Moran waits anxiously for letters from Maggie. Maggie writes to let him know that she’s doing well and that she’s spent time with Luke, who works in construction and attends accounting classes. Sheila and Mona devote themselves to school so they can get into university or get good jobs and leave their father’s house. Michael takes an interest in animals and gardening but doesn’t care for his father’s farm work.

Moran continues to test Rose’s boundaries with his temper. Rose tries to keep up a good façade, but when Moran hurts her feelings by saying that the family did fine without her, she threatens to leave him.

Mona and Sheila study hard for their exams. Maggie returns to Ireland for a three-week visit. Moran urgently needs to collect the hay in his fields, so the entire family performs this difficult manual labor together.

After weeks of anxiously waiting for their results, both Mona and Sheila find out that they’ve done very well on their exams. Sheila and Mona are offered jobs in the civil service, and Sheila must choose between the civil service job and university. Moran doesn’t support the idea of Sheila going to university to study medicine, and she begrudgingly enters the civil service instead of pursuing her dream.