When Byron came out into the breakfast room the next day, bleary and exhausted, his mom was there sipping coffee and eating a croissant. He decided to have the same. His hangover seemed to have hit a reset button on his mood, the physical discomfort making it easier to ignore the mental suffering.

“I’m glad you’re finally eating something,” his mother observed. “I could kill that Christine Tourneau for putting you through this! But soon it will be all right. She’ll ...