diff options
Diffstat (limited to 'old/2413.txt')
| -rw-r--r-- | old/2413.txt | 13855 |
1 files changed, 0 insertions, 13855 deletions
diff --git a/old/2413.txt b/old/2413.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 56632fd..0000000 --- a/old/2413.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,13855 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg EBook of Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - - -Title: Madame Bovary - -Author: Gustave Flaubert - -Translator: Eleanor Marx-Aveling - -Release Date: February 25, 2006 [EBook #2413] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: ASCII - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME BOVARY *** - - - - -Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, Noah Adams and David Widger - - - - - -MADAME BOVARY - -By Gustave Flaubert - -Translated from the French by Eleanor Marx-Aveling - - -To Marie-Antoine-Jules Senard Member of the Paris Bar, Ex-President -of the National Assembly, and Former Minister of the Interior Dear and -Illustrious Friend, Permit me to inscribe your name at the head of this -book, and above its dedication; for it is to you, before all, that I -owe its publication. Reading over your magnificent defence, my work has -acquired for myself, as it were, an unexpected authority. - -Accept, then, here, the homage of my gratitude, which, how great soever -it is, will never attain the height of your eloquence and your devotion. - -Gustave Flaubert Paris, 12 April 1857 - - - - -MADAME BOVARY - - - - -Part I - - - -Chapter One - -We were in class when the head-master came in, followed by a "new -fellow," not wearing the school uniform, and a school servant carrying a -large desk. Those who had been asleep woke up, and every one rose as if -just surprised at his work. - -The head-master made a sign to us to sit down. Then, turning to the -class-master, he said to him in a low voice-- - -"Monsieur Roger, here is a pupil whom I recommend to your care; he'll be -in the second. If his work and conduct are satisfactory, he will go into -one of the upper classes, as becomes his age." - -The "new fellow," standing in the corner behind the door so that he -could hardly be seen, was a country lad of about fifteen, and taller -than any of us. His hair was cut square on his forehead like a village -chorister's; he looked reliable, but very ill at ease. Although he was -not broad-shouldered, his short school jacket of green cloth with black -buttons must have been tight about the arm-holes, and showed at the -opening of the cuffs red wrists accustomed to being bare. His legs, in -blue stockings, looked out from beneath yellow trousers, drawn tight by -braces, He wore stout, ill-cleaned, hob-nailed boots. - -We began repeating the lesson. He listened with all his ears, as -attentive as if at a sermon, not daring even to cross his legs or lean -on his elbow; and when at two o'clock the bell rang, the master was -obliged to tell him to fall into line with the rest of us. - -When we came back to work, we were in the habit of throwing our caps on -the ground so as to have our hands more free; we used from the door to -toss them under the form, so that they hit against the wall and made a -lot of dust: it was "the thing." - -But, whether he had not noticed the trick, or did not dare to attempt -it, the "new fellow," was still holding his cap on his knees even after -prayers were over. It was one of those head-gears of composite order, in -which we can find traces of the bearskin, shako, billycock hat, sealskin -cap, and cotton night-cap; one of those poor things, in fine, whose -dumb ugliness has depths of expression, like an imbecile's face. Oval, -stiffened with whalebone, it began with three round knobs; then came in -succession lozenges of velvet and rabbit-skin separated by a red band; -after that a sort of bag that ended in a cardboard polygon covered with -complicated braiding, from which hung, at the end of a long thin cord, -small twisted gold threads in the manner of a tassel. The cap was new; -its peak shone. - -"Rise," said the master. - -He stood up; his cap fell. The whole class began to laugh. He stooped to -pick it up. A neighbor knocked it down again with his elbow; he picked -it up once more. - -"Get rid of your helmet," said the master, who was a bit of a wag. - -There was a burst of laughter from the boys, which so thoroughly put the -poor lad out of countenance that he did not know whether to keep his cap -in his hand, leave it on the ground, or put it on his head. He sat down -again and placed it on his knee. - -"Rise," repeated the master, "and tell me your name." - -The new boy articulated in a stammering voice an unintelligible name. - -"Again!" - -The same sputtering of syllables was heard, drowned by the tittering of -the class. - -"Louder!" cried the master; "louder!" - -The "new fellow" then took a supreme resolution, opened an inordinately -large mouth, and shouted at the top of his voice as if calling someone -in the word "Charbovari." - -A hubbub broke out, rose in crescendo with bursts of shrill voices (they -yelled, barked, stamped, repeated "Charbovari! Charbovari"), then died -away into single notes, growing quieter only with great difficulty, and -now and again suddenly recommencing along the line of a form whence rose -here and there, like a damp cracker going off, a stifled laugh. - -However, amid a rain of impositions, order was gradually re-established -in the class; and the master having succeeded in catching the name of -"Charles Bovary," having had it dictated to him, spelt out, and re-read, -at once ordered the poor devil to go and sit down on the punishment form -at the foot of the master's desk. He got up, but before going hesitated. - -"What are you looking for?" asked the master. - -"My c-a-p," timidly said the "new fellow," casting troubled looks round -him. - -"Five hundred lines for all the class!" shouted in a furious voice -stopped, like the Quos ego*, a fresh outburst. "Silence!" continued the -master indignantly, wiping his brow with his handkerchief, which he -had just taken from his cap. "As to you, 'new boy,' you will conjugate -'ridiculus sum'** twenty times." - -Then, in a gentler tone, "Come, you'll find your cap again; it hasn't -been stolen." - - *A quotation from the Aeneid signifying a threat. - - **I am ridiculous. - -Quiet was restored. Heads bent over desks, and the "new fellow" remained -for two hours in an exemplary attitude, although from time to time some -paper pellet flipped from the tip of a pen came bang in his face. But he -wiped his face with one hand and continued motionless, his eyes lowered. - -In the evening, at preparation, he pulled out his pens from his desk, -arranged his small belongings, and carefully ruled his paper. We saw him -working conscientiously, looking up every word in the dictionary, and -taking the greatest pains. Thanks, no doubt, to the willingness he -showed, he had not to go down to the class below. But though he knew his -rules passably, he had little finish in composition. It was the cure -of his village who had taught him his first Latin; his parents, from -motives of economy, having sent him to school as late as possible. - -His father, Monsieur Charles Denis Bartolome Bovary, retired -assistant-surgeon-major, compromised about 1812 in certain conscription -scandals, and forced at this time to leave the service, had taken -advantage of his fine figure to get hold of a dowry of sixty thousand -francs that offered in the person of a hosier's daughter who had fallen -in love with his good looks. A fine man, a great talker, making his -spurs ring as he walked, wearing whiskers that ran into his moustache, -his fingers always garnished with rings and dressed in loud colours, -he had the dash of a military man with the easy go of a commercial -traveller. - -Once married, he lived for three or four years on his wife's fortune, -dining well, rising late, smoking long porcelain pipes, not coming in -at night till after the theatre, and haunting cafes. The father-in-law -died, leaving little; he was indignant at this, "went in for the -business," lost some money in it, then retired to the country, where he -thought he would make money. - -But, as he knew no more about farming than calico, as he rode his horses -instead of sending them to plough, drank his cider in bottle instead of -selling it in cask, ate the finest poultry in his farmyard, and greased -his hunting-boots with the fat of his pigs, he was not long in finding -out that he would do better to give up all speculation. - -For two hundred francs a year he managed to live on the border of -the provinces of Caux and Picardy, in a kind of place half farm, half -private house; and here, soured, eaten up with regrets, cursing his -luck, jealous of everyone, he shut himself up at the age of forty-five, -sick of men, he said, and determined to live at peace. - -His wife had adored him once on a time; she had bored him with a -thousand servilities that had only estranged him the more. Lively once, -expansive and affectionate, in growing older she had become (after the -fashion of wine that, exposed to air, turns to vinegar) ill-tempered, -grumbling, irritable. She had suffered so much without complaint at -first, until she had seem him going after all the village drabs, and -until a score of bad houses sent him back to her at night, weary, -stinking drunk. Then her pride revolted. After that she was silent, -burying her anger in a dumb stoicism that she maintained till her death. -She was constantly going about looking after business matters. She -called on the lawyers, the president, remembered when bills fell due, -got them renewed, and at home ironed, sewed, washed, looked after the -workmen, paid the accounts, while he, troubling himself about nothing, -eternally besotted in sleepy sulkiness, whence he only roused himself -to say disagreeable things to her, sat smoking by the fire and spitting -into the cinders. - -When she had a child, it had to be sent out to nurse. When he came home, -the lad was spoilt as if he were a prince. His mother stuffed him -with jam; his father let him run about barefoot, and, playing the -philosopher, even said he might as well go about quite naked like the -young of animals. As opposed to the maternal ideas, he had a certain -virile idea of childhood on which he sought to mould his son, wishing -him to be brought up hardily, like a Spartan, to give him a strong -constitution. He sent him to bed without any fire, taught him to drink -off large draughts of rum and to jeer at religious processions. But, -peaceable by nature, the lad answered only poorly to his notions. His -mother always kept him near her; she cut out cardboard for him, told him -tales, entertained him with endless monologues full of melancholy gaiety -and charming nonsense. In her life's isolation she centered on the -child's head all her shattered, broken little vanities. She dreamed of -high station; she already saw him, tall, handsome, clever, settled as -an engineer or in the law. She taught him to read, and even, on an old -piano, she had taught him two or three little songs. But to all this -Monsieur Bovary, caring little for letters, said, "It was not worth -while. Would they ever have the means to send him to a public school, to -buy him a practice, or start him in business? Besides, with cheek a man -always gets on in the world." Madame Bovary bit her lips, and the child -knocked about the village. - -He went after the labourers, drove away with clods of earth the ravens -that were flying about. He ate blackberries along the hedges, minded the -geese with a long switch, went haymaking during harvest, ran about in -the woods, played hop-scotch under the church porch on rainy days, and -at great fetes begged the beadle to let him toll the bells, that he -might hang all his weight on the long rope and feel himself borne upward -by it in its swing. Meanwhile he grew like an oak; he was strong on -hand, fresh of colour. - -When he was twelve years old his mother had her own way; he began -lessons. The cure took him in hand; but the lessons were so short and -irregular that they could not be of much use. They were given at spare -moments in the sacristy, standing up, hurriedly, between a baptism and -a burial; or else the cure, if he had not to go out, sent for his pupil -after the Angelus*. They went up to his room and settled down; the -flies and moths fluttered round the candle. It was close, the child -fell asleep, and the good man, beginning to doze with his hands on his -stomach, was soon snoring with his mouth wide open. On other occasions, -when Monsieur le Cure, on his way back after administering the viaticum -to some sick person in the neighbourhood, caught sight of Charles -playing about the fields, he called him, lectured him for a quarter of -an hour and took advantage of the occasion to make him conjugate his -verb at the foot of a tree. The rain interrupted them or an acquaintance -passed. All the same he was always pleased with him, and even said the -"young man" had a very good memory. - - *A devotion said at morning, noon, and evening, at the sound - of a bell. Here, the evening prayer. - -Charles could not go on like this. Madame Bovary took strong steps. -Ashamed, or rather tired out, Monsieur Bovary gave in without a -struggle, and they waited one year longer, so that the lad should take -his first communion. - -Six months more passed, and the year after Charles was finally sent to -school at Rouen, where his father took him towards the end of October, -at the time of the St. Romain fair. - -It would now be impossible for any of us to remember anything about him. -He was a youth of even temperament, who played in playtime, worked in -school-hours, was attentive in class, slept well in the dormitory, -and ate well in the refectory. He had in loco parentis* a wholesale -ironmonger in the Rue Ganterie, who took him out once a month on Sundays -after his shop was shut, sent him for a walk on the quay to look at -the boats, and then brought him back to college at seven o'clock before -supper. Every Thursday evening he wrote a long letter to his mother with -red ink and three wafers; then he went over his history note-books, or -read an old volume of "Anarchasis" that was knocking about the study. -When he went for walks he talked to the servant, who, like himself, came -from the country. - - *In place of a parent. - -By dint of hard work he kept always about the middle of the class; once -even he got a certificate in natural history. But at the end of his -third year his parents withdrew him from the school to make him study -medicine, convinced that he could even take his degree by himself. - -His mother chose a room for him on the fourth floor of a dyer's she -knew, overlooking the Eau-de-Robec. She made arrangements for his -board, got him furniture, table and two chairs, sent home for an old -cherry-tree bedstead, and bought besides a small cast-iron stove with -the supply of wood that was to warm the poor child. - -Then at the end of a week she departed, after a thousand injunctions to -be good now that he was going to be left to himself. - -The syllabus that he read on the notice-board stunned him; lectures -on anatomy, lectures on pathology, lectures on physiology, lectures on -pharmacy, lectures on botany and clinical medicine, and therapeutics, -without counting hygiene and materia medica--all names of whose -etymologies he was ignorant, and that were to him as so many doors to -sanctuaries filled with magnificent darkness. - -He understood nothing of it all; it was all very well to listen--he did -not follow. Still he worked; he had bound note-books, he attended all -the courses, never missed a single lecture. He did his little daily task -like a mill-horse, who goes round and round with his eyes bandaged, not -knowing what work he is doing. - -To spare him expense his mother sent him every week by the carrier a -piece of veal baked in the oven, with which he lunched when he came back -from the hospital, while he sat kicking his feet against the wall. -After this he had to run off to lectures, to the operation-room, to the -hospital, and return to his home at the other end of the town. In the -evening, after the poor dinner of his landlord, he went back to his -room and set to work again in his wet clothes, which smoked as he sat in -front of the hot stove. - -On the fine summer evenings, at the time when the close streets are -empty, when the servants are playing shuttle-cock at the doors, he -opened his window and leaned out. The river, that makes of this quarter -of Rouen a wretched little Venice, flowed beneath him, between the -bridges and the railings, yellow, violet, or blue. Working men, kneeling -on the banks, washed their bare arms in the water. On poles projecting -from the attics, skeins of cotton were drying in the air. Opposite, -beyond the roots spread the pure heaven with the red sun setting. How -pleasant it must be at home! How fresh under the beech-tree! And he -expanded his nostrils to breathe in the sweet odours of the country -which did not reach him. - -He grew thin, his figure became taller, his face took a saddened look -that made it nearly interesting. Naturally, through indifference, he -abandoned all the resolutions he had made. Once he missed a lecture; the -next day all the lectures; and, enjoying his idleness, little by little, -he gave up work altogether. He got into the habit of going to the -public-house, and had a passion for dominoes. To shut himself up every -evening in the dirty public room, to push about on marble tables the -small sheep bones with black dots, seemed to him a fine proof of his -freedom, which raised him in his own esteem. It was beginning to see -life, the sweetness of stolen pleasures; and when he entered, he put -his hand on the door-handle with a joy almost sensual. Then many things -hidden within him came out; he learnt couplets by heart and sang them to -his boon companions, became enthusiastic about Beranger, learnt how to -make punch, and, finally, how to make love. - -Thanks to these preparatory labours, he failed completely in his -examination for an ordinary degree. He was expected home the same night -to celebrate his success. He started on foot, stopped at the beginning -of the village, sent for his mother, and told her all. She excused -him, threw the blame of his failure on the injustice of the examiners, -encouraged him a little, and took upon herself to set matters straight. -It was only five years later that Monsieur Bovary knew the truth; it was -old then, and he accepted it. Moreover, he could not believe that a man -born of him could be a fool. - -So Charles set to work again and crammed for his examination, -ceaselessly learning all the old questions by heart. He passed pretty -well. What a happy day for his mother! They gave a grand dinner. - -Where should he go to practice? To Tostes, where there was only one old -doctor. For a long time Madame Bovary had been on the look-out for his -death, and the old fellow had barely been packed off when Charles was -installed, opposite his place, as his successor. - -But it was not everything to have brought up a son, to have had him -taught medicine, and discovered Tostes, where he could practice it; -he must have a wife. She found him one--the widow of a bailiff at -Dieppe--who was forty-five and had an income of twelve hundred francs. -Though she was ugly, as dry as a bone, her face with as many pimples as -the spring has buds, Madame Dubuc had no lack of suitors. To attain her -ends Madame Bovary had to oust them all, and she even succeeded in -very cleverly baffling the intrigues of a port-butcher backed up by the -priests. - -Charles had seen in marriage the advent of an easier life, thinking he -would be more free to do as he liked with himself and his money. But his -wife was master; he had to say this and not say that in company, to fast -every Friday, dress as she liked, harass at her bidding those patients -who did not pay. She opened his letter, watched his comings and goings, -and listened at the partition-wall when women came to consult him in his -surgery. - -She must have her chocolate every morning, attentions without end. She -constantly complained of her nerves, her chest, her liver. The noise of -footsteps made her ill; when people left her, solitude became odious to -her; if they came back, it was doubtless to see her die. When Charles -returned in the evening, she stretched forth two long thin arms from -beneath the sheets, put them round his neck, and having made him sit -down on the edge of the bed, began to talk to him of her troubles: he -was neglecting her, he loved another. She had been warned she would be -unhappy; and she ended by asking him for a dose of medicine and a little -more love. - - - -Chapter Two - -One night towards eleven o'clock they were awakened by the noise of -a horse pulling up outside their door. The servant opened the -garret-window and parleyed for some time with a man in the street below. -He came for the doctor, had a letter for him. Natasie came downstairs -shivering and undid the bars and bolts one after the other. The man left -his horse, and, following the servant, suddenly came in behind her. He -pulled out from his wool cap with grey top-knots a letter wrapped up in -a rag and presented it gingerly to Charles, who rested on his elbow on -the pillow to read it. Natasie, standing near the bed, held the light. -Madame in modesty had turned to the wall and showed only her back. - -This letter, sealed with a small seal in blue wax, begged Monsieur -Bovary to come immediately to the farm of the Bertaux to set a broken -leg. Now from Tostes to the Bertaux was a good eighteen miles across -country by way of Longueville and Saint-Victor. It was a dark night; -Madame Bovary junior was afraid of accidents for her husband. So it was -decided the stable-boy should go on first; Charles would start three -hours later when the moon rose. A boy was to be sent to meet him, and -show him the way to the farm, and open the gates for him. - -Towards four o'clock in the morning, Charles, well wrapped up in his -cloak, set out for the Bertaux. Still sleepy from the warmth of his bed, -he let himself be lulled by the quiet trot of his horse. When it stopped -of its own accord in front of those holes surrounded with thorns that -are dug on the margin of furrows, Charles awoke with a start, suddenly -remembered the broken leg, and tried to call to mind all the fractures -he knew. The rain had stopped, day was breaking, and on the branches -of the leafless trees birds roosted motionless, their little feathers -bristling in the cold morning wind. The flat country stretched as far as -eye could see, and the tufts of trees round the farms at long intervals -seemed like dark violet stains on the cast grey surface, that on the -horizon faded into the gloom of the sky. - -Charles from time to time opened his eyes, his mind grew weary, and, -sleep coming upon him, he soon fell into a doze wherein, his recent -sensations blending with memories, he became conscious of a double -self, at once student and married man, lying in his bed as but now, and -crossing the operation theatre as of old. The warm smell of poultices -mingled in his brain with the fresh odour of dew; he heard the iron -rings rattling along the curtain-rods of the bed and saw his wife -sleeping. As he passed Vassonville he came upon a boy sitting on the -grass at the edge of a ditch. - -"Are you the doctor?" asked the child. - -And on Charles's answer he took his wooden shoes in his hands and ran on -in front of him. - -The general practitioner, riding along, gathered from his guide's talk -that Monsieur Rouault must be one of the well-to-do farmers. - -He had broken his leg the evening before on his way home from a -Twelfth-night feast at a neighbour's. His wife had been dead for two -years. There was with him only his daughter, who helped him to keep -house. - -The ruts were becoming deeper; they were approaching the Bertaux. - -The little lad, slipping through a hole in the hedge, disappeared; -then he came back to the end of a courtyard to open the gate. The -horse slipped on the wet grass; Charles had to stoop to pass under -the branches. The watchdogs in their kennels barked, dragging at their -chains. As he entered the Bertaux, the horse took fright and stumbled. - -It was a substantial-looking farm. In the stables, over the top of the -open doors, one could see great cart-horses quietly feeding from new -racks. Right along the outbuildings extended a large dunghill, from -which manure liquid oozed, while amidst fowls and turkeys, five or six -peacocks, a luxury in Chauchois farmyards, were foraging on the top of -it. The sheepfold was long, the barn high, with walls smooth as your -hand. Under the cart-shed were two large carts and four ploughs, with -their whips, shafts and harnesses complete, whose fleeces of blue wool -were getting soiled by the fine dust that fell from the granaries. The -courtyard sloped upwards, planted with trees set out symmetrically, and -the chattering noise of a flock of geese was heard near the pond. - -A young woman in a blue merino dress with three flounces came to the -threshold of the door to receive Monsieur Bovary, whom she led to the -kitchen, where a large fire was blazing. The servant's breakfast was -boiling beside it in small pots of all sizes. Some damp clothes were -drying inside the chimney-corner. The shovel, tongs, and the nozzle -of the bellows, all of colossal size, shone like polished steel, while -along the walls hung many pots and pans in which the clear flame of the -hearth, mingling with the first rays of the sun coming in through the -window, was mirrored fitfully. - -Charles went up the first floor to see the patient. He found him in his -bed, sweating under his bed-clothes, having thrown his cotton nightcap -right away from him. He was a fat little man of fifty, with white skin -and blue eyes, the forepart of his head bald, and he wore earrings. By -his side on a chair stood a large decanter of brandy, whence he poured -himself a little from time to time to keep up his spirits; but as soon -as he caught sight of the doctor his elation subsided, and instead of -swearing, as he had been doing for the last twelve hours, began to groan -freely. - -The fracture was a simple one, without any kind of complication. - -Charles could not have hoped for an easier case. Then calling to mind -the devices of his masters at the bedsides of patients, he comforted the -sufferer with all sorts of kindly remarks, those caresses of the surgeon -that are like the oil they put on bistouries. In order to make some -splints a bundle of laths was brought up from the cart-house. Charles -selected one, cut it into two pieces and planed it with a fragment -of windowpane, while the servant tore up sheets to make bandages, and -Mademoiselle Emma tried to sew some pads. As she was a long time before -she found her work-case, her father grew impatient; she did not answer, -but as she sewed she pricked her fingers, which she then put to her -mouth to suck them. Charles was surprised at the whiteness of her nails. -They were shiny, delicate at the tips, more polished than the ivory of -Dieppe, and almond-shaped. Yet her hand was not beautiful, perhaps not -white enough, and a little hard at the knuckles; besides, it was too -long, with no soft inflections in the outlines. Her real beauty was in -her eyes. Although brown, they seemed black because of the lashes, and -her look came at you frankly, with a candid boldness. - -The bandaging over, the doctor was invited by Monsieur Rouault himself -to "pick a bit" before he left. - -Charles went down into the room on the ground floor. Knives and forks -and silver goblets were laid for two on a little table at the foot of a -huge bed that had a canopy of printed cotton with figures representing -Turks. There was an odour of iris-root and damp sheets that escaped -from a large oak chest opposite the window. On the floor in corners were -sacks of flour stuck upright in rows. These were the overflow from -the neighbouring granary, to which three stone steps led. By way of -decoration for the apartment, hanging to a nail in the middle of the -wall, whose green paint scaled off from the effects of the saltpetre, -was a crayon head of Minerva in gold frame, underneath which was written -in Gothic letters "To dear Papa." - -First they spoke of the patient, then of the weather, of the great cold, -of the wolves that infested the fields at night. - -Mademoiselle Rouault did not at all like the country, especially now -that she had to look after the farm almost alone. As the room was -chilly, she shivered as she ate. This showed something of her full lips, -that she had a habit of biting when silent. - -Her neck stood out from a white turned-down collar. Her hair, whose -two black folds seemed each of a single piece, so smooth were they, was -parted in the middle by a delicate line that curved slightly with the -curve of the head; and, just showing the tip of the ear, it was joined -behind in a thick chignon, with a wavy movement at the temples that the -country doctor saw now for the first time in his life. The upper part of -her cheek was rose-coloured. She had, like a man, thrust in between two -buttons of her bodice a tortoise-shell eyeglass. - -When Charles, after bidding farewell to old Rouault, returned to the -room before leaving, he found her standing, her forehead against the -window, looking into the garden, where the bean props had been knocked -down by the wind. She turned round. "Are you looking for anything?" she -asked. - -"My whip, if you please," he answered. - -He began rummaging on the bed, behind the doors, under the chairs. It -had fallen to the floor, between the sacks and the wall. Mademoiselle -Emma saw it, and bent over the flour sacks. - -Charles out of politeness made a dash also, and as he stretched out his -arm, at the same moment felt his breast brush against the back of the -young girl bending beneath him. She drew herself up, scarlet, and looked -at him over her shoulder as she handed him his whip. - -Instead of returning to the Bertaux in three days as he had promised, -he went back the very next day, then regularly twice a week, without -counting the visits he paid now and then as if by accident. - -Everything, moreover, went well; the patient progressed favourably; and -when, at the end of forty-six days, old Rouault was seen trying to walk -alone in his "den," Monsieur Bovary began to be looked upon as a man -of great capacity. Old Rouault said that he could not have been cured -better by the first doctor of Yvetot, or even of Rouen. - -As to Charles, he did not stop to ask himself why it was a pleasure -to him to go to the Bertaux. Had he done so, he would, no doubt, have -attributed his zeal to the importance of the case, or perhaps to the -money he hoped to make by it. Was it for this, however, that his visits -to the farm formed a delightful exception to the meagre occupations of -his life? On these days he rose early, set off at a gallop, urging on -his horse, then got down to wipe his boots in the grass and put on black -gloves before entering. He liked going into the courtyard, and noticing -the gate turn against his shoulder, the cock crow on the wall, the lads -run to meet him. He liked the granary and the stables; he liked old -Rouault, who pressed his hand and called him his saviour; he liked the -small wooden shoes of Mademoiselle Emma on the scoured flags of the -kitchen--her high heels made her a little taller; and when she walked in -front of him, the wooden soles springing up quickly struck with a sharp -sound against the leather of her boots. - -She always accompanied him to the first step of the stairs. When his -horse had not yet been brought round she stayed there. They had said -"Good-bye"; there was no more talking. The open air wrapped her round, -playing with the soft down on the back of her neck, or blew to and fro -on her hips the apron-strings, that fluttered like streamers. Once, -during a thaw the bark of the trees in the yard was oozing, the snow on -the roofs of the outbuildings was melting; she stood on the threshold, -and went to fetch her sunshade and opened it. The sunshade of silk of -the colour of pigeons' breasts, through which the sun shone, lighted -up with shifting hues the white skin of her face. She smiled under the -tender warmth, and drops of water could be heard falling one by one on -the stretched silk. - -During the first period of Charles's visits to the Bertaux, Madame -Bovary junior never failed to inquire after the invalid, and she had -even chosen in the book that she kept on a system of double entry a -clean blank page for Monsieur Rouault. But when she heard he had a -daughter, she began to make inquiries, and she learnt the Mademoiselle -Rouault, brought up at the Ursuline Convent, had received what is called -"a good education"; and so knew dancing, geography, drawing, how to -embroider and play the piano. That was the last straw. - -"So it is for this," she said to herself, "that his face beams when he -goes to see her, and that he puts on his new waistcoat at the risk of -spoiling it with the rain. Ah! that woman! That woman!" - -And she detested her instinctively. At first she solaced herself by -allusions that Charles did not understand, then by casual observations -that he let pass for fear of a storm, finally by open apostrophes to -which he knew not what to answer. "Why did he go back to the Bertaux now -that Monsieur Rouault was cured and that these folks hadn't paid yet? -Ah! it was because a young lady was there, some one who know how to -talk, to embroider, to be witty. That was what he cared about; he wanted -town misses." And she went on-- - -"The daughter of old Rouault a town miss! Get out! Their grandfather was -a shepherd, and they have a cousin who was almost had up at the assizes -for a nasty blow in a quarrel. It is not worth while making such a fuss, -or showing herself at church on Sundays in a silk gown like a countess. -Besides, the poor old chap, if it hadn't been for the colza last year, -would have had much ado to pay up his arrears." - -For very weariness Charles left off going to the Bertaux. Heloise made -him swear, his hand on the prayer-book, that he would go there no more -after much sobbing and many kisses, in a great outburst of love. He -obeyed then, but the strength of his desire protested against the -servility of his conduct; and he thought, with a kind of naive -hypocrisy, that his interdict to see her gave him a sort of right to -love her. And then the widow was thin; she had long teeth; wore in all -weathers a little black shawl, the edge of which hung down between her -shoulder-blades; her bony figure was sheathed in her clothes as if they -were a scabbard; they were too short, and displayed her ankles with the -laces of her large boots crossed over grey stockings. - -Charles's mother came to see them from time to time, but after a few -days the daughter-in-law seemed to put her own edge on her, and -then, like two knives, they scarified him with their reflections and -observations. It was wrong of him to eat so much. - -Why did he always offer a glass of something to everyone who came? -What obstinacy not to wear flannels! In the spring it came about that a -notary at Ingouville, the holder of the widow Dubuc's property, one fine -day went off, taking with him all the money in his office. Heloise, -it is true, still possessed, besides a share in a boat valued at six -thousand francs, her house in the Rue St. Francois; and yet, with all -this fortune that had been so trumpeted abroad, nothing, excepting -perhaps a little furniture and a few clothes, had appeared in the -household. The matter had to be gone into. The house at Dieppe was found -to be eaten up with mortgages to its foundations; what she had placed -with the notary God only knew, and her share in the boat did not exceed -one thousand crowns. She had lied, the good lady! In his exasperation, -Monsieur Bovary the elder, smashing a chair on the flags, accused his -wife of having caused misfortune to the son by harnessing him to such -a harridan, whose harness wasn't worth her hide. They came to Tostes. -Explanations followed. There were scenes. Heloise in tears, throwing her -arms about her husband, implored him to defend her from his parents. - -Charles tried to speak up for her. They grew angry and left the house. - -But "the blow had struck home." A week after, as she was hanging up some -washing in her yard, she was seized with a spitting of blood, and -the next day, while Charles had his back turned to her drawing the -window-curtain, she said, "O God!" gave a sigh and fainted. She was -dead! What a surprise! When all was over at the cemetery Charles went -home. He found no one downstairs; he went up to the first floor to -their room; saw her dress still hanging at the foot of the alcove; then, -leaning against the writing-table, he stayed until the evening, buried -in a sorrowful reverie. She had loved him after all! - - - -Chapter Three - -One morning old Rouault brought Charles the money for setting his -leg--seventy-five francs in forty-sou pieces, and a turkey. He had heard -of his loss, and consoled him as well as he could. - -"I know what it is," said he, clapping him on the shoulder; "I've been -through it. When I lost my dear departed, I went into the fields to be -quite alone. I fell at the foot of a tree; I cried; I called on God; I -talked nonsense to Him. I wanted to be like the moles that I saw on the -branches, their insides swarming with worms, dead, and an end of it. -And when I thought that there were others at that very moment with their -nice little wives holding them in their embrace, I struck great blows on -the earth with my stick. I was pretty well mad with not eating; the very -idea of going to a cafe disgusted me--you wouldn't believe it. Well, -quite softly, one day following another, a spring on a winter, and an -autumn after a summer, this wore away, piece by piece, crumb by crumb; -it passed away, it is gone, I should say it has sunk; for something -always remains at the bottom as one would say--a weight here, at one's -heart. But since it is the lot of all of us, one must not give way -altogether, and, because others have died, want to die too. You must -pull yourself together, Monsieur Bovary. It will pass away. Come to see -us; my daughter thinks of you now and again, d'ye know, and she says -you are forgetting her. Spring will soon be here. We'll have some -rabbit-shooting in the warrens to amuse you a bit." - -Charles followed his advice. He went back to the Bertaux. He found all -as he had left it, that is to say, as it was five months ago. The pear -trees were already in blossom, and Farmer Rouault, on his legs again, -came and went, making the farm more full of life. - -Thinking it his duty to heap the greatest attention upon the doctor -because of his sad position, he begged him not to take his hat off, -spoke to him in an undertone as if he had been ill, and even pretended -to be angry because nothing rather lighter had been prepared for him -than for the others, such as a little clotted cream or stewed pears. He -told stories. Charles found himself laughing, but the remembrance of his -wife suddenly coming back to him depressed him. Coffee was brought in; -he thought no more about her. - -He thought less of her as he grew accustomed to living alone. The new -delight of independence soon made his loneliness bearable. He could now -change his meal-times, go in or out without explanation, and when he was -very tired stretch himself at full length on his bed. So he nursed and -coddled himself and accepted the consolations that were offered him. -On the other hand, the death of his wife had not served him ill in his -business, since for a month people had been saying, "The poor young -man! what a loss!" His name had been talked about, his practice had -increased; and moreover, he could go to the Bertaux just as he liked. -He had an aimless hope, and was vaguely happy; he thought himself better -looking as he brushed his whiskers before the looking-glass. - -One day he got there about three o'clock. Everybody was in the fields. -He went into the kitchen, but did not at once catch sight of Emma; the -outside shutters were closed. Through the chinks of the wood the sun -sent across the flooring long fine rays that were broken at the corners -of the furniture and trembled along the ceiling. Some flies on the table -were crawling up the glasses that had been used, and buzzing as they -drowned themselves in the dregs of the cider. The daylight that came in -by the chimney made velvet of the soot at the back of the fireplace, and -touched with blue the cold cinders. Between the window and the hearth -Emma was sewing; she wore no fichu; he could see small drops of -perspiration on her bare shoulders. - -After the fashion of country folks she asked him to have something to -drink. He said no; she insisted, and at last laughingly offered to have -a glass of liqueur with him. So she went to fetch a bottle of curacao -from the cupboard, reached down two small glasses, filled one to the -brim, poured scarcely anything into the other, and, after having clinked -glasses, carried hers to her mouth. As it was almost empty she bent -back to drink, her head thrown back, her lips pouting, her neck on the -strain. She laughed at getting none of it, while with the tip of her -tongue passing between her small teeth she licked drop by drop the -bottom of her glass. - -She sat down again and took up her work, a white cotton stocking she was -darning. She worked with her head bent down; she did not speak, nor did -Charles. The air coming in under the door blew a little dust over the -flags; he watched it drift along, and heard nothing but the throbbing -in his head and the faint clucking of a hen that had laid an egg in the -yard. Emma from time to time cooled her cheeks with the palms of her -hands, and cooled these again on the knobs of the huge fire-dogs. - -She complained of suffering since the beginning of the season from -giddiness; she asked if sea-baths would do her any good; she began -talking of her convent, Charles of his school; words came to them. They -went up into her bedroom. She showed him her old music-books, the little -prizes she had won, and the oak-leaf crowns, left at the bottom of a -cupboard. She spoke to him, too, of her mother, of the country, and even -showed him the bed in the garden where, on the first Friday of every -month, she gathered flowers to put on her mother's tomb. But the -gardener they had never knew anything about it; servants are so stupid! -She would have dearly liked, if only for the winter, to live in town, -although the length of the fine days made the country perhaps even more -wearisome in the summer. And, according to what she was saying, her -voice was clear, sharp, or, on a sudden all languor, drawn out in -modulations that ended almost in murmurs as she spoke to herself, now -joyous, opening big naive eyes, then with her eyelids half closed, her -look full of boredom, her thoughts wandering. - -Going home at night, Charles went over her words one by one, trying to -recall them, to fill out their sense, that he might piece out the life -she had lived before he knew her. But he never saw her in his thoughts -other than he had seen her the first time, or as he had just left her. -Then he asked himself what would become of her--if she would be married, -and to whom! Alas! Old Rouault was rich, and she!