Lisa knew deep in her mind that she attracted men easily. Without being immodest, she was aware that her figure and manner was disturbingly desirable, and that there was nothing outward to indicate her inner frigidity. She looked all woman, a totally sensual female. Ralph had been taken in by it, and she couldn't face the prospect of chagrin and horror which another affair would surely produce. So she lived alone… and hated it.

It wasn't as if she didn't know what was at the root of her problem – but knowing the problem and knowing the solution are two different things. Even though she had loved Ralph very much, she hadn't been able to respond to him the way a full-blooded woman should. Every time they went to bed, her mother was there between them in spirit, and the ghost of the old lady held her daughter back, curdling the physical response which nature had instilled in her body.

Lisa's mother was puritanical and prudish, but unlike Lisa, she believed sincerely hers was the only right way for a woman to behave. She had explained the mysteries of sex to her child when Lisa had come running home with her first menstruation, tearfully afraid something was wrong and she was bleeding to death. The mother's teachings had consisted entirely of dire warnings about the bestiality of men, and the woman's chore of submitting to their disgusting animal-like ruttings which overcame good taste and gentlemanly breeding. A woman had to endure, but never allow herself to willingly serve in the evil and filthy practice of procreation. To this day, Lisa could recite chapter and verse of St. Paul and St. Augustine, and the passages concerning the devil's love of flesh and the meaning of Original Sin.

It was certainly no wonder that Lisa lasted as a virgin all during high school and teacher's college, despite the numerous temptations cast her way.