The book seems to take on a much different form in the middle of Part 3. Up to then the action jumped back and forth in time and characters popped in from nowhere. Now in Ch.3, Part 3 we get chronological summaries. Ch. 3 becomes Leonora's story and Ch. 4 gives the same treatment to Edward.
I could not understand why Edward was such a cad with unrelenting affairs one after the other. At least now you can see how they developed form a kiss on a train, to paying for a week with the Duke's mistress, to an affair with a junior officer's wife.
To me, the most interesting character is Leonora. She learns of all of Edward's affairs yet still is madly in love with him and dedicated to restoring his wealth that he threw away in Monte Carlo. Still in the background is Leonora's priest who advised she take Edward to Monte Carlo. I wonder if we will learn more of her advisor and what his role is.
In the last ch. of part 3 John says, I think for the third time, that this is a sad story and he clearly says it is because of Edward and Leonora. As others have discussed the saddest story may be John's. He is the one character who we know the least about. I see a comparison to the narrator of My Antonia. To me he was the weakest character in the book. He had close contact with some very strong, beautiful and interesting women yet nothing came of it. In my Antonia the women were strong and the men weak or weird. Edward, although a cad, is partly manipulated by Leonora and John is a complete mess with his wife not having relations with him but instead with two others. Anyone can walk over John.
