Is per a duplicitous character, in Pontoppidan's Lucky Per

Section 7 (of 8) of Henrik Pontoppidan's Lucky Per (1904) proves some pretty heavy going, as much of it involves sermon-like dialog (monologue mostly) as the country pastor tries to explain is more Christianity in (secret?) hopes of bring Per back to the church. The pastor's doctine is infused w/ a love of and unity w/ nature - some beautiful writing here, even if the passages go on far too long for real dialog - and this is in sympathy w/ Per's views (even though Per's love of nature is in direct conflict with his life's mission of building canals across Denmark) - se we see Per beginning to waver, to come back to the church that he had renounced after his strict, pious upbringing. It's a little surprising that Per devotes to much time to funeral and burying of his mother, from whom he'd been estranged - but all this tends to be bring Per back to family, youth, nature, church, and of course the inevitable consequence will be, it seems, his breaking off of the engagement of Jakobe, the "Jewess," as others call her. We can't help but feel that part of his attraction to J was to her great wealth, which could help finance his dream project. But now he might have another patron - the elderly baroness w/ whom he's staying on his visit to Jutland - and doesn't need J's money so much anymore. What does this say about the depth of his feelings for her? He may be "lucky," but he's seeming increasingly duplicitous and scheming and ready to throw off his fiances as soon as a better deal turns up. How much of this has to do w/ anti-Semitism is still an open questions, but it's clear that all of his "friends" believe J not a suitable match for Per and thy suspect he's attached himself to her for her money only. This section of the novel is ostensibly about his voyage to America; if that happens at all, I'm wondering how that will change his views about money and religion, for better or worse.