Thackeray doesn’t depict the actual moment Mr. Osborne learns about George’s marriage, perhaps because his reaction in this scene is dramatic enough to convey exactly how he feels. When Mr. Osborne ceremoniously takes out the Bible with a family tree in it, it shows that he is not just casually angry—he has decided that he needs to cut off all ties with George immediately, and he acts ceremoniously, as though performing a religious rite, to show how serious he is.