The narrator describes the scene of a French apartment with “[a]n air of splendor, sufficiently faded to be melancholy” (716). Edith is alone when two waiters come in with dinner. Carker joins them and pretends she is his wife. After the men leave, Edith warns him Carker not to come near, or she will murder him. She bitterly tells him how she has been “shamed and steeled […] offered and rejected, put up and appraised […] paraded and vended to enhance my value” (721), and she is sick of it. She declares that she detests him and will never be with him. Carker is angry but can see “that she was desperate, and that her unquenchable hatred of him would stop at nothing” (725). A bell rings in the hall, and Edith flees down a back staircase. Carker, who is afraid of answering the front door, finds the back staircase and escapes as well.

Carker flees in terror and imagines something is pursuing him. He believes he hears “a rush and sweep of something through the air, like Death upon the wing” (727), but the night sky looks peaceful as he hires a carriage and escapes the city. He decides to return to England, where he believes he will be safe. As he rides through the night, he imagines he hears pursuit, and continues on his nightmarish journey. His thoughts are filled with fear, fury at Edith, and resentment toward Dombey, for, the narrator says, “false and subtle men will always secretly despise and dislike the object upon which they fawn, and always resent the payment and receipt of homage that they know to be worthless” (730).

The journey becomes a blur as Carker takes a ship to England and then takes a train to a secluded town. He rents a room at a tavern but cannot sleep. The whole building shakes as the train goes by. The next morning, as Carker walks and views the sunrise, he sees Dombey emerge from the railway station. Carker slips and falls onto the tracks and is crushed by the oncoming train.

Toots arrives at the instrument shop with Susan, who is overjoyed that Florence is getting married. Susan enjoyed her journey with Toots, whom she calls “the devotedest and innocentest infant” (739). Toots resolves to stop pining for Florence and make the best account of himself. The Captain reveals that Walter will be sailing as the supercargo on a ship to China, and Florence will travel with him. The Captain, who is overflowing with happiness for the young pair, hires Polly Toodle as housekeeper until Florence and Walter leave.

Florence forgets her unhappiness over her father’s treatment in her contentment with Walter. She is worried that she brings nothing to their marriage, and he assures her that all he wants is her. Mr. Toots, still striving to put his feelings for Florence to rest, goes to the church to hear the banns read for the third time, and Susan goes with him.

The night before the wedding, Solomon returns. He says he has been sending letters to the Captain at Brig Place. The Game Chicken, Toots’s boxer friend, is outraged that Toots refuses his advice to knock Walter down but is instead content that Florence has said she values Toots as a friend. The two men part ways.

The beadle and the pew opener who attended Mr. Dombey’s wedding observe a young couple who come to the church early one morning and visit one of the memorial tablets; it is Florence and Walter on the day of their wedding. They walk to the church where they will be married and join their guests: Captain Cuttle, Solomon, and Mrs. Toots, with Susan for a bridesmaid.

After seeing the couple off, Solomon and the Captain return to the shop. Solomon reads a letter Walter has left for Mr. Dombey informing him that Walter and Florence are married. Captain Cuttle asks if they should drink the last bottle of Madeira, and Solomon says, not yet. Aboard the ship, reflecting on events, Florence thinks the waves are murmuring “of love, eternal and illimitable, not bounded by the confines of this world, or by the end of time, but ranging still, beyond the sea, beyond the sky, to the invisible country far away” (769).

A year passes in which “the famous House of Dombey and Son had fought a fight for life” (769) but as Mr. Dombey has refused to make any correction, the House has fallen and is bankrupt. Mr. Perch is treated to drinks from people who want to get gossip from him. Major Bagstock is mortified that he bragged about his friendship with Dombey. Mrs. Chick decides her brother did not make an effort and this all might have been prevented had she been invited to the dinner.

