Sylvester part VII

Ianthe recognises that Sylvester is making a concession, and she can see that her husband does not want Edmund in their house, so she lets her son go. Sylvester still at odds with PHoebe, tries to plan their journey back to England, but he finds that he has not got much money, having rushed off, and has no servant with him and he finds that travelling as an ordinary gentleman rather than a Duke he does not have innkeepers fawning on him. Tom reminds him that he's never taken care of Edmund by himself before and that the child will act up if he is left to strange foreign servants in an inn. So he needs Phoebe to help look after him. Sylvester is still cross but he and Phoebe stiffly keep up a friendly footing. When they get back to England, she is still angry with him, to the point where Tom feels she's being unfair. Phoebe finds that her grandmother has left her inn at Dover, and she's afraid that the old lady has washed her hands of her because of her folly in going aboard the Fotherby boat. Back in London, Sylvester asks her to marry him, clumsily, without any attempt to apologise or soothe her, and she angrily refuses him. But the Duchess sends for her and they talk. She tells Phoebe that Sylvester does love her, though he is not the sort of man who loves a lot of people or feels love in general for humanity. But he is a good man who loves his family and does his duty by his tenants and people. Phoebe knows that she loves Sylvester and she can see that he loves the people that he is close to, like his mother and nephew. She feels that she was foolish to be deceived by Ianthe, and she understands that Sylvester made a clumsy proposal because he was more emotional than he usually is. She likes the Duchess and agrees to see Sylvester again...... and this time he is accepted.