As the election petition damages Sir Thomas’s political ideals and Neefit becomes increasingly obsessed with forcing Ralph to honor what he regards as a commitment to Polly, Polly chooses instead to marry Ontario Moggs, the man who has remained loyal to her regardless of money, and frees herself from both her father’s ambitions and the attraction of marrying into landed society, while Ralph, rejected by Mary and unwilling to return sincerely to Clarissa, quickly transfers his attention to Augusta Eardham and settles into a socially respectable marriage as master of Newton Priory, whereas Mary accepts the devoted love of the other Ralph and Clarissa finally relinquishes her illusion about the heir and comes to recognize the constancy of Gregory Newton, allowing the novel to end with several marriages and outwardly settled lives while Trollope pointedly presents Ralph’s ordinary selfishness, weakness, and opportunism as more socially dangerous than spectacular villainy and contrasts worldly success with fidelity, genuine affection, and moral responsibility.