Mr. Morfin attends to the last bits of business. He is in his apartment playing his violincello when Harriet visits. She asks if Mr. Dombey is completely ruined. She tells Mr. Morfin that she and her brother inherited James’s property. She would like to give some money, anonymously, to Mr. Dombey, and she asks Mr. Morfin to arrange it. Harriet then visits Mrs. Brown’s home to see Alice, who is ailing. Alice shares that “evil courses, and remorse, travel, want, and weather, storm within, and storm without, have worn my life away” (780) and she is dying. Mrs. Brown reveals that Alice and Edith are first cousins; Mrs. Brown had a relationship with the brother of Mrs. Dombey’s father. She would have asked them for money, but Alice was too proud. Harriet reads a while from the Bible, and that night, Alice passes away.

The servants in the Dombey household discuss events and what to do next. The butler and the housemaid decide to marry and become grocers. Mrs. Pipchin, the housekeeper, pays the staff their wages and dismisses them. Men come to evaluate the furnishings of the house, and an auction is held. Mrs. Chick visits with Mrs. Pipchin. She reflects on how surprised Dombey was to learn his daughter had fled and gotten married; he had assumed she had gone to live with Mrs. Chick. Mrs. Pipchin reveals that he never emerges from his rooms, and she is leaving, too.

Polly Toodle comes to look after Mr. Dombey. Miss Tox visits Polly and sorrows for Mr. Dombey. She brings Polly little treats to pass to him, “only desiring to be true to the fallen object of her admiration” (794). Dombey broods in his rooms, remembering the night the narrator told him to remember, when Florence came to him and he turned her away. It is “the sharp grief of his soul” (795) that he was cruel to her and drove her away, and at last, he feels remorse. He recalls the image of Florence carrying Paul up the stairs and realizes he has lost two children.

Dombey wanders through the house like a ghost but is shocked one night when Florence appears before him. She says that she is a mother now, and when she had her child, she felt she had done wrong to leave her own father. She begs his forgiveness. He embraces her and agrees to move into her house. Rob joins his mother and Miss Tox to declare that he has reformed, and Miss Tox agrees to hire him.

Dr. and Mrs. Blimber hold their ball and Dr. Blimber makes the announcement that he is turning the school over to Mr. Feeder. Mr. Feeder and Miss Blimber intend to marry. Toots visits with his new wife, Susan, of whom he is very proud and whom he reminds often not to exert herself. Toots receives a letter that Walter and Florence are returning home, and he and Susan decide to visit. Captain Cuttle is taking a walk one day and is astonished to see Mrs. MacStinger conducting Bunsby to church. Captain Cuttle offers to help Bunsby escape, but he goes through with the ceremony. Susan is delighted to meet Florence and Walter’s baby.

Mr. Dombey falls ill, and Florence nurses him. His memories grow confused, but he enjoys watching Florence and Walter sitting together as Florence holds the baby and sings the song she once sang for Paul. One day, Cousin Feenix visits and invites Florence to his house. Edith is there and asks if Florence can forgive her for bringing shame on the family name. Florence says she has reconciled with her father, but she is glad to see Edith. Edith says she is guilty of much, but she never had an affair with Carker. She gives Florence a letter and the message to Dombey that she is sorry they ever met, but she hopes he will think of her less bitterly. Edith says she is going away and will not see Florence again.

The last bottle of Madeira is finally opened. Captain Cuttle, Solomon, Mr. Dombey, Walter, and Florence drink together. Mr. Dombey grows old and white-haired. Every year he receives an annual sum of money, the source of which remains mysterious. Mr. Morfin marries Harriet and lives with her and John. The Wooden Midshipman has two names on the door: Gills and Cuttle. Solomon lives very well off some old investments that have paid off. Toots calls on them to report that Susan has borne a child. Walter is well-established in his career and Susan predicts he is building the foundation for a new Dombey and Son. Dombey enjoys walking on the beach with his grandchildren, little Paul and Florence, to whom he is especially devoted.