Silverbridge finally chooses Isabel over rank, convention, and the possibility of marriage to Lady Mabel, and although the Duke initially resists the idea of his heir marrying an American whose family background lies outside the aristocratic world he gradually comes to respect Isabel and her parents and ultimately gives his consent, while Tregear secures a seat in Parliament and increasingly proves himself to be the honorable and capable young man Mary has always believed him to be, removing much of the Duke’s practical objection to their marriage, and by the end the Duke has learned something of the flexibility and emotional wisdom once supplied by his late wife, accepts both Mary’s marriage to Tregear and Silverbridge’s marriage to Isabel, and returns to public office with a transformed understanding of authority, family, love, and the independence of his children.
