Ricardo gave her hand a squeeze. This was Earth. This was home. This was Carla, glorious in bolero jacket and snowy boots. At nine o’clock the vidar announcer appeared and said, “And now, Rafflex Exterminator, the exterminator that terminates, presents its long-awaited ninety-minute superspectacular in tri-di triple-color--_Life on Liguria!_ See the famous authentic _shlastric_ festival, learn how the seductive _loofahs_ select their mates, thrill to the excitement and danger of a _kifs_-hunt in the deadly _snree-achian_ jungle, all brought to you by courtesy of Rafflex Exterminator, the ex--” “Come on, honey,” said Ricardo, getting to his feet. “Let’s take a walk. Will you excuse us, Mrs. Baker?” Mrs. Baker was so deeply engrossed in the vidar that he had to repeat the question twice. Outside, the night was warm--Carla lived almost a thousand miles south of the spaceport--and the moon was as large and mellow as a lump of unsalted butter. It looked dangerously huge and close to Ricardo, accustomed as he was to the four swift and tiny satellites of Lri-gTu-riANa. But the poplars whispered in the soft breeze and the grass of the lawn was crisply tender beneath his feet. Carla kissed him--sideways, Liguria-style again--and then said with a sigh, “That’s what I love about you most, Ricci. You’re so courtly and polite. Asking mother if we could take a walk! I don’t even mind your having had a _loofa_ on Liguria.” “What makes you think I had a _loofa_?” he asked. “Silly! Doesn’t everyone?” she countered. “When in Rome....” “As a matter of fact, there wasn’t much choice,” he told her. He was glad, in a way, that she had accepted the fact that his years on Lri-gTu-riANa had not been celibate. Yet her easy acquiescence bothered him a little. It seemed--un-Earthlike. It would have been more in character if she had given him hell. It would have been more flattering to his ego. In her casual acceptance of a biological frailty, she seemed almost like a _fraislie_. No one who had not lived on the planet could ever really understand its society. Not that the natives weren’t surprisingly human. In sober fact they came as close to being human as any race could without actually belonging to the same species. But their society had developed along more temperate lines. After all, Lri-gTu-riANa was a milder planet than Earth. There were no sex crimes on Lri-gTu-riANa, because there was no sexual repression. Mating had been reduced to a mere social pleasure--almost as casually accepted as the custom of shaking hands on Earth. The only thing outlawed on Lri-gTu-riANa was ugliness in any shape or form. That hatred of ugliness had been the most difficult factor for the Earth visitors to adjust to. No matter how useful anything was, no matter how sorely needed--if it was ugly, it was out--O-U-T, _out_!