By 1920, Cary was concentrating his energies on providing clean water and roads to connect remote villages with the larger world. A second leave in England had left Gertrude pregnant with their second child. She begged Cary to retire from the colonial service, so that they could live together in England. Cary had thought this impossible for financial reasons, but in 1920, he obtained a literary agent and some of the stories he had written while in Africa were sold to "The Saturday Evening Post", an American magazine, and published under the name "Thomas Joyce". This provided Cary with enough incentive to resign from the Nigerian service and he and Gertrude took a house in Oxford on Parks Road opposite the University Parks (now marked with a blue plaque) for their growing family. They would have four sons, including the composer, Tristram Cary.