--so beautiful! But -Emma's face always rose before his eyes, and a monotone, like the -humming of a top, sounded in his ears, "If you should marry after -all! If you should marry!" At night he could not sleep; his throat was -parched; he was athirst. He got up to drink from the water-bottle and -opened the window. The night was covered with stars, a warm wind blowing -in the distance; the dogs were barking. He turned his head towards the -Bertaux. - -Thinking that, after all, he should lose nothing, Charles promised -himself to ask her in marriage as soon as occasion offered, but each -time such occasion did offer the fear of not finding the right words -sealed his lips. - -Old Rouault would not have been sorry to be rid of his daughter, who was -of no use to him in the house. In his heart he excused her, thinking -her too clever for farming, a calling under the ban of Heaven, since one -never saw a millionaire in it. Far from having made a fortune by it, -the good man was losing every year; for if he was good in bargaining, in -which he enjoyed the dodges of the trade, on the other hand, agriculture -properly so called, and the internal management of the farm, suited him -less than most people. He did not willingly take his hands out of his -pockets, and did not spare expense in all that concerned himself, liking -to eat well, to have good fires, and to sleep well. He liked old cider, -underdone legs of mutton, glorias* well beaten up. He took his meals in -the kitchen alone, opposite the fire, on a little table brought to him -all ready laid as on the stage. - - *A mixture of coffee and spirits. - -When, therefore, he perceived that Charles's cheeks grew red if near his -daughter, which meant that he would propose for her one of these days, -he chewed the cud of the matter beforehand. He certainly thought him a -little meagre, and not quite the son-in-law he would have liked, but he -was said to be well brought-up, economical, very learned, and no doubt -would not make too many difficulties about the dowry. Now, as old -Rouault would soon be forced to sell twenty-two acres of "his property," -as he owed a good deal to the mason, to the harness-maker, and as the -shaft of the cider-press wanted renewing, "If he asks for her," he said -to himself, "I'll give her to him." - -At Michaelmas Charles went to spend three days at the Bertaux. - -The last had passed like the others in procrastinating from hour to -hour. Old Rouault was seeing him off; they were walking along the road -full of ruts; they were about to part. This was the time. Charles gave -himself as far as to the corner of the hedge, and at last, when past -it-- - -"Monsieur Rouault," he murmured, "I should like to say something to -you." - -They stopped. Charles was silent. - -"Well, tell me your story. Don't I know all about it?" said old Rouault, -laughing softly. - -"Monsieur Rouault--Monsieur Rouault," stammered Charles. - -"I ask nothing better", the farmer went on. "Although, no doubt, the -little one is of my mind, still we must ask her opinion. So you get -off--I'll go back home. If it is 'yes', you needn't return because of -all the people about, and besides it would upset her too much. But so -that you mayn't be eating your heart, I'll open wide the outer shutter -of the window against the wall; you can see it from the back by leaning -over the hedge." - -And he went off. - -Charles fastened his horse to a tree; he ran into the road and waited. -Half an hour passed, then he counted nineteen minutes by his watch. -Suddenly a noise was heard against the wall; the shutter had been thrown -back; the hook was still swinging. - -The next day by nine o'clock he was at the farm. Emma blushed as -he entered, and she gave a little forced laugh to keep herself in -countenance. Old Rouault embraced his future son-in-law. The discussion -of money matters was put off; moreover, there was plenty of time before -them, as the marriage could not decently take place till Charles was out -of mourning, that is to say, about the spring of the next year. - -The winter passed waiting for this. Mademoiselle Rouault was busy with -her trousseau. Part of it was ordered at Rouen, and she made herself -chemises and nightcaps after fashion-plates that she borrowed. When -Charles visited the farmer, the preparations for the wedding were talked -over; they wondered in what room they should have dinner; they dreamed -of the number of dishes that would be wanted, and what should be -entrees. - -Emma would, on the contrary, have preferred to have a midnight wedding -with torches, but old Rouault could not understand such an idea. So -there was a wedding at which forty-three persons were present, at which -they remained sixteen hours at table, began again the next day, and to -some extent on the days following. - - - -Chapter Four - -The guests arrived early in carriages, in one-horse chaises, two-wheeled -cars, old open gigs, waggonettes with leather hoods, and the young -people from the nearer villages in carts, in which they stood up in -rows, holding on to the sides so as not to fall, going at a trot -and well shaken up. Some came from a distance of thirty miles, from -Goderville, from Normanville, and from Cany. - -All the relatives of both families had been invited, quarrels between -friends arranged, acquaintances long since lost sight of written to. - -From time to time one heard the crack of a whip behind the hedge; then -the gates opened, a chaise entered. Galloping up to the foot of the -steps, it stopped short and emptied its load. They got down from all -sides, rubbing knees and stretching arms. The ladies, wearing bonnets, -had on dresses in the town fashion, gold watch chains, pelerines with -the ends tucked into belts, or little coloured fichus fastened down -behind with a pin, and that left the back of the neck bare. The lads, -dressed like their papas, seemed uncomfortable in their new clothes -(many that day hand-sewed their first pair of boots), and by their -sides, speaking never a work, wearing the white dress of their first -communion lengthened for the occasion were some big girls of fourteen or -sixteen, cousins or elder sisters no doubt, rubicund, bewildered, their -hair greasy with rose pomade, and very much afraid of dirtying their -gloves. As there were not enough stable-boys to unharness all the -carriages, the gentlemen turned up their sleeves and set about it -themselves. According to their different social positions they wore -tail-coats, overcoats, shooting jackets, cutaway-coats; fine tail-coats, -redolent of family respectability, that only came out of the wardrobe -on state occasions; overcoats with long tails flapping in the wind and -round capes and pockets like sacks; shooting jackets of coarse -cloth, generally worn with a cap with a brass-bound peak; very short -cutaway-coats with two small buttons in the back, close together like -a pair of eyes, and the tails of which seemed cut out of one piece by a -carpenter's hatchet. Some, too (but these, you may be sure, would sit at -the bottom of the table), wore their best blouses--that is to say, -with collars turned down to the shoulders, the back gathered into small -plaits and the waist fastened very low down with a worked belt. - -And the shirts stood out from the chests like cuirasses! Everyone had -just had his hair cut; ears stood out from the heads; they had been -close-shaved; a few, even, who had had to get up before daybreak, and -not been able to see to shave, had diagonal gashes under their noses or -cuts the size of a three-franc piece along the jaws, which the fresh -air en route had enflamed, so that the great white beaming faces were -mottled here and there with red dabs. - -The mairie was a mile and a half from the farm, and they went thither -on foot, returning in the same way after the ceremony in the church. -The procession, first united like one long coloured scarf that undulated -across the fields, along the narrow path winding amid the green corn, -soon lengthened out, and broke up into different groups that loitered to -talk. The fiddler walked in front with his violin, gay with ribbons at -its pegs. Then came the married pair, the relations, the friends, all -following pell-mell; the children stayed behind amusing themselves -plucking the bell-flowers from oat-ears, or playing amongst themselves -unseen. Emma's dress, too long, trailed a little on the ground; from -time to time she stopped to pull it up, and then delicately, with her -gloved hands, she picked off the coarse grass and the thistledowns, -while Charles, empty handed, waited till she had finished. Old Rouault, -with a new silk hat and the cuffs of his black coat covering his hands -up to the nails, gave his arm to Madame Bovary senior. As to Monsieur -Bovary senior, who, heartily despising all these folk, had come simply -in a frock-coat of military cut with one row of buttons--he was passing -compliments of the bar to a fair young peasant. She bowed, blushed, -and did not know what to say. The other wedding guests talked of their -business or played tricks behind each other's backs, egging one another -on in advance to be jolly. Those who listened could always catch the -squeaking of the fiddler, who went on playing across the fields. When -he saw that the rest were far behind he stopped to take breath, slowly -rosined his bow, so that the strings should sound more shrilly, then set -off again, by turns lowering and raising his neck, the better to mark -time for himself. The noise of the instrument drove away the little -birds from afar. - -The table was laid under the cart-shed. On it were four sirloins, six -chicken fricassees, stewed veal, three legs of mutton, and in the middle -a fine roast suckling pig, flanked by four chitterlings with sorrel. At -the corners were decanters of brandy. Sweet bottled-cider frothed round -the corks, and all the glasses had been filled to the brim with wine -beforehand. Large dishes of yellow cream, that trembled with the least -shake of the table, had designed on their smooth surface the initials of -the newly wedded pair in nonpareil arabesques. A confectioner of Yvetot -had been intrusted with the tarts and sweets. As he had only just set up -on the place, he had taken a lot of trouble, and at dessert he himself -brought in a set dish that evoked loud cries of wonderment. To begin -with, at its base there was a square of blue cardboard, representing a -temple with porticoes, colonnades, and stucco statuettes all round, and -in the niches constellations of gilt paper stars; then on the second -stage was a dungeon of Savoy cake, surrounded by many fortifications -in candied angelica, almonds, raisins, and quarters of oranges; and -finally, on the upper platform a green field with rocks set in lakes of -jam, nutshell boats, and a small Cupid balancing himself in a chocolate -swing whose two uprights ended in real roses for balls at the top. - -Until night they ate. When any of them were too tired of sitting, they -went out for a stroll in the yard, or for a game with corks in the -granary, and then returned to table. Some towards the finish went to -sleep and snored. But with the coffee everyone woke up. Then they began -songs, showed off tricks, raised heavy weights, performed feats with -their fingers, then tried lifting carts on their shoulders, made broad -jokes, kissed the women. At night when they left, the horses, stuffed -up to the nostrils with oats, could hardly be got into the shafts; they -kicked, reared, the harness broke, their masters laughed or swore; -and all night in the light of the moon along country roads there were -runaway carts at full gallop plunging into the ditches, jumping over -yard after yard of stones, clambering up the hills, with women leaning -out from the tilt to catch hold of the reins. - -Those who stayed at the Bertaux spent the night drinking in the kitchen. -The children had fallen asleep under the seats. - -The bride had begged her father to be spared the usual marriage -pleasantries. However, a fishmonger, one of their cousins (who had even -brought a pair of soles for his wedding present), began to squirt water -from his mouth through the keyhole, when old Rouault came up just in -time to stop him, and explain to him that the distinguished position -of his son-in-law would not allow of such liberties. The cousin all the -same did not give in to these reasons readily. In his heart he accused -old Rouault of being proud, and he joined four or five other guests in -a corner, who having, through mere chance, been several times running -served with the worst helps of meat, also were of opinion they had been -badly used, and were whispering about their host, and with covered hints -hoping he would ruin himself. - -Madame Bovary, senior, had not opened her mouth all day. She had been -consulted neither as to the dress of her daughter-in-law nor as to the -arrangement of the feast; she went to bed early. Her husband, instead -of following her, sent to Saint-Victor for some cigars, and smoked till -daybreak, drinking kirsch-punch, a mixture unknown to the company. This -added greatly to the consideration in which he was held. - -Charles, who was not of a facetious turn, did not shine at the wedding. -He answered feebly to the puns, doubles entendres*, compliments, and -chaff that it was felt a duty to let off at him as soon as the soup -appeared. - - *Double meanings. - -The next day, on the other hand, he seemed another man. It was he who -might rather have been taken for the virgin of the evening before, -whilst the bride gave no sign that revealed anything. The shrewdest did -not know what to make of it, and they looked at her when she passed -near them with an unbounded concentration of mind. But Charles concealed -nothing. He called her "my wife", tutoyed* her, asked for her of -everyone, looked for her everywhere, and often he dragged her into the -yards, where he could be seen from far between the trees, putting his -arm around her waist, and walking half-bending over her, ruffling the -chemisette of her bodice with his head. - - *Used the familiar form of address. - -Two days after the wedding the married pair left. Charles, on account of -his patients, could not be away longer. Old Rouault had them driven back -in his cart, and himself accompanied them as far as Vassonville. Here -he embraced his daughter for the last time, got down, and went his way. -When he had gone about a hundred paces he stopped, and as he saw the -cart disappearing, its wheels turning in the dust, he gave a deep sigh. -Then he remembered his wedding, the old times, the first pregnancy of -his wife; he, too, had been very happy the day when he had taken her -from her father to his home, and had carried her off on a pillion, -trotting through the snow, for it was near Christmas-time, and the -country was all white. She held him by one arm, her basket hanging from -the other; the wind blew the long lace of her Cauchois headdress so that -it sometimes flapped across his mouth, and when he turned his head he -saw near him, on his shoulder, her little rosy face, smiling silently -under the gold bands of her cap. To warm her hands she put them from -time to time in his breast. How long ago it all was! Their son would -have been thirty by now. Then he looked back and saw nothing on the -road. He felt dreary as an empty house; and tender memories mingling -with the sad thoughts in his brain, addled by the fumes of the feast, he -felt inclined for a moment to take a turn towards the church. As he was -afraid, however, that this sight would make him yet more sad, he went -right away home. - -Monsieur and Madame Charles arrived at Tostes about six o'clock. - -The neighbors came to the windows to see their doctor's new wife. - -The old servant presented herself, curtsied to her, apologised for not -having dinner ready, and suggested that madame, in the meantime, should -look over her house. - - - -Chapter Five - -The brick front was just in a line with the street, or rather the road. -Behind the door hung a cloak with a small collar, a bridle, and a black -leather cap, and on the floor, in a corner, were a pair of leggings, -still covered with dry mud. On the right was the one apartment, that was -both dining and sitting room. A canary yellow paper, relieved at the -top by a garland of pale flowers, was puckered everywhere over the badly -stretched canvas; white calico curtains with a red border hung crossways -at the length of the window; and on the narrow mantelpiece a clock with -a head of Hippocrates shone resplendent between two plate candlesticks -under oval shades. On the other side of the passage was Charles's -consulting room, a little room about six paces wide, with a table, -three chairs, and an office chair. Volumes of the "Dictionary of Medical -Science," uncut, but the binding rather the worse for the successive -sales through which they had gone, occupied almost along the six shelves -of a deal bookcase. - -The smell of melted butter penetrated through the walls when he saw -patients, just as in the kitchen one could hear the people coughing in -the consulting room and recounting their histories. - -Then, opening on the yard, where the stable was, came a large -dilapidated room with a stove, now used as a wood-house, cellar, and -pantry, full of old rubbish, of empty casks, agricultural implements -past service, and a mass of dusty things whose use it was impossible to -guess. - -The garden, longer than wide, ran between two mud walls with espaliered -apricots, to a hawthorn hedge that separated it from the field. In the -middle was a slate sundial on a brick pedestal; four flower beds with -eglantines surrounded symmetrically the more useful kitchen garden bed. -Right at the bottom, under the spruce bushes, was a cure in plaster -reading his breviary. - -Emma went upstairs. The first room was not furnished, but in the second, -which was their bedroom, was a mahogany bedstead in an alcove with red -drapery. A shell box adorned the chest of drawers, and on the secretary -near the window a bouquet of orange blossoms tied with white satin -ribbons stood in a bottle. It was a bride's bouquet; it was the other -one's. She looked at it. Charles noticed it; he took it and carried it -up to the attic, while Emma seated in an arm-chair (they were putting -her things down around her) thought of her bridal flowers packed up in -a bandbox, and wondered, dreaming, what would be done with them if she -were to die. - -During the first days she occupied herself in thinking about changes in -the house. She took the shades off the candlesticks, had new wallpaper -put up, the staircase repainted, and seats made in the garden round the -sundial; she even inquired how she could get a basin with a jet fountain -and fishes. Finally her husband, knowing that she liked to drive out, -picked up a second-hand dogcart, which, with new lamps and splashboard -in striped leather, looked almost like a tilbury. - -He was happy then, and without a care in the world. A meal together, -a walk in the evening on the highroad, a gesture of her hands over her -hair, the sight of her straw hat hanging from the window-fastener, and -many another thing in which Charles had never dreamed of pleasure, now -made up the endless round of his happiness. In bed, in the morning, by -her side, on the pillow, he watched the sunlight sinking into the down -on her fair cheek, half hidden by the lappets of her night-cap. Seen -thus closely, her eyes looked to him enlarged, especially when, on -waking up, she opened and shut them rapidly many times. Black in the -shade, dark blue in broad daylight, they had, as it were, depths of -different colours, that, darker in the centre, grew paler towards the -surface of the eye. His own eyes lost themselves in these depths; he saw -himself in miniature down to the shoulders, with his handkerchief round -his head and the top of his shirt open. He rose. She came to the window -to see him off, and stayed leaning on the sill between two pots of -geranium, clad in her dressing gown hanging loosely about her. Charles, -in the street buckled his spurs, his foot on the mounting stone, while -she talked to him from above, picking with her mouth some scrap of -flower or leaf that she blew out at him. Then this, eddying, floating, -described semicircles in the air like a bird, and was caught before -it reached the ground in the ill-groomed mane of the old white mare -standing motionless at the door. Charles from horseback threw her a -kiss; she answered with a nod; she shut the window, and he set off. And -then along the highroad, spreading out its long ribbon of dust, along -the deep lanes that the trees bent over as in arbours, along paths where -the corn reached to the knees, with the sun on his back and the morning -air in his nostrils, his heart full of the joys of the past night, his -mind at rest, his flesh at ease, he went on, re-chewing his happiness, -like those who after dinner taste again the truffles which they are -digesting. - -Until now what good had he had of his life? His time at school, when -he remained shut up within the high walls, alone, in the midst of -companions richer than he or cleverer at their work, who laughed at his -accent, who jeered at his clothes, and whose mothers came to the school -with cakes in their muffs? Later on, when he studied medicine, and never -had his purse full enough to treat some little work-girl who would have -become his mistress? Afterwards, he had lived fourteen months with the -widow, whose feet in bed were cold as icicles. But now he had for life -this beautiful woman whom he adored. For him the universe did not extend -beyond the circumference of her petticoat, and he reproached himself -with not loving her. He wanted to see her again; he turned back quickly, -ran up the stairs with a beating heart. Emma, in her room, was dressing; -he came up on tiptoe, kissed her back; she gave a cry. - -He could not keep from constantly touching her comb, her ring, her -fichu; sometimes he gave her great sounding kisses with all his mouth on -her cheeks, or else little kisses in a row all along her bare arm -from the tip of her fingers up to her shoulder, and she put him away -half-smiling, half-vexed, as you do a child who hangs about you. - -Before marriage she thought herself in love; but the happiness that -should have followed this love not having come, she must, she thought, -have been mistaken. And Emma tried to find out what one meant exactly in -life by the words felicity, passion, rapture, that had seemed to her so -beautiful in books. - - - -Chapter Six - -She had read "Paul and Virginia," and she had dreamed of the little -bamboo-house, the nigger Domingo, the dog Fidele, but above all of the -sweet friendship of some dear little brother, who seeks red fruit for -you on trees taller than steeples, or who runs barefoot over the sand, -bringing you a bird's nest. - -When she was thirteen, her father himself took her to town to place -her in the convent. They stopped at an inn in the St. Gervais quarter, -where, at their supper, they used painted plates that set forth the -story of Mademoiselle de la Valliere. The explanatory legends, chipped -here and there by the scratching of knives, all glorified religion, the -tendernesses of the heart, and the pomps of court. - -Far from being bored at first at the convent, she took pleasure in the -society of the good sisters, who, to amuse her, took her to the chapel, -which one entered from the refectory by a long corridor. She played very -little during recreation hours, knew her catechism well, and it was she -who always answered Monsieur le Vicaire's difficult questions. Living -thus, without ever leaving the warm atmosphere of the classrooms, and -amid these pale-faced women wearing rosaries with brass crosses, she -was softly lulled by the mystic languor exhaled in the perfumes of the -altar, the freshness of the holy water, and the lights of the tapers. -Instead of attending to mass, she looked at the pious vignettes with -their azure borders in her book, and she loved the sick lamb, the sacred -heart pierced with sharp arrows, or the poor Jesus sinking beneath the -cross he carries. She tried, by way of mortification, to eat nothing a -whole day. She puzzled her head to find some vow to fulfil. - -When she went to confession, she invented little sins in order that she -might stay there longer, kneeling in the shadow, her hands joined, -her face against the grating beneath the whispering of the priest. -The comparisons of betrothed, husband, celestial lover, and eternal -marriage, that recur in sermons, stirred within her soul depths of -unexpected sweetness. - -In the evening, before prayers, there was some religious reading in -the study. On week-nights it was some abstract of sacred history or -the Lectures of the Abbe Frayssinous, and on Sundays passages from the -"Genie du Christianisme," as a recreation. How she listened at first to -the sonorous lamentations of its romantic melancholies reechoing -through the world and eternity! If her childhood had been spent in the -shop-parlour of some business quarter, she might perhaps have opened -her heart to those lyrical invasions of Nature, which usually come to -us only through translation in books. But she knew the country too well; -she knew the lowing of cattle, the milking, the ploughs. - -Accustomed to calm aspects of life, she turned, on the contrary, to -those of excitement. She loved the sea only for the sake of its storms, -and the green fields only when broken up by ruins. - -She wanted to get some personal profit out of things, and she rejected -as useless all that did not contribute to the immediate desires of her -heart, being of a temperament more sentimental than artistic, looking -for emotions, not landscapes. - -At the convent there was an old maid who came for a week each month to -mend the linen. Patronized by the clergy, because she belonged to an -ancient family of noblemen ruined by the Revolution, she dined in the -refectory at the table of the good sisters, and after the meal had a bit -of chat with them before going back to her work. The girls often slipped -out from the study to go and see her. She knew by heart the love songs -of the last century, and sang them in a low voice as she stitched away. - -She told stories, gave them news, went errands in the town, and on -the sly lent the big girls some novel, that she always carried in the -pockets of her apron, and of which the good lady herself swallowed -long chapters in the intervals of her work. They were all love, lovers, -sweethearts, persecuted ladies fainting in lonely pavilions, postilions -killed at every stage, horses ridden to death on every page, sombre -forests, heartaches, vows, sobs, tears and kisses, little skiffs by -moonlight, nightingales in shady groves, "gentlemen" brave as lions, -gentle as lambs, virtuous as no one ever was, always well dressed, and -weeping like fountains. For six months, then, Emma, at fifteen years of -age, made her hands dirty with books from old lending libraries. - -Through Walter Scott, later on, she fell in love with historical events, -dreamed of old chests, guard-rooms and minstrels. She would have liked -to live in some old manor-house, like those long-waisted chatelaines -who, in the shade of pointed arches, spent their days leaning on the -stone, chin in hand, watching a cavalier with white plume galloping on -his black horse from the distant fields. At this time she had a cult -for Mary Stuart and enthusiastic veneration for illustrious or unhappy -women. Joan of Arc, Heloise, Agnes Sorel, the beautiful Ferroniere, and -Clemence Isaure stood out to her like comets in the dark immensity of -heaven, where also were seen, lost in shadow, and all unconnected, St. -Louis with his oak, the dying Bayard, some cruelties of Louis XI, a -little of St. Bartholomew's Day, the plume of the Bearnais, and always -the remembrance of the plates painted in honour of Louis XIV. - -In the music class, in the ballads she sang, there was nothing but -little angels with golden wings, madonnas, lagunes, gondoliers;-mild -compositions that allowed her to catch a glimpse athwart the obscurity -of style and the weakness of the music of the attractive phantasmagoria -of sentimental realities. Some of her companions brought "keepsakes" -given them as new year's gifts to the convent. These had to be hidden; -it was quite an undertaking; they were read in the dormitory. Delicately -handling the beautiful satin bindings, Emma looked with dazzled eyes at -the names of the unknown authors, who had signed their verses for the -most part as counts or viscounts. - -She trembled as she blew back the tissue paper over the engraving and -saw it folded in two and fall gently against the page. Here behind the -balustrade of a balcony was a young man in a short cloak, holding in his -arms a young girl in a white dress wearing an alms-bag at her belt; or -there were nameless portraits of English ladies with fair curls, who -looked at you from under their round straw hats with their large clear -eyes. Some there were lounging in their carriages, gliding through -parks, a greyhound bounding along in front of the equipage driven at -a trot by two midget postilions in white breeches. Others, dreaming on -sofas with an open letter, gazed at the moon through a slightly open -window half draped by a black curtain. The naive ones, a tear on their -cheeks, were kissing doves through the bars of a Gothic cage, or, -smiling, their heads on one side, were plucking the leaves of a -marguerite with their taper fingers, that curved at the tips like peaked -shoes. And you, too, were there, Sultans with long pipes reclining -beneath arbours in the arms of Bayaderes; Djiaours, Turkish sabres, -Greek caps; and you especially, pale landscapes of dithyrambic lands, -that often show us at once palm trees and firs, tigers on the right, a -lion to the left, Tartar minarets on the horizon; the whole framed by -a very neat virgin forest, and with a great perpendicular sunbeam -trembling in the water, where, standing out in relief like white -excoriations on a steel-grey ground, swans are swimming about. - -And the shade of the argand lamp fastened to the wall above Emma's head -lighted up all these pictures of the world, that passed before her one -by one in the silence of the dormitory, and to the distant noise of some -belated carriage rolling over the Boulevards. - -When her mother died she cried much the first few days. She had a -funeral picture made with the hair of the deceased, and, in a letter -sent to the Bertaux full of sad reflections on life, she asked to be -buried later on in the same grave. The goodman thought she must be ill, -and came to see her. Emma was secretly pleased that she had reached at -a first attempt the rare ideal of pale lives, never attained by mediocre -hearts. She let herself glide along with Lamartine meanderings, listened -to harps on lakes, to all the songs of dying swans, to the falling of -the leaves, the pure virgins ascending to heaven, and the voice of -the Eternal discoursing down the valleys. She wearied of it, would not -confess it, continued from habit, and at last was surprised to feel -herself soothed, and with no more sadness at heart than wrinkles on her -brow. - -The good nuns, who had been so sure of her vocation, perceived with -great astonishment that Mademoiselle Rouault seemed to be slipping -from them. They had indeed been so lavish to her of prayers, retreats, -novenas, and sermons, they had so often preached the respect due to -saints and martyrs, and given so much good advice as to the modesty of -the body and the salvation of her soul, that she did as tightly reined -horses; she pulled up short and the bit slipped from her teeth. This -nature, positive in the midst of its enthusiasms, that had loved the -church for the sake of the flowers, and music for the words of the -songs, and literature for its passional stimulus, rebelled against -the mysteries of faith as it grew irritated by discipline, a thing -antipathetic to her constitution. When her father took her from school, -no one was sorry to see her go. The Lady Superior even thought that she -had latterly been somewhat irreverent to the community. - -Emma, at home once more, first took pleasure in looking after the -servants, then grew disgusted with the country and missed her convent. -When Charles came to the Bertaux for the first time, she thought herself -quite disillusioned, with nothing more to learn, and nothing more to -feel. - -But the uneasiness of her new position, or perhaps the disturbance -caused by the presence of this man, had sufficed to make her believe -that she at last felt that wondrous passion which, till then, like a -great bird with rose-coloured wings, hung in the splendour of the skies -of poesy; and now she could not think that the calm in which she lived -was the happiness she had dreamed. - - - -Chapter Seven - -She thought, sometimes, that, after all, this was the happiest time -of her life--the honeymoon, as people called it. To taste the full -sweetness of it, it would have been necessary doubtless to fly to those -lands with sonorous names where the days after marriage are full of -laziness most suave. In post chaises behind blue silken curtains to ride -slowly up steep road, listening to the song of the postilion re-echoed -by the mountains, along with the bells of goats and the muffled sound of -a waterfall; at sunset on the shores of gulfs to breathe in the perfume -of lemon trees; then in the evening on the villa-terraces above, hand in -hand to look at the stars, making plans for the future. It seemed to her -that certain places on earth must bring happiness, as a plant peculiar -to the soil, and that cannot thrive elsewhere. Why could not she lean -over balconies in Swiss chalets, or enshrine her melancholy in a Scotch -cottage, with a husband dressed in a black velvet coat with long tails, -and thin shoes, a pointed hat and frills? Perhaps she would have liked -to confide all these things to someone. But how tell an undefinable -uneasiness, variable as the clouds, unstable as the winds? Words failed -her--the opportunity, the courage. - -If Charles had but wished it, if he had guessed it, if his look had but -once met her thought, it seemed to her that a sudden plenty would have -gone out from her heart, as the fruit falls from a tree when shaken by -a hand. But as the intimacy of their life became deeper, the greater -became the gulf that separated her from him. - -Charles's conversation was commonplace as a street pavement, and -everyone's ideas trooped through it in their everyday garb, without -exciting emotion, laughter, or thought. He had never had the curiosity, -he said, while he lived at Rouen, to go to the theatre to see the actors -from Paris. He could neither swim, nor fence, nor shoot, and one day -he could not explain some term of horsemanship to her that she had come -across in a novel. - -A man, on the contrary, should he not know everything, excel in manifold -activities, initiate you into the energies of passion, the refinements -of life, all mysteries? But this one taught nothing, knew nothing, -wished nothing. He thought her happy; and she resented this easy calm, -this serene heaviness, the very happiness she gave him. - -Sometimes she would draw; and it was great amusement to Charles to stand -there bolt upright and watch her bend over her cardboard, with eyes -half-closed the better to see her work, or rolling, between her fingers, -little bread-pellets. As to the piano, the more quickly her fingers -glided over it the more he wondered. She struck the notes with aplomb, -and ran from top to bottom of the keyboard without a break. Thus shaken -up, the old instrument, whose strings buzzed, could be heard at the -other end of the village when the window was open, and often the -bailiff's clerk, passing