Chapter 6 Summary

Connie asks Tommy Dukes why men and women no longer like each other. He tells her that they do, but it is impossible to like a woman and to desire her at the same time. They discuss this problem, and Connie tries to understand why it does not bother Tommy that he cannot find a woman simultaneously admirable and desirable.

Michaelis is writing a play about Clifford, and he comes back to Wragby to present the first act to him. Clifford is ecstatic about it. Michaelis asks Connie to marry him. Initially, she tells him that she will think about it. Later when they make love, Michaelis makes a sneering comment about Connie's lovemaking. She is so shocked and hurt by his cold brutality that she is overwhelmed by emptiness. She no longer feels anything for him, and she ends their affair.

Connie...