Later Palliser novels

The last 2 novels in the Palliser series are the Prime Minister and the Duke's Children. The Prime Minister covers the years when Glencora's children are becoming adults, and Plantagenet becomes Prime minister. He is not really suited to the job, has little ambition and dislikes the socialising and grandeur that goes with it. Glencora enjoys it, she opens up their castle home which is rarely used, holds huge house parties and interferes with politics. The chief character of the novel is Ferdinand Lopez, an ambitious young financier, who wants to get into politics. Glencora, out of boredom, takes a fancy to him and intrigues for him to win an election. This causes a scandal and Plantagenet is angry with his wife but forgives her. Lopez gets into trouble with his investments and kills himself.. and Plantagenet resigns. He and Glencora go abroad, for a long trip and take the children. However soon after they come home, Glencora dies, in her 40s after taking a chill. Plantagenet is distraught as she was almost the only person he could talk to.. He finds that true to her nature she has been plotting on behalf of the children.. doing things he might not approve of. She knows that her only daughter, Mary, is in love with a young man called Frank Tregear, who does not have much money, and she wants to be sure that if Mary's romance with him lasts, she will be able to marry him... Her own early life was blighted by her not being allowed to marry Burgo Fitzgerald.. and she knows that Frank is a decent young man and would make Mary happy. M/F

They Knew Mr Knight Part V

While Thomas is awaiting trial, Douglas goes back to college and says he will try to help his mother financially until his father is out of jail. Ruth gets a job as a secretary and goes on writing a novel in her spare time. Then they learn that Mr Knight has been arrested for fraud.. and shortly after being bailed he goes to his office and shoots himself. Their incubus is gone, albeit without standing trial. Celia and Ruth go back to their old home in the town, and she takes in a lodger to provide a little more money. Then Thomas is tried and gets a one year sentence. Mrs Knight has very little money and is lost without her husband - she never understood his business...However Thomas' sister, Isabel, who has been friendly with her, suggests that she and Mrs Knight sell up her valuables and set up a tea shop in Brighton. Celia feels sorry for Mrs Knight who is not a bad woman, and throws herself into managing her life while waiting for Thomas to get out of jail. She keeps house and Ruth helps, and they are pleased when Ruth's novel is accepted... Just before Thomas' release from prison, Celia has a religious experience, where she realises that material things dont matter, and that she will survive. Thomas is released and they go to the nearby Cathedral... and vow to support and love each other....

They Knew Mr KNight Part IV

Celia starts to feel more and more resentment against Knight, since he seems to be breaking up her family. Freda has become an aimless socialite. Douglas is unhappy because of the loss of his girl, and only Ruth seems happy and not seeking for more. Knight suggests that the Blakes buy out his country house, and Celia is tempted by this. She does not want material possessions but she is happy to get out of the town and to have more space and a more active country life. She enjoys gardening and the women's insititute and is happy for a time, but Thomas is always worrying about money, and he is eager to make more. Knight is launching a new business called Kosmos, and Thomas buys in. The shares go up and up and he is delighted but then abruptly the business crashes. Thomas seeks out Knight for advice and the older man tells him that he has finished wet nursing him and that he wants Blake to repay the money he owes him, immediately or he will sue. Thomas is horrified and realises that Knight is a fraudster who has probalby managed to get out of the business before it collapsed. But he does not know how he is going to pay back his many debts. Celia asks if he can get a loan from the bank, but he will still be in debt. Freda is very upset that she has had a few years of a social life and now she will have to support herself, and she walks out of the house one day and marries Coggy, almost in secret. She does not love him but he is a good natured man and she hopes he will look after her a bit. Celia thinks he is a nice man but weak and foolish, and she hopes her daughter wont regret the hasty marriage. Thomas is desperate and in a wild attempt to borrow enough money to sort himself out, he alters papers in his company's accounts, and then feels guilty and gives himself up to the police. It looks pretty certain that he will go to jail, for fraud.

