He was certain now, had any doubt still lingered in his mind, that a liaison existed between her and Van der Staal.

"And do you think me ... cultivated?"

She laughed provocatively, with a touch of scorn in her voice:

"Listen. Shall I speak to you seriously?"

"I wish you would."

"I consider neither you nor Miss Hope suited for free love."

"So I am not cultivated?"

"I don't mean it in the sense of being civilized. I mean modern culture."

"So I am not modern?"

"No," she said, slightly irritated.