Stilson speaks of teaching and of playing chess, and talks of the sexes: "So the poets do dare say that the longing to love and be loved is the strong passion of a woman's heart, do they? . . . Well, all right, I presume they know, but then you don't know but I may be an exception to all women. I may have no desire to love and be loved, you know? Suppose you ask the poets where the case stands."