. Once his family history and reasons for assuming a disguise are explained, Emily and Pendennyss are reconciled and marry, while Egerton’s gambling, deception, and exploitation of women lead him toward ruin, and Napoleon’s return to power sends Pendennyss back to military service and into the battles of Quatre Bras and Waterloo. Pendennyss survives the war and returns to Emily, and as the remaining characters receive happiness or disappointment according to the wisdom of their choices, the novel closes by affirming that lasting marriage depends less on rank and fortune than on careful judgment of character, principle, and genuine affection.
