Mark’s financial troubles finally become so serious that creditors come to Framley Parsonage to seize property, forcing him to endure public humiliation and acknowledge that his vanity, social ambition, and willingness to follow Sowerby led him into the crisis, yet Fanny, Lord Lufton, and his genuine friends refuse to abandon him while Sowerby himself loses wealth and influence as the consequences of his reckless debts finally overtake him, and meanwhile Lady Lufton comes to understand that Lucy has never sought social advancement but has actually been willing to sacrifice her own happiness rather than divide mother and son, so she abandons her opposition and personally asks Lucy to marry Lord Lufton while Griselda Grantly completes her socially advantageous marriage to Lord Dumbello and the Crawleys continue to endure hardship with the aid of loyal friends, allowing Mark to rebuild his life with greater humility and responsibility and bringing Lucy and Lord Lufton together in marriage as the novel closes with love, forgiveness, and moral responsibility triumphing over vanity, class prejudice, and social ambition.
