What do you feel drew Lucius to Margarete?

What do you feel drew Lucius to Margarete?

At first Lucius greatly admired her competence and skill as a nurse. He was beholden to her as she tactfully taught him how to treat the soldiers and perform difficult procedures. He worked with her very closely and got quite accustomed to her ways. She was an attractive young female and as a young male, it was very natural that as time went on he would form a physical attraction.
It was also notable that Margarete was very accepting of Lucius, did not criticize and even found pleasure in being in Lucius's company. This is in contrast to the way that Lucius was treated by his immediate family. Lucius probably found her mutual attraction and her enjoyment of him rather remarkable.

He would have been lost without her, in his work, in learning how to interact with the men, how to survive the privations of the war and the way they had to live. Also, she seems to have been the first person to be nice to him other than his med school friend. Plus, two young people thrown together in a horrifying situation which they might not survive would be expected to cling together.

I really think that Lucius felt admiration towards Margarete ever since he met her.
He was young, unexperienced with women, she was the first woman he met practicing medicine, he saw her dedication towards these patients, the way she handled them being that they were all men, her confidence on what she was doing, her knowledge of medicine without being formally educated, the way she confronted every life-threatening situation, her demeanor was strong yet a gentle woman at the same time, a woman of decision.
Being that this is wartime, where tragedy brings people together, and next to a woman that apparently was attractive and had so much in common with him, it was inevitable that he felt drawn to her.

He admired her competence and shared her values when it came to medicine. He appreciated her matter-of-fact approach and her (mostly) non-judgmental acceptance of the services he could provide and his willingness to learn. She seems to have liked and valued him more than his family did. She was also,apparently, attractive, although we dodn't know that initially.

Here was a woman with whom he had something in common. There was no pretension on either side. They could speak freely to each other. She had a brain and used it and he admired that. No empty-headed pseudo conversation and formalities. They shared a desire to tend to the wounds of the wounded in body and mind and spirit.

I think that from the beginning, there was a sensual connection between them which deepened as time went on. It was a forbidden notion, though, because she was a nun. He admired her talent and no-nonsense treatment of the patients and also the skill with which she performed the surgeries.

Margarete's command of the hospital setting and her confidence in performing the necessary surgical procedures immediately impressed him. Here was someone he could learn from, and someone to form a meaningful friendship with.

She was smart , sure of her self and kind. She did not put him down because he did not know what to do in surgery. She taught and guided him with kindness , which he needed.

I think he was drawn to Margarete because he could talk about medical procedures with her & he was learning from her. I think he felt comfortable with her because it reminded him of talking about medical procedures with his best friend & he was learning from her just as he had learned from his mentor. She was a combination of a friend & a mentor.

Loneliness, respect and the desire for some type of a relationship with a "normal" person who could relate to the life he was living and the things he was doing.

I agree with all of the responses above. Lucius saw Margarete as a teacher to begin with, she taught him medical procedures and knowledge that one could only pick up from experience. Then I feel that Lucius and Margarete just had a friendship chemistry the kind you sometimes develop with a co-worker of the opposite sex. When they finally became lovers, it was clear that Lucius was drawn to Margarete because he loved her and admired her skill and intelligence.

She taught him more than he had been able to learn at university. She treated him with respect and kindness despite his inadequacy as a physician. She didn’t betray his lack of surgical knowledge. They were both lonely. She accepted him as he was. They shared the same horror of war. She was a friend in a cold, lonely, exhausting place who cared for & protected the patients.

It starts with the setting...cold, lonely, isolated; it continues with the circumstance...war, medicine, respect. Only natural for it to become something more between a young man and woman. Loved the development and evolution of the relationship along with the mystery surrounding it. There was profound happiness for both (and for me the reader!) in the midst of the horrors of war.

Their separation from the world and need to work together was the start, and then he seemed to know that she helped him many times by giving hints about care and acting as if Lucius would have done the correct thing without her help (when others were listening). It seems that he truly respected her real world medicine which can be so different from textbook cases, as is true with many professions.