As with Mrs.McGillicuddy, and everybody else at the fort, Mrs.Lawrence maintained a still, unconquerable reserve.

One day, the chaplain said to Anita: "I hear that Lawrence's wife is ill.

Could you go to see her?
You know she isn't like the wives of the other enlisted men, and that makes it hard to help her." Anita blushed all over her delicate face.

She felt a deep hostility to Mrs.Lawrence; she had seen Broussard with her twice, and each time there was an unaccountable familiarity between them.

But women seek their antagonists among other women, and Anita felt a secret longing to know more about this mysterious woman.
"Certainly I will go," answered Anita.