i feel like it was kind of clumsy to leave the elopement off till the last possible moment, like it would've been less dramatic but the pivotal moment for alice is actually when she realizes that if she accepts the proposal hanako will leave her-that is actually the climax of her arc, the moment when she's directly told that she needs to choose respectability or honesty, and we actually do see her tragically defer. so after that point both the readers and the characters have accepted that this is where the ending is taking us and we see impressive developments along that axis, with hanako deciding on a new life path and everyone making changes with alice staying with the old guard and then thats all abandoned at the last moment? it feels like a waste of pages tbh. if the story had settled on going one way or the other earlier i think the ending would've been more impactful and more in the vein of the earlier chapters