I think that would take moral courage, which isn't really a quality that I saw in dear Ajax. It's a lot easier to fade into the woodwork and appear to be contemplating nature when your significant other is being attacked by the press. Kind of like a teenage boy, when being teased about his girlfriend, denies that he cares for her at all. Not very attractive.
Yeah. But I think I'll lay the blame at the feet of the artist in this case. They seem to have complete license to rearrange or even rewrite portions of the story when they feel the need, so if you aren't going to use the media in the solution, downplay it in the story. Could have quite easily had her dealing with 'second best' mentality without *repeatedly* using the media. One example would have been sufficient.
At least not as a general rule, and I can understand how a woman can forgive a great deal when the man has finally come to his senses. It's a bit like giving birth. Its hurts like you would never believe, and when your in labor you tell yourself I'll never do this again, but once that baby is born the enormity of the pain is forgotten in the wonder of that child in your arms. Forgiveness is like that. Once the man has realized and repented whole heartedly, it is easy to forget the pain in the wonder of the future that has just opened up.
That said, this ending disappointed me. After so much of the book was made of the media comparing the two sisters and her being the 2nd choice, ugly ducking, replacement bride, I was disappointed that he came to her in private. The book made it clear he knew very well about the media's cruelty, so I really wish that before he'd gone to see her privately, that Mr. FollowThePlan had done something publicly spectacular in declaring her his light in the darkness, his one and only true love, beyond compare, in an obviously impromptu manner to set the stage before his private apology.