along the highroad bare-headed and in list -slippers, stopped to listen, his sheet of paper in his hand. - -Emma, on the other hand, knew how to look after her house. She sent the -patients' accounts in well-phrased letters that had no suggestion of -a bill. When they had a neighbour to dinner on Sundays, she managed to -have some tasty dish--piled up pyramids of greengages on vine leaves, -served up preserves turned out into plates--and even spoke of buying -finger-glasses for dessert. From all this much consideration was -extended to Bovary. - -Charles finished by rising in his own esteem for possessing such a wife. -He showed with pride in the sitting room two small pencil sketches by -her that he had had framed in very large frames, and hung up against the -wallpaper by long green cords. People returning from mass saw him at his -door in his wool-work slippers. - -He came home late--at ten o'clock, at midnight sometimes. Then he asked -for something to eat, and as the servant had gone to bed, Emma waited -on him. He took off his coat to dine more at his ease. He told her, one -after the other, the people he had met, the villages where he had been, -the prescriptions he had written, and, well pleased with himself, he -finished the remainder of the boiled beef and onions, picked pieces off -the cheese, munched an apple, emptied his water-bottle, and then went to -bed, and lay on his back and snored. - -As he had been for a time accustomed to wear nightcaps, his handkerchief -would not keep down over his ears, so that his hair in the morning was -all tumbled pell-mell about his face and whitened with the feathers of -the pillow, whose strings came untied during the night. He always wore -thick boots that had two long creases over the instep running obliquely -towards the ankle, while the rest of the upper continued in a straight -line as if stretched on a wooden foot. He said that "was quite good -enough for the country." - -His mother approved of his economy, for she came to see him as formerly -when there had been some violent row at her place; and yet Madame Bovary -senior seemed prejudiced against her daughter-in-law. She thought "her -ways too fine for their position"; the wood, the sugar, and the candles -disappeared as "at a grand establishment," and the amount of firing in -the kitchen would have been enough for twenty-five courses. She put her -linen in order for her in the presses, and taught her to keep an eye on -the butcher when he brought the meat. Emma put up with these lessons. -Madame Bovary was lavish of them; and the words "daughter" and "mother" -were exchanged all day long, accompanied by little quiverings of the -lips, each one uttering gentle words in a voice trembling with anger. - -In Madame Dubuc's time the old woman felt that she was still the -favorite; but now the love of Charles for Emma seemed to her a desertion -from her tenderness, an encroachment upon what was hers, and she watched -her son's happiness in sad silence, as a ruined man looks through -the windows at people dining in his old house. She recalled to him as -remembrances her troubles and her sacrifices, and, comparing these with -Emma's negligence, came to the conclusion that it was not reasonable to -adore her so exclusively. - -Charles knew not what to answer: he respected his mother, and he loved -his wife infinitely; he considered the judgment of the one infallible, -and yet he thought the conduct of the other irreproachable. When Madam -Bovary had gone, he tried timidly and in the same terms to hazard one or -two of the more anodyne observations he had heard from his mamma. Emma -proved to him with a word that he was mistaken, and sent him off to his -patients. - -And yet, in accord with theories she believed right, she wanted to make -herself in love with him. By moonlight in the garden she recited all -the passionate rhymes she knew by heart, and, sighing, sang to him many -melancholy adagios; but she found herself as calm after as before, and -Charles seemed no more amorous and no more moved. - -When she had thus for a while struck the flint on her heart without -getting a spark, incapable, moreover, of understanding what she did -not experience as of believing anything that did not present itself -in conventional forms, she persuaded herself without difficulty that -Charles's passion was nothing very exorbitant. His outbursts became -regular; he embraced her at certain fixed times. It was one habit among -other habits, and, like a dessert, looked forward to after the monotony -of dinner. - -A gamekeeper, cured by the doctor of inflammation of the lungs, had -given madame a little Italian greyhound; she took her out walking, for -she went out sometimes in order to be alone for a moment, and not to see -before her eyes the eternal garden and the dusty road. She went as far -as the beeches of Banneville, near the deserted pavilion which forms an -angle of the wall on the side of the country. Amidst the vegetation of -the ditch there are long reeds with leaves that cut you. - -She began by looking round her to see if nothing had changed since last -she had been there. She found again in the same places the foxgloves and -wallflowers, the beds of nettles growing round the big stones, and -the patches of lichen along the three windows, whose shutters, always -closed, were rotting away on their rusty iron bars. Her thoughts, -aimless at first, wandered at random, like her greyhound, who ran round -and round in the fields, yelping after the yellow butterflies, chasing -the shrew-mice, or nibbling the poppies on the edge of a cornfield. - -Then gradually her ideas took definite shape, and, sitting on the grass -that she dug up with little prods of her sunshade, Emma repeated to -herself, "Good heavens! Why did I marry?" - -She asked herself if by some other chance combination it would have not -been possible to meet another man; and she tried to imagine what would -have been these unrealised events, this different life, this unknown -husband. All, surely, could not be like this one. He might have been -handsome, witty, distinguished, attractive, such as, no doubt, her old -companions of the convent had married. What were they doing now? In -town, with the noise of the streets, the buzz of the theatres and the -lights of the ballroom, they were living lives where the heart expands, -the senses bourgeon out. But she--her life was cold as a garret whose -dormer window looks on the north, and ennui, the silent spider, was -weaving its web in the darkness in every corner of her heart. - -She recalled the prize days, when she mounted the platform to receive -her little crowns, with her hair in long plaits. In her white frock and -open prunella shoes she had a pretty way, and when she went back to her -seat, the gentlemen bent over her to congratulate her; the courtyard was -full of carriages; farewells were called to her through their windows; -the music master with his violin case bowed in passing by. How far all -of this! How far away! She called Djali, took her between her knees, and -smoothed the long delicate head, saying, "Come, kiss mistress; you have -no troubles." - -Then noting the melancholy face of the graceful animal, who yawned -slowly, she softened, and comparing her to herself, spoke to her aloud -as to somebody in trouble whom one is consoling. - -Occasionally there came gusts of winds, breezes from the sea rolling in -one sweep over the whole plateau of the Caux country, which brought -even to these fields a salt freshness. The rushes, close to the ground, -whistled; the branches trembled in a swift rustling, while their -summits, ceaselessly swaying, kept up a deep murmur. Emma drew her shawl -round her shoulders and rose. - -In the avenue a green light dimmed by the leaves lit up the short moss -that crackled softly beneath her feet. The sun was setting; the sky -showed red between the branches, and the trunks of the trees, uniform, -and planted in a straight line, seemed a brown colonnade standing out -against a background of gold. A fear took hold of her; she called Djali, -and hurriedly returned to Tostes by the high road, threw herself into an -armchair, and for the rest of the evening did not speak. - -But towards the end of September something extraordinary fell upon her -life; she was invited by the Marquis d'Andervilliers to Vaubyessard. - -Secretary of State under the Restoration, the Marquis, anxious to -re-enter political life, set about preparing for his candidature to -the Chamber of Deputies long beforehand. In the winter he distributed a -great deal of wood, and in the Conseil General always enthusiastically -demanded new roads for his arrondissement. During the dog-days he had -suffered from an abscess, which Charles had cured as if by miracle by -giving a timely little touch with the lancet. The steward sent to Tostes -to pay for the operation reported in the evening that he had seen some -superb cherries in the doctor's little garden. Now cherry trees did not -thrive at Vaubyessard; the Marquis asked Bovary for some slips; made it -his business to thank his personally; saw Emma; thought she had a pretty -figure, and that she did not bow like a peasant; so that he did not -think he was going beyond the bounds of condescension, nor, on the other -hand, making a mistake, in inviting the young couple. - -On Wednesday at three o'clock, Monsieur and Madame Bovary, seated in -their dog-cart, set out for Vaubyessard, with a great trunk strapped -on behind and a bonnet-box in front of the apron. Besides these Charles -held a bandbox between his knees. - -They arrived at nightfall, just as the lamps in the park were being lit -to show the way for the carriages. - - - -Chapter Eight - -The chateau, a modern building in Italian style, with two projecting -wings and three flights of steps, lay at the foot of an immense -green-sward, on which some cows were grazing among groups of large trees -set out at regular intervals, while large beds of arbutus, rhododendron, -syringas, and guelder roses bulged out their irregular clusters of -green along the curve of the gravel path. A river flowed under a bridge; -through the mist one could distinguish buildings with thatched roofs -scattered over the field bordered by two gently sloping, well timbered -hillocks, and in the background amid the trees rose in two parallel -lines the coach houses and stables, all that was left of the ruined old -chateau. - -Charles's dog-cart pulled up before the middle flight of steps; servants -appeared; the Marquis came forward, and, offering his arm to the -doctor's wife, conducted her to the vestibule. - -It was paved with marble slabs, was very lofty, and the sound of -footsteps and that of voices re-echoed through it as in a church. - -Opposite rose a straight staircase, and on the left a gallery -overlooking the garden led to the billiard room, through whose door one -could hear the click of the ivory balls. As she crossed it to go to the -drawing room, Emma saw standing round the table men with grave faces, -their chins resting on high cravats. They all wore orders, and smiled -silently as they made their strokes. - -On the dark wainscoting of the walls large gold frames bore at -the bottom names written in black letters. She read: "Jean-Antoine -d'Andervilliers d'Yvervonbille, Count de la Vaubyessard and Baron de la -Fresnay, killed at the battle of Coutras on the 20th of October, -1587." And on another: "Jean-Antoine-Henry-Guy d'Andervilliers de -la Vaubyessard, Admiral of France and Chevalier of the Order of St. -Michael, wounded at the battle of the Hougue-Saint-Vaast on the 29th of -May, 1692; died at Vaubyessard on the 23rd of January 1693." One could -hardly make out those that followed, for the light of the lamps lowered -over the green cloth threw a dim shadow round the room. Burnishing the -horizontal pictures, it broke up against these in delicate lines where -there were cracks in the varnish, and from all these great black squares -framed in with gold stood out here and there some lighter portion of the -painting--a pale brow, two eyes that looked at you, perukes flowing over -and powdering red-coated shoulders, or the buckle of a garter above a -well-rounded calf. - -The Marquis opened the drawing room door; one of the ladies (the -Marchioness herself) came to meet Emma. She made her sit down by her on -an ottoman, and began talking to her as amicably as if she had known her -a long time. She was a woman of about forty, with fine shoulders, a hook -nose, a drawling voice, and on this evening she wore over her brown hair -a simple guipure fichu that fell in a point at the back. A fair young -woman sat in a high-backed chair in a corner; and gentlemen with flowers -in their buttonholes were talking to ladies round the fire. - -At seven dinner was served. The men, who were in the majority, sat down -at the first table in the vestibule; the ladies at the second in the -dining room with the Marquis and Marchioness. - -Emma, on entering, felt herself wrapped round by the warm air, a -blending of the perfume of flowers and of the fine linen, of the fumes -of the viands, and the odour of the truffles. The silver dish covers -reflected the lighted wax candles in the candelabra, the cut crystal -covered with light steam reflected from one to the other pale rays; -bouquets were placed in a row the whole length of the table; and in -the large-bordered plates each napkin, arranged after the fashion of a -bishop's mitre, held between its two gaping folds a small oval shaped -roll. The red claws of lobsters hung over the dishes; rich fruit in open -baskets was piled up on moss; there were quails in their plumage; smoke -was rising; and in silk stockings, knee-breeches, white cravat, and -frilled shirt, the steward, grave as a judge, offering ready carved -dishes between the shoulders of the guests, with a touch of the spoon -gave you the piece chosen. On the large stove of porcelain inlaid -with copper baguettes the statue of a woman, draped to the chin, gazed -motionless on the room full of life. - -Madame Bovary noticed that many ladies had not put their gloves in their -glasses. - -But at the upper end of the table, alone amongst all these women, bent -over his full plate, and his napkin tied round his neck like a child, an -old man sat eating, letting drops of gravy drip from his mouth. His eyes -were bloodshot, and he wore a little queue tied with black ribbon. He -was the Marquis's father-in-law, the old Duke de Laverdiere, once on -a time favourite of the Count d'Artois, in the days of the Vaudreuil -hunting-parties at the Marquis de Conflans', and had been, it was said, -the lover of Queen Marie Antoinette, between Monsieur de Coigny and -Monsieur de Lauzun. He had lived a life of noisy debauch, full of duels, -bets, elopements; he had squandered his fortune and frightened all his -family. A servant behind his chair named aloud to him in his ear the -dishes that he pointed to stammering, and constantly Emma's eyes -turned involuntarily to this old man with hanging lips, as to something -extraordinary. He had lived at court and slept in the bed of queens! -Iced champagne was poured out. Emma shivered all over as she felt -it cold in her mouth. She had never seen pomegranates nor tasted -pineapples. The powdered sugar even seemed to her whiter and finer than -elsewhere. - -The ladies afterwards went to their rooms to prepare for the ball. - -Emma made her toilet with the fastidious care of an actress on her -debut. She did her hair according to the directions of the hairdresser, -and put on the barege dress spread out upon the bed. - -Charles's trousers were tight across the belly. - -"My trouser-straps will be rather awkward for dancing," he said. - -"Dancing?" repeated Emma. - -"Yes!" - -"Why, you must be mad! They would make fun of you; keep your place. -Besides, it is more becoming for a doctor," she added. - -Charles was silent. He walked up and down waiting for Emma to finish -dressing. - -He saw her from behind in the glass between two lights. Her black eyes -seemed blacker than ever. Her hair, undulating towards the ears, shone -with a blue lustre; a rose in her chignon trembled on its mobile stalk, -with artificial dewdrops on the tip of the leaves. She wore a gown of -pale saffron trimmed with three bouquets of pompon roses mixed with -green. - -Charles came and kissed her on her shoulder. - -"Let me alone!" she said; "you are tumbling me." - -One could hear the flourish of the violin and the notes of a horn. She -went downstairs restraining herself from running. - -Dancing had begun. Guests were arriving. There was some crushing. - -She sat down on a form near the door. - -The quadrille over, the floor was occupied by groups of men standing up -and talking and servants in livery bearing large trays. Along the line -of seated women painted fans were fluttering, bouquets half hid smiling -faces, and gold stoppered scent-bottles were turned in partly-closed -hands, whose white gloves outlined the nails and tightened on the flesh -at the wrists. Lace trimmings, diamond brooches, medallion bracelets -trembled on bodices, gleamed on breasts, clinked on bare arms. - -The hair, well-smoothed over the temples and knotted at the nape, -bore crowns, or bunches, or sprays of mytosotis, jasmine, pomegranate -blossoms, ears of corn, and corn-flowers. Calmly seated in their places, -mothers with forbidding countenances were wearing red turbans. - -Emma's heart beat rather faster when, her partner holding her by the -tips of the fingers, she took her place in a line with the dancers, and -waited for the first note to start. But her emotion soon vanished, and, -swaying to the rhythm of the orchestra, she glided forward with slight -movements of the neck. A smile rose to her lips at certain delicate -phrases of the violin, that sometimes played alone while the other -instruments were silent; one could hear the clear clink of the louis -d'or that were being thrown down upon the card tables in the next room; -then all struck again, the cornet-a-piston uttered its sonorous note, -feet marked time, skirts swelled and rustled, hands touched and parted; -the same eyes falling before you met yours again. - -A few men (some fifteen or so), of twenty-five to forty, scattered here -and there among the dancers or talking at the doorways, distinguished -themselves from the crowd by a certain air of breeding, whatever their -differences in age, dress, or face. - -Their clothes, better made, seemed of finer cloth, and their hair, -brought forward in curls towards the temples, glossy with more delicate -pomades. They had the complexion of wealth--that clear complexion that -is heightened by the pallor of porcelain, the shimmer of satin, the -veneer of old furniture, and that an ordered regimen of exquisite -nurture maintains at its best. Their necks moved easily in their low -cravats, their long whiskers fell over their turned-down collars, they -wiped their lips upon handkerchiefs with embroidered initials that gave -forth a subtle perfume. Those who were beginning to grow old had an air -of youth, while there was something mature in the faces of the young. -In their unconcerned looks was the calm of passions daily satiated, and -through all their gentleness of manner pierced that peculiar brutality, -the result of a command of half-easy things, in which force is exercised -and vanity amused--the management of thoroughbred horses and the society -of loose women. - -A few steps from Emma a gentleman in a blue coat was talking of Italy -with a pale young woman wearing a parure of pearls. - -They were praising the breadth of the columns of St. Peter's, Tivoly, -Vesuvius, Castellamare, and Cassines, the roses of Genoa, the Coliseum -by moonlight. With her other ear Emma was listening to a conversation -full of words she did not understand. A circle gathered round a very -young man who the week before had beaten "Miss Arabella" and "Romolus," -and won two thousand louis jumping a ditch in England. One complained -that his racehorses were growing fat; another of the printers' errors -that had disfigured the name of his horse. - -The atmosphere of the ball was heavy; the lamps were growing dim. - -Guests were flocking to the billiard room. A servant got upon a chair -and broke the window-panes. At the crash of the glass Madame Bovary -turned her head and saw in the garden the faces of peasants pressed -against the window looking in at them. Then the memory of the Bertaux -came back to her. She saw the farm again, the muddy pond, her father in -a blouse under the apple trees, and she saw herself again as formerly, -skimming with her finger the cream off the milk-pans in the dairy. But -in the refulgence of the present hour her past life, so distinct until -then, faded away completely, and she almost doubted having lived it. She -was there; beyond the ball was only shadow overspreading all the rest. -She was just eating a maraschino ice that she held with her left hand -in a silver-gilt cup, her eyes half-closed, and the spoon between her -teeth. - -A lady near her dropped her fan. A gentlemen was passing. - -"Would you be so good," said the lady, "as to pick up my fan that has -fallen behind the sofa?" - -The gentleman bowed, and as he moved to stretch out his arm, Emma saw -the hand of a young woman throw something white, folded in a triangle, -into his hat. The gentleman, picking up the fan, offered it to the lady -respectfully; she thanked him with an inclination of the head, and began -smelling her bouquet. - -After supper, where were plenty of Spanish and Rhine wines, soups a la -bisque and au lait d'amandes*, puddings a la Trafalgar, and all sorts of -cold meats with jellies that trembled in the dishes, the carriages one -after the other began to drive off. Raising the corners of the muslin -curtain, one could see the light of their lanterns glimmering through -the darkness. The seats began to empty, some card-players were still -left; the musicians were cooling the tips of their fingers on their -tongues. Charles was half asleep, his back propped against a door. - - *With almond milk - -At three o'clock the cotillion began. Emma did not know how to waltz. -Everyone was waltzing, Mademoiselle d'Andervilliers herself and the -Marquis; only the guests staying at the castle were still there, about a -dozen persons. - -One of the waltzers, however, who was familiarly called Viscount, and -whose low cut waistcoat seemed moulded to his chest, came a second time -to ask Madame Bovary to dance, assuring her that he would guide her, and -that she would get through it very well. - -They began slowly, then went more rapidly. They turned; all around them -was turning--the lamps, the furniture, the wainscoting, the floor, like -a disc on a pivot. On passing near the doors the bottom of Emma's dress -caught against his trousers. - -Their legs commingled; he looked down at her; she raised her eyes to -his. A torpor seized her; she stopped. They started again, and with a -more rapid movement; the Viscount, dragging her along disappeared with -her to the end of the gallery, where panting, she almost fell, and for -a moment rested her head upon his breast. And then, still turning, but -more slowly, he guided her back to her seat. She leaned back against the -wall and covered her eyes with her hands. - -When she opened them again, in the middle of the drawing room three -waltzers were kneeling before a lady sitting on a stool. - -She chose the Viscount, and the violin struck up once more. - -Everyone looked at them. They passed and re-passed, she with rigid body, -her chin bent down, and he always in the same pose, his figure curved, -his elbow rounded, his chin thrown forward. That woman knew how to -waltz! They kept up a long time, and tired out all the others. - -Then they talked a few moments longer, and after the goodnights, or -rather good mornings, the guests of the chateau retired to bed. - -Charles dragged himself up by the balusters. His "knees were going -up into his body." He had spent five consecutive hours standing -bolt upright at the card tables, watching them play whist, without -understanding anything about it, and it was with a deep sigh of relief -that he pulled off his boots. - -Emma threw a shawl over her shoulders, opened the window, and leant out. - -The night was dark; some drops of rain were falling. She breathed in the -damp wind that refreshed her eyelids. The music of the ball was still -murmuring in her ears. And she tried to keep herself awake in order to -prolong the illusion of this luxurious life that she would soon have to -give up. - -Day began to break. She looked long at the windows of the chateau, -trying to guess which were the rooms of all those she had noticed the -evening before. She would fain have known their lives, have penetrated, -blended with them. But she was shivering with cold. She undressed, and -cowered down between the sheets against Charles, who was asleep. - -There were a great many people to luncheon. The repast lasted ten -minutes; no liqueurs were served, which astonished the doctor. - -Next, Mademoiselle d'Andervilliers collected some pieces of roll in a -small basket to take them to the swans on the ornamental waters, and -they went to walk in the hot-houses, where strange plants, bristling -with hairs, rose in pyramids under hanging vases, whence, as from -over-filled nests of serpents, fell long green cords interlacing. -The orangery, which was at the other end, led by a covered way to the -outhouses of the chateau. The Marquis, to amuse the young woman, took -her to see the stables. - -Above the basket-shaped racks porcelain slabs bore the names of the -horses in black letters. Each animal in its stall whisked its tail when -anyone went near and said "Tchk! tchk!" The boards of the harness room -shone like the flooring of a drawing room. The carriage harness was -piled up in the middle against two twisted columns, and the bits, the -whips, the spurs, the curbs, were ranged in a line all along the wall. - -Charles, meanwhile, went to ask a groom to put his horse to. The -dog-cart was brought to the foot of the steps, and, all the parcels -being crammed in, the Bovarys paid their respects to the Marquis and -Marchioness and set out again for Tostes. - -Emma watched the turning wheels in silence. Charles, on the extreme edge -of the seat, held the reins with his two arms wide apart, and the little -horse ambled along in the shafts that were too big for him. The loose -reins hanging over his crupper were wet with foam, and the box fastened -on behind the chaise gave great regular bumps against it. - -They were on the heights of Thibourville when suddenly some horsemen -with cigars between their lips passed laughing. Emma thought she -recognized the Viscount, turned back, and caught on the horizon only the -movement of the heads rising or falling with the unequal cadence of the -trot or gallop. - -A mile farther on they had to stop to mend with some string the traces -that had broken. - -But Charles, giving a last look to the harness, saw something on the -ground between his horse's legs, and he picked up a cigar-case with -a green silk border and beblazoned in the centre like the door of a -carriage. - -"There are even two cigars in it," said he; "they'll do for this evening -after dinner." - -"Why, do you smoke?" she asked. - -"Sometimes, when I get a chance." - -He put his find in his pocket and whipped up the nag. - -When they reached home the dinner was not ready. Madame lost her temper. -Nastasie answered rudely. - -"Leave the room!" said Emma. "You are forgetting yourself. I give you -warning." - -For dinner there was onion soup and a piece of veal with sorrel. - -Charles, seated opposite Emma, rubbed his hands gleefully. - -"How good it is to be at home again!" - -Nastasie could be heard crying. He was rather fond of the poor girl. -She had formerly, during the wearisome time of his widowhood, kept him -company many an evening. She had been his first patient, his oldest -acquaintance in the place. - -"Have you given her warning for good?" he asked at last. - -"Yes. Who is to prevent me?" she replied. - -Then they warmed themselves in the kitchen while their room was being -made ready. Charles began to smoke. He smoked with lips protruding, -spitting every moment, recoiling at every puff. - -"You'll make yourself ill," she said scornfully. - -He put down his cigar and ran to swallow a glass of cold water at the -pump. Emma seizing hold of the cigar case threw it quickly to the back -of the cupboard. - -The next day was a long one. She walked about her little garden, up -and down the same walks, stopping before the beds, before the espalier, -before the plaster curate, looking with amazement at all these things -of once-on-a-time that she knew so well. How far off the ball seemed -already! What was it that thus set so far asunder the morning of the day -before yesterday and the evening of to-day? Her journey to Vaubyessard -had made a hole in her life, like one of those great crevices that -a storm will sometimes make in one night in mountains. Still she was -resigned. She devoutly put away in her drawers her beautiful dress, down -to the satin shoes whose soles were yellowed with the slippery wax of -the dancing floor. Her heart was like these. In its friction against -wealth something had come over it that could not be effaced. - -The memory of this ball, then, became an occupation for Emma. - -Whenever the Wednesday came round she said to herself as she awoke, "Ah! -I was there a week--a fortnight--three weeks ago." - -And little by little the faces grew confused in her remembrance. - -She forgot the tune of the quadrilles; she no longer saw the liveries -and appointments so distinctly; some details escaped her, but the regret -remained with her. - - - -Chapter Nine - -Often when Charles was out she took from the cupboard, between the -folds of the linen where she had left it, the green silk cigar case. -She looked at it, opened it, and even smelt the odour of the lining--a -mixture of verbena and tobacco. Whose was it? The Viscount's? Perhaps -it was a present from his mistress. It had been embroidered on some -rosewood frame, a pretty little thing, hidden from all eyes, that had -occupied many hours, and over which had fallen the soft curls of the -pensive worker. A breath of love had passed over the stitches on the -canvas; each prick of the needle had fixed there a hope or a memory, and -all those interwoven threads of silk were but the continuity of the same -silent passion. And then one morning the Viscount had taken it away -with him. Of what had they spoken when it lay upon the wide-mantelled -chimneys between flower-vases and Pompadour clocks? She was at Tostes; -he was at Paris now, far away! What was this Paris like? What a vague -name! She repeated it in a low voice, for the mere pleasure of it; it -rang in her ears like a great cathedral bell; it shone before her eyes, -even on the labels of her pomade-pots. - -At night, when the carriers passed under her windows in their carts -singing the "Marjolaine," she awoke, and listened to the noise of the -iron-bound wheels, which, as they gained the country road, was soon -deadened by the soil. "They will be there to-morrow!" she said to -herself. - -And she followed them in thought up and down the hills, traversing -villages, gliding along the highroads by the light of the stars. At the -end of some indefinite distance there was always a confused spot, into -which her dream died. - -She bought a plan of Paris, and with the tip of her finger on the map -she walked about the capital. She went up the boulevards, stopping at -every turning, between the lines of the streets, in front of the white -squares that represented the houses. At last she would close the lids of -her weary eyes, and see in the darkness the gas jets flaring in the wind -and the steps of carriages lowered with much noise before the peristyles -of theatres. - -She took in "La Corbeille," a lady's journal, and the "Sylphe des -Salons." She devoured, without skipping a word, all the accounts of -first nights, races, and soirees, took interest in the debut of a -singer, in the opening of a new shop. She knew the latest fashions, the -addresses of the best tailors, the days of the Bois and the Opera. In -Eugene Sue she studied descriptions of furniture; she read Balzac and -George Sand, seeking in them imaginary satisfaction for her own desires. -Even at table she had her book by her, and turned over the pages -while Charles ate and talked to her. The memory of the Viscount always -returned as she read. Between him and the imaginary personages she made -comparisons. But the circle of which he was the centre gradually widened -round him, and the aureole that he bore, fading from his form, broadened -out beyond, lighting up her other dreams. - -Paris, more vague than the ocean, glimmered before Emma's eyes in an -atmosphere of vermilion. The many lives that stirred amid this tumult -were, however, divided into parts, classed as distinct pictures. Emma -perceived only two or three that hid from her all the rest, and in -themselves represented all humanity. The world of ambassadors moved over -polished floors in drawing rooms lined with mirrors, round oval tables -covered with velvet and gold-fringed cloths. There were dresses with -trains, deep mysteries, anguish hidden beneath smiles. Then came the -society of the duchesses; all were pale; all got up at four o'clock; the -women, poor angels, wore English point on their petticoats; and the men, -unappreciated geniuses under a frivolous outward seeming, rode horses to -death at pleasure parties, spent the summer season at Baden, and towards -the forties married heiresses. In the private rooms of restaurants, -where one sups after midnight by the light of wax candles, laughed the -motley crowd of men of letters and actresses. They were prodigal as -kings, full of ideal, ambitious, fantastic frenzy. This was an existence -outside that of all others, between heaven and earth, in the midst of -storms, having something of the sublime. For the rest of the world it -was lost, with no particular place and as if non-existent. The nearer -things were, moreover, the more her thoughts turned away from them. -All her immediate surroundings, the wearisome country, the middle-class -imbeciles, the mediocrity of existence, seemed to her exceptional, a -peculiar chance that had caught hold of her, while beyond stretched, as -far as eye could see, an immense land of joys and passions. She confused -in her desire the sensualities of luxury with the delights of the heart, -elegance of manners with delicacy of sentiment. Did not love, like -Indian plants, need a special soil, a particular temperature? Signs -by moonlight, long embraces, tears flowing over yielded hands, all -the fevers of the flesh and the languors of tenderness could not be -separated from the balconies of great castles full of indolence, -from boudoirs with silken curtains and thick carpets, well-filled -flower-stands, a bed on a raised dias, nor from the flashing of precious -stones and the shoulder-knots of liveries. - -The lad from the posting house who came to groom the mare every morning -passed through the passage with his heavy wooden shoes; there were holes -in his blouse; his feet were bare in list slippers. And this was the -groom in knee-britches with whom she had to be content! His work done, -he did not come back again all day, for Charles on his return put up -his horse himself, unsaddled him and put on the halter, while the -servant-girl brought a bundle of straw and threw it as best she could -into the manger. - -To replace Nastasie (who left Tostes shedding torrents of tears) Emma -took into her service a young girl of fourteen, an orphan with a sweet -face. She forbade her wearing cotton caps, taught her to address her in -the third person, to bring a glass of water on a plate, to knock before -coming into a room, to iron, starch, and to dress her--wanted to make a -lady's-maid of her. The new servant obeyed without a murmur, so as not -to be sent away; and as madame usually left the key in the sideboard, -Felicite every evening took a small supply of sugar that she ate alone -in her bed after she had said her prayers. - -Sometimes in the afternoon she went to chat with the postilions. - -Madame was in her room upstairs. She wore an open dressing gown that -showed between the shawl facings of her bodice a pleated chamisette with -three gold buttons. Her belt was a corded girdle with great tassels, and -her small garnet coloured slippers had a large knot of ribbon that fell -over her instep. She had bought herself a blotting book, writing case, -pen-holder, and envelopes, although she had no one to write to; she -dusted her what-not, looked at herself in the glass, picked up a book, -and then, dreaming between the lines, let it drop on her knees. She -longed to travel or to go back to her convent. She wished at the same -time to die and to live in Paris. - -Charles in snow and rain trotted across country. He ate omelettes on -farmhouse tables, poked his arm into damp beds, received the tepid -spurt of blood-lettings in his face, listened to death-rattles, examined -basins, turned over a good deal of dirty linen; but every evening he -found a blazing fire, his dinner ready, easy-chairs, and a well-dressed -woman, charming with an odour of freshness, though no one could say -whence the perfume came, or if it were not her skin that made odorous -her chemise. - -She charmed him by numerous attentions; now it was some new way of -arranging paper sconces for the candles, a flounce that she altered on -her gown, or an extraordinary name for some very simple dish that the -servant had spoilt, but that Charles swallowed with pleasure to the last -mouthful. At Rouen she saw some ladies who wore a bunch of charms on the -watch-chains; she bought some charms. She wanted for her mantelpiece two -large blue glass vases, and some time after an ivory necessaire with a -silver-gilt thimble. The less Charles understood these refinements -the more they seduced him. They added something to the pleasure of the -senses and to the comfort of his fireside. It was like a golden dust -sanding all along the narrow path of his life. - -He was well, looked well; his reputation was firmly established. - -The country-folk loved him because he was not proud. He petted the -children, never went to the public house, and, moreover, his morals -inspired confidence. He was specially successful with catarrhs and chest -complaints. Being much afraid of killing his patients, Charles, in fact -only prescribed sedatives, from time to time and emetic, a footbath, -or leeches. It was not that he was afraid of surgery; he bled people -copiously like horses, and for the taking out of teeth he had the -"devil's own wrist." - -Finally, to keep up with the times, he took in "La Ruche Medicale," -a new journal whose prospectus had been sent him. He read it a little -after dinner, but in about five minutes the warmth of the room added to -the effect of his dinner sent him to sleep; and he sat there, his chin -on his two hands and his hair spreading like a mane to the foot of the -lamp. Emma looked at him and shrugged her shoulders. Why, at least, was -not her husband one of those men of taciturn passions who work at their -books all night, and at last, when about sixty, the age of rheumatism -sets in, wear a string of orders on their ill-fitting black coat? -She could have wished this name of Bovary, which was hers, had been -illustrious, to see it displayed at the booksellers', repeated in the -newspapers, known to all France. But Charles had no ambition. - -An Yvetot doctor whom he had lately met in consultation had somewhat -humiliated him at the very bedside of