Robert grew steadily stronger over the next three weeks and his ribs became a bit less prominent with Suzanna's good cooking. They never really talked much about the war, and for a time it seem to pass them by though it continued unabated. The severity of Roberts injury made him unfit for fighting and though “recruiters” canvassed regularly for new conscripts, they quickly passed him by.  His bad left arm still hung useless at his side, but at least the wound healed, and he was spared gangrene.<br/><br/>As his strength improved, he began doing chores around the farm, and becoming a part of the daily life there. Strangers that didn't know them began to regard them as man and wife. One day however the war again  intruded when a Rebel patrol arrived at the farm with intentions to commandeer it as a place to billet their troops. Robert was working in the fields when they confronted Suzanna at the house.