Well, it turns out Lucy finds her room with a view after all, both literally and figuratively – by marrying George, she also takes on a new view of the world, the unconventional one advocated by her husband and his father. From their perspective, love and truth are the most important things of all, rather than social class, money, or fame. When last we see them, the newlyweds also end up in the very same actual “room with a view” that brought them together in the first place, in the Pension Bertolini in Florence.
The ending may sound all peachy keen, but it’s not entirely happy – let’s say it’s about 10% bitter and 90% sweet. The tenth of bitterness that’s mixed in is in society’s reaction to Lucy and George’s marriage; Lucy’s mother and brother are upset with her for the circumstances under which she left Cecil and took up with George, and we’re not sure if the family will ever be reunited. Lucy is hopeful that they will forgive her eventually, and so are we – but there’s no guarantee that everything will emerge unscathed. Our young heroine clearly did the right thing, in that she took the plunge and chose her own personal happiness above the dreadful fate that awaited her with the expectations of society, but she still has to pay the price of isolation from her home and family in the end.