Bertrande seemed to be more attached to Martin than he was to her, but this did not seem to matter back in those days. Marriages were fixed, and there was no way out of them with anti-divorce Catholicism as the religion.
Martin is subjected to lots of stress and because of his initial problems conceiving, his father's accusations of him stealing grain, and his desire to end fighting over his inheritance. Because of all of this, Martin decides to leave his wife, son and inheritance behind to fight for his country. After 8 years, a man claiming to be Martin returns to the village to claim his wife and land. He is accepted by Bertrande, which seems to be odd because she is described as a strong, broad minded woman who would not be so easily deceived. Because her marriage to Martin had never been because of love in the first place, what reason would Bertrande have to oppose a relationship in which she was actually happy in? In reality, I think that Bertrande easily knew that this was an imposter, but also in love, something she hadn't had with the real Martin. She used her love and strength in order to create a new relationship with "Martin" and have another child. .
"Martin" is also accepted by the Guerre family with whom he works the family lands. Martin has a fight with Pierre, his uncle and the patriarch of the Guerre family. Pierre had become patriarch because Martin's parents had died when he was away. The argument was over the management of the family estate and ownership of the rents from Martin's lands during his absence. Martin also asked for his share of money that he accumulated during his absence. As Martin and his uncle continue this dispute, a veteran passing through the village claims that "Martin" is not Martin Guerre at all. He says that "Martin" is really Arnaud de Tilh from a neighboring village. The Guerre family is split in half over the problem - Pierre and his sons-in-law believe the veteran's story, while Martin's sisters and Bertrande believe that Martin is who he claims.
