Connie's attachment to Clifford survives her affair with Michaelis, although she realizes more clearly than ever that Clifford does not satisfy her. His success as a writer, however, brings many young intellectuals to Wragby. Among them are Tommy Dukes, Charles May, and Hammond, whose chief pastime is the discussion of love and the relationships between men and women. The men seem sexually progressive, espousing the idea of sex as a natural extension of conversation. The intellectual life seems to flow seamlessly into the sensual life. And yet there is something missing in these young intellectuals; their theory seems strangely divorced from practice. Tommy Dukes, the cleverest of them, believes in the importance of the intelligence coexisting with warmth of heart, sexual activity, and the courage to speak profanely. But he admits that he himself is incapable of this warmth and this open approach to sex and profanity.