the patient, before the assembled -relatives. When, in the evening, Charles told her this anecdote, Emma -inveighed loudly against his colleague. Charles was much touched. He -kissed her forehead with a tear in his eyes. But she was angered with -shame; she felt a wild desire to strike him; she went to open the window -in the passage and breathed in the fresh air to calm herself. - -"What a man! What a man!" she said in a low voice, biting her lips. - -Besides, she was becoming more irritated with him. As he grew older his -manner grew heavier; at dessert he cut the corks of the empty bottles; -after eating he cleaned his teeth with his tongue; in taking soup -he made a gurgling noise with every spoonful; and, as he was getting -fatter, the puffed-out cheeks seemed to push the eyes, always small, up -to the temples. - -Sometimes Emma tucked the red borders of his under-vest unto his -waistcoat, rearranged his cravat, and threw away the dirty gloves he was -going to put on; and this was not, as he fancied, for himself; it -was for herself, by a diffusion of egotism, of nervous irritation. -Sometimes, too, she told him of what she had read, such as a passage in -a novel, of a new play, or an anecdote of the "upper ten" that she -had seen in a feuilleton; for, after all, Charles was something, an -ever-open ear, and ever-ready approbation. She confided many a thing to -her greyhound. She would have done so to the logs in the fireplace or to -the pendulum of the clock. - -At the bottom of her heart, however, she was waiting for something to -happen. Like shipwrecked sailors, she turned despairing eyes upon the -solitude of her life, seeking afar off some white sail in the mists of -the horizon. She did not know what this chance would be, what wind would -bring it her, towards what shore it would drive her, if it would be a -shallop or a three-decker, laden with anguish or full of bliss to the -portholes. But each morning, as she awoke, she hoped it would come that -day; she listened to every sound, sprang up with a start, wondered that -it did not come; then at sunset, always more saddened, she longed for -the morrow. - -Spring came round. With the first warm weather, when the pear trees -began to blossom, she suffered from dyspnoea. - -From the beginning of July she counted how many weeks there were to -October, thinking that perhaps the Marquis d'Andervilliers would give -another ball at Vaubyessard. But all September passed without letters or -visits. - -After the ennui of this disappointment her heart once more remained -empty, and then the same series of days recommenced. So now they would -thus follow one another, always the same, immovable, and bringing -nothing. Other lives, however flat, had at least the chance of some -event. One adventure sometimes brought with it infinite consequences and -the scene changed. But nothing happened to her; God had willed it so! -The future was a dark corridor, with its door at the end shut fast. - -She gave up music. What was the good of playing? Who would hear her? -Since she could never, in a velvet gown with short sleeves, striking -with her light fingers the ivory keys of an Erard at a concert, feel -the murmur of ecstasy envelop her like a breeze, it was not worth while -boring herself with practicing. Her drawing cardboard and her embroidery -she left in the cupboard. What was the good? What was the good? Sewing -irritated her. "I have read everything," she said to herself. And she -sat there making the tongs red-hot, or looked at the rain falling. - -How sad she was on Sundays when vespers sounded! She listened with dull -attention to each stroke of the cracked bell. A cat slowly walking over -some roof put up his back in the pale rays of the sun. The wind on the -highroad blew up clouds of dust. Afar off a dog sometimes howled; and -the bell, keeping time, continued its monotonous ringing that died away -over the fields. - -But the people came out from church. The women in waxed clogs, the -peasants in new blouses, the little bare-headed children skipping along -in front of them, all were going home. And till nightfall, five or six -men, always the same, stayed playing at corks in front of the large door -of the inn. - -The winter was severe. The windows every morning were covered with -rime, and the light shining through them, dim as through ground-glass, -sometimes did not change the whole day long. At four o'clock the lamp -had to be lighted. - -On fine days she went down into the garden. The dew had left on the -cabbages a silver lace with long transparent threads spreading from one -to the other. No birds were to be heard; everything seemed asleep, the -espalier covered with straw, and the vine, like a great sick serpent -under the coping of the wall, along which, on drawing near, one saw the -many-footed woodlice crawling. Under the spruce by the hedgerow, the -curie in the three-cornered hat reading his breviary had lost his right -foot, and the very plaster, scaling off with the frost, had left white -scabs on his face. - -Then she went up again, shut her door, put on coals, and fainting with -the heat of the hearth, felt her boredom weigh more heavily than ever. -She would have liked to go down and talk to the servant, but a sense of -shame restrained her. - -Every day at the same time the schoolmaster in a black skullcap opened -the shutters of his house, and the rural policeman, wearing his sabre -over his blouse, passed by. Night and morning the post-horses, three by -three, crossed the street to water at the pond. From time to time the -bell of a public house door rang, and when it was windy one could hear -the little brass basins that served as signs for the hairdresser's shop -creaking on their two rods. This shop had as decoration an old engraving -of a fashion-plate stuck against a windowpane and the wax bust of a -woman with yellow hair. He, too, the hairdresser, lamented his wasted -calling, his hopeless future, and dreaming of some shop in a big -town--at Rouen, for example, overlooking the harbour, near the -theatre--he walked up and down all day from the mairie to the church, -sombre and waiting for customers. When Madame Bovary looked up, she -always saw him there, like a sentinel on duty, with his skullcap over -his ears and his vest of lasting. - -Sometimes in the afternoon outside the window of her room, the head of a -man appeared, a swarthy head with black whiskers, smiling slowly, with -a broad, gentle smile that showed his white teeth. A waltz immediately -began and on the organ, in a little drawing room, dancers the size of -a finger, women in pink turbans, Tyrolians in jackets, monkeys in frock -coats, gentlemen in knee-breeches, turned and turned between the sofas, -the consoles, multiplied in the bits of looking glass held together -at their corners by a piece of gold paper. The man turned his handle, -looking to the right and left, and up at the windows. Now and again, -while he shot out a long squirt of brown saliva against the milestone, -with his knee raised his instrument, whose hard straps tired his -shoulder; and now, doleful and drawling, or gay and hurried, the music -escaped from the box, droning through a curtain of pink taffeta under -a brass claw in arabesque. They were airs played in other places at -the theatres, sung in drawing rooms, danced to at night under lighted -lustres, echoes of the world that reached even to Emma. Endless -sarabands ran through her head, and, like an Indian dancing girl on the -flowers of a carpet, her thoughts leapt with the notes, swung from dream -to dream, from sadness to sadness. When the man had caught some coppers -in his cap, he drew down an old cover of blue cloth, hitched his organ -on to his back, and went off with a heavy tread. She watched him going. - -But it was above all the meal-times that were unbearable to her, in this -small room on the ground floor, with its smoking stove, its creaking -door, the walls that sweated, the damp flags; all the bitterness in life -seemed served up on her plate, and with smoke of the boiled beef there -rose from her secret soul whiffs of sickliness. Charles was a slow -eater; she played with a few nuts, or, leaning on her elbow, amused -herself with drawing lines along the oilcloth table cover with the point -of her knife. - -She now let everything in her household take care of itself, and Madame -Bovary senior, when she came to spend part of Lent at Tostes, was much -surprised at the change. She who was formerly so careful, so dainty, -now passed whole days without dressing, wore grey cotton stockings, and -burnt tallow candles. She kept saying they must be economical since -they were not rich, adding that she was very contented, very happy, that -Tostes pleased her very much, with other speeches that closed the mouth -of her mother-in-law. Besides, Emma no longer seemed inclined to follow -her advice; once even, Madame Bovary having thought fit to maintain that -mistresses ought to keep an eye on the religion of their servants, she -had answered with so angry a look and so cold a smile that the good -woman did not interfere again. - -Emma was growing difficult, capricious. She ordered dishes for herself, -then she did not touch them; one day drank only pure milk, the next -cups of tea by the dozen. Often she persisted in not going out, then, -stifling, threw open the windows and put on light dresses. After she had -well scolded her servant she gave her presents or sent her out to see -neighbours, just as she sometimes threw beggars all the silver in her -purse, although she was by no means tender-hearted or easily accessible -to the feelings of others, like most country-bred people, who always -retain in their souls something of the horny hardness of the paternal -hands. - -Towards the end of February old Rouault, in memory of his cure, himself -brought his son-in-law a superb turkey, and stayed three days at Tostes. -Charles being with his patients, Emma kept him company. He smoked in the -room, spat on the firedogs, talked farming, calves, cows, poultry, and -municipal council, so that when he left she closed the door on him with -a feeling of satisfaction that surprised even herself. Moreover she no -longer concealed her contempt for anything or anybody, and at times she -set herself to express singular opinions, finding fault with that which -others approved, and approving things perverse and immoral, all of which -made her husband open his eyes widely. - -Would this misery last for ever? Would she never issue from it? Yet -she was as good as all the women who were living happily. She had seen -duchesses at Vaubyessard with clumsier waists and commoner ways, and she -execrated the injustice of God. She leant her head against the walls -to weep; she envied lives of stir; longed for masked balls, for violent -pleasures, with all the wildness that she did not know, but that these -must surely yield. - -She grew pale and suffered from palpitations of the heart. - -Charles prescribed valerian and camphor baths. Everything that was tried -only seemed to irritate her the more. - -On certain days she chatted with feverish rapidity, and this -over-excitement was suddenly followed by a state of torpor, in which -she remained without speaking, without moving. What then revived her was -pouring a bottle of eau-de-cologne over her arms. - -As she was constantly complaining about Tostes, Charles fancied that her -illness was no doubt due to some local cause, and fixing on this idea, -began to think seriously of setting up elsewhere. - -From that moment she drank vinegar, contracted a sharp little cough, and -completely lost her appetite. - -It cost Charles much to give up Tostes after living there four years and -"when he was beginning to get on there." Yet if it must be! He took her -to Rouen to see his old master. It was a nervous complaint: change of -air was needed. - -After looking about him on this side and on that, Charles learnt that -in the Neufchatel arrondissement there was a considerable market town -called Yonville-l'Abbaye, whose doctor, a Polish refugee, had decamped a -week before. Then he wrote to the chemist of the place to ask the -number of the population, the distance from the nearest doctor, what -his predecessor had made a year, and so forth; and the answer being -satisfactory, he made up his mind to move towards the spring, if Emma's -health did not improve. - -One day when, in view of her departure, she was tidying a drawer, -something pricked her finger. It was a wire of her wedding bouquet. -The orange blossoms were yellow with dust and the silver bordered satin -ribbons frayed at the edges. She threw it into the fire. It flared -up more quickly than dry straw. Then it was, like a red bush in the -cinders, slowly devoured. She watched it burn. - -The little pasteboard berries burst, the wire twisted, the gold -lace melted; and the shriveled paper corollas, fluttering like black -butterflies at the back of the stove, at last flew up the chimney. - -When they left Tostes at the month of March, Madame Bovary was pregnant. - - - - - -Part II - - - -Chapter One - -Yonville-l'Abbaye (so called from an old Capuchin abbey of which not -even the ruins remain) is a market-town twenty-four miles from Rouen, -between the Abbeville and Beauvais roads, at the foot of a valley -watered by the Rieule, a little river that runs into the Andelle after -turning three water-mills near its mouth, where there are a few trout -that the lads amuse themselves by fishing for on Sundays. - -We leave the highroad at La Boissiere and keep straight on to the top of -the Leux hill, whence the valley is seen. The river that runs through it -makes of it, as it were, two regions with distinct physiognomies--all on -the left is pasture land, all of the right arable. The meadow stretches -under a bulge of low hills to join at the back with the pasture land of -the Bray country, while on the eastern side, the plain, gently rising, -broadens out, showing as far as eye can follow its blond cornfields. The -water, flowing by the grass, divides with a white line the colour of the -roads and of the plains, and the country is like a great unfolded mantle -with a green velvet cape bordered with a fringe of silver. - -Before us, on the verge of the horizon, lie the oaks of the forest of -Argueil, with the steeps of the Saint-Jean hills scarred from top -to bottom with red irregular lines; they are rain tracks, and these -brick-tones standing out in narrow streaks against the grey colour of -the mountain are due to the quantity of iron springs that flow beyond in -the neighboring country. - -Here we are on the confines of Normandy, Picardy, and the Ile-de-France, -a bastard land whose language is without accent and its landscape is -without character. It is there that they make the worst Neufchatel -cheeses of all the arrondissement; and, on the other hand, farming is -costly because so much manure is needed to enrich this friable soil full -of sand and flints. - -Up to 1835 there was no practicable road for getting to Yonville, but -about this time a cross-road was made which joins that of Abbeville to -that of Amiens, and is occasionally used by the Rouen wagoners on their -way to Flanders. Yonville-l'Abbaye has remained stationary in spite of -its "new outlet." Instead of improving the soil, they persist in keeping -up the pasture lands, however depreciated they may be in value, and -the lazy borough, growing away from the plain, has naturally spread -riverwards. It is seem from afar sprawling along the banks like a -cowherd taking a siesta by the water-side. - -At the foot of the hill beyond the bridge begins a roadway, planted with -young aspens, that leads in a straight line to the first houses in the -place. These, fenced in by hedges, are in the middle of courtyards -full of straggling buildings, wine-presses, cart-sheds and distilleries -scattered under thick trees, with ladders, poles, or scythes hung on to -the branches. The thatched roofs, like fur caps drawn over eyes, reach -down over about a third of the low windows, whose coarse convex glasses -have knots in the middle like the bottoms of bottles. Against the -plaster wall diagonally crossed by black joists, a meagre pear-tree -sometimes leans and the ground-floors have at their door a small -swing-gate to keep out the chicks that come pilfering crumbs of bread -steeped in cider on the threshold. But the courtyards grow narrower, -the houses closer together, and the fences disappear; a bundle of -ferns swings under a window from the end of a broomstick; there is a -blacksmith's forge and then a wheelwright's, with two or three new carts -outside that partly block the way. Then across an open space appears a -white house beyond a grass mound ornamented by a Cupid, his finger -on his lips; two brass vases are at each end of a flight of steps; -scutcheons* blaze upon the door. It is the notary's house, and the -finest in the place. - - *The panonceaux that have to be hung over the doors of - notaries. - -The Church is on the other side of the street, twenty paces farther -down, at the entrance of the square. The little cemetery that surrounds -it, closed in by a wall breast high, is so full of graves that the old -stones, level with the ground, form a continuous pavement, on which the -grass of itself has marked out regular green squares. The church was -rebuilt during the last years of the reign of Charles X. The wooden roof -is beginning to rot from the top, and here and there has black hollows -in its blue colour. Over the door, where the organ should be, is a -loft for the men, with a spiral staircase that reverberates under their -wooden shoes. - -The daylight coming through the plain glass windows falls obliquely upon -the pews ranged along the walls, which are adorned here and there with -a straw mat bearing beneath it the words in large letters, "Mr. -So-and-so's pew." Farther on, at a spot where the building narrows, the -confessional forms a pendant to a statuette of the Virgin, clothed in -a satin robe, coifed with a tulle veil sprinkled with silver stars, and -with red cheeks, like an idol of the Sandwich Islands; and, finally, a -copy of the "Holy Family, presented by the Minister of the Interior," -overlooking the high altar, between four candlesticks, closes in the -perspective. The choir stalls, of deal wood, have been left unpainted. - -The market, that is to say, a tiled roof supported by some twenty posts, -occupies of itself about half the public square of Yonville. The town -hall, constructed "from the designs of a Paris architect," is a sort of -Greek temple that forms the corner next to the chemist's shop. On -the ground-floor are three Ionic columns and on the first floor a -semicircular gallery, while the dome that crowns it is occupied by a -Gallic cock, resting one foot upon the "Charte" and holding in the other -the scales of Justice. - -But that which most attracts the eye is opposite the Lion d'Or inn, the -chemist's shop of Monsieur Homais. In the evening especially its argand -lamp is lit up and the red and green jars that embellish his shop-front -throw far across the street their two streams of colour; then across -them as if in Bengal lights is seen the shadow of the chemist -leaning over his desk. His house from top to bottom is placarded with -inscriptions written in large hand, round hand, printed hand: "Vichy, -Seltzer, Barege waters, blood purifiers, Raspail patent medicine, -Arabian racahout, Darcet lozenges, Regnault paste, trusses, baths, -hygienic chocolate," etc. And the signboard, which takes up all the -breadth of the shop, bears in gold letters, "Homais, Chemist." Then at -the back of the shop, behind the great scales fixed to the counter, the -word "Laboratory" appears on a scroll above a glass door, which about -half-way up once more repeats "Homais" in gold letters on a black -ground. - -Beyond this there is nothing to see at Yonville. The street (the only -one) a gunshot in length and flanked by a few shops on either side stops -short at the turn of the highroad. If it is left on the right hand and -the foot of the Saint-Jean hills followed the cemetery is soon reached. - -At the time of the cholera, in order to enlarge this, a piece of wall -was pulled down, and three acres of land by its side purchased; but all -the new portion is almost tenantless; the tombs, as heretofore, -continue to crowd together towards the gate. The keeper, who is at once -gravedigger and church beadle (thus making a double profit out of the -parish corpses), has taken advantage of the unused plot of ground to -plant potatoes there. From year to year, however, his small field grows -smaller, and when there is an epidemic, he does not know whether to -rejoice at the deaths or regret the burials. - -"You live on the dead, Lestiboudois!" the curie at last said to him one -day. This grim remark made him reflect; it checked him for some time; -but to this day he carries on the cultivation of his little tubers, and -even maintains stoutly that they grow naturally. - -Since the events about to be narrated, nothing in fact has changed -at Yonville. The tin tricolour flag still swings at the top of the -church-steeple; the two chintz streamers still flutter in the wind from -the linen-draper's; the chemist's fetuses, like lumps of white amadou, -rot more and more in their turbid alcohol, and above the big door of -the inn the old golden lion, faded by rain, still shows passers-by its -poodle mane. - -On the evening when the Bovarys were to arrive at Yonville, Widow -Lefrancois, the landlady of this inn, was so very busy that she sweated -great drops as she moved her saucepans. To-morrow was market-day. The -meat had to be cut beforehand, the fowls drawn, the soup and coffee -made. Moreover, she had the boarders' meal to see to, and that of the -doctor, his wife, and their servant; the billiard-room was echoing with -bursts of laughter; three millers in a small parlour were calling for -brandy; the wood was blazing, the brazen pan was hissing, and on the -long kitchen table, amid the quarters of raw mutton, rose piles of -plates that rattled with the shaking of the block on which spinach was -being chopped. - -From the poultry-yard was heard the screaming of the fowls whom the -servant was chasing in order to wring their necks. - -A man slightly marked with small-pox, in green leather slippers, and -wearing a velvet cap with a gold tassel, was warming his back at the -chimney. His face expressed nothing but self-satisfaction, and he -appeared to take life as calmly as the goldfinch suspended over his head -in its wicker cage: this was the chemist. - -"Artemise!" shouted the landlady, "chop some wood, fill the water -bottles, bring some brandy, look sharp! If only I knew what dessert to -offer the guests you are expecting! Good heavens! Those furniture-movers -are beginning their racket in the billiard-room again; and their van has -been left before the front door! The 'Hirondelle' might run into it when -it draws up. Call Polyte and tell him to put it up. Only think, Monsieur -Homais, that since morning they have had about fifteen games, and drunk -eight jars of cider! Why, they'll tear my cloth for me," she went on, -looking at them from a distance, her strainer in her hand. - -"That wouldn't be much of a loss," replied Monsieur Homais. "You would -buy another." - -"Another billiard-table!" exclaimed the widow. - -"Since that one is coming to pieces, Madame Lefrancois. I tell you again -you are doing yourself harm, much harm! And besides, players now want -narrow pockets and heavy cues. Hazards aren't played now; everything is -changed! One must keep pace with the times! Just look at Tellier!" - -The hostess reddened with vexation. The chemist went on-- - -"You may say what you like; his table is better than yours; and if one -were to think, for example, of getting up a patriotic pool for Poland or -the sufferers from the Lyons floods--" - -"It isn't beggars like him that'll frighten us," interrupted the -landlady, shrugging her fat shoulders. "Come, come, Monsieur Homais; as -long as the 'Lion d'Or' exists people will come to it. We've feathered -our nest; while one of these days you'll find the 'Cafe Francais' closed -with a big placard on the shutters. Change my billiard-table!" she went -on, speaking to herself, "the table that comes in so handy for folding -the washing, and on which, in the hunting season, I have slept six -visitors! But that dawdler, Hivert, doesn't come!" - -"Are you waiting for him for your gentlemen's dinner?" - -"Wait for him! And what about Monsieur Binet? As the clock strikes -six you'll see him come in, for he hasn't his equal under the sun for -punctuality. He must always have his seat in the small parlour. He'd -rather die than dine anywhere else. And so squeamish as he is, and so -particular about the cider! Not like Monsieur Leon; he sometimes comes -at seven, or even half-past, and he doesn't so much as look at what he -eats. Such a nice young man! Never speaks a rough word!" - -"Well, you see, there's a great difference between an educated man and -an old carabineer who is now a tax-collector." - -Six o'clock struck. Binet came in. - -He wore a blue frock-coat falling in a straight line round his thin -body, and his leather cap, with its lappets knotted over the top of -his head with string, showed under the turned-up peak a bald forehead, -flattened by the constant wearing of a helmet. He wore a black cloth -waistcoat, a hair collar, grey trousers, and, all the year round, -well-blacked boots, that had two parallel swellings due to the sticking -out of his big-toes. Not a hair stood out from the regular line of fair -whiskers, which, encircling his jaws, framed, after the fashion of a -garden border, his long, wan face, whose eyes were small and the nose -hooked. Clever at all games of cards, a good hunter, and writing a -fine hand, he had at home a lathe, and amused himself by turning napkin -rings, with which he filled up his house, with the jealousy of an artist -and the egotism of a bourgeois. - -He went to the small parlour, but the three millers had to be got out -first, and during the whole time necessary for laying the cloth, Binet -remained silent in his place near the stove. Then he shut the door and -took off his cap in his usual way. - -"It isn't with saying civil things that he'll wear out his tongue," said -the chemist, as soon as he was along with the landlady. - -"He never talks more," she replied. "Last week two travelers in the -cloth line were here--such clever chaps who told such jokes in the -evening, that I fairly cried with laughing; and he stood there like a -dab fish and never said a word." - -"Yes," observed the chemist; "no imagination, no sallies, nothing that -makes the society-man." - -"Yet they say he has parts," objected the landlady. - -"Parts!" replied Monsieur Homais; "he, parts! In his own line it is -possible," he added in a calmer tone. And he went on-- - -"Ah! That a merchant, who has large connections, a jurisconsult, a -doctor, a chemist, should be thus absent-minded, that they should become -whimsical or even peevish, I can understand; such cases are cited in -history. But at least it is because they are thinking of something. -Myself, for example, how often has it happened to me to look on the -bureau for my pen to write a label, and to find, after all, that I had -put it behind my ear!" - -Madame Lefrancois just then went to the door to see if the "Hirondelle" -were not coming. She started. A man dressed in black suddenly came into -the kitchen. By the last gleam of the twilight one could see that his -face was rubicund and his form athletic. - -"What can I do for you, Monsieur le Curie?" asked the landlady, as she -reached down from the chimney one of the copper candlesticks placed -with their candles in a row. "Will you take something? A thimbleful of -Cassis*? A glass of wine?" - - *Black currant liqueur. - -The priest declined very politely. He had come for his umbrella, that -he had forgotten the other day at the Ernemont convent, and after -asking Madame Lefrancois to have it sent to him at the presbytery in the -evening, he left for the church, from which the Angelus was ringing. - -When the chemist no longer heard the noise of his boots along the -square, he thought the priest's behaviour just now very unbecoming. This -refusal to take any refreshment seemed to him the most odious hypocrisy; -all priests tippled on the sly, and were trying to bring back the days -of the tithe. - -The landlady took up the defence of her curie. - -"Besides, he could double up four men like you over his knee. Last year -he helped our people to bring in the straw; he carried as many as six -trusses at once, he is so strong." - -"Bravo!" said the chemist. "Now just send your daughters to confess to -fellows which such a temperament! I, if I were the Government, I'd have -the priests bled once a month. Yes, Madame Lefrancois, every month--a -good phlebotomy, in the interests of the police and morals." - -"Be quiet, Monsieur Homais. You are an infidel; you've no religion." - -The chemist answered: "I have a religion, my religion, and I even have -more than all these others with their mummeries and their juggling. -I adore God, on the contrary. I believe in the Supreme Being, in a -Creator, whatever he may be. I care little who has placed us here below -to fulfil our duties as citizens and fathers of families; but I don't -need to go to church to kiss silver plates, and fatten, out of my -pocket, a lot of good-for-nothings who live better than we do. For one -can know Him as well in a wood, in a field, or even contemplating the -eternal vault like the ancients. My God! Mine is the God of Socrates, of -Franklin, of Voltaire, and of Beranger! I am for the profession of faith -of the 'Savoyard Vicar,' and the immortal principles of '89! And I can't -admit of an old boy of a God who takes walks in his garden with a -cane in his hand, who lodges his friends in the belly of whales, dies -uttering a cry, and rises again at the end of three days; things absurd -in themselves, and completely opposed, moreover, to all physical laws, -which prove to us, by the way, that priests have always wallowed in -turpid ignorance, in which they would fain engulf the people with them." - -He ceased, looking round for an audience, for in his bubbling over -the chemist had for a moment fancied himself in the midst of the town -council. But the landlady no longer heeded him; she was listening to a -distant rolling. One could distinguish the noise of a carriage mingled -with the clattering of loose horseshoes that beat against the ground, -and at last the "Hirondelle" stopped at the door. - -It was a yellow box on two large wheels, that, reaching to the tilt, -prevented travelers from seeing the road and dirtied their shoulders. -The small panes of the narrow windows rattled in their sashes when the -coach was closed, and retained here and there patches of mud amid the -old layers of dust, that not even storms of rain had altogether washed -away. It was drawn by three horses, the first a leader, and when it came -down-hill its bottom jolted against the ground. - -Some of the inhabitants of Yonville came out into the square; they all -spoke at once, asking for news, for explanations, for hampers. Hivert -did not know whom to answer. It was he who did the errands of the place -in town. He went to the shops and brought back rolls of leather for -the shoemaker, old iron for the farrier, a barrel of herrings for his -mistress, caps from the milliner's, locks from the hair-dresser's and -all along the road on his return journey he distributed his parcels, -which he threw, standing upright on his seat and shouting at the top of -his voice, over the enclosures of the yards. - -An accident had delayed him. Madame Bovary's greyhound had run across -the field. They had whistled for him a quarter of an hour; Hivert had -even gone back a mile and a half expecting every moment to catch sight -of her; but it had been necessary to go on. - -Emma had wept, grown angry; she had accused Charles of this misfortune. -Monsieur Lheureux, a draper, who happened to be in the coach with -her, had tried to console her by a number of examples of lost dogs -recognizing their masters at the end of long years. One, he said had -been told of, who had come back to Paris from Constantinople. Another -had gone one hundred and fifty miles in a straight line, and swum four -rivers; and his own father had possessed a poodle, which, after twelve -years of absence, had all of a sudden jumped on his back in the street -as he was going to dine in town. - - - -Chapter Two - -Emma got out first, then Felicite, Monsieur Lheureux, and a nurse, and -they had to wake up Charles in his corner, where he had slept soundly -since night set in. - -Homais introduced himself; he offered his homages to madame and his -respects to monsieur; said he was charmed to have been able to render -them some slight service, and added with a cordial air that he had -ventured to invite himself, his wife being away. - -When Madame Bovary was in the kitchen she went up to the chimney. - -With the tips of her fingers she caught her dress at the knee, and -having thus pulled it up to her ankle, held out her foot in its black -boot to the fire above the revolving leg of mutton. The flame lit up the -whole of her, penetrating with a crude light the woof of her gowns, the -fine pores of her fair skin, and even her eyelids, which she blinked now -and again. A great red glow passed over her with the blowing of the wind -through the half-open door. - -On the other side of the chimney a young man with fair hair watched her -silently. - -As he was a good deal bored at Yonville, where he was a clerk at the -notary's, Monsieur Guillaumin, Monsieur Leon Dupuis (it was he who -was the second habitue of the "Lion d'Or") frequently put back his -dinner-hour in hope that some traveler might come to the inn, with whom -he could chat in the evening. On the days when his work was done early, -he had, for want of something else to do, to come punctually, and endure -from soup to cheese a tete-a-tete with Binet. It was therefore with -delight that he accepted the landlady's suggestion that he should dine -in company with the newcomers, and they passed into the large parlour -where Madame Lefrancois, for the purpose of showing off, had had the -table laid for four. - -Homais asked to be allowed to keep on his skull-cap, for fear of coryza; -then, turning to his neighbour-- - -"Madame is no doubt a little fatigued; one gets jolted so abominably in -our 'Hirondelle.'" - -"That is true," replied Emma; "but moving about always amuses me. I like -change of place." - -"It is so tedious," sighed the clerk, "to be always riveted to the same -places." - -"If you were like me," said Charles, "constantly obliged to be in the -saddle"-- - -"But," Leon went on, addressing himself to Madame Bovary, "nothing, it -seems to me, is more pleasant--when one can," he added. - -"Moreover," said the druggist, "the practice of medicine is not very -hard work in our part of the world, for the state of our roads allows us -the use of gigs, and generally, as the farmers are prosperous, they pay -pretty well. We have, medically speaking, besides the ordinary cases -of enteritis, bronchitis, bilious affections, etc., now and then a -few intermittent fevers at harvest-time; but on the whole, little of a -serious nature, nothing special to note, unless it be a great deal of -scrofula, due, no doubt, to the deplorable hygienic conditions of our -peasant dwellings. Ah! you will find many prejudices to combat, Monsieur -Bovary, much obstinacy of routine, with which all the efforts of your -science will daily come into collision; for people still have recourse -to novenas, to relics, to the priest, rather than come straight to the -doctor or the chemist. The climate, however, is not, truth to tell, bad, -and we even have a few nonagenarians in our parish. The thermometer (I -have made some observations) falls in winter to 4 degrees Centigrade -at the outside, which gives us 24 degrees Reaumur as the maximum, or -otherwise 54 degrees Fahrenheit (English scale), not more. And, as a -matter of fact, we are sheltered from the north winds by the forest of -Argueil on the one side, from the west winds by the St. Jean range on -the other; and this heat, moreover, which, on account of the aqueous -vapours given off by the river and the considerable number of cattle -in the fields, which, as you know, exhale much ammonia, that is to say, -nitrogen, hydrogen and oxygen (no, nitrogen and hydrogen alone), and -which sucking up into itself the humus from the ground, mixing together -all those different emanations, unites them into a stack, so to say, -and combining with the electricity diffused through the atmosphere, when -there is any, might in the long run, as in tropical countries, engender -insalubrious miasmata--this heat, I say, finds itself perfectly tempered -on the side whence it comes, or rather whence it should come--that is to -say, the southern side--by the south-eastern winds, which, having cooled -themselves passing over the Seine, reach us sometimes all at once like -breezes from Russia." - -"At any rate, you have some walks in the neighbourhood?" continued -Madame Bovary, speaking to the young man. - -"Oh, very few," he answered. "There is a place they call La Pature, on -the top of the hill, on the edge of the forest. Sometimes, on Sundays, I -go and stay there with a book, watching the sunset." - -"I think there is nothing so admirable as sunsets," she resumed; "but -especially by the side of the sea." - -"Oh, I adore the sea!" said Monsieur Leon. - -"And then, does it not seem to you," continued Madame Bovary, "that the -mind travels more freely on this limitless expanse, the contemplation of -which elevates the soul, gives ideas of the infinite, the ideal?" - -"It is the same with mountainous landscapes," continued Leon. "A cousin -of mine who travelled in Switzerland last year told me that one could -not picture to oneself the poetry of the lakes, the charm of the -waterfalls, the gigantic effect of the glaciers. One sees pines of -incredible size across torrents, cottages suspended over precipices, -and, a thousand feet below one, whole valleys when the clouds open. Such -spectacles must stir to enthusiasm, incline to prayer, to ecstasy; and I -no longer marvel at that celebrated musician who, the better to inspire -his imagination, was in the habit of playing the piano before some -imposing site." - -"You play?" she asked. - -"No, but I am very fond of music," he replied. - -"Ah! don't you listen to him, Madame Bovary," interrupted Homais, -bending over his plate. "That's sheer modesty. Why, my dear fellow, the -other day in your room you were singing 'L'Ange Gardien' ravishingly. I -heard you from the laboratory. You gave it like an actor." - -Leon, in fact, lodged at the chemist's where he had a small room on the -second floor, overlooking the Place. He blushed at the compliment of his -landlord, who had already turned to the doctor, and was enumerating to -him, one after the other, all the principal inhabitants of Yonville. He -was telling anecdotes, giving information; the fortune of the notary -was not known exactly, and "there was the Tuvache household," who made a -good deal of show. - -Emma continued, "And what music do you prefer?" - -"Oh, German music; that which makes you dream." - -"Have you been to the opera?" - -"Not yet; but I shall go next year, when I am living at Paris to finish -reading for the bar." - -"As I had the honour of putting it to your husband," said the chemist, -"with regard to this poor Yanoda who has run away, you will find -yourself, thanks to his extravagance, in the possession of one