In this important passage, Hilda’s discomfort with Mellors stems from his contradictions: he possesses the grace she lacks even as he speaks a working-class dialect and lives in a small hut. In fact, Mellors’s grace comes from his ability to follow his instincts, the very skill Hilda (and Clifford) lack. Hilda’s emphasis on “continuity” further links her to Clifford, who hopes to force Connie into being a “link in the chain.” But even if Hilda cannot see it, Connie is establishing a private, more natural form of continuity, intending to turn her passionate love for Mellors into a child with a future of its own.