30Anne-Marie Broussard had been married to Lapin for only a short while. She was not from Castillac but had met him at a flea market in Limoges and married him after a whirlwind courtship, much to the surprise of the Castillaçois, who had always known Lapin to be something of a weasel around women and who had never had a romantic relationship last as long as a month.
Yet the marriage, until the Valette dinner party, had been going extremely well for both of them. Lapin and Anne-Marie enjoyed spending time together; they got along without sniping or sulking, they were physically well suited to each other, respected each other, laughed and discussed politics without rancor—the list of their marital compatibilities was long and impressive.
And maybe that was part of the trouble, Anne-Marie
