In a quiet suburb of Bordeaux, France, memories from the last century haunt the thoughts of a retired, lonely widow, night after night. Time is running out for this former schoolmistress: she opens up to a stranger, the narrator, to have her story serve as a lesson for the next generation. In the process, she is led to revisit a wartime decision, involving a forbidden romance, deeply rooted in wolf-pack psychology. In spite of her upbringing and redemption in her career, she finally comes to question her sacrifice. In the end, her ordeal will be acknowledged by a coincidence. - Maps, Drawings, Photos, Letters, Poem, Notes.