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In 1945, WAC Captain Mary Morely, who is called "Captain Lonelyhearts" because of her expertise in counseling couples separated by war on how to stay together, returns home.  She is met at the docks by her husband Peter, who is carrying divorce papers for her to sign so that he can marry his pushy girlfriend, Gloria Faye.  Peter and Mary, who made up the law firm of Morely & Morely before the war, have not seen each other since 1941.

In a heated moment years earlier, Mary, who was absorbed in her career, suggested that Peter and she separate, but now she regrets her words.  During her first night home, Mary dresses up to meet Peter in a nightclub, and asks Jack Lindsay, one of his clients, to take Gloria there.  Mary then sneaks out of the club with Jack, who is attracted to her, and dresses in lingerie in anticipation of Peter's return home.  Peter, however, leaves the divorce papers for her to sign, and the next day she leaves for a new assignment at Fort Sheridan, Illinois.

Peter and Jack follow her on the train west, and Peter repeatedly gets off the train to call Gloria and report that Mary has yet to sign the divorce papers.  Also on board is a young WAC whose husband, who was unable to serve, resents her newfound pride in her military work.  By convincing him that the Army teaches a woman how to be a woman, Mary sexually intrigues the husband so much that he takes his wife back.  Peter, inspired by the idea that Mary is now more of a woman than ever, begins to renew his passionate love for her.

Jack wants Mary for himself, so he advises Peter to act like a swaggering, cigar-smoking boor in the hope he will repulse Mary.  Mary is saddened by Peter's desperate attempts to get rid of her, so she relents just as Gloria arrives and finds Peter and Mary in a bridal suite in Illinois.

On the day Peter moves out of their apartment, Mary points out a closet full of discarded objects from their marriage.  Overcome with sentiment, Peter transforms himself into the boor again for Gloria and leaves her.  He then reconciles with Mary in a swank restaurant as she is dining with Jack.  In the cab back home, Peter asks Mary what she told the husband the army does to women—and she kisses him to demonstrate.