of the -most comfortable houses of Yonville. Its greatest convenience for a -doctor is a door giving on the Walk, where one can go in and out unseen. -Moreover, it contains everything that is agreeable in a household--a -laundry, kitchen with offices, sitting-room, fruit-room, and so on. He -was a gay dog, who didn't care what he spent. At the end of the garden, -by the side of the water, he had an arbour built just for the purpose of -drinking beer in summer; and if madame is fond of gardening she will be -able--" - -"My wife doesn't care about it," said Charles; "although she has -been advised to take exercise, she prefers always sitting in her room -reading." - -"Like me," replied Leon. "And indeed, what is better than to sit by -one's fireside in the evening with a book, while the wind beats against -the window and the lamp is burning?" - -"What, indeed?" she said, fixing her large black eyes wide open upon -him. - -"One thinks of nothing," he continued; "the hours slip by. Motionless we -traverse countries we fancy we see, and your thought, blending with -the fiction, playing with the details, follows the outline of the -adventures. It mingles with the characters, and it seems as if it were -yourself palpitating beneath their costumes." - -"That is true! That is true?" she said. - -"Has it ever happened to you," Leon went on, "to come across some vague -idea of one's own in a book, some dim image that comes back to you from -afar, and as the completest expression of your own slightest sentiment?" - -"I have experienced it," she replied. - -"That is why," he said, "I especially love the poets. I think verse more -tender than prose, and that it moves far more easily to tears." - -"Still in the long run it is tiring," continued Emma. "Now I, on the -contrary, adore stories that rush breathlessly along, that frighten one. -I detest commonplace heroes and moderate sentiments, such as there are -in nature." - -"In fact," observed the clerk, "these works, not touching the heart, -miss, it seems to me, the true end of art. It is so sweet, amid all -the disenchantments of life, to be able to dwell in thought upon noble -characters, pure affections, and pictures of happiness. For myself, -living here far from the world, this is my one distraction; but Yonville -affords so few resources." - -"Like Tostes, no doubt," replied Emma; "and so I always subscribed to a -lending library." - -"If madame will do me the honour of making use of it", said the chemist, -who had just caught the last words, "I have at her disposal a library -composed of the best authors, Voltaire, Rousseau, Delille, Walter -Scott, the 'Echo des Feuilletons'; and in addition I receive various -periodicals, among them the 'Fanal de Rouen' daily, having the advantage -to be its correspondent for the districts of Buchy, Forges, Neufchatel, -Yonville, and vicinity." - -For two hours and a half they had been at table; for the servant -Artemis, carelessly dragging her old list slippers over the flags, -brought one plate after the other, forgot everything, and constantly -left the door of the billiard-room half open, so that it beat against -the wall with its hooks. - -Unconsciously, Leon, while talking, had placed his foot on one of the -bars of the chair on which Madame Bovary was sitting. She wore a small -blue silk necktie, that kept up like a ruff a gauffered cambric collar, -and with the movements of her head the lower part of her face gently -sunk into the linen or came out from it. Thus side by side, while -Charles and the chemist chatted, they entered into one of those vague -conversations where the hazard of all that is said brings you back to -the fixed centre of a common sympathy. The Paris theatres, titles of -novels, new quadrilles, and the world they did not know; Tostes, where -she had lived, and Yonville, where they were; they examined all, talked -of everything till to the end of dinner. - -When coffee was served Felicite went away to get ready the room in the -new house, and the guests soon raised the siege. Madame Lefrancois was -asleep near the cinders, while the stable-boy, lantern in hand, was -waiting to show Monsieur and Madame Bovary the way home. Bits of straw -stuck in his red hair, and he limped with his left leg. When he had -taken in his other hand the cure's umbrella, they started. - -The town was asleep; the pillars of the market threw great shadows; the -earth was all grey as on a summer's night. But as the doctor's house was -only some fifty paces from the inn, they had to say good-night almost -immediately, and the company dispersed. - -As soon as she entered the passage, Emma felt the cold of the plaster -fall about her shoulders like damp linen. The walls were new and the -wooden stairs creaked. In their bedroom, on the first floor, a whitish -light passed through the curtainless windows. - -She could catch glimpses of tree tops, and beyond, the fields, -half-drowned in the fog that lay reeking in the moonlight along -the course of the river. In the middle of the room, pell-mell, were -scattered drawers, bottles, curtain-rods, gilt poles, with mattresses -on the chairs and basins on the ground--the two men who had brought the -furniture had left everything about carelessly. - -This was the fourth time that she had slept in a strange place. - -The first was the day of her going to the convent; the second, of her -arrival at Tostes; the third, at Vaubyessard; and this was the fourth. -And each one had marked, as it were, the inauguration of a new phase in -her life. She did not believe that things could present themselves in -the same way in different places, and since the portion of her life -lived had been bad, no doubt that which remained to be lived would be -better. - - - -Chapter Three - -The next day, as she was getting up, she saw the clerk on the Place. She -had on a dressing-gown. He looked up and bowed. She nodded quickly and -reclosed the window. - -Leon waited all day for six o'clock in the evening to come, but on going -to the inn, he found no one but Monsieur Binet, already at table. The -dinner of the evening before had been a considerable event for him; he -had never till then talked for two hours consecutively to a "lady." How -then had he been able to explain, and in such language, the number of -things that he could not have said so well before? He was usually -shy, and maintained that reserve which partakes at once of modesty and -dissimulation. - -At Yonville he was considered "well-bred." He listened to the arguments -of the older people, and did not seem hot about politics--a remarkable -thing for a young man. Then he had some accomplishments; he painted in -water-colours, could read the key of G, and readily talked literature -after dinner when he did not play cards. Monsieur Homais respected him -for his education; Madame Homais liked him for his good-nature, for -he often took the little Homais into the garden--little brats who were -always dirty, very much spoilt, and somewhat lymphatic, like their -mother. Besides the servant to look after them, they had Justin, the -chemist's apprentice, a second cousin of Monsieur Homais, who had been -taken into the house from charity, and who was useful at the same time -as a servant. - -The druggist proved the best of neighbours. He gave Madame Bovary -information as to the trades-people, sent expressly for his own cider -merchant, tasted the drink himself, and saw that the casks were properly -placed in the cellar; he explained how to set about getting in a -supply of butter cheap, and made an arrangement with Lestiboudois, the -sacristan, who, besides his sacerdotal and funeral functions, looked -after the principal gardens at Yonville by the hour or the year, -according to the taste of the customers. - -The need of looking after others was not the only thing that urged the -chemist to such obsequious cordiality; there was a plan underneath it -all. - -He had infringed the law of the 19th Ventose, year xi., article I, which -forbade all persons not having a diploma to practise medicine; so that, -after certain anonymous denunciations, Homais had been summoned to Rouen -to see the procurer of the king in his own private room; the magistrate -receiving him standing up, ermine on shoulder and cap on head. It was -in the morning, before the court opened. In the corridors one heard -the heavy boots of the gendarmes walking past, and like a far-off noise -great locks that were shut. The druggist's ears tingled as if he were -about to have an apoplectic stroke; he saw the depths of dungeons, -his family in tears, his shop sold, all the jars dispersed; and he was -obliged to enter a cafe and take a glass of rum and seltzer to recover -his spirits. - -Little by little the memory of this reprimand grew fainter, and -he continued, as heretofore, to give anodyne consultations in his -back-parlour. But the mayor resented it, his colleagues were jealous, -everything was to be feared; gaining over Monsieur Bovary by his -attentions was to earn his gratitude, and prevent his speaking out later -on, should he notice anything. So every morning Homais brought him "the -paper," and often in the afternoon left his shop for a few moments to -have a chat with the Doctor. - -Charles was dull: patients did not come. He remained seated for hours -without speaking, went into his consulting room to sleep, or watched -his wife sewing. Then for diversion he employed himself at home as a -workman; he even tried to do up the attic with some paint which had been -left behind by the painters. But money matters worried him. He had -spent so much for repairs at Tostes, for madame's toilette, and for the -moving, that the whole dowry, over three thousand crowns, had slipped -away in two years. - -Then how many things had been spoilt or lost during their carriage from -Tostes to Yonville, without counting the plaster cure, who falling out -of the coach at an over-severe jolt, had been dashed into a thousand -fragments on the pavements of Quincampoix! A pleasanter trouble came -to distract him, namely, the pregnancy of his wife. As the time of her -confinement approached he cherished her the more. It was another bond of -the flesh establishing itself, and, as it were, a continued sentiment -of a more complex union. When from afar he saw her languid walk, and -her figure without stays turning softly on her hips; when opposite one -another he looked at her at his ease, while she took tired poses in her -armchair, then his happiness knew no bounds; he got up, embraced her, -passed his hands over her face, called her little mamma, wanted to -make her dance, and half-laughing, half-crying, uttered all kinds of -caressing pleasantries that came into his head. The idea of having -begotten a child delighted him. Now he wanted nothing. He knew human -life from end to end, and he sat down to it with serenity. - -Emma at first felt a great astonishment; then was anxious to be -delivered that she might know what it was to be a mother. But not -being able to spend as much as she would have liked, to have a -swing-bassinette with rose silk curtains, and embroidered caps, in a fit -of bitterness she gave up looking after the trousseau, and ordered the -whole of it from a village needlewoman, without choosing or discussing -anything. Thus she did not amuse herself with those preparations that -stimulate the tenderness of mothers, and so her affection was from the -very outset, perhaps, to some extent attenuated. - -As Charles, however, spoke of the boy at every meal, she soon began to -think of him more consecutively. - -She hoped for a son; he would be strong and dark; she would call him -George; and this idea of having a male child was like an expected -revenge for all her impotence in the past. A man, at least, is free; he -may travel over passions and over countries, overcome obstacles, taste -of the most far-away pleasures. But a woman is always hampered. At once -inert and flexible, she has against her the weakness of the flesh and -legal dependence. Her will, like the veil of her bonnet, held by a -string, flutters in every wind; there is always some desire that draws -her, some conventionality that restrains. - -She was confined on a Sunday at about six o'clock, as the sun was -rising. - -"It is a girl!" said Charles. - -She turned her head away and fainted. - -Madame Homais, as well as Madame Lefrancois of the Lion d'Or, almost -immediately came running in to embrace her. The chemist, as man of -discretion, only offered a few provincial felicitations through the -half-opened door. He wished to see the child and thought it well made. - -Whilst she was getting well she occupied herself much in seeking a -name for her daughter. First she went over all those that have Italian -endings, such as Clara, Louisa, Amanda, Atala; she liked Galsuinde -pretty well, and Yseult or Leocadie still better. - -Charles wanted the child to be called after her mother; Emma opposed -this. They ran over the calendar from end to end, and then consulted -outsiders. - -"Monsieur Leon," said the chemist, "with whom I was talking about it -the other day, wonders you do not chose Madeleine. It is very much in -fashion just now." - -But Madame Bovary, senior, cried out loudly against this name of a -sinner. As to Monsieur Homais, he had a preference for all those that -recalled some great man, an illustrious fact, or a generous idea, and it -was on this system that he had baptized his four children. Thus Napoleon -represented glory and Franklin liberty; Irma was perhaps a concession to -romanticism, but Athalie was a homage to the greatest masterpiece of the -French stage. For his philosophical convictions did not interfere -with his artistic tastes; in him the thinker did not stifle the man of -sentiment; he could make distinctions, make allowances for imagination -and fanaticism. In this tragedy, for example, he found fault with the -ideas, but admired the style; he detested the conception, but applauded -all the details, and loathed the characters while he grew enthusiastic -over their dialogue. When he read the fine passages he was transported, -but when he thought that mummers would get something out of them for -their show, he was disconsolate; and in this confusion of sentiments in -which he was involved he would have liked at once to crown Racine with -both his hands and discuss with him for a good quarter of an hour. - -At last Emma remembered that at the chateau of Vaubyessard she had heard -the Marchioness call a young lady Berthe; from that moment this name was -chosen; and as old Rouault could not come, Monsieur Homais was requested -to stand godfather. His gifts were all products from his establishment, -to wit: six boxes of jujubes, a whole jar of racahout, three cakes of -marshmallow paste, and six sticks of sugar-candy into the bargain that -he had come across in a cupboard. On the evening of the ceremony there -was a grand dinner; the cure was present; there was much excitement. -Monsieur Homais towards liqueur-time began singing "Le Dieu des bonnes -gens." Monsieur Leon sang a barcarolle, and Madame Bovary, senior, who -was godmother, a romance of the time of the Empire; finally, M. Bovary, -senior, insisted on having the child brought down, and began baptizing -it with a glass of champagne that he poured over its head. This mockery -of the first of the sacraments made the Abbe Bournisien angry; old -Bovary replied by a quotation from "La Guerre des Dieux"; the cure -wanted to leave; the ladies implored, Homais interfered; and they -succeeded in making the priest sit down again, and he quietly went on -with the half-finished coffee in his saucer. - -Monsieur Bovary, senior, stayed at Yonville a month, dazzling the -natives by a superb policeman's cap with silver tassels that he wore -in the morning when he smoked his pipe in the square. Being also in the -habit of drinking a good deal of brandy, he often sent the servant -to the Lion d'Or to buy him a bottle, which was put down to his -son's account, and to perfume his handkerchiefs he used up his -daughter-in-law's whole supply of eau-de-cologne. - -The latter did not at all dislike his company. He had knocked about the -world, he talked about Berlin, Vienna, and Strasbourg, of his soldier -times, of the mistresses he had had, the grand luncheons of which he had -partaken; then he was amiable, and sometimes even, either on the stairs, -or in the garden, would seize hold of her waist, crying, "Charles, look -out for yourself." - -Then Madame Bovary, senior, became alarmed for her son's happiness, and -fearing that her husband might in the long-run have an immoral influence -upon the ideas of the young woman, took care to hurry their departure. -Perhaps she had more serious reasons for uneasiness. Monsieur Bovary was -not the man to respect anything. - -One day Emma was suddenly seized with the desire to see her little -girl, who had been put to nurse with the carpenter's wife, and, without -looking at the calendar to see whether the six weeks of the Virgin were -yet passed, she set out for the Rollets' house, situated at the extreme -end of the village, between the highroad and the fields. - -It was mid-day, the shutters of the houses were closed and the slate -roofs that glittered beneath the fierce light of the blue sky seemed to -strike sparks from the crest of the gables. A heavy wind was blowing; -Emma felt weak as she walked; the stones of the pavement hurt her; she -was doubtful whether she would not go home again, or go in somewhere to -rest. - -At this moment Monsieur Leon came out from a neighbouring door with a -bundle of papers under his arm. He came to greet her, and stood in the -shade in front of the Lheureux's shop under the projecting grey awning. - -Madame Bovary said she was going to see her baby, but that she was -beginning to grow tired. - -"If--" said Leon, not daring to go on. - -"Have you any business to attend to?" she asked. - -And on the clerk's answer, she begged him to accompany her. That same -evening this was known in Yonville, and Madame Tuvache, the mayor's -wife, declared in the presence of her servant that "Madame Bovary was -compromising herself." - -To get to the nurse's it was necessary to turn to the left on leaving -the street, as if making for the cemetery, and to follow between little -houses and yards a small path bordered with privet hedges. They were -in bloom, and so were the speedwells, eglantines, thistles, and the -sweetbriar that sprang up from the thickets. Through openings in -the hedges one could see into the huts, some pigs on a dung-heap, or -tethered cows rubbing their horns against the trunk of trees. The two, -side by side walked slowly, she leaning upon him, and he restraining -his pace, which he regulated by hers; in front of them a swarm of midges -fluttered, buzzing in the warm air. - -They recognized the house by an old walnut-tree which shaded it. - -Low and covered with brown tiles, there hung outside it, beneath the -dormer-window of the garret, a string of onions. Faggots upright -against a thorn fence surrounded a bed of lettuce, a few square feet of -lavender, and sweet peas strung on sticks. Dirty water was running here -and there on the grass, and all round were several indefinite rags, -knitted stockings, a red calico jacket, and a large sheet of coarse -linen spread over the hedge. At the noise of the gate the nurse appeared -with a baby she was suckling on one arm. With her other hand she was -pulling along a poor puny little fellow, his face covered with scrofula, -the son of a Rouen hosier, whom his parents, too taken up with their -business, left in the country. - -"Go in," she said; "your little one is there asleep." - -The room on the ground-floor, the only one in the dwelling, had at its -farther end, against the wall, a large bed without curtains, while a -kneading-trough took up the side by the window, one pane of which -was mended with a piece of blue paper. In the corner behind the door, -shining hob-nailed shoes stood in a row under the slab of the washstand, -near a bottle of oil with a feather stuck in its mouth; a Matthieu -Laensberg lay on the dusty mantelpiece amid gunflints, candle-ends, and -bits of amadou. - -Finally, the last luxury in the apartment was a "Fame" blowing her -trumpets, a picture cut out, no doubt, from some perfumer's prospectus -and nailed to the wall with six wooden shoe-pegs. - -Emma's child was asleep in a wicker-cradle. She took it up in the -wrapping that enveloped it and began singing softly as she rocked -herself to and fro. - -Leon walked up and down the room; it seemed strange to him to see this -beautiful woman in her nankeen dress in the midst of all this poverty. -Madam Bovary reddened; he turned away, thinking perhaps there had been -an impertinent look in his eyes. Then she put back the little girl, who -had just been sick over her collar. - -The nurse at once came to dry her, protesting that it wouldn't show. - -"She gives me other doses," she said: "I am always a-washing of her. If -you would have the goodness to order Camus, the grocer, to let me have -a little soap, it would really be more convenient for you, as I needn't -trouble you then." - -"Very well! very well!" said Emma. "Good morning, Madame Rollet," and -she went out, wiping her shoes at the door. - -The good woman accompanied her to the end of the garden, talking all the -time of the trouble she had getting up of nights. - -"I'm that worn out sometimes as I drop asleep on my chair. I'm sure you -might at least give me just a pound of ground coffee; that'd last me a -month, and I'd take it of a morning with some milk." - -After having submitted to her thanks, Madam Bovary left. She had gone a -little way down the path when, at the sound of wooden shoes, she turned -round. It was the nurse. - -"What is it?" - -Then the peasant woman, taking her aside behind an elm tree, began -talking to her of her husband, who with his trade and six francs a year -that the captain-- - -"Oh, be quick!" said Emma. - -"Well," the nurse went on, heaving sighs between each word, "I'm afraid -he'll be put out seeing me have coffee alone, you know men--" - -"But you are to have some," Emma repeated; "I will give you some. You -bother me!" - -"Oh, dear! my poor, dear lady! you see in consequence of his wounds he -has terrible cramps in the chest. He even says that cider weakens him." - -"Do make haste, Mere Rollet!" - -"Well," the latter continued, making a curtsey, "if it weren't asking -too much," and she curtsied once more, "if you would"--and her eyes -begged--"a jar of brandy," she said at last, "and I'd rub your little -one's feet with it; they're as tender as one's tongue." - -Once rid of the nurse, Emma again took Monsieur Leon's arm. She walked -fast for some time, then more slowly, and looking straight in front of -her, her eyes rested on the shoulder of the young man, whose frock-coat -had a black-velvety collar. His brown hair fell over it, straight and -carefully arranged. She noticed his nails which were longer than one -wore them at Yonville. It was one of the clerk's chief occupations to -trim them, and for this purpose he kept a special knife in his writing -desk. - -They returned to Yonville by the water-side. In the warm season the -bank, wider than at other times, showed to their foot the garden walls -whence a few steps led to the river. It flowed noiselessly, swift, -and cold to the eye; long, thin grasses huddled together in it as the -current drove them, and spread themselves upon the limpid water like -streaming hair; sometimes at the tip of the reeds or on the leaf of a -water-lily an insect with fine legs crawled or rested. The sun pierced -with a ray the small blue bubbles of the waves that, breaking, followed -each other; branchless old willows mirrored their grey backs in -the water; beyond, all around, the meadows seemed empty. It was the -dinner-hour at the farms, and the young woman and her companion heard -nothing as they walked but the fall of their steps on the earth of the -path, the words they spoke, and the sound of Emma's dress rustling round -her. - -The walls of the gardens with pieces of bottle on their coping were -hot as the glass windows of a conservatory. Wallflowers had sprung up -between the bricks, and with the tip of her open sunshade Madame Bovary, -as she passed, made some of their faded flowers crumble into a yellow -dust, or a spray of overhanging honeysuckle and clematis caught in its -fringe and dangled for a moment over the silk. - -They were talking of a troupe of Spanish dancers who were expected -shortly at the Rouen theatre. - -"Are you going?" she asked. - -"If I can," he answered. - -Had they nothing else to say to one another? Yet their eyes were full -of more serious speech, and while they forced themselves to find trivial -phrases, they felt the same languor stealing over them both. It was the -whisper of the soul, deep, continuous, dominating that of their voices. -Surprised with wonder at this strange sweetness, they did not think of -speaking of the sensation or of seeking its cause. Coming joys, like -tropical shores, throw over the immensity before them their inborn -softness, an odorous wind, and we are lulled by this intoxication -without a thought of the horizon that we do not even know. - -In one place the ground had been trodden down by the cattle; they had to -step on large green stones put here and there in the mud. - -She often stopped a moment to look where to place her foot, and -tottering on a stone that shook, her arms outspread, her form bent -forward with a look of indecision, she would laugh, afraid of falling -into the puddles of water. - -When they arrived in front of her garden, Madame Bovary opened the -little gate, ran up the steps and disappeared. - -Leon returned to his office. His chief was away; he just glanced at the -briefs, then cut himself a pen, and at last took up his hat and went -out. - -He went to La Pature at the top of the Argueil hills at the beginning of -the forest; he threw himself upon the ground under the pines and watched -the sky through his fingers. - -"How bored I am!" he said to himself, "how bored I am!" - -He thought he was to be pitied for living in this village, with Homais -for a friend and Monsieru Guillaumin for master. The latter, entirely -absorbed by his business, wearing gold-rimmed spectacles and red -whiskers over a white cravat, understood nothing of mental refinements, -although he affected a stiff English manner, which in the beginning had -impressed the clerk. - -As to the chemist's spouse, she was the best wife in Normandy, gentle -as a sheep, loving her children, her father, her mother, her cousins, -weeping for other's woes, letting everything go in her household, and -detesting corsets; but so slow of movement, such a bore to listen to, so -common in appearance, and of such restricted conversation, that although -she was thirty, he only twenty, although they slept in rooms next each -other and he spoke to her daily, he never thought that she might be a -woman for another, or that she possessed anything else of her sex than -the gown. - -And what else was there? Binet, a few shopkeepers, two or three -publicans, the cure, and finally, Monsieur Tuvache, the mayor, with his -two sons, rich, crabbed, obtuse persons, who farmed their own lands -and had feasts among themselves, bigoted to boot, and quite unbearable -companions. - -But from the general background of all these human faces Emma's stood -out isolated and yet farthest off; for between her and him he seemed to -see a vague abyss. - -In the beginning he had called on her several times along with the -druggist. Charles had not appeared particularly anxious to see him -again, and Leon did not know what to do between his fear of being -indiscreet and the desire for an intimacy that seemed almost impossible. - - - -Chapter Four - -When the first cold days set in Emma left her bedroom for the -sitting-room, a long apartment with a low ceiling, in which there was -on the mantelpiece a large bunch of coral spread out against the -looking-glass. Seated in her arm chair near the window, she could see -the villagers pass along the pavement. - -Twice a day Leon went from his office to the Lion d'Or. Emma could hear -him coming from afar; she leant forward listening, and the young man -glided past the curtain, always dressed in the same way, and without -turning his head. But in the twilight, when, her chin resting on her -left hand, she let the embroidery she had begun fall on her knees, she -often shuddered at the apparition of this shadow suddenly gliding past. -She would get up and order the table to be laid. - -Monsieur Homais called at dinner-time. Skull-cap in hand, he came in on -tiptoe, in order to disturb no one, always repeating the same phrase, -"Good evening, everybody." Then, when he had taken his seat at the table -between the pair, he asked the doctor about his patients, and the latter -consulted his as to the probability of their payment. Next they talked -of "what was in the paper." - -Homais by this hour knew it almost by heart, and he repeated it from end -to end, with the reflections of the penny-a-liners, and all the stories -of individual catastrophes that had occurred in France or abroad. But -the subject becoming exhausted, he was not slow in throwing out some -remarks on the dishes before him. - -Sometimes even, half-rising, he delicately pointed out to madame the -tenderest morsel, or turning to the servant, gave her some advice on the -manipulation of stews and the hygiene of seasoning. - -He talked aroma, osmazome, juices, and gelatine in a bewildering manner. -Moreover, Homais, with his head fuller of recipes than his shop of jars, -excelled in making all kinds of preserves, vinegars, and sweet liqueurs; -he knew also all the latest inventions in economic stoves, together with -the art of preserving cheese and of curing sick wines. - -At eight o'clock Justin came to fetch him to shut up the shop. - -Then Monsieur Homais gave him a sly look, especially if Felicite was -there, for he half noticed that his apprentice was fond of the doctor's -house. - -"The young dog," he said, "is beginning to have ideas, and the devil -take me if I don't believe he's in love with your servant!" - -But a more serious fault with which he reproached Justin was his -constantly listening to conversation. On Sunday, for example, one could -not get him out of the drawing-room, whither Madame Homais had called -him to fetch the children, who were falling asleep in the arm-chairs, -and dragging down with their backs calico chair-covers that were too -large. - -Not many people came to these soirees at the chemist's, his -scandal-mongering and political opinions having successfully alienated -various respectable persons from him. The clerk never failed to be -there. As soon as he heard the bell he ran to meet Madame Bovary, took -her shawl, and put away under the shop-counter the thick list shoes that -she wore over her boots when there was snow. - -First they played some hands at trente-et-un; next Monsieur Homais -played ecarte with Emma; Leon behind her gave her advice. - -Standing up with his hands on the back of her chair he saw the teeth of -her comb that bit into her chignon. With every movement that she made -to throw her cards the right side of her dress was drawn up. From her -turned-up hair a dark colour fell over her back, and growing gradually -paler, lost itself little by little in the shade. Then her dress fell -on both sides of her chair, puffing out full of folds, and reached the -ground. When Leon occasionally felt the sole of his boot resting on it, -he drew back as if he had trodden upon some one. - -When the game of cards was over, the druggist and the Doctor played -dominoes, and Emma, changing her place, leant her elbow on the table, -turning over the leaves of "L'Illustration". She had brought her ladies' -journal with her. Leon sat down near her; they looked at the engravings -together, and waited for one another at the bottom of the pages. She -often begged him to read her the verses; Leon declaimed them in a -languid voice, to which he carefully gave a dying fall in the love -passages. But the noise of the dominoes annoyed him. Monsieur Homais -was strong at the game; he could beat Charles and give him a double-six. -Then the three hundred finished, they both stretched themselves out in -front of the fire, and were soon asleep. The fire was dying out in the -cinders; the teapot was empty, Leon was still reading. - -Emma listened to him, mechanically turning around the lampshade, on the -gauze of which were painted clowns in carriages, and tight-rope dances -with their balancing-poles. Leon stopped, pointing with a gesture to his -sleeping audience; then they talked in low tones, and their conversation -seemed the more sweet to them because it was unheard. - -Thus a kind of bond was established between them, a constant commerce -of books and of romances. Monsieur Bovary, little given to jealousy, did -not trouble himself about it. - -On his birthday he received a beautiful phrenological head, all marked -with figures to the thorax and painted blue. This was an attention of -the clerk's. He showed him many others, even to doing errands for him -at Rouen; and the book of a novelist having made the mania for cactuses -fashionable, Leon bought some for Madame Bovary, bringing them back on -his knees in the "Hirondelle," pricking his fingers on their hard hairs. - -She had a board with a balustrade fixed against her window to hold the -pots. The clerk, too, had his small hanging garden; they saw each other -tending their flowers at their windows. - -Of the windows of the village there was one yet more often occupied; for -on Sundays from morning to night, and every morning when the weather was -bright, one could see at the dormer-window of the garret the profile of -Monsieur Binet bending over his lathe, whose monotonous humming could be -heard at the Lion d'Or. - -One evening on coming home Leon found in his room a rug in velvet and -wool with leaves on a pale ground. He called Madame Homais, Monsieur -Homais, Justin, the children, the cook; he spoke of it to his chief; -every one wanted to see this rug. Why did the doctor's wife give the -clerk presents? It looked queer. They decided that she must be his -lover. - -He made this seem likely, so ceaselessly did he talk of her charms and -of her wit; so much so, that Binet once roughly answered him-- - -"What does it matter to me since I'm not in her set?" - -He tortured himself to find out how he could make his declaration to -her, and always halting between the fear of displeasing her and the -shame of being such a coward, he wept with discouragement and desire. -Then he took energetic resolutions, wrote letters that he tore up, put -it off to times that he again deferred. - -Often he set out with the determination to dare all; but this resolution -soon deserted him in Emma's presence, and when Charles, dropping in, -invited him to jump into his chaise to go with him to see some patient -in the neighbourhood, he at once accepted, bowed to madame, and went -out. Her husband, was he not something belonging to her? As to Emma, -she did not ask herself whether she loved. Love, she thought, must come -suddenly, with great outbursts and lightnings--a hurricane of the skies, -which falls upon life, revolutionises it, roots up the will like a leaf, -and sweeps the whole heart into the abyss. She did not know that on -the terrace of houses it makes lakes when the pipes are choked, and she -would thus have remained in her security when she suddenly discovered a -rent in the wall of it. - - - -Chapter Five - -It was a Sunday in February, an afternoon when the snow was falling. - -They had all, Monsieur and Madame Bovary, Homais, and Monsieur Leon, -gone to see a yarn-mill that was being built in the valley a mile and a -half from Yonville. The druggist had taken Napoleon and Athalie to give -them some exercise, and Justin accompanied them, carrying the umbrellas -on his shoulder. - -Nothing, however, could be less curious than this curiosity. A great -piece of waste ground, on which pell-mell, amid a mass of sand and -stones, were a few break-wheels, already rusty, surrounded by a -quadrangular building pierced by a number of little windows. The -building was unfinished; the sky could be seen through the joists of the -roofing. Attached to the stop-plank of the gable a bunch of straw mixed -with corn-ears fluttered its tricoloured ribbons in the wind. - -Homais was talking. He explained to the company the future importance -of this establishment, computed the strength of the floorings, the -thickness of the walls, and regretted extremely not having a yard-stick -such as Monsieur Binet possessed for his own special use. - -Emma, who had taken his arm, bent lightly against his shoulder, and -she looked at the sun's disc shedding afar through the mist his pale -splendour. She turned. Charles was there. His cap was drawn down over -his eyebrows, and his two thick lips were trembling, which added a look -of stupidity to his face; his very back, his calm back, was irritating -to behold, and she saw written upon his coat all the platitude of the -bearer. - -While she was considering him thus, tasting in her irritation a sort of -depraved pleasure, Leon made a step forward. The cold that made him pale -seemed to add a more gentle languor to his face; between his cravat and -his neck the somewhat loose collar of his shirt showed the skin; the -lobe of his ear looked out from beneath a lock of hair, and his large -blue eyes, raised to the clouds, seemed to Emma more limpid and more -beautiful than those mountain-lakes where the heavens are mirrored. - -"Wretched boy!" suddenly cried the chemist. - -And he ran to his son, who had just precipitated himself into a heap of -lime in order to whiten his boots. At the reproaches with which he was -being overwhelmed Napoleon began to roar, while Justin dried his shoes -with a wisp of straw. But a knife was wanted; Charles offered his. - -"Ah!" she said to herself, "he carried a knife in his pocket like a -peasant." - -The hoar-frost was falling, and they turned back to Yonville. - -In the evening Madame Bovary did not go to her neighbour's, and when -Charles had left and she felt herself alone, the comparison re-began -with the clearness of a sensation almost actual, and with that -lengthening of perspective which memory gives to things. Looking from -her bed at the clean fire that was burning, she still saw, as she had -down there, Leon standing up with one hand behind his cane, and with -the other holding Athalie, who was quietly sucking a piece of ice. She -thought him charming; she could not tear herself away from him; she -recalled his other attitudes on other days, the words he had spoken, the -sound of his voice, his whole person; and she repeated, pouting out her -lips as if for a kiss-- - -"Yes, charming! charming! Is he not in love?" she asked herself; "but -with whom? With me?" - -All the proofs arose before her at once; her heart leapt. The flame of -the fire threw a joyous light upon the ceiling; she turned on her back, -stretching out her arms. - -Then began the eternal lamentation: "Oh, if Heaven had not willed it! -And why not? What prevented it?" - -When Charles came home at midnight, she seemed to have just awakened, -and as he made a noise undressing, she complained of a headache, then -asked carelessly what had happened that evening. - -"Monsieur Leon," he said, "went to his room early." - -She could not help smiling, and she fell asleep, her soul filled with a -new delight. - -The next day, at dusk, she received a visit from Monsieur Lherueux, the -draper. He was a man of ability, was this shopkeeper. Born a Gascon but -bred a Norman, he grafted upon his