Cora was under this impression that because no one could ever find Pierre, he was alive. She had constantly sent people to find him but even after so many years, all search led to nothing. She refused to believe that he was dead.
After going out, Ed had felt cathartic. He went to a solitary place in the garden where he couldn't see anyone and sat on a bench. As soon as he shed his first tear, the flowery bush around circled him in a way that he was now not visible to the outer world.
