Heartwarming / Rebecca

• Though it's also a Bittersweet Ending, the relationship between the narrator and Maxim after the events of the novel. Though they're in hiding, they're at least content.
  • The musical makes it less bitter because it's implied that they're not in hiding: Favell notes that the jury won't make a murder suspect out of the Honorable Mr. de Winter unless they have clear proof. The Reveal that Rebecca committed suicide (the audience knows it's Suicide by Cop via a fall, the authorities think Rebecca sank the boat herself) presumably set Maxim free.
• Maxim's offer of marriage is the least possible, until it becomes clear to the reader that he is really attached to the heroine.
• Generally, Beatrice acts like a Cool Big Sis towards the heroine. When they find out that the dress the heroine wore is the same one Rebecca had for her previous party, Beatrice goes to comfort her sister-in-law, helps her choose a new gown, and explain the context. She also defends the heroine to Maxim, who initially thinks the whole thing was a tasteless practical joke, saying there's no way the heroine would do that. Even though Rebecca was a homewrecker with Beatrice and Giles's relationship, Beatrice loves the new Mrs. De Winter and understands she's a different person.
• Beatrice's well-intentioned bluntness, and her happiness when seeing her brother happy. Her showing up to see Maxim and Ich through the inquest demonstrates that she genuinely likes and cares for her young sister-in-law.
• The Hitchcock film has an addition: Maxim reveals he didn't kill Rebecca. Instead, he smacked her in the face. When she tried approaching him again, she tripped, bumped her head on tackle, and died instantly. The second wife immediately says with relief, "You didn't kill her! It was an accident!" He then asks, "But who would believe it?" She gives him a reassuring look as he explains how he sunk the boat to hide her body.
• Then the wife starts logically reasoning with Maxim: they're the only two people who know the truth. He could have easily made a mistake while "grieving" Rebecca and identifying the body. More importantly, Rebecca can no longer hurt him anymore. She says that Rebecca hasn't won, because they are happy.
• The discovery of Maxim's real feelings for the heroine, and the certainty that he loves the heroine more than Rebecca. It gets even more heartwarming when you realize that the hero, terrified either because of fear or remorse, after a marriage to the charming, cruel and selfish Rebecca, met an Adorkable, genuinely in love Shrinking Violet and fell in love with her too.
• He's too harsh about it (and admits as much later), but when he realizes the heroine thinks he's only spending time with her in Monte Carlo to be nice, Maxim tries to disabuse her of that notion. As he tells her, he's not in the business of charity; he's spending time with her because he enjoys her company. He admits he left Manderley in a depression after his trouble there, and probably would've spent weeks or months running around Europe trying to forget about it—but then he met her in Monte Carlo, and he stuck around for weeks so they could spend more time together.
• Upon realizing how nervous the heroine is before meeting the staff of Manderley and officially stepping into her role as Mrs. de Winter, Maxim genuinely tries to comfort her, kissing her hand before saying that all she has to do is be herself, and everyone will love her. He also gives her a heads-up that Mrs. Danvers won't like her at first, but not to worry about it; she's just like that with newcomers, so the heroine shouldn't take it personally. It's not nearly that simple (and he's very wrong about Mrs. Danvers), of course, but still, he did try.
• Frank Crawley is just plain nice. He's kind and friendly to the heroine right at the outset, and never makes her feel inferior or unwanted. There are multiple points where the heroine seems more comfortable around him than she does around Maxim, and the two have a very sweet friendship.
• The fact that, despite Mrs. Danvers being awful to her, the heroine still empathizes with her at times, after learning how close she was with Rebecca. She reflects more than once on how terrible it would be to lose someone you loved so much, and how resentful anyone would be if some stranger came in to replace the person they lost, so soon after it happened. She genuinely tries to bond with Mrs. Danvers, or, failing that, at least be civil. Too bad Danny doesn't feel the same way; the heroine very genuinely wants to be friends, and it probably would've worked out better for both of them if Danny had been able to let go of Rebecca and accept the offer.

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