They Knew Mr Knight Part III

As the children grow up, Celia continues to be uneasy about Wright. She finds that Thomas spends less time at home with his family and more time in the masculine world of business, playing golf with Mr Wright and discussing making money with him. Edward, his younger brother, keeps on losing jobs and infuriates Thomas, and the final straw happens when Freda finds him working at a charity ball as a cloakroom attendant. She is horribly embarrassed and Thomas tells Edward off. He washes his hands of his brother, and Edward, depressed goes to the pub as he often does. He is friendly with the landlady's daughter Carrie and she looks up to him as a gentleman. They become closer and he asks her to marry him. He knows his family will look down on him even more for marrying a pub keeper's daughter and maybe working in the pub himself, but he has reached a point of not caring. Meanwhile, Douglas is leaving school and gets into college, but he decides to study Science instead of engineering...He doesnt tell his parents. Douglas then has a nasty shock when he becomes infatuated with one of the young women who visit Mr Knight's house. She is a model and very beautiful and Douglas is smitten. Then he finds out that she is not an innocent young woman, but she's been Wright's mistress for some time, because he has money. Douglas is disgusted and devotes himself to his studies. Freda continues to be friendly with Mrs Knight and to go to her parties and go around with the aimless but good natured Coggy.

They knew Mr Knight Part II

Celia is not really happy about the friendship that begins to grow between Knight and Thomas. She feels that such a rich successful man can't be relied on. Thomas tells her that she does not understand how much financial worry he has. He has an elderly mother whom he helps out, and a brother, Edward who cant hold down a job. He has his own children to provide for. Mr Knight invites the family to meet his wife... Maud who turns out to be a rather common but good natured woman. She used to be in Music hall and Knight is soemtimes a bit embarrassed by her. She tells Celia and Freda that she does not really want to live outside London and there is nothing to do in their country house. Mr Knight invites friends to stay and Mrs Knight tries to put a brave face on the fact that he is often having an affair with a young woman friend. Over a few years, Thomas's business does fairly well and he gets tips from Mr Knight to increase his wealth by buying shares. Celia still feels uneasy, but Thomas continues to work with Knight, to try and make himself richer. Freda leaves school and she has no real ambitions other than to enjoy herself at social events. Mrs Knight invites her to parties and dances, and Freda makes some upper class friends...However, she had fallen in love with a young man, who married another girl. She goes around with one of his relatives, Coggy, an older man who has no occupation but is at least likable and good natured. Because the family are now better off, Douglas is sent to boarding school. M/F

They Knew Mr Knight By Dorothy Whipple.

This is a novel by Whipple which covers some of her favourite themes. There are 2 families who have little in common, and they become involved. Then the father of one family reveals himself to be a fraudster. Thomas Blake lives with his wife Celia and their 3 children, in a provincial town, where he manages an engineering works. He is a skilled engineer but his father, who owned the business before him, was not a successful businessman and he lost money and had to sell the business to his partner. Thomas was kept on as manager but his salary is moderate and he is worried about money. He also feels that he has been let down, by the fact that he no longer owns the family business. Celia is happy enough with being a housewife with a small house and only one servant. They have 2 daughters, Freda, who is rather vain, and Ruth who wants to be a writer... and a son Douglas who is interested in science. Thomas wants Douglas to become an engineer and succeed him as manager, at least but he knows its very unlikely that he will have the money to buy back the firm. Mr Knight is from the town, and he has gone up in the world to own several businesses and lead a gay social life. He has recently bought a house near the town, Field End. One morning, Thomas is on his way to work by train when he sees Mr Knight also catching a train. Mr Knight slips and almost falls badly and Thomas manages to rescue him. Knight thanks him and they fall into conversation on their train journey. He tells Knight about his work and the problems he has, and on an impulse, Mr Knight offers to help him. He suggests a plan for Thomas to borrow enough money with his backing, to buy out the man who owns the works.

Can you Forgive Her Part III

Glencora keeps meeting Burgo at parties and Lady Monk encourages the romance.. but she feels guilty. However, Burgo asks her to run away with him and they could live as a couple abroad.. Eventually she tells Plantagenet that if they divorced, he could marry someone who might give him a son and who might make him happier than she has done. Plantagenet tells her that he has grown to love her, and that he would rather have her for his wife, even if they had no children, than another woman. She is touched and agrees to try and give their marriage another chance. Plantagenet is then offered a place in Government, but he chooses to give it up, so that he can take Glencora away on a trip to try and get to know each other better. He even agrees to take Alice with them. They go away and travel in Europe for some time, and Glencora grows fonder of him. In Germany however they meet Burgo, who has gone on a gambling trip through the continent, and has lost a lot of money in a casino. Plantagenet goes and talks to him and helps him out, offering to make him a small allowance. Glencora realises that while she will always have feelings for Burgo, Plantagenet is a good man and she has grown to love him... She thanks him for helping her former love, and then she discovers that she is pregnant. They go back to England and Alice marries John Grey, and Glencora has a son, who will be heir to the Dukedom.