southern volubility the cunning of -the Cauchois. His fat, flabby, beardless face seemed dyed by a -decoction of liquorice, and his white hair made even more vivid the -keen brilliance of his small black eyes. No one knew what he had been -formerly; a pedlar said some, a banker at Routot according to others. -What was certain was that he made complex calculations in his head that -would have frightened Binet himself. Polite to obsequiousness, he always -held himself with his back bent in the position of one who bows or who -invites. - -After leaving at the door his hat surrounded with crape, he put down -a green bandbox on the table, and began by complaining to madame, with -many civilities, that he should have remained till that day without -gaining her confidence. A poor shop like his was not made to attract -a "fashionable lady"; he emphasized the words; yet she had only to -command, and he would undertake to provide her with anything she might -wish, either in haberdashery or linen, millinery or fancy goods, for -he went to town regularly four times a month. He was connected with the -best houses. You could speak of him at the "Trois Freres," at the "Barbe -d'Or," or at the "Grand Sauvage"; all these gentlemen knew him as -well as the insides of their pockets. To-day, then he had come to show -madame, in passing, various articles he happened to have, thanks to -the most rare opportunity. And he pulled out half-a-dozen embroidered -collars from the box. - -Madame Bovary examined them. "I do not require anything," she said. - -Then Monsieur Lheureux delicately exhibited three Algerian scarves, -several packets of English needles, a pair of straw slippers, and -finally, four eggcups in cocoanut wood, carved in open work by convicts. -Then, with both hands on the table, his neck stretched out, his figure -bent forward, open-mouthed, he watched Emma's look, who was walking up -and down undecided amid these goods. From time to time, as if to remove -some dust, he filliped with his nail the silk of the scarves spread -out at full length, and they rustled with a little noise, making in the -green twilight the gold spangles of their tissue scintillate like little -stars. - -"How much are they?" - -"A mere nothing," he replied, "a mere nothing. But there's no hurry; -whenever it's convenient. We are not Jews." - -She reflected for a few moments, and ended by again declining Monsieur -Lheureux's offer. He replied quite unconcernedly-- - -"Very well. We shall understand one another by and by. I have always got -on with ladies--if I didn't with my own!" - -Emma smiled. - -"I wanted to tell you," he went on good-naturedly, after his joke, "that -it isn't the money I should trouble about. Why, I could give you some, -if need be." - -She made a gesture of surprise. - -"Ah!" said he quickly and in a low voice, "I shouldn't have to go far to -find you some, rely on that." - -And he began asking after Pere Tellier, the proprietor of the "Cafe -Francais," whom Monsieur Bovary was then attending. - -"What's the matter with Pere Tellier? He coughs so that he shakes his -whole house, and I'm afraid he'll soon want a deal covering rather than -a flannel vest. He was such a rake as a young man! Those sort of people, -madame, have not the least regularity; he's burnt up with brandy. Still -it's sad, all the same, to see an acquaintance go off." - -And while he fastened up his box he discoursed about the doctor's -patients. - -"It's the weather, no doubt," he said, looking frowningly at the floor, -"that causes these illnesses. I, too, don't feel the thing. One of these -days I shall even have to consult the doctor for a pain I have in my -back. Well, good-bye, Madame Bovary. At your service; your very humble -servant." And he closed the door gently. - -Emma had her dinner served in her bedroom on a tray by the fireside; she -was a long time over it; everything was well with her. - -"How good I was!" she said to herself, thinking of the scarves. - -She heard some steps on the stairs. It was Leon. She got up and took -from the chest of drawers the first pile of dusters to be hemmed. When -he came in she seemed very busy. - -The conversation languished; Madame Bovary gave it up every few minutes, -whilst he himself seemed quite embarrassed. Seated on a low chair near -the fire, he turned round in his fingers the ivory thimble-case. She -stitched on, or from time to time turned down the hem of the cloth with -her nail. She did not speak; he was silent, captivated by her silence, -as he would have been by her speech. - -"Poor fellow!" she thought. - -"How have I displeased her?" he asked himself. - -At last, however, Leon said that he should have, one of these days, to -go to Rouen on some office business. - -"Your music subscription is out; am I to renew it?" - -"No," she replied. - -"Why?" - -"Because--" - -And pursing her lips she slowly drew a long stitch of grey thread. - -This work irritated Leon. It seemed to roughen the ends of her fingers. -A gallant phrase came into his head, but he did not risk it. - -"Then you are giving it up?" he went on. - -"What?" she asked hurriedly. "Music? Ah! yes! Have I not my house to -look after, my husband to attend to, a thousand things, in fact, many -duties that must be considered first?" - -She looked at the clock. Charles was late. Then, she affected anxiety. -Two or three times she even repeated, "He is so good!" - -The clerk was fond of Monsieur Bovary. But this tenderness on his behalf -astonished him unpleasantly; nevertheless he took up on his praises, -which he said everyone was singing, especially the chemist. - -"Ah! he is a good fellow," continued Emma. - -"Certainly," replied the clerk. - -And he began talking of Madame Homais, whose very untidy appearance -generally made them laugh. - -"What does it matter?" interrupted Emma. "A good housewife does not -trouble about her appearance." - -Then she relapsed into silence. - -It was the same on the following days; her talks, her manners, -everything changed. She took interest in the housework, went to church -regularly, and looked after her servant with more severity. - -She took Berthe from nurse. When visitors called, Felicite brought her -in, and Madame Bovary undressed her to show off her limbs. She declared -she adored children; this was her consolation, her joy, her passion, -and she accompanied her caresses with lyrical outburst which would have -reminded anyone but the Yonville people of Sachette in "Notre Dame de -Paris." - -When Charles came home he found his slippers put to warm near the fire. -His waistcoat now never wanted lining, nor his shirt buttons, and it was -quite a pleasure to see in the cupboard the night-caps arranged in piles -of the same height. She no longer grumbled as formerly at taking a turn -in the garden; what he proposed was always done, although she did not -understand the wishes to which she submitted without a murmur; and when -Leon saw him by his fireside after dinner, his two hands on his stomach, -his two feet on the fender, his two cheeks red with feeding, his eyes -moist with happiness, the child crawling along the carpet, and this -woman with the slender waist who came behind his arm-chair to kiss his -forehead: "What madness!" he said to himself. "And how to reach her!" - -And thus she seemed so virtuous and inaccessible to him that he lost all -hope, even the faintest. But by this renunciation he placed her on -an extraordinary pinnacle. To him she stood outside those fleshly -attributes from which he had nothing to obtain, and in his heart she -rose ever, and became farther removed from him after the magnificent -manner of an apotheosis that is taking wing. It was one of those pure -feelings that do not interfere with life, that are cultivated because -they are rare, and whose loss would afflict more than their passion -rejoices. - -Emma grew thinner, her cheeks paler, her face longer. With her black -hair, her large eyes, her aquiline nose, her birdlike walk, and always -silent now, did she not seem to be passing through life scarcely -touching it, and to bear on her brow the vague impress of some divine -destiny? She was so sad and so calm, at once so gentle and so reserved, -that near her one felt oneself seized by an icy charm, as we shudder -in churches at the perfume of the flowers mingling with the cold of the -marble. The others even did not escape from this seduction. The chemist -said-- - -"She is a woman of great parts, who wouldn't be misplaced in a -sub-prefecture." - -The housewives admired her economy, the patients her politeness, the -poor her charity. - -But she was eaten up with desires, with rage, with hate. That dress with -the narrow folds hid a distracted fear, of whose torment those chaste -lips said nothing. She was in love with Leon, and sought solitude that -she might with the more ease delight in his image. The sight of his -form troubled the voluptuousness of this mediation. Emma thrilled at -the sound of his step; then in his presence the emotion subsided, and -afterwards there remained to her only an immense astonishment that ended -in sorrow. - -Leon did not know that when he left her in despair she rose after he had -gone to see him in the street. She concerned herself about his comings -and goings; she watched his face; she invented quite a history to find -an excuse for going to his room. The chemist's wife seemed happy to her -to sleep under the same roof, and her thoughts constantly centered upon -this house, like the "Lion d'Or" pigeons, who came there to dip their -red feet and white wings in its gutters. But the more Emma recognised -her love, the more she crushed it down, that it might not be evident, -that she might make it less. She would have liked Leon to guess it, and -she imagined chances, catastrophes that should facilitate this. - -What restrained her was, no doubt, idleness and fear, and a sense of -shame also. She thought she had repulsed him too much, that the time was -past, that all was lost. Then, pride, and joy of being able to say to -herself, "I am virtuous," and to look at herself in the glass taking -resigned poses, consoled her a little for the sacrifice she believed she -was making. - -Then the lusts of the flesh, the longing for money, and the melancholy -of passion all blended themselves into one suffering, and instead of -turning her thoughts from it, she clave to it the more, urging herself -to pain, and seeking everywhere occasion for it. She was irritated by -an ill-served dish or by a half-open door; bewailed the velvets she had -not, the happiness she had missed, her too exalted dreams, her narrow -home. - -What exasperated her was that Charles did not seem to notice her -anguish. His conviction that he was making her happy seemed to her an -imbecile insult, and his sureness on this point ingratitude. For whose -sake, then was she virtuous? Was it not for him, the obstacle to all -felicity, the cause of all misery, and, as it were, the sharp clasp of -that complex strap that bucked her in on all sides. - -On him alone, then, she concentrated all the various hatreds that -resulted from her boredom, and every effort to diminish only augmented -it; for this useless trouble was added to the other reasons for despair, -and contributed still more to the separation between them. Her own -gentleness to herself made her rebel against him. Domestic mediocrity -drove her to lewd fancies, marriage tenderness to adulterous desires. -She would have liked Charles to beat her, that she might have a better -right to hate him, to revenge herself upon him. She was surprised -sometimes at the atrocious conjectures that came into her thoughts, and -she had to go on smiling, to hear repeated to her at all hours that she -was happy, to pretend to be happy, to let it be believed. - -Yet she had loathing of this hypocrisy. She was seized with the -temptation to flee somewhere with Leon to try a new life; but at once a -vague chasm full of darkness opened within her soul. - -"Besides, he no longer loves me," she thought. "What is to become of me? -What help is to be hoped for, what consolation, what solace?" - -She was left broken, breathless, inert, sobbing in a low voice, with -flowing tears. - -"Why don't you tell master?" the servant asked her when she came in -during these crises. - -"It is the nerves," said Emma. "Do not speak to him of it; it would -worry him." - -"Ah! yes," Felicite went on, "you are just like La Guerine, Pere -Guerin's daughter, the fisherman at Pollet, that I used to know at -Dieppe before I came to you. She was so sad, so sad, to see her -standing upright on the threshold of her house, she seemed to you like a -winding-sheet spread out before the door. Her illness, it appears, was -a kind of fog that she had in her head, and the doctors could not do -anything, nor the priest either. When she was taken too bad she went -off quite alone to the sea-shore, so that the customs officer, going his -rounds, often found her lying flat on her face, crying on the shingle. -Then, after her marriage, it went off, they say." - -"But with me," replied Emma, "it was after marriage that it began." - - - -Chapter Six - -One evening when the window was open, and she, sitting by it, had been -watching Lestiboudois, the beadle, trimming the box, she suddenly heard -the Angelus ringing. - -It was the beginning of April, when the primroses are in bloom, and a -warm wind blows over the flower-beds newly turned, and the gardens, like -women, seem to be getting ready for the summer fetes. Through the bars -of the arbour and away beyond the river seen in the fields, meandering -through the grass in wandering curves. The evening vapours rose between -the leafless poplars, touching their outlines with a violet tint, paler -and more transparent than a subtle gauze caught athwart their branches. -In the distance cattle moved about; neither their steps nor their lowing -could be heard; and the bell, still ringing through the air, kept up its -peaceful lamentation. - -With this repeated tinkling the thoughts of the young woman lost -themselves in old memories of her youth and school-days. She remembered -the great candlesticks that rose above the vases full of flowers on the -altar, and the tabernacle with its small columns. She would have liked -to be once more lost in the long line of white veils, marked off here -and there by the stuff black hoods of the good sisters bending over -their prie-Dieu. At mass on Sundays, when she looked up, she saw the -gentle face of the Virgin amid the blue smoke of the rising incense. -Then she was moved; she felt herself weak and quite deserted, like the -down of a bird whirled by the tempest, and it was unconsciously that she -went towards the church, included to no matter what devotions, so that -her soul was absorbed and all existence lost in it. - -On the Place she met Lestivoudois on his way back, for, in order not -to shorten his day's labour, he preferred interrupting his work, -then beginning it again, so that he rang the Angelus to suit his own -convenience. Besides, the ringing over a little earlier warned the lads -of catechism hour. - -Already a few who had arrived were playing marbles on the stones of the -cemetery. Others, astride the wall, swung their legs, kicking with their -clogs the large nettles growing between the little enclosure and the -newest graves. This was the only green spot. All the rest was but -stones, always covered with a fine powder, despite the vestry-broom. - -The children in list shoes ran about there as if it were an enclosure -made for them. The shouts of their voices could be heard through the -humming of the bell. This grew less and less with the swinging of the -great rope that, hanging from the top of the belfry, dragged its end on -the ground. Swallows flitted to and fro uttering little cries, cut the -air with the edge of their wings, and swiftly returned to their yellow -nests under the tiles of the coping. At the end of the church a lamp was -burning, the wick of a night-light in a glass hung up. Its light from a -distance looked like a white stain trembling in the oil. A long ray of -the sun fell across the nave and seemed to darken the lower sides and -the corners. - -"Where is the cure?" asked Madame Bovary of one of the lads, who was -amusing himself by shaking a swivel in a hole too large for it. - -"He is just coming," he answered. - -And in fact the door of the presbytery grated; Abbe Bournisien appeared; -the children, pell-mell, fled into the church. - -"These young scamps!" murmured the priest, "always the same!" - -Then, picking up a catechism all in rags that he had struck with is -foot, "They respect nothing!" But as soon as he caught sight of Madame -Bovary, "Excuse me," he said; "I did not recognise you." - -He thrust the catechism into his pocket, and stopped short, balancing -the heavy vestry key between his two fingers. - -The light of the setting sun that fell full upon his face paled the -lasting of his cassock, shiny at the elbows, unravelled at the hem. -Grease and tobacco stains followed along his broad chest the lines -of the buttons, and grew more numerous the farther they were from his -neckcloth, in which the massive folds of his red chin rested; this was -dotted with yellow spots, that disappeared beneath the coarse hair of -his greyish beard. He had just dined and was breathing noisily. - -"How are you?" he added. - -"Not well," replied Emma; "I am ill." - -"Well, and so am I," answered the priest. "These first warm days weaken -one most remarkably, don't they? But, after all, we are born to suffer, -as St. Paul says. But what does Monsieur Bovary think of it?" - -"He!" she said with a gesture of contempt. - -"What!" replied the good fellow, quite astonished, "doesn't he prescribe -something for you?" - -"Ah!" said Emma, "it is no earthly remedy I need." - -But the cure from time to time looked into the church, where the -kneeling boys were shouldering one another, and tumbling over like packs -of cards. - -"I should like to know--" she went on. - -"You look out, Riboudet," cried the priest in an angry voice; "I'll warm -your ears, you imp!" Then turning to Emma, "He's Boudet the carpenter's -son; his parents are well off, and let him do just as he pleases. Yet he -could learn quickly if he would, for he is very sharp. And so sometimes -for a joke I call him Riboudet (like the road one takes to go to -Maromme) and I even say 'Mon Riboudet.' Ha! Ha! 'Mont Riboudet.' The -other day I repeated that just to Monsignor, and he laughed at it; he -condescended to laugh at it. And how is Monsieur Bovary?" - -She seemed not to hear him. And he went on-- - -"Always very busy, no doubt; for he and I are certainly the busiest -people in the parish. But he is doctor of the body," he added with a -thick laugh, "and I of the soul." - -She fixed her pleading eyes upon the priest. "Yes," she said, "you -solace all sorrows." - -"Ah! don't talk to me of it, Madame Bovary. This morning I had to go to -Bas-Diauville for a cow that was ill; they thought it was under a spell. -All their cows, I don't know how it is--But pardon me! Longuemarre and -Boudet! Bless me! Will you leave off?" - -And with a bound he ran into the church. - -The boys were just then clustering round the large desk, climbing over -the precentor's footstool, opening the missal; and others on tiptoe were -just about to venture into the confessional. But the priest suddenly -distributed a shower of cuffs among them. Seizing them by the collars of -their coats, he lifted them from the ground, and deposited them on their -knees on the stones of the choir, firmly, as if he meant planting them -there. - -"Yes," said he, when he returned to Emma, unfolding his large cotton -handkerchief, one corner of which he put between his teeth, "farmers are -much to be pitied." - -"Others, too," she replied. - -"Assuredly. Town-labourers, for example." - -"It is not they--" - -"Pardon! I've there known poor mothers of families, virtuous women, I -assure you, real saints, who wanted even bread." - -"But those," replied Emma, and the corners of her mouth twitched as she -spoke, "those, Monsieur le Cure, who have bread and have no--" - -"Fire in the winter," said the priest. - -"Oh, what does that matter?" - -"What! What does it matter? It seems to me that when one has firing and -food--for, after all--" - -"My God! my God!" she sighed. - -"It is indigestion, no doubt? You must get home, Madame Bovary; drink -a little tea, that will strengthen you, or else a glass of fresh water -with a little moist sugar." - -"Why?" And she looked like one awaking from a dream. - -"Well, you see, you were putting your hand to your forehead. I thought -you felt faint." Then, bethinking himself, "But you were asking me -something? What was it? I really don't remember." - -"I? Nothing! nothing!" repeated Emma. - -And the glance she cast round her slowly fell upon the old man in the -cassock. They looked at one another face to face without speaking. - -"Then, Madame Bovary," he said at last, "excuse me, but duty first, you -know; I must look after my good-for-nothings. The first communion will -soon be upon us, and I fear we shall be behind after all. So after -Ascension Day I keep them recta* an extra hour every Wednesday. Poor -children! One cannot lead them too soon into the path of the Lord, as, -moreover, he has himself recommended us to do by the mouth of his Divine -Son. Good health to you, madame; my respects to your husband." - - *On the straight and narrow path. - -And he went into the church making a genuflexion as soon as he reached -the door. - -Emma saw him disappear between the double row of forms, walking with a -heavy tread, his head a little bent over his shoulder, and with his two -hands half-open behind him. - -Then she turned on her heel all of one piece, like a statue on a pivot, -and went homewards. But the loud voice of the priest, the clear voices -of the boys still reached her ears, and went on behind her. - -"Are you a Christian?" - -"Yes, I am a Christian." - -"What is a Christian?" - -"He who, being baptized-baptized-baptized--" - -She went up the steps of the staircase holding on to the banisters, and -when she was in her room threw herself into an arm-chair. - -The whitish light of the window-panes fell with soft undulations. - -The furniture in its place seemed to have become more immobile, and to -lose itself in the shadow as in an ocean of darkness. The fire was out, -the clock went on ticking, and Emma vaguely marvelled at this calm of -all things while within herself was such tumult. But little Berthe was -there, between the window and the work-table, tottering on her knitted -shoes, and trying to come to her mother to catch hold of the ends of her -apron-strings. - -"Leave me alone," said the latter, putting her from her with her hand. - -The little girl soon came up closer against her knees, and leaning on -them with her arms, she looked up with her large blue eyes, while a -small thread of pure saliva dribbled from her lips on to the silk apron. - -"Leave me alone," repeated the young woman quite irritably. - -Her face frightened the child, who began to scream. - -"Will you leave me alone?" she said, pushing her with her elbow. - -Berthe fell at the foot of the drawers against the brass handle, cutting -her cheek, which began to bleed, against it. Madame Bovary sprang to -lift her up, broke the bell-rope, called for the servant with all her -might, and she was just going to curse herself when Charles appeared. It -was the dinner-hour; he had come home. - -"Look, dear!" said Emma, in a calm voice, "the little one fell down -while she was playing, and has hurt herself." - -Charles reassured her; the case was not a serious one, and he went for -some sticking plaster. - -Madame Bovary did not go downstairs to the dining-room; she wished -to remain alone to look after the child. Then watching her sleep, the -little anxiety she felt gradually wore off, and she seemed very stupid -to herself, and very good to have been so worried just now at so little. -Berthe, in fact, no longer sobbed. - -Her breathing now imperceptibly raised the cotton covering. Big tears -lay in the corner of the half-closed eyelids, through whose lashes one -could see two pale sunken pupils; the plaster stuck on her cheek drew -the skin obliquely. - -"It is very strange," thought Emma, "how ugly this child is!" - -When at eleven o'clock Charles came back from the chemist's shop, -whither he had gone after dinner to return the remainder of the -sticking-plaster, he found his wife standing by the cradle. - -"I assure you it's nothing." he said, kissing her on the forehead. -"Don't worry, my poor darling; you will make yourself ill." - -He had stayed a long time at the chemist's. Although he had not seemed -much moved, Homais, nevertheless, had exerted himself to buoy him up, to -"keep up his spirits." Then they had talked of the various dangers that -threaten childhood, of the carelessness of servants. Madame Homais knew -something of it, having still upon her chest the marks left by a basin -full of soup that a cook had formerly dropped on her pinafore, and -her good parents took no end of trouble for her. The knives were not -sharpened, nor the floors waxed; there were iron gratings to the windows -and strong bars across the fireplace; the little Homais, in spite of -their spirit, could not stir without someone watching them; at the -slightest cold their father stuffed them with pectorals; and until -they were turned four they all, without pity, had to wear wadded -head-protectors. This, it is true, was a fancy of Madame Homais'; her -husband was inwardly afflicted at it. Fearing the possible consequences -of such compression to the intellectual organs. He even went so far as -to say to her, "Do you want to make Caribs or Botocudos of them?" - -Charles, however, had several times tried to interrupt the conversation. -"I should like to speak to you," he had whispered in the clerk's ear, -who went upstairs in front of him. - -"Can he suspect anything?" Leon asked himself. His heart beat, and he -racked his brain with surmises. - -At last, Charles, having shut the door, asked him to see himself -what would be the price at Rouen of a fine daguerreotypes. It was a -sentimental surprise he intended for his wife, a delicate attention--his -portrait in a frock-coat. But he wanted first to know "how much it would -be." The inquiries would not put Monsieur Leon out, since he went to -town almost every week. - -Why? Monsieur Homais suspected some "young man's affair" at the bottom -of it, an intrigue. But he was mistaken. Leon was after no love-making. -He was sadder than ever, as Madame Lefrancois saw from the amount of -food he left on his plate. To find out more about it she questioned -the tax-collector. Binet answered roughly that he "wasn't paid by the -police." - -All the same, his companion seemed very strange to him, for Leon often -threw himself back in his chair, and stretching out his arms, complained vaguely of life. - -"It's because you don't take enough recreation," said the collector. - -"What recreation?" - -"If I were you I'd have a lathe." - -"But I don't know how to turn," answered the clerk. - -"Ah! that's true," said the other, rubbing his chin with an air of -mingled contempt and satisfaction. - -Leon was weary of loving without any result; moreover he was beginning -to feel that depression caused by the repetition of the same kind of -life, when no interest inspires and no hope sustains it. He was so bored -with Yonville and its inhabitants, that the sight of certain persons, -of certain houses, irritated him beyond endurance; and the chemist, good -fellow though he was, was becoming absolutely unbearable to him. Yet -the prospect of a new condition of life frightened as much as it seduced -him. - -This apprehension soon changed into impatience, and then Paris from afar -sounded its fanfare of masked balls with the laugh of grisettes. As he -was to finish reading there, why not set out at once? What prevented -him? And he began making home-preparations; he arranged his occupations -beforehand. He furnished in his head an apartment. He would lead an -artist's life there! He would take lessons on the guitar! He would have -a dressing-gown, a Basque cap, blue velvet slippers! He even already was -admiring two crossed foils over his chimney-piece, with a death's head -on the guitar above them. - -The difficulty was the consent of his mother; nothing, however, seemed -more reasonable. Even his employer advised him to go to some other -chambers where he could advance more rapidly. Taking a middle course, -then, Leon looked for some place as second clerk at Rouen; found none, -and at last wrote his mother a long letter full of details, in which -he set forth the reasons for going to live at Paris immediately. She -consented. - -He did not hurry. Every day for a month Hivert carried boxes, valises, -parcels for him from Yonville to Rouen and from Rouen to Yonville; -and when Leon had packed up his wardrobe, had his three arm-chairs -restuffed, bought a stock of neckties, in a word, had made more -preparations than for a voyage around the world, he put it off from week -to week, until he received a second letter from his mother urging him to -leave, since he wanted to pass his examination before the vacation. - -When the moment for the farewells had come, Madame Homais wept, Justin -sobbed; Homais, as a man of nerve, concealed his emotion; he wished to -carry his friend's overcoat himself as far as the gate of the notary, -who was taking Leon to Rouen in his carriage. - -The latter had just time to bid farewell to Monsieur Bovary. - -When he reached the head of the stairs, he stopped, he was so out of -breath. As he came in, Madame Bovary arose hurriedly. - -"It is I again!" said Leon. - -"I was sure of it!" - -She bit her lips, and a rush of blood flowing under her skin made her -red from the roots of her hair to the top of her collar. She remained -standing, leaning with her shoulder against the wainscot. - -"The doctor is not here?" he went on. - -"He is out." She repeated, "He is out." - -Then there was silence. They looked at one another and their thoughts, -confounded in the same agony, clung close together like two throbbing -breasts. - -"I should like to kiss Berthe," said Leon. - -Emma went down a few steps and called Felicite. - -He threw one long look around him that took in the walls, the -decorations, the fireplace, as if to penetrate everything, carry away -everything. But she returned, and the servant brought Berthe, who was -swinging a windmill roof downwards at the end of a string. Leon kissed -her several times on the neck. - -"Good-bye, poor child! good-bye, dear little one! good-bye!" And he gave -her back to her mother. - -"Take her away," she said. - -They remained alone--Madame Bovary, her back turned, her face pressed -against a window-pane; Leon held his cap in his hand, knocking it softly -against his thigh. - -"It is going to rain," said Emma. - -"I have a cloak," he answered. - -"Ah!" - -She turned around, her chin lowered, her forehead bent forward. - -The light fell on it as on a piece of marble, to the curve of the -eyebrows, without one's being able to guess what Emma was seeing on the -horizon or what she was thinking within herself. - -"Well, good-bye," he sighed. - -She raised her head with a quick movement. - -"Yes, good-bye--go!" - -They advanced towards each other; he held out his hand; she hesitated. - -"In the English fashion, then," she said, giving her own hand wholly to -him, and forcing a laugh. - -Leon felt it between his fingers, and the very essence of all his being -seemed to pass down into that moist palm. Then he opened his hand; their -eyes met again, and he disappeared. - -When he reached the market-place, he stopped and hid behind a pillar to -look for the last time at this white house with the four green blinds. -He thought he saw a shadow behind the window in the room; but the -curtain, sliding along the pole as though no one were touching it, -slowly opened its long oblique folds that spread out with a single -movement, and thus hung straight and motionless as a plaster wall. Leon -set off running. - -From afar he saw his employer's gig in the road, and by it a man in -a coarse apron holding the horse. Homais and Monsieur Guillaumin were -talking. They were waiting for him. - -"Embrace me," said the druggist with tears in his eyes. "Here is your -coat, my good friend. Mind the cold; take care of yourself; look after -yourself." - -"Come, Leon, jump in," said the notary. - -Homais bent over the splash-board, and in a voice broken by sobs uttered -these three sad words-- - -"A pleasant journey!" - -"Good-night," said Monsieur Guillaumin. "Give him his head." They set -out, and Homais went back. - -Madame Bovary had opened her window overlooking the garden and watched -the clouds. They gathered around the sunset on the side of Rouen and -then swiftly rolled back their black columns, behind which the great -rays of the sun looked out like the golden arrows of a suspended trophy, -while the rest of the empty heavens was white as porcelain. But a gust -of wind bowed the poplars, and suddenly the rain fell; it pattered -against the green leaves. - -Then the sun reappeared, the hens clucked, sparrows shook their wings in -the damp thickets, and the pools of water on the gravel as they flowed -away carried off the pink flowers of an acacia. - -"Ah! how far off he must be already!" she thought. - -Monsieur Homais, as usual, came at half-past six during dinner. - -"Well," said he, "so we've sent off our young friend!" - -"So it seems," replied the doctor. Then turning on his chair; "Any news -at home?" - -"Nothing much. Only my wife was a little moved this afternoon. You know -women--a nothing upsets them, especially my wife. And we should be -wrong to object to that, since their nervous organization is much more -malleable than ours." - -"Poor Leon!" said Charles. "How will he live at Paris? Will he get used -to it?" - -Madame Bovary sighed. - -"Get along!" said the chemist, smacking his lips. "The outings at -restaurants, the masked balls, the champagne--all that'll be jolly -enough, I assure you." - -"I don't think he'll go wrong," objected Bovary. - -"Nor do I," said Monsieur Homais quickly; "although he'll have to do -like the rest for fear of passing for a Jesuit. And you don't know what -a life those dogs lead in the Latin quarter with actresses. Besides, -students are thought a great deal of in Paris. Provided they have a few -accomplishments, they are received in the best society; there are even -ladies of the Faubourg Saint-Germain who fall in love with them, which -subsequently furnishes them opportunities for making very good matches." - -"But," said the doctor, "I fear for him that down there--" - -"You are right," interrupted the chemist; "that is the reverse of the -medal. And one is constantly obliged to keep one's hand in one's pocket -there. Thus, we will suppose you are in a public garden. An individual -presents himself, well dressed, even wearing an order, and whom one -would take for a diplomatist. He approaches you, he insinuates himself; -offers you a pinch of snuff, or picks up your hat. Then you become more -intimate; he takes you to a cafe, invites you to his country-house, -introduces you, between two drinks, to all sorts of people; and -three-fourths of the time it's only to plunder your watch or lead you -into some pernicious step. - -"That is true," said Charles; "but I was thinking especially of -illnesses--of typhoid fever, for example, that attacks students from the -provinces." - -Emma shuddered. - -"Because of the change of regimen," continued the chemist, "and of the -perturbation that results therefrom in the whole system. And then the -water at Paris, don't you know! The dishes at restaurants, all the -spiced food, end by heating the blood, and are not worth, whatever -people may say of them, a good soup. For my own part, I have always -preferred plain living; it is more healthy. So when I was studying -pharmacy at Rouen, I boarded in a boarding house; I dined with the -professors." - -And thus he went on, expounding his opinions generally and his personal -likings, until Justin came to fetch him for a mulled egg that was -wanted. - -"Not a moment's peace!" he cried; "always at it! I can't go out for a -minute! Like a plough-horse, I have always to be moiling and toiling. -What drudgery!" Then, when he was at the door, "By the way, do you know -the news?" - -"What news?" - -"That it is very likely," Homais went on, raising his eyebrows and -assuming one of his most serious expression, "that the agricultural -meeting of the Seine-Inferieure will be held this year at -Yonville-l'Abbaye. The rumour, at all events, is going the round. This -morning the paper alluded to it. It would be of the utmost importance -for our district. But we'll talk it over later on. I can see, thank you; -Justin has the lantern." - - - -Chapter Seven - -The next day was a dreary one for Emma. Everything seemed to her -enveloped in a black atmosphere floating confusedly over the exterior of -things, and sorrow was engulfed within her soul with soft shrieks such -as the winter wind makes in ruined castles. It was that reverie which we -give to things that will not return, the lassitude that seizes you after -everything was done; that pain, in fine, that the interruption of every -wonted movement, the sudden cessation of any prolonged vibration, brings -on. - -As on the return from Vaubyessard, when the quadrilles were running in -her head, she was full of a gloomy melancholy, of a numb despair. -Leon reappeared, taller, handsomer, more charming, more vague. Though -separated from her, he had not left her; he was there, and the walls of -the house seemed to hold his shadow. - -She could not detach her eyes from the carpet where he had walked, from -those empty chairs where he had sat. The river still flowed on, and -slowly drove its ripples along the slippery banks. - -They had often walked there to the murmur of the waves over the -moss-covered pebbles. How bright the sun had been! What happy afternoons -they had seen alone in the shade at the end of the garden! He read -aloud, bareheaded, sitting on a footstool of dry sticks; the fresh wind -of the meadow set trembling the leaves of the book and the nasturtiums -of the arbour. Ah! he was gone, the only charm of her life, the only -possible hope of joy. Why had she not seized this happiness when it came -to her? Why not have kept hold of it with both hands, with both knees, -when it was about to flee from her? And she cursed herself for not -having loved Leon. She thirsted for his lips. The wish took possession -of her to run after and rejoin him, throw herself into his arms and -say to him, "It is I; I am yours." But Emma recoiled beforehand at the -difficulties of the enterprise, and her desires, increased by regret, -became only the more acute. - -Henceforth the memory of Leon was the centre of her boredom; it burnt -there more brightly than the fire travellers have left on the snow of -a Russian steppe. She sprang towards him, she pressed against him, she -stirred carefully the dying embers, sought all around her anything -that could revive it; and the most distant reminiscences, like the most -immediate occasions, what she experienced as well as what she imagined, -her voluptuous desires that were unsatisfied, her projects of happiness -that crackled in the wind like dead boughs, her sterile virtue, her -lost hopes, the domestic tete-a-tete--she gathered it all up, took -everything, and made it all serve as fuel for her melancholy. - -The flames, however, subsided, either because the supply had exhausted -itself, or because it had been piled up too much. Love, little by -little, was quelled by absence; regret stifled beneath habit; and this -incendiary light that had empurpled her pale sky was overspread and -faded by degrees. In the supineness of her conscience she even took her -repugnance towards her husband for aspirations towards her lover, the -burning of hate for the warmth of tenderness; but as the tempest still -raged, and as passion burnt itself down to the very cinders, and no help -came, no sun rose, there was night on all sides, and she was lost in the -terrible cold that pierced her. - -Then the evil days of Tostes began again. She thought herself now far -more unhappy; for she had the experience of grief, with the certainty -that it would not end. - -A woman who had laid on herself such sacrifices could well allow herself -certain whims. She bought a Gothic prie-dieu, and in a month spent -fourteen francs on lemons for polishing her nails; she wrote to Rouen -for a blue cashmere gown; she chose one of Lheureux's finest scarves, -and wore it knotted around her waist over her dressing-gown; and, with -closed blinds and a book in her hand, she lay stretched out on a couch -in this garb. - -She often changed her coiffure; she did her hair a la Chinoise, in -flowing curls, in plaited coils; she parted in on one side and rolled it -under like a man's. - -She wanted to learn Italian; she bought dictionaries, a grammar, and -a supply of white paper. She tried serious reading, history, and -philosophy. Sometimes in the night Charles woke up with a start, -thinking he was being called to a patient. "I'm coming," he stammered; -and it was the noise of a match Emma had struck to relight the lamp. But -her reading fared like her piece of embroidery, all of which, only just -begun, filled her cupboard; she took it up, left it, passed on to other -books. - -She had attacks in which she could easily have been driven to commit any -folly. She maintained one day, in opposition to her husband, that she -could drink off a large glass of brandy, and, as Charles was stupid -enough to dare her to, she swallowed the brandy to the last drop. - -In spite of her vapourish airs (as the housewives of Yonville called -them), Emma, all the same, never seemed gay, and usually she had at the -corners of her mouth that immobile contraction that puckers the faces of -old maids, and those of men whose ambition has failed. She was pale all -over, white as a sheet; the skin of her nose was drawn at the nostrils, -her eyes looked at you vaguely. After discovering three grey hairs on -her temples, she talked much of her old age. - -She often fainted. One day she even spat blood, and, as Charles fussed -around her showing his anxiety-- - -"Bah!" she answered, "what does it matter?" - -Charles fled to his study and wept there, both his elbows on the table, -sitting in an arm-chair at his bureau under the phrenological head. - -Then he wrote to his mother begging her to come, and they had many long -consultations together on the subject of Emma. - -What should they decide? What was to be done since she rejected all -medical treatment? "Do you know what your wife wants?" replied Madame -Bovary senior. - -"She wants to be forced to occupy herself with some manual work. If she -were obliged, like so many others, to earn her living, she wouldn't have -these vapours, that come to her from a lot of ideas she stuffs into her -head, and from the idleness in which she lives." - -"Yet she is always busy," said Charles. - -"Ah! always busy at what? Reading novels, bad books, works against -religion, and in which they mock at priests in speeches taken from -Voltaire. But all that leads you far astray, my poor child. Anyone who -has no religion always ends by turning out badly." - -So it was decided to stop Emma reading novels. The enterprise did not -seem easy. The good lady undertook it. She was, when she passed through -Rouen, to go herself to the lending-library and represent that Emma had -discontinued her subscription. Would they not have a right to apply -to the police if the librarian persisted all the same in his poisonous -trade? The farewells of mother and daughter-in-law were cold. During -the three weeks that they had been together they had not exchanged -half-a-dozen words apart from the inquiries and phrases when they met at -table and in the evening before going to bed. - -Madame Bovary left on a Wednesday, the market-day at Yonville. - -The Place since morning had been blocked by a row of carts, which, on -end and their shafts in the air, spread all along the line of houses -from the church to the inn. On the other side there were canvas booths, -where cotton checks, blankets, and woollen stockings were sold, -together with harness for horses, and packets of blue ribbon, whose ends -fluttered in the wind. The coarse hardware was spread out on the ground -between pyramids of eggs and hampers of cheeses, from which sticky straw -stuck out. - -Near the corn-machines clucking hens passed their necks through the bars -of flat cages. The people, crowding in the same place and unwilling -to move thence, sometimes threatened to smash the shop front of the -chemist. On Wednesdays his shop was never empty, and the people pushed -in less to buy drugs than for consultations. So great was Homais' -reputation in the neighbouring villages. His robust aplomb had -fascinated the rustics. They considered him a greater doctor than all -the doctors. - -Emma was leaning out at the window; she was often there. The window in -the provinces replaces the theatre and the promenade, she was amusing -herself with watching the crowd of boors when she saw a gentleman in -a green velvet coat. He had on yellow gloves, although he wore heavy -gaiters; he was coming towards the doctor's house, followed by a peasant -walking with a bent head and quite a thoughtful air. - -"Can I see the doctor?" he asked Justin, who was talking on the -doorsteps with Felicite, and, taking him for a servant of the -house--"Tell him that Monsieur Rodolphe Boulanger of La Huchette is -here." - -It was not from territorial vanity that the new arrival added "of La -Huchette" to his name, but to make himself the better known. - -La Huchette, in fact, was an estate near Yonville, where he had just -bought the chateau and two farms that he cultivated himself, without, -however, troubling very much about them. He lived as a bachelor, and was -supposed to have "at least fifteen thousand francs a year." - -Charles came into the room. Monsieur Boulanger introduced his man, who -wanted to be bled because he felt "a tingling all over." - -"That'll purge me," he urged as an objection to all reasoning. - -So Bovary ordered a bandage and a basin, and asked Justin to hold it. -Then addressing the peasant, who was already pale-- - -"Don't be afraid, my lad." - -"No, no, sir," said the other; "get on." - -And with an air of bravado he held out his great arm. At the prick of -the lancet the blood spurted out, splashing against the looking-glass. - -"Hold the basin nearer," exclaimed Charles. - -"Lor!" said the peasant, "one would swear it was a little fountain -flowing. How red my blood is! That's a good sign, isn't it?" - -"Sometimes," answered the doctor, "one feels nothing at first, and then -syncope sets in, and more especially with people of strong constitution -like this man." - -At these words the rustic let go the lancet-case he was twisting between -his fingers. A shudder of his shoulders made the chair-back creak. His -hat fell off. - -"I thought as much," said Bovary, pressing his finger on the vein. - -The basin was beginning to tremble in Justin's hands; his knees shook, -he turned pale. - -"Emma! Emma!" called Charles. - -With one bound she came down the staircase. - -"Some vinegar," he cried. "O dear! two at once!" - -And in his emotion he could hardly put on the compress. - -"It is nothing," said Monsieur Boulanger quietly, taking Justin in his -arms. He seated him on the table with his back resting against the wall. - -Madame Bovary began taking off his cravat. The strings of his shirt had -got into a knot, and she was for some minutes moving her light fingers -about the young fellow's neck. Then she poured some vinegar on her -cambric handkerchief; she moistened his temples with little dabs, and -then blew upon them softly. The ploughman revived, but Justin's syncope -still lasted, and his eyeballs disappeared in the pale sclerotics like -blue flowers in milk. - -"We must hide this from him," said Charles. - -Madame Bovary took the basin to put it under the table. With the -movement she made in bending down, her dress (it was a summer dress with -four flounces, yellow, long in the waist and wide in the skirt) spread -out around her on the flags of the room; and as Emma stooping, staggered -a little as she stretched out her arms. - -The stuff here and there gave with the inflections of her bust. - -Then she went to fetch a bottle of water, and she was melting some -pieces of sugar when the chemist arrived. The servant had been to -fetch him in the tumult. Seeing his pupil's eyes staring he drew a long -breath; then going around him he looked at him from head to foot. - -"Fool!" he said, "really a little fool! A fool in four letters! A -phlebotomy's a big affair, isn't it! And a fellow who isn't afraid of -anything; a kind of squirrel, just as he is who climbs to vertiginous -heights to shake down nuts. Oh, yes! you just talk to me, boast about -yourself! Here's a fine fitness for practising pharmacy later on; for -under serious circumstances you may be called before the tribunals in -order to enlighten the minds of the magistrates, and you would have to -keep your head then, to reason, show yourself a man, or else pass for an -imbecile." - -Justin did not answer. The chemist went on-- - -"Who asked you to come? You are always pestering the doctor and madame. -On Wednesday, moreover, your presence is indispensable to me. There are -now twenty people in the shop. I left everything because of the interest -I take in you. Come, get along! Sharp! Wait for me, and keep an eye on -the jars." - -When Justin, who was rearranging his dress, had gone, they talked for a -little while about fainting-fits. Madame Bovary had never fainted. - -"That is extraordinary for a lady," said Monsieur Boulanger; "but some -people are very susceptible. Thus in a duel, I have seen a second lose -consciousness at the mere sound of the loading of pistols." - -"For my part," said the chemist, "the sight of other people's blood -doesn't affect me at all, but the mere thought of my own flowing would -make me faint if I reflected upon it too much." - -Monsieur Boulanger, however, dismissed his servant, advising him to calm -himself, since his fancy was over. - -"It procured me the advantage of making your acquaintance," he added, -and he looked at Emma as he said this. Then he put three francs on the -corner of the table, bowed negligently, and went out. - -He was soon on the other side of the river (this was his way back to La -Huchette), and Emma saw him in the meadow, walking under the poplars, -slackening his pace now and then as one who reflects. - -"She is very pretty," he said to himself; "she is very pretty, this -doctor's wife. Fine teeth, black eyes, a dainty foot, a figure like a -Parisienne's. Where the devil does she come from? Wherever did that fat -fellow pick her up?" - -Monsieur Rodolphe Boulanger was thirty-four; he was of brutal -temperament and intelligent perspicacity, having, moreover, had much to -do with women, and knowing them well. This one had seemed pretty to him; -so he was thinking about her and her husband. - -"I think he is very stupid. She is tired of him, no doubt. He has dirty -nails, and hasn't shaved for three days. While he is trotting after his -patients, she sits there botching socks. And she gets bored! She would -like to live in town and dance polkas every evening. Poor little woman! -She is gaping after love like a carp after water on a kitchen-table. -With three words of gallantry she'd adore one, I'm sure of it. She'd be -tender, charming. Yes; but how to get rid of her afterwards?" - -Then the difficulties of love-making seen in the distance made him by -contrast think of his mistress. She was an actress at Rouen, whom he -kept; and when he had pondered over this image, with which, even in -remembrance, he was satiated-- - -"Ah! Madame Bovary," he thought, "is much prettier, especially fresher. -Virginie is decidedly beginning to grow fat. She is so finiky about her -pleasures; and, besides, she has a mania for prawns." - -The fields were empty, and around him Rodolphe only heard the regular -beating of the grass striking against his boots, with a cry of the -grasshopper hidden at a distance among the oats. He again saw Emma in -her room, dressed as he had seen her, and he undressed her. - -"Oh, I will have her," he cried, striking a blow with his stick at a -clod in front of him. And he at once began to consider the political -part of the enterprise. He asked himself-- - -"Where shall we meet? By what means? We shall always be having the brat -on our hands, and the servant, the neighbours, and husband, all sorts of -worries. Pshaw! one would lose too much time over it." - -Then he resumed, "She really has eyes that pierce one's heart like a -gimlet. And that pale complexion! I adore pale women!" - -When he reached the top of the Arguiel hills he had made up his mind. -"It's only finding the opportunities. Well, I will call in now and then. -I'll send them venison, poultry; I'll have myself bled, if need be. We -shall become friends; I'll invite them to my place. By Jove!" added he, -"there's the agricultural show coming on. She'll be there. I shall see -her. We'll begin boldly, for that's the surest way." - - - -Chapter Eight - -At last it came, the famous agricultural show. On the morning of the -solemnity all the inhabitants at their doors were chatting over the -preparations. The pediment of the town hall had been hung with garlands -of ivy; a tent had been erected in a meadow for the banquet; and in the -middle of the Place, in front of the church, a kind of bombarde was -to announce the arrival of the prefect and the names of the successful -farmers who had obtained prizes. The National Guard of Buchy (there was -none at Yonville) had come to join the corps of firemen, of whom Binet -was captain. On that day he wore a collar even higher than usual; and, -tightly buttoned in his tunic, his figure was so stiff and motionless -that the whole vital portion of his person seemed to have descended into -his legs, which rose in a cadence of set steps with a single movement. -As there was some rivalry between the tax-collector and the colonel, -both, to show off their talents, drilled their men separately. One -saw the red epaulettes and the black breastplates pass and re-pass -alternately; there was no end to it, and it constantly began again. -There had never been such a display of pomp. Several citizens had -scoured their houses the evening before; tri-coloured flags hung from -half-open windows; all the public-houses were full; and in the lovely -weather the starched caps, the golden crosses, and the coloured -neckerchiefs seemed whiter than snow, shone in the sun, and relieved -with the motley colours the sombre monotony of the frock-coats and blue -smocks. The neighbouring farmers' wives, when they got off their horses, -pulled out the long pins that fastened around them their dresses, turned -up for fear of mud; and the husbands, for their part, in order to save -their hats, kept their handkerchiefs around them, holding one corner -between their teeth. - -The crowd came into the main street from both ends of the village. -People poured in from the lanes, the alleys, the houses; and from time -to time one heard knockers banging against doors closing behind women -with their gloves, who were going out to see the fete. What was most -admired were two long lamp-stands covered with lanterns, that flanked a -platform on which the authorities were to sit. Besides this there were -against the four columns of the town hall four kinds of poles, -each bearing a small standard of greenish cloth, embellished with -inscriptions in gold letters. - -On one was written, "To Commerce"; on the other, "To Agriculture"; on -the third, "To Industry"; and on the fourth, "To the Fine Arts." - -But the jubilation that brightened all faces seemed to darken that of -Madame Lefrancois, the innkeeper. Standing on her kitchen-steps she -muttered to herself, "What rubbish! what rubbish! With their canvas -booth! Do they think the prefect will be glad to dine down there under -a tent like a gipsy? They call all this fussing doing good to the place! -Then it wasn't worth while sending to Neufchatel for the keeper of a -cookshop! And for whom? For cowherds! tatterdemalions!" - -The druggist was passing. He had on a frock-coat, nankeen trousers, -beaver shoes, and, for a wonder, a hat with a low crown. - -"Your servant! Excuse me, I am in a hurry." And as the fat widow asked -where he was going-- - -"It seems odd to you, doesn't it, I who am always more cooped up in my -laboratory than the man's rat in his cheese." - -"What cheese?" asked the landlady. - -"Oh, nothing! nothing!" Homais continued. "I merely wished to convey -to you, Madame Lefrancois, that I usually live at home like a recluse. -To-day, however, considering the circumstances, it is necessary--" - -"Oh, you're going down there!" she said contemptuously. - -"Yes, I am going," replied the druggist, astonished. "Am I not a member -of the consulting commission?" - -Mere Lefrancois looked at him for a few moments, and ended by saying -with a smile-- - -"That's another pair of shoes! But what does agriculture matter to you? -Do you understand anything about it?" - -"Certainly I understand it, since I am a druggist--that is to say, -a chemist. And the object of chemistry, Madame Lefrancois, being the -knowledge of the reciprocal and molecular action of all natural bodies, -it follows that agriculture is comprised within its domain. And, in -fact, the composition of the manure, the fermentation of liquids, the -analyses of gases, and the influence of miasmata, what, I ask you, is -all this, if it isn't chemistry, pure and simple?" - -The landlady did not answer. Homais went on-- - -"Do you think that to be an agriculturist it is necessary to have tilled -the earth or fattened fowls oneself? It is necessary rather to know the -composition of the substances in question--the geological strata, the -atmospheric actions, the quality of the soil, the minerals, the waters, -the density of the different bodies, their capillarity, and what not. -And one must be master of all the principles of hygiene in order to -direct, criticize the construction of buildings, the feeding of animals, -the diet of domestics. And, moreover, Madame Lefrancois, one must know -botany, be able to distinguish between plants, you understand, which are -the wholesome and those that are deleterious, which are unproductive -and which nutritive, if it is well to pull them up here and re-sow them -there, to propagate some, destroy others; in brief, one must keep pace -with science by means of pamphlets and public papers, be always on the -alert to find out improvements." - -The landlady never took her eyes off the "Cafe Francois" and the chemist -went on-- - -"Would to God our agriculturists were chemists, or that at least they -would pay more attention to the counsels of science. Thus lately I -myself wrote a considerable tract, a memoir of over seventy-two pages, -entitled, 'Cider, its Manufacture and its Effects, together with some -New Reflections on the Subject,' that I sent to the Agricultural Society -of Rouen, and which even procured me the honour of being received among -its members--Section, Agriculture; Class, Pomological. Well, if my -work had been given to the public--" But the druggist stopped, Madame -Lefrancois seemed so preoccupied. - -"Just look at them!" she said. "It's past comprehension! Such a cookshop -as that!" And with a shrug of the shoulders that stretched out over her -breast the stitches of her knitted bodice, she pointed with both hands -at her rival's inn, whence songs were heard issuing. "Well, it won't -last long," she added. "It'll be over before a week." - -Homais drew back with stupefaction. She came down three steps and -whispered in his ear-- - -"What! you didn't know it? There is to be an execution in next week. -It's Lheureux who is selling him out; he has killed him with bills." - -"What a terrible catastrophe!" cried the druggist, who always found -expressions in harmony with all imaginable circumstances. - -Then the landlady began telling him the story that she had heard from -Theodore, Monsieur Guillaumin's servant, and although she detested -Tellier, she blamed Lheureux. He was "a wheedler, a sneak." - -"There!" she said. "Look at him! he is in the market; he is bowing to -Madame Bovary, who's got on a green bonnet. Why, she's taking Monsieur -Boulanger's arm." - -"Madame Bovary!" exclaimed Homais. "I must go at once and pay her my -respects. Perhaps she'll be very glad to have a seat in the enclosure -under the peristyle." And, without heeding Madame Lefrancois, who was -calling him back to tell him more about it, the druggist walked off -rapidly with a smile on his lips, with straight knees, bowing copiously -to right and left, and taking up much room with the large tails of his -frock-coat that fluttered behind him in the wind. - -Rodolphe, having caught sight of him from afar, hurried on, but Madame -Bovary lost her breath; so he walked more slowly, and, smiling at her, -said in a rough tone-- - -"It's only to get away from that fat fellow, you know, the druggist." -She pressed his elbow. - -"What's the meaning of that?" he asked himself. And he looked at her out -of the corner of his eyes. - -Her profile was so calm that one could guess nothing from it. It stood -out in the light from the oval of her bonnet, with pale ribbons on it -like the leaves of weeds. Her eyes with their long curved lashes looked -straight before her, and though wide open, they seemed slightly puckered -by the cheek-bones, because of the blood pulsing gently under the -delicate skin. A pink line ran along the partition between her nostrils. -Her head was bent upon her shoulder, and the pearl tips of her white -teeth were seen between her lips. - -"Is she making fun of me?" thought Rodolphe. - -Emma's gesture, however, had only been meant for a warning; for Monsieur -Lheureux was accompanying them, and spoke now and again as if to enter -into the conversation. - -"What a superb day! Everybody is out! The wind is east!" - -And neither Madame Bovary nor Rodolphe answered him, whilst at the -slightest movement made by them he drew near, saying, "I beg your -pardon!" and raised his hat. - -When they reached the farrier's house, instead of following the road -up to the fence, Rodolphe suddenly turned down a path, drawing with him -Madame Bovary. He called out-- - -"Good evening, Monsieur Lheureux! See you again presently." - -"How you got rid of him!" she said, laughing. - -"Why," he went on, "allow oneself to be intruded upon by others? And as -to-day I have the happiness of being with you--" - -Emma blushed. He did not finish his sentence. Then he talked of the fine -weather and of the pleasure of walking on the grass. A few daisies had -sprung up again. - -"Here are some pretty Easter daisies," he said, "and enough of them to -furnish oracles to all the amorous maids in the place." - -He added, "Shall I pick some? What do you think?" - -"Are you in love?" she asked, coughing a little. - -"H'm, h'm! who knows?" answered Rodolphe. - -The meadow began to fill, and the housewives hustled you with their -great umbrellas, their baskets, and their babies. One had often to get -out of the way of a long file of country folk, servant-maids with blue -stockings, flat shoes, silver rings, and who smelt of milk, when one -passed close to them. They walked along holding one another by the hand, -and thus they spread over the whole field from the row of open trees to -the banquet tent. - -But this was the examination time, and the farmers one after the other -entered a kind of enclosure formed by a long cord supported on sticks. - -The beasts were there, their noses towards the cord, and making a -confused line with their unequal rumps. Drowsy pigs were burrowing in -the earth with their snouts, calves were bleating, lambs baaing; the -cows, on knees folded in, were stretching their bellies on the grass, -slowly chewing the cud, and blinking their heavy eyelids at the gnats -that buzzed round them. Plough-men with bare arms were holding by the -halter prancing stallions that neighed with dilated nostrils looking -towards the mares. These stood quietly, stretching out their heads and -flowing manes, while their foals rested in their shadow, or now and then -came and sucked them. And above the long undulation of these crowded -animals one saw some white mane rising in the wind like a wave, or some -sharp horns sticking out, and the heads of men running about. Apart, -outside the enclosure, a hundred paces off, was a large black bull, -muzzled, with an iron ring in its nostrils, and who moved no more than -if he had been in bronze. A child in rags was holding him by a rope. - -Between the two lines the committee-men were walking with heavy steps, -examining each animal, then consulting one another in a low voice. One -who seemed of more importance now and then took notes in a book as he -walked along. This was the president of the jury, Monsieur Derozerays de -la Panville. As soon as he recognised Rodolphe he came forward quickly, -and smiling amiably, said-- - -"What! Monsieur Boulanger, you are deserting us?" - -Rodolphe protested that he was just coming. But when the president had -disappeared-- - -"Ma foi!*" said he, "I shall not go. Your company is better than his." - - *Upon my word! - -And while poking fun at the show, Rodolphe, to move about more easily, -showed the gendarme his blue card, and even stopped now and then in -front of some fine beast, which Madame Bovary did not at all admire. -He noticed this, and began jeering at the Yonville ladies and their -dresses; then he apologised for the negligence of his own. He had that -incongruity of common and elegant in which the habitually vulgar think -they see the revelation of an eccentric existence, of the perturbations -of sentiment, the tyrannies of art, and always a certain contempt for -social conventions, that seduces or exasperates them. Thus his cambric -shirt with plaited cuffs was blown out by the wind in the opening of his -waistcoat of grey ticking, and his broad-striped trousers disclosed at -the ankle nankeen boots with patent leather gaiters. - -These were so polished that they reflected the grass. He trampled on -horses's dung with them, one hand in the pocket of his jacket and his -straw hat on one side. - -"Besides," added he, "when one lives in the country--" - -"It's waste of time," said Emma. - -"That is true," replied Rodolphe. "To think that not one of these people -is capable of understanding even the cut of a coat!" - -Then they talked about provincial mediocrity, of the lives it crushed, -the illusions lost there. - -"And I too," said Rodolphe, "am drifting into depression." - -"You!" she said in astonishment; "I thought you very light-hearted." - -"Ah! yes. I seem so, because in the midst of the world I know how to -wear the mask of a scoffer upon my face; and yet, how many a time at the -sight of a cemetery by moonlight have I not asked myself whether it were -not better to join those sleeping there!" - -"Oh! and your friends?" she said. "You do not think of them." - -"My friends! What friends? Have I any? Who cares for me?" And he -accompanied the last words with a kind of whistling of the lips. - -But they were obliged to separate from each other because of a great -pile of chairs that a man was carrying behind them. He was so overladen -with them that one could only see the tips of his wooden shoes and the -ends of his two outstretched arms. It was Lestiboudois, the gravedigger, -who was carrying the church chairs about amongst the people. Alive to -all that concerned his interests, he had hit upon this means of turning -the show to account; and his idea was succeeding, for he no longer knew -which way to turn. In fact, the villagers, who were hot, quarreled for -these seats, whose straw smelt of incense, and they leant against the -thick backs, stained with the wax of candles, with a certain veneration. - -Madame Bovary again took Rodolphe's arm; he went on as if speaking to -himself-- - -"Yes, I have missed so many things. Always alone! Ah! if I had some aim -in life, if I had met some love, if I had found someone! Oh, how I would -have spent all the energy of which I am capable, surmounted everything, -overcome everything!" - -"Yet it seems to me," said Emma, "that you are not to be pitied." - -"Ah! you think so?" said Rodolphe. - -"For, after all," she went on, "you are free--" she hesitated, "rich--" - -"Do not mock me," he replied. - -And she protested that she was not mocking him, when the report of a -cannon resounded. Immediately all began hustling one another pell-mell -towards the village. - -It was a false alarm. The prefect seemed not to be coming, and the -members of the jury felt much embarrassed, not knowing if they ought to -begin the meeting or still wait. - -At last at the end of the Place a large hired landau appeared, drawn by -two thin horses, which a coachman in a white hat was whipping lustily. -Binet had only just time to shout, "Present arms!" and the colonel to -imitate him. All ran towards the enclosure; everyone pushed forward. A -few even forgot their collars; but the equipage of the prefect seemed -to anticipate the crowd, and the two yoked jades, trapesing in their -harness, came up at a little trot in front of the peristyle of the town -hall at the very moment when the National Guard and firemen deployed, -beating drums and marking time. - -"Present!" shouted Binet. - -"Halt!" shouted the colonel. "Left about, march." - -And after presenting arms, during which the clang of the band, letting -loose, rang out like a brass kettle rolling downstairs, all the guns -were lowered. Then was seen stepping down from the carriage a gentleman -in a short coat with silver braiding, with bald brow, and wearing a tuft -of hair at the back of his head, of a sallow complexion and the most -benign appearance. His eyes, very large and covered by heavy lids, were -half-closed to look at the crowd, while at the same time he raised his -sharp nose, and forced a smile upon his sunken mouth. He recognised the -mayor by his scarf, and explained to him that the prefect was not able -to come. He himself was a councillor at the prefecture; then he added -a few apologies. Monsieur Tuvache answered them with compliments; the -other confessed himself nervous; and they remained thus, face to face, -their foreheads almost touching, with the members of the jury all round, -the municipal council, the notable personages, the National Guard and -the crowd. The councillor pressing his little cocked hat to his -breast repeated his bows, while Tuvache, bent like a bow, also smiled, -stammered, tried to say something, protested his devotion to the -monarchy and the honour that was being done to Yonville. - -Hippolyte, the groom from the inn, took the head of the horses from the -coachman, and, limping along with his club-foot, led them to the door -of the "Lion d'Or", where a number of peasants collected to look at the -carriage. The drum beat, the howitzer thundered, and the gentlemen one -by one mounted the platform, where they sat down in red utrecht velvet -arm-chairs that had been lent by Madame Tuvache. - -All these people looked alike. Their fair flabby faces, somewhat tanned -by the sun, were the colour of sweet cider, and their puffy whiskers -emerged from stiff collars, kept up by white cravats with broad bows. -All the waist-coats were of velvet, double-breasted; all the watches -had, at the end of a long ribbon, an oval cornelian seal; everyone -rested his two hands on his thighs, carefully stretching the stride of -their trousers, whose unsponged glossy cloth shone more brilliantly than -the leather of their heavy boots. - -The ladies of the company stood at the back under the vestibule between -the pillars while the common herd was opposite, standing up or sitting -on chairs. As a matter of fact, Lestiboudois had brought thither all -those that he had moved from the field, and he even kept running back -every minute to fetch others from the church. He caused such confusion -with this piece of business that one had great difficulty in getting to -the small steps of the platform. - -"I think," said Monsieur Lheureux to the chemist, who was passing to his -place, "that they ought to have put up two Venetian masts with something -rather severe and rich for ornaments; it would have been a very pretty -effect." - -"To be sure," replied Homais; "but what can you expect? The mayor took -everything on his own shoulders. He hasn't much taste. Poor Tuvache! and -he is even completely destitute of what is called the genius of art." - -Rodolphe, meanwhile, with Madame Bovary, had gone up to the first -floor of the town hall, to the "council-room," and, as it was empty, -he declared that they could enjoy the sight there more comfortably. He -fetched three stools from the round table under the bust of the monarch, -and having carried them to one of the windows, they sat down by each -other. - -There was commotion on the platform, long whisperings, much parleying. -At last the councillor got up. They knew now that his name was Lieuvain, -and in the crowd the name was passed from one to the other. After he had -collated a few pages, and bent over them to see better, he began-- - -"Gentlemen! May I be permitted first of all (before addressing you on -the object of our meeting to-day, and this sentiment will, I am sure, be -shared by you all), may I be permitted, I say, to pay a tribute to the -higher administration, to the government to the monarch, gentle men, our -sovereign, to that beloved king, to whom no branch of public or private -prosperity is a matter of indifference, and who directs with a hand at -once so firm and wise the chariot of the state amid the incessant perils -of a stormy sea, knowing, moreover, how to make peace respected as well -as war, industry, commerce, agriculture, and the fine arts?" - -"I ought," said Rodolphe, "to get back a little further." - -"Why?" said Emma. - -But at this moment the voice of the councillor rose to an extraordinary -pitch. He declaimed-- - -"This is no longer the time, gentlemen, when civil discord ensanguined -our public places, when the landlord, the business-man, the working-man -himself, falling asleep at night, lying down to peaceful sleep, trembled -lest he should be awakened suddenly by the noise of incendiary tocsins, -when the most subversive doctrines audaciously sapped foundations." - -"Well, someone down there might see me," Rodolphe resumed, "then -I should have to invent excuses for a fortnight; and with my bad -reputation--" - -"Oh, you are slandering yourself," said Emma. - -"No! It is dreadful, I assure you." - -"But, gentlemen," continued the councillor, "if, banishing from my -memory the remembrance of these sad pictures, I carry my eyes back -to the actual situation of our dear country, what do I see there? -Everywhere commerce and the arts are flourishing; everywhere new means -of communication, like so many new arteries in the body of the state, -establish within it new relations. Our great industrial centres have -recovered all their activity; religion, more consolidated, smiles in -all hearts; our ports are full, confidence is born again, and France -breathes once more!" - -"Besides," added Rodolphe, "perhaps from the world's point of view they -are right." - -"How so?" she asked. - -"What!" said he. "Do you not know that there are souls constantly -tormented? They need by turns to dream and to act, the purest passions -and the most turbulent joys, and thus they fling themselves into all -sorts of fantasies, of follies." - -Then she looked at him as one looks at a traveller who has voyaged over -strange lands, and went on-- - -"We have not even this distraction, we poor women!" - -"A sad distraction, for happiness isn't found in it." - -"But is it ever found?" she asked. - -"Yes; one day it comes," he answered. - -"And this is what you have understood," said the councillor. - -"You, farmers, agricultural labourers! you pacific pioneers of a work -that belongs wholly to civilization! you, men of progress and morality, -you have understood, I say, that political storms are even more -redoubtable than atmospheric disturbances!" - -"It comes one day," repeated Rodolphe, "one day suddenly, and when -one is despairing of it. Then the horizon expands; it is as if a voice -cried, 'It is here!' You feel the need of confiding the whole of your -life, of giving everything, sacrificing everything to this being. There -is no need for explanations; they understand one another. They have seen -each other in dreams!" - -(And he looked at her.) "In fine, here it is, this treasure so sought -after, here before you. It glitters, it flashes; yet one still doubts, -one does not believe it; one remains dazzled, as if one went out from -darkness into light." - -And as he ended Rodolphe suited the action to the word. He passed his -hand over his face, like a man seized with giddiness. Then he let it -fall on Emma's. She took hers away. - -"And who would be surprised at it, gentlemen? He only who is so blind, -so plunged (I do not fear to say it), so plunged in the prejudices -of another age as still to misunderstand the spirit of agricultural -populations. Where, indeed, is to be found more patriotism than in the -country, greater devotion to the public welfare, more intelligence, in a -word? And, gentlemen, I do not mean that superficial intelligence, -vain ornament of idle minds, but rather that profound and balanced -intelligence that applies itself above all else to useful objects, thus -contributing to the good of all, to the common amelioration and to -the support of the state, born of respect for law and the practice of -duty--" - -"Ah! again!" said Rodolphe. "Always 'duty.' I am sick of the word. -They are a lot of old blockheads in flannel vests and of old women with -foot-warmers and rosaries who constantly drone into our ears 'Duty, -duty!' Ah! by Jove! one's duty is to feel what is great, cherish the -beautiful, and not accept all the conventions of society with the -ignominy that it imposes upon us." - -"Yet--yet--" objected Madame Bovary. - -"No, no! Why cry out against the passions? Are they not the one -beautiful thing on the earth, the source of heroism, of enthusiasm, of -poetry, music, the arts, of everything, in a word?" - -"But one must," said Emma, "to some extent bow to the opinion of the -world and accept its moral code." - -"Ah! but there are two," he replied. "The small, the conventional, that -of men, that which constantly changes, that brays out so loudly, that -makes such a commotion here below, of the earth earthly, like the mass -of imbeciles you see down there. But the other, the eternal, that is -about us and above, like the landscape that surrounds us, and the blue -heavens that give us light." - -Monsieur Lieuvain had just wiped his mouth with a pocket-handkerchief. -He continued-- - -"And what should I do here gentlemen, pointing out to you the uses -of agriculture? Who supplies our wants? Who provides our means of -subsistence? Is it not the agriculturist? The agriculturist, gentlemen, -who, sowing with laborious hand the fertile furrows of the