Wheel of Fortune III

The rest of the book is about the rivalry between Kester and his cousin Harry Johns son. Harry is conventional and very unlike Kester who wants to be a writer. He marries young, to a girl from a gentry family who is not very intelligent, and starts to run his father's small Estate, Penhale Manor. Kester marries a Jewish girl Anna also at an early age. He is much richer than Harry. Kester decides after his marriage to take over running Oxmoon, but within a short time he makes a mess of it. He does the house up, but has no experience at managing the land, and he is obsssessed with his writing John loses Bronwen, who goes away to Canada because she worries about her children by John, who are suffering from being illegitmate. John later returns to his wife Constance. . Ginevra dies of a stroke and also Kester is close to Anna, he has noone to guide him. John and Harry have to intervene when Kester's folly almost causes bankruptcy and he has to submit to his cousin and uncle managing his estate and being cool to him. War Breaks out and Harry joins the army, but Kester is a pacifist. He does however work on the estate to provide food, and John begins to think better of him. Harry ends up in the SAS.. which he finds challenging and frightening but he has a reputation for being brave and a good soldier so he hides his fear. At the end of the War, he returns to his wife and their sons, but there are problems in his marriage. Bella, his wife, is far below him intellectually, and she also has an obsession with having a daughter. She and Harry had made love during their teen years, and she became pregnant wiht a daughter. It was all hushed up, and Bella was sent abroad, but her baby died... and she longs for a girl to replace the baby. Harry envies Kester, who is well to do, able to devote time to his writing and who has no noisy children and a charming intelligent wife.