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He turned to Béliveau, who looked perplexed Gabri handed hirocer studied it for a fewsee up the stairs Clara kneas all in her mind Knehat she’d felt before had only been the baby bird, not thecould be co could be creaking along the corridor

‘Hazel’s always been very kind,’ Monsieur Béliveau finally said, looking over at Hazel who’d all but disappeared

‘You fell in love with him,’ said Gahtly

‘Moht maybe…’

Hazel’s voice petered out

‘Until Madeleine showed up,’ said Gamache ‘She didn’t mean to, almost certainly had no idea how you felt about him, but she stole Monsieur Béliveau from you’

‘He wasn’t mine to steal’

‘We say that,’ said Ga are very different You were two lonely people, you and Monsieur Béliveau In many ways a nificent, lovely, laughing net and Monsieur Béliveau was ive the i herself And it was hard not to fall in love with her Aht, Monsieur Sandon?’

‘Moi?’

At the sound of his own name Sandon’s head jerked up

‘You loved her too Deeply As deeply and totally as unrequited love can be In many ways it’s the deepest because it’s never tested She remained the ideal for you The perfect woman But then the perfect woman faltered She fell in love with someone else And worse The one er of death The ony’

‘I could never kill Madeleine I can’t even cut down a tree Can’t step on a flower, can’t crush an earwig I can’t take a life’

‘But you can, Monsieur Sandon’ Arain, staring at the huge lu out of itsand painful death You were talking about the oak But you were prepared to kill it Put it out of its , perhaps you’d do the same for her’

Sandon was speechless, his eyes wide, his mouth wide