Pamela, or, Virtue Rewarded

Mr. B acts dishonorably by his many schemes to ruin Pamela. Since she is unwilling to relinquish her virtue, he resorts to many contrivances and deceitful methods in order to persuade her to relent. Mr. B pays John to allow him to see Pamela's letters to her parents before they are delivered; then he kidnaps her rather than return her to her parents. Mr. B holds Pamela hostage at Lincolnshire where she is treated poorly by Mrs. Jewkes. He even dresses as a maid in order to attempt Pamela in her own bed. He concocts a scheme to hire an attorney to act as a minister and perform a sham marriage. Another instance of Mr. B's dishonor is when he has Mr. Williams wrongfully imprisoned because of his jealous suspicions of a romantic liaison between Pamela and Mr. Williams.

So the question of whether or not we buy the story as individuals is once again invidual opinion. Personally, I would like to believe that Mr. B's obsession transitioned to true love... that they went on to have a long and happy marriage. On the other hand, the novel is not a fairy tale. Who's to say that another young woman won't captivate Mr. B's imagination in the future, that he will not once again act on his own desires.