country, -brings forth the corn, which, being ground, is made into a powder by -means of ingenious machinery, comes out thence under the name of flour, -and from there, transported to our cities, is soon delivered at the -baker's, who makes it into food for poor and rich alike. Again, is it -not the agriculturist who fattens, for our clothes, his abundant -flocks in the pastures? For how should we clothe ourselves, how nourish -ourselves, without the agriculturist? And, gentlemen, is it even -necessary to go so far for examples? Who has not frequently reflected -on all the momentous things that we get out of that modest animal, the -ornament of poultry-yards, that provides us at once with a soft pillow -for our bed, with succulent flesh for our tables, and eggs? But I should -never end if I were to enumerate one after the other all the different -products which the earth, well cultivated, like a generous mother, -lavishes upon her children. Here it is the vine, elsewhere the apple -tree for cider, there colza, farther on cheeses and flax. Gentlemen, let -us not forget flax, which has made such great strides of late years, and -to which I will more particularly call your attention." - -He had no need to call it, for all the mouths of the multitude were wide -open, as if to drink in his words. Tuvache by his side listened to him -with staring eyes. Monsieur Derozerays from time to time softly closed -his eyelids, and farther on the chemist, with his son Napoleon between -his knees, put his hand behind his ear in order not to lose a syllable. -The chins of the other members of the jury went slowly up and down in -their waistcoats in sign of approval. The firemen at the foot of the -platform rested on their bayonets; and Binet, motionless, stood with -out-turned elbows, the point of his sabre in the air. Perhaps he could -hear, but certainly he could see nothing, because of the visor of his -helmet, that fell down on his nose. His lieutenant, the youngest son of -Monsieur Tuvache, had a bigger one, for his was enormous, and shook on -his head, and from it an end of his cotton scarf peeped out. He smiled -beneath it with a perfectly infantine sweetness, and his pale little -face, whence drops were running, wore an expression of enjoyment and -sleepiness. - -The square as far as the houses was crowded with people. One saw folk -leaning on their elbows at all the windows, others standing at doors, -and Justin, in front of the chemist's shop, seemed quite transfixed by -the sight of what he was looking at. In spite of the silence Monsieur -Lieuvain's voice was lost in the air. It reached you in fragments of -phrases, and interrupted here and there by the creaking of chairs in the -crowd; then you suddenly heard the long bellowing of an ox, or else the -bleating of the lambs, who answered one another at street corners. In -fact, the cowherds and shepherds had driven their beasts thus far, and -these lowed from time to time, while with their tongues they tore down -some scrap of foliage that hung above their mouths. - -Rodolphe had drawn nearer to Emma, and said to her in a low voice, -speaking rapidly-- - -"Does not this conspiracy of the world revolt you? Is there a single -sentiment it does not condemn? The noblest instincts, the purest -sympathies are persecuted, slandered; and if at length two poor souls do -meet, all is so organised that they cannot blend together. Yet they will -make the attempt; they will flutter their wings; they will call upon -each other. Oh! no matter. Sooner or later, in six months, ten years, -they will come together, will love; for fate has decreed it, and they -are born one for the other." - -His arms were folded across his knees, and thus lifting his face towards -Emma, close by her, he looked fixedly at her. She noticed in his eyes -small golden lines radiating from black pupils; she even smelt the -perfume of the pomade that made his hair glossy. - -Then a faintness came over her; she recalled the Viscount who had -waltzed with her at Vaubyessard, and his beard exhaled like this air an -odour of vanilla and citron, and mechanically she half-closed her eyes -the better to breathe it in. But in making this movement, as she leant -back in her chair, she saw in the distance, right on the line of the -horizon, the old diligence, the "Hirondelle," that was slowly descending -the hill of Leux, dragging after it a long trail of dust. It was in this -yellow carriage that Leon had so often come back to her, and by this -route down there that he had gone for ever. She fancied she saw him -opposite at his windows; then all grew confused; clouds gathered; it -seemed to her that she was again turning in the waltz under the light of -the lustres on the arm of the Viscount, and that Leon was not far away, -that he was coming; and yet all the time she was conscious of the scent -of Rodolphe's head by her side. This sweetness of sensation pierced -through her old desires, and these, like grains of sand under a gust -of wind, eddied to and fro in the subtle breath of the perfume which -suffused her soul. She opened wide her nostrils several times to drink -in the freshness of the ivy round the capitals. She took off her gloves, -she wiped her hands, then fanned her face with her handkerchief, while -athwart the throbbing of her temples she heard the murmur of the -crowd and the voice of the councillor intoning his phrases. He -said--"Continue, persevere; listen neither to the suggestions of -routine, nor to the over-hasty councils of a rash empiricism. - -"Apply yourselves, above all, to the amelioration of the soil, to good -manures, to the development of the equine, bovine, ovine, and porcine -races. Let these shows be to you pacific arenas, where the victor in -leaving it will hold forth a hand to the vanquished, and will fraternise -with him in the hope of better success. And you, aged servants, humble -domestics, whose hard labour no Government up to this day has taken into -consideration, come hither to receive the reward of your silent virtues, -and be assured that the state henceforward has its eye upon you; that it -encourages you, protects you; that it will accede to your just -demands, and alleviate as much as in it lies the burden of your painful -sacrifices." - -Monsieur Lieuvain then sat down; Monsieur Derozerays got up, beginning -another speech. His was not perhaps so florid as that of the councillor, -but it recommended itself by a more direct style, that is to say, by -more special knowledge and more elevated considerations. Thus the praise -of the Government took up less space in it; religion and agriculture -more. He showed in it the relations of these two, and how they had -always contributed to civilisation. Rodolphe with Madame Bovary was -talking dreams, presentiments, magnetism. Going back to the cradle of -society, the orator painted those fierce times when men lived on acorns -in the heart of woods. Then they had left off the skins of beasts, had -put on cloth, tilled the soil, planted the vine. Was this a good, and -in this discovery was there not more of injury than of gain? Monsieur -Derozerays set himself this problem. From magnetism little by little -Rodolphe had come to affinities, and while the president was citing -Cincinnatus and his plough, Diocletian, planting his cabbages, and the -Emperors of China inaugurating the year by the sowing of seed, the -young man was explaining to the young woman that these irresistible -attractions find their cause in some previous state of existence. - -"Thus we," he said, "why did we come to know one another? What chance -willed it? It was because across the infinite, like two streams that -flow but to unite; our special bents of mind had driven us towards each -other." - -And he seized her hand; she did not withdraw it. - -"For good farming generally!" cried the president. - -"Just now, for example, when I went to your house." - -"To Monsieur Bizat of Quincampoix." - -"Did I know I should accompany you?" - -"Seventy francs." - -"A hundred times I wished to go; and I followed you--I remained." - -"Manures!" - -"And I shall remain to-night, to-morrow, all other days, all my life!" - -"To Monsieur Caron of Argueil, a gold medal!" - -"For I have never in the society of any other person found so complete a -charm." - -"To Monsieur Bain of Givry-Saint-Martin." - -"And I shall carry away with me the remembrance of you." - -"For a merino ram!" - -"But you will forget me; I shall pass away like a shadow." - -"To Monsieur Belot of Notre-Dame." - -"Oh, no! I shall be something in your thought, in your life, shall I -not?" - -"Porcine race; prizes--equal, to Messrs. Leherisse and Cullembourg, -sixty francs!" - -Rodolphe was pressing her hand, and he felt it all warm and quivering -like a captive dove that wants to fly away; but, whether she was trying -to take it away or whether she was answering his pressure; she made a -movement with her fingers. He exclaimed-- - -"Oh, I thank you! You do not repulse me! You are good! You understand -that I am yours! Let me look at you; let me contemplate you!" - -A gust of wind that blew in at the window ruffled the cloth on the -table, and in the square below all the great caps of the peasant women -were uplifted by it like the wings of white butterflies fluttering. - -"Use of oil-cakes," continued the president. He was hurrying on: -"Flemish manure-flax-growing-drainage-long leases-domestic service." - -Rodolphe was no longer speaking. They looked at one another. A supreme -desire made their dry lips tremble, and wearily, without an effort, -their fingers intertwined. - -"Catherine Nicaise Elizabeth Leroux, of Sassetot-la-Guerriere, for -fifty-four years of service at the same farm, a silver medal--value, -twenty-five francs!" - -"Where is Catherine Leroux?" repeated the councillor. - -She did not present herself, and one could hear voices whispering-- - -"Go up!" - -"Don't be afraid!" - -"Oh, how stupid she is!" - -"Well, is she there?" cried Tuvache. - -"Yes; here she is." - -"Then let her come up!" - -Then there came forward on the platform a little old woman with timid -bearing, who seemed to shrink within her poor clothes. On her feet she -wore heavy wooden clogs, and from her hips hung a large blue apron. Her -pale face framed in a borderless cap was more wrinkled than a withered -russet apple. And from the sleeves of her red jacket looked out two -large hands with knotty joints, the dust of barns, the potash of washing -the grease of wools had so encrusted, roughened, hardened these that -they seemed dirty, although they had been rinsed in clear water; and -by dint of long service they remained half open, as if to bear humble -witness for themselves of so much suffering endured. Something of -monastic rigidity dignified her face. Nothing of sadness or of emotion -weakened that pale look. In her constant living with animals she had -caught their dumbness and their calm. It was the first time that she -found herself in the midst of so large a company, and inwardly scared by -the flags, the drums, the gentlemen in frock-coats, and the order of the -councillor, she stood motionless, not knowing whether to advance or run -away, nor why the crowd was pushing her and the jury were smiling at -her. - -Thus stood before these radiant bourgeois this half-century of -servitude. - -"Approach, venerable Catherine Nicaise Elizabeth Leroux!" said the -councillor, who had taken the list of prize-winners from the president; -and, looking at the piece of paper and the old woman by turns, he -repeated in a fatherly tone--"Approach! approach!" - -"Are you deaf?" said Tuvache, fidgeting in his armchair; and he began -shouting in her ear, "Fifty-four years of service. A silver medal! -Twenty-five francs! For you!" - -Then, when she had her medal, she looked at it, and a smile of beatitude -spread over her face; and as she walked away they could hear her -muttering "I'll give it to our cure up home, to say some masses for me!" - -"What fanaticism!" exclaimed the chemist, leaning across to the notary. - -The meeting was over, the crowd dispersed, and now that the speeches had -been read, each one fell back into his place again, and everything into -the old grooves; the masters bullied the servants, and these struck the -animals, indolent victors, going back to the stalls, a green-crown on -their horns. - -The National Guards, however, had gone up to the first floor of the -town hall with buns spitted on their bayonets, and the drummer of the -battalion carried a basket with bottles. Madame Bovary took Rodolphe's -arm; he saw her home; they separated at her door; then he walked about -alone in the meadow while he waited for the time of the banquet. - -The feast was long, noisy, ill served; the guests were so crowded that -they could hardly move their elbows; and the narrow planks used for -forms almost broke down under their weight. They ate hugely. Each one -stuffed himself on his own account. Sweat stood on every brow, and a -whitish steam, like the vapour of a stream on an autumn morning, floated -above the table between the hanging lamps. Rodolphe, leaning against -the calico of the tent was thinking so earnestly of Emma that he heard -nothing. Behind him on the grass the servants were piling up the dirty -plates, his neighbours were talking; he did not answer them; they filled -his glass, and there was silence in his thoughts in spite of the growing -noise. He was dreaming of what she had said, of the line of her lips; -her face, as in a magic mirror, shone on the plates of the shakos, the -folds of her gown fell along the walls, and days of love unrolled to all -infinity before him in the vistas of the future. - -He saw her again in the evening during the fireworks, but she was with -her husband, Madame Homais, and the druggist, who was worrying about the -danger of stray rockets, and every moment he left the company to go and -give some advice to Binet. - -The pyrotechnic pieces sent to Monsieur Tuvache had, through an excess -of caution, been shut up in his cellar, and so the damp powder would -not light, and the principal set piece, that was to represent a dragon -biting his tail, failed completely. Now and then a meagre Roman-candle -went off; then the gaping crowd sent up a shout that mingled with the -cry of the women, whose waists were being squeezed in the darkness. Emma -silently nestled against Charles's shoulder; then, raising her chin, she -watched the luminous rays of the rockets against the dark sky. Rodolphe -gazed at her in the light of the burning lanterns. - -They went out one by one. The stars shone out. A few crops of rain began -to fall. She knotted her fichu round her bare head. - -At this moment the councillor's carriage came out from the inn. - -His coachman, who was drunk, suddenly dozed off, and one could see from -the distance, above the hood, between the two lanterns, the mass of his -body, that swayed from right to left with the giving of the traces. - -"Truly," said the druggist, "one ought to proceed most rigorously -against drunkenness! I should like to see written up weekly at the door -of the town hall on a board ad hoc* the names of all those who during -the week got intoxicated on alcohol. Besides, with regard to statistics, -one would thus have, as it were, public records that one could refer to -in case of need. But excuse me!" - - *Specifically for that. - -And he once more ran off to the captain. The latter was going back to -see his lathe again. - -"Perhaps you would not do ill," Homais said to him, "to send one of your -men, or to go yourself--" - -"Leave me alone!" answered the tax-collector. "It's all right!" - -"Do not be uneasy," said the druggist, when he returned to his friends. -"Monsieur Binet has assured me that all precautions have been taken. No -sparks have fallen; the pumps are full. Let us go to rest." - -"Ma foi! I want it," said Madame Homais, yawning at large. "But never -mind; we've had a beautiful day for our fete." - -Rodolphe repeated in a low voice, and with a tender look, "Oh, yes! very -beautiful!" - -And having bowed to one another, they separated. - -Two days later, in the "Final de Rouen," there was a long article on the -show. Homais had composed it with verve the very next morning. - -"Why these festoons, these flowers, these garlands? Whither hurries this -crowd like the waves of a furious sea under the torrents of a tropical -sun pouring its heat upon our heads?" - -Then he spoke of the condition of the peasants. Certainly the Government -was doing much, but not enough. "Courage!" he cried to it; "a thousand -reforms are indispensable; let us accomplish them!" Then touching on -the entry of the councillor, he did not forget "the martial air of our -militia;" nor "our most merry village maidens;" nor the "bald-headed old -men like patriarchs who were there, and of whom some, the remnants of -our phalanxes, still felt their hearts beat at the manly sound of the -drums." He cited himself among the first of the members of the jury, -and he even called attention in a note to the fact that Monsieur Homais, -chemist, had sent a memoir on cider to the agricultural society. - -When he came to the distribution of the prizes, he painted the joy of -the prize-winners in dithyrambic strophes. "The father embraced the son, -the brother the brother, the husband his consort. More than one showed -his humble medal with pride; and no doubt when he got home to his good -housewife, he hung it up weeping on the modest walls of his cot. - -"About six o'clock a banquet prepared in the meadow of Monsieur Leigeard -brought together the principal personages of the fete. The greatest -cordiality reigned here. Divers toasts were proposed: Monsieur -Lieuvain, the King; Monsieur Tuvache, the Prefect; Monsieur Derozerays, -Agriculture; Monsieur Homais, Industry and the Fine Arts, those twin -sisters; Monsieur Leplichey, Progress. In the evening some brilliant -fireworks on a sudden illumined the air. One would have called it a -veritable kaleidoscope, a real operatic scene; and for a moment our -little locality might have thought itself transported into the midst of -a dream of the 'Thousand and One Nights.' Let us state that no untoward -event disturbed this family meeting." And he added "Only the absence -of the clergy was remarked. No doubt the priests understand progress in -another fashion. Just as you please, messieurs the followers of Loyola!" - - - -Chapter Nine - -Six weeks passed. Rodolphe did not come again. At last one evening he -appeared. - -The day after the show he had said to himself--"We mustn't go back too -soon; that would be a mistake." - -And at the end of a week he had gone off hunting. After the hunting he -had thought it was too late, and then he reasoned thus-- - -"If from the first day she loved me, she must from impatience to see me -again love me more. Let's go on with it!" - -And he knew that his calculation had been right when, on entering the -room, he saw Emma turn pale. - -She was alone. The day was drawing in. The small muslin curtain along -the windows deepened the twilight, and the gilding of the barometer, on -which the rays of the sun fell, shone in the looking-glass between the -meshes of the coral. - -Rodolphe remained standing, and Emma hardly answered his first -conventional phrases. - -"I," he said, "have been busy. I have been ill." - -"Seriously?" she cried. - -"Well," said Rodolphe, sitting down at her side on a footstool, "no; it -was because I did not want to come back." - -"Why?" - -"Can you not guess?" - -He looked at her again, but so hard that she lowered her head, blushing. -He went on-- - -"Emma!" - -"Sir," she said, drawing back a little. - -"Ah! you see," replied he in a melancholy voice, "that I was right not -to come back; for this name, this name that fills my whole soul, and -that escaped me, you forbid me to use! Madame Bovary! why all the -world calls you thus! Besides, it is not your name; it is the name of -another!" - -He repeated, "of another!" And he hid his face in his hands. - -"Yes, I think of you constantly. The memory of you drives me to despair. -Ah! forgive me! I will leave you! Farewell! I will go far away, so far -that you will never hear of me again; and yet--to-day--I know not what -force impelled me towards you. For one does not struggle against Heaven; -one cannot resist the smile of angels; one is carried away by that which -is beautiful, charming, adorable." - -It was the first time that Emma had heard such words spoken to herself, -and her pride, like one who reposes bathed in warmth, expanded softly -and fully at this glowing language. - -"But if I did not come," he continued, "if I could not see you, at least -I have gazed long on all that surrounds you. At night-every night-I -arose; I came hither; I watched your house, its glimmering in the moon, -the trees in the garden swaying before your window, and the little lamp, -a gleam shining through the window-panes in the darkness. Ah! you never -knew that there, so near you, so far from you, was a poor wretch!" - -She turned towards him with a sob. - -"Oh, you are good!" she said. - -"No, I love you, that is all! You do not doubt that! Tell me--one -word--only one word!" - -And Rodolphe imperceptibly glided from the footstool to the ground; but -a sound of wooden shoes was heard in the kitchen, and he noticed the -door of the room was not closed. - -"How kind it would be of you," he went on, rising, "if you would humour -a whim of mine." It was to go over her house; he wanted to know it; and -Madame Bovary seeing no objection to this, they both rose, when Charles -came in. - -"Good morning, doctor," Rodolphe said to him. - -The doctor, flattered at this unexpected title, launched out into -obsequious phrases. Of this the other took advantage to pull himself -together a little. - -"Madame was speaking to me," he then said, "about her health." - -Charles interrupted him; he had indeed a thousand anxieties; his wife's -palpitations of the heart were beginning again. Then Rodolphe asked if -riding would not be good. - -"Certainly! excellent! just the thing! There's an idea! You ought to -follow it up." - -And as she objected that she had no horse, Monsieur Rodolphe offered -one. She refused his offer; he did not insist. Then to explain his visit -he said that his ploughman, the man of the blood-letting, still suffered -from giddiness. - -"I'll call around," said Bovary. - -"No, no! I'll send him to you; we'll come; that will be more convenient -for you." - -"Ah! very good! I thank you." - -And as soon as they were alone, "Why don't you accept Monsieur -Boulanger's kind offer?" - -She assumed a sulky air, invented a thousand excuses, and finally -declared that perhaps it would look odd. - -"Well, what the deuce do I care for that?" said Charles, making a -pirouette. "Health before everything! You are wrong." - -"And how do you think I can ride when I haven't got a habit?" - -"You must order one," he answered. - -The riding-habit decided her. - -When the habit was ready, Charles wrote to Monsieur Boulanger that his -wife was at his command, and that they counted on his good-nature. - -The next day at noon Rodolphe appeared at Charles's door with two -saddle-horses. One had pink rosettes at his ears and a deerskin -side-saddle. - -Rodolphe had put on high soft boots, saying to himself that no doubt she -had never seen anything like them. In fact, Emma was charmed with his -appearance as he stood on the landing in his great velvet coat and white -corduroy breeches. She was ready; she was waiting for him. - -Justin escaped from the chemist's to see her start, and the chemist also -came out. He was giving Monsieur Boulanger a little good advice. - -"An accident happens so easily. Be careful! Your horses perhaps are -mettlesome." - -She heard a noise above her; it was Felicite drumming on the windowpanes -to amuse little Berthe. The child blew her a kiss; her mother answered -with a wave of her whip. - -"A pleasant ride!" cried Monsieur Homais. "Prudence! above all, -prudence!" And he flourished his newspaper as he saw them disappear. - -As soon as he felt the ground, Emma's horse set off at a gallop. - -Rodolphe galloped by her side. Now and then they exchanged a word. Her -figure slightly bent, her hand well up, and her right arm stretched out, -she gave herself up to the cadence of the movement that rocked her in -her saddle. At the bottom of the hill Rodolphe gave his horse its head; -they started together at a bound, then at the top suddenly the horses -stopped, and her large blue veil fell about her. - -It was early in October. There was fog over the land. Hazy clouds -hovered on the horizon between the outlines of the hills; others, rent -asunder, floated up and disappeared. Sometimes through a rift in the -clouds, beneath a ray of sunshine, gleamed from afar the roots of -Yonville, with the gardens at the water's edge, the yards, the walls and -the church steeple. Emma half closed her eyes to pick out her house, and -never had this poor village where she lived appeared so small. From the -height on which they were the whole valley seemed an immense pale lake -sending off its vapour into the air. Clumps of trees here and there -stood out like black rocks, and the tall lines of the poplars that rose -above the mist were like a beach stirred by the wind. - -By the side, on the turf between the pines, a brown light shimmered -in the warm atmosphere. The earth, ruddy like the powder of tobacco, -deadened the noise of their steps, and with the edge of their shoes the -horses as they walked kicked the fallen fir cones in front of them. - -Rodolphe and Emma thus went along the skirt of the wood. She turned -away from time to time to avoid his look, and then she saw only the pine -trunks in lines, whose monotonous succession made her a little giddy. -The horses were panting; the leather of the saddles creaked. - -Just as they were entering the forest the sun shone out. - -"God protects us!" said Rodolphe. - -"Do you think so?" she said. - -"Forward! forward!" he continued. - -He "tchk'd" with his tongue. The two beasts set off at a trot. - -Long ferns by the roadside caught in Emma's stirrup. - -Rodolphe leant forward and removed them as they rode along. At other -times, to turn aside the branches, he passed close to her, and Emma felt -his knee brushing against her leg. The sky was now blue, the leaves no -longer stirred. There were spaces full of heather in flower, and plots -of violets alternated with the confused patches of the trees that were -grey, fawn, or golden coloured, according to the nature of their leaves. -Often in the thicket was heard the fluttering of wings, or else the -hoarse, soft cry of the ravens flying off amidst the oaks. - -They dismounted. Rodolphe fastened up the horses. She walked on in -front on the moss between the paths. But her long habit got in her way, -although she held it up by the skirt; and Rodolphe, walking behind her, -saw between the black cloth and the black shoe the fineness of her white -stocking, that seemed to him as if it were a part of her nakedness. - -She stopped. "I am tired," she said. - -"Come, try again," he went on. "Courage!" - -Then some hundred paces farther on she again stopped, and through her -veil, that fell sideways from her man's hat over her hips, her face -appeared in a bluish transparency as if she were floating under azure -waves. - -"But where are we going?" - -He did not answer. She was breathing irregularly. Rodolphe looked round -him biting his moustache. They came to a larger space where the coppice -had been cut. They sat down on the trunk of a fallen tree, and Rodolphe -began speaking to her of his love. He did not begin by frightening her -with compliments. He was calm, serious, melancholy. - -Emma listened to him with bowed head, and stirred the bits of wood on -the ground with the tip of her foot. But at the words, "Are not our -destinies now one?" - -"Oh, no!" she replied. "You know that well. It is impossible!" She rose -to go. He seized her by the wrist. She stopped. Then, having gazed -at him for a few moments with an amorous and humid look, she said -hurriedly-- - -"Ah! do not speak of it again! Where are the horses? Let us go back." - -He made a gesture of anger and annoyance. She repeated: - -"Where are the horses? Where are the horses?" - -Then smiling a strange smile, his pupil fixed, his teeth set, he -advanced with outstretched arms. She recoiled trembling. She stammered: - -"Oh, you frighten me! You hurt me! Let me go!" - -"If it must be," he went on, his face changing; and he again became -respectful, caressing, timid. She gave him her arm. They went back. He -said-- - -"What was the matter with you? Why? I do not understand. You were -mistaken, no doubt. In my soul you are as a Madonna on a pedestal, in -a place lofty, secure, immaculate. But I need you to live! I must have -your eyes, your voice, your thought! Be my friend, my sister, my angel!" - -And he put out his arm round her waist. She feebly tried to disengage -herself. He supported her thus as they walked along. - -But they heard the two horses browsing on the leaves. - -"Oh! one moment!" said Rodolphe. "Do not let us go! Stay!" - -He drew her farther on to a small pool where duckweeds made a greenness -on the water. Faded water lilies lay motionless between the reeds. -At the noise of their steps in the grass, frogs jumped away to hide -themselves. - -"I am wrong! I am wrong!" she said. "I am mad to listen to you!" - -"Why? Emma! Emma!" - -"Oh, Rodolphe!" said the young woman slowly, leaning on his shoulder. - -The cloth of her habit caught against the velvet of his coat. She threw -back her white neck, swelling with a sigh, and faltering, in tears, with -a long shudder and hiding her face, she gave herself up to him-- - -The shades of night were falling; the horizontal sun passing between the -branches dazzled the eyes. Here and there around her, in the leaves -or on the ground, trembled luminous patches, as it hummingbirds flying -about had scattered their feathers. Silence was everywhere; something -sweet seemed to come forth from the trees; she felt her heart, whose -beating had begun again, and the blood coursing through her flesh like a -stream of milk. Then far away, beyond the wood, on the other hills, she -heard a vague prolonged cry, a voice which lingered, and in silence she -heard it mingling like music with the last pulsations of her throbbing -nerves. Rodolphe, a cigar between his lips, was mending with his -penknife one of the two broken bridles. - -They returned to Yonville by the same road. On the mud they saw again -the traces of their horses side by side, the same thickets, the same -stones to the grass; nothing around them seemed changed; and yet for her -something had happened more stupendous than if the mountains had moved -in their places. Rodolphe now and again bent forward and took her hand -to kiss it. - -She was charming on horseback--upright, with her slender waist, her knee -bent on the mane of her horse, her face somewhat flushed by the fresh -air in the red of the evening. - -On entering Yonville she made her horse prance in the road. People -looked at her from the windows. - -At dinner her husband thought she looked well, but she pretended not to -hear him when he inquired about her ride, and she remained sitting there -with her elbow at the side of her plate between the two lighted candles. - -"Emma!" he said. - -"What?" - -"Well, I spent the afternoon at Monsieur Alexandre's. He has an old cob, -still very fine, only a little broken-kneed, and that could be bought; I -am sure, for a hundred crowns." He added, "And thinking it might please -you, I have bespoken it--bought it. Have I done right? Do tell me?" - -She nodded her head in assent; then a quarter of an hour later-- - -"Are you going out to-night?" she asked. - -"Yes. Why?" - -"Oh, nothing, nothing, my dear!" - -And as soon as she had got rid of Charles she went and shut herself up -in her room. - -At first she felt stunned; she saw the trees, the paths, the ditches, -Rodolphe, and she again felt the pressure of his arm, while the leaves -rustled and the reeds whistled. - -But when she saw herself in the glass she wondered at her face. Never -had her eyes been so large, so black, of so profound a depth. Something -subtle about her being transfigured her. She repeated, "I have a lover! -a lover!" delighting at the idea as if a second puberty had come to her. -So at last she was to know those joys of love, that fever of happiness -of which she had despaired! She was entering upon marvels where all -would be passion, ecstasy, delirium. An azure infinity encompassed -her, the heights of sentiment sparkled under her thought, and ordinary -existence appeared only afar off, down below in the shade, through the -interspaces of these heights. - -Then she recalled the heroines of the books that she had read, and the -lyric legion of these adulterous women began to sing in her memory with -the voice of sisters that charmed her. She became herself, as it were, -an actual part of these imaginings, and realised the love-dream of her -youth as she saw herself in this type of amorous women whom she had -so envied. Besides, Emma felt a satisfaction of revenge. Had she not -suffered enough? But now she triumphed, and the love so long pent up -burst forth in full joyous bubblings. She tasted it without remorse, -without anxiety, without trouble. - -The day following passed with a new sweetness. They made vows to one -another She told him of her sorrows. Rodolphe interrupted her with -kisses; and she looking at him through half-closed eyes, asked him to -call her again by her name--to say that he loved her They were in the -forest, as yesterday, in the shed of some woodenshoe maker. The walls -were of straw, and the roof so low they had to stoop. They were seated -side by side on a bed of dry leaves. - -From that day forth they wrote to one another regularly every evening. -Emma placed her letter at the end of the garden, by the river, in a -fissure of the wall. Rodolphe came to fetch it, and put another there, -that she always found fault with as too short. - -One morning, when Charles had gone out before day break, she was seized -with the fancy to see Rodolphe at once. She would go quickly to La -Huchette, stay there an hour, and be back again at Yonville while -everyone was still asleep. This idea made her pant with desire, and she -soon found herself in the middle of the field, walking with rapid steps, -without looking behind her. - -Day was just breaking. Emma from afar recognised her lover's house. Its -two dove-tailed weathercocks stood out black against the pale dawn. - -Beyond the farmyard there was a detached building that she thought must -be the chateau She entered--it was if the doors at her approach had -opened wide of their own accord. A large straight staircase led up to -the corridor. Emma raised the latch of a door, and suddenly at the end -of the room she saw a man sleeping. It was Rodolphe. She uttered a cry. - -"You here? You here?" he repeated. "How did you manage to come? Ah! your -dress is damp." - -"I love you," she answered, throwing her arms about his neck. - -This first piece of daring successful, now every time Charles went out -early Emma dressed quickly and slipped on tiptoe down the steps that led -to the waterside. - -But when the plank for the cows was taken up, she had to go by the walls -alongside of the river; the bank was slippery; in order not to fall -she caught hold of the tufts of faded wallflowers. Then she went across -ploughed fields, in which she sank, stumbling; and clogging her thin -shoes. Her scarf, knotted round her head, fluttered to the wind in the -meadows. She was afraid of the oxen; she began to run; she arrived out -of breath, with rosy cheeks, and breathing out from her whole person a -fresh perfume of sap, of verdure, of the open air. At this hour Rodolphe -still slept. It was like a spring morning coming into his room. - -The yellow curtains along the windows let a heavy, whitish light enter -softly. Emma felt about, opening and closing her eyes, while the drops -of dew hanging from her hair formed, as it were, a topaz aureole around -her face. Rodolphe, laughing, drew her to him, and pressed her to his -breast. - -Then she examined the apartment, opened the drawers of the tables, -combed her hair with his comb, and looked at herself in his -shaving-glass. Often she even put between her teeth the big pipe that -lay on the table by the bed, amongst lemons and pieces of sugar near a -bottle of water. - -It took them a good quarter of an hour to say goodbye. Then Emma cried. -She would have wished never to leave Rodolphe. Something stronger than -herself forced her to him; so much so, that one day, seeing her come -unexpectedly, he frowned as one put out. - -"What is the matter with you?" she said. "Are you ill? Tell me!" - -At last he declared with a serious air that her visits were becoming -imprudent--that she was compromising herself. - - - -Chapter Ten - -Gradually Rodolphe's fears took possession of her. At first, love had -intoxicated her; and she had thought of nothing beyond. But now that he -was indispensable to her life, she feared to lose anything of this, or -even that it should be disturbed. When she came back from his house she -looked all about her, anxiously watching every form that passed in the -horizon, and every village window from which she could be seen. She -listened for steps, cries, the noise of the ploughs, and she stopped -short, white, and trembling more than the aspen leaves swaying overhead. - -One morning as she was thus returning, she suddenly thought she saw the -long barrel of a carbine that seemed to be aimed at her. It stuck out -sideways from the end of a small tub half-buried in the grass on the -edge of a ditch. Emma, half-fainting with terror, nevertheless walked -on, and a man stepped out of the tub like a Jack-in-the-box. He had -gaiters buckled up to the knees, his cap pulled down over his eyes, -trembling lips, and a red nose. It was Captain Binet lying in ambush for -wild ducks. - -"You ought to have called out long ago!" he exclaimed; "When one sees a -gun, one should always give warning." - -The tax-collector was thus trying to hide the fright he had had, for -a prefectorial order having prohibited duckhunting except in boats, -Monsieur Binet, despite his respect for the laws, was infringing them, -and so he every moment expected to see the rural guard turn up. But -this anxiety whetted his pleasure, and, all alone in his tub, he -congratulated himself on his luck and on his cuteness. At sight of -Emma he seemed relieved from a great weight, and at once entered upon a -conversation. - -"It isn't warm; it's nipping." - -Emma answered nothing. He went on-- - -"And you're out so early?" - -"Yes," she said stammering; "I am just coming from the nurse where my -child is." - -"Ah! very good! very good! For myself, I am here, just as you see me, -since break of day; but the weather is so muggy, that unless one had the -bird at the mouth of the gun--" - -"Good evening, Monsieur Binet," she interrupted him, turning on her -heel. - -"Your servant, madame," he replied drily; and he went back into his tub. - -Emma regretted having left the tax-collector so abruptly. No doubt he -would form unfavourable conjectures. The story about the nurse was the -worst possible excuse, everyone at Yonville knowing that the little -Bovary had been at home with her parents for a year. Besides, no one -was living in this direction; this path led only to La Huchette. Binet, -then, would guess whence she came, and he would not keep silence; he -would talk, that was certain. She remained until evening racking her -brain with every conceivable lying project, and had constantly before -her eyes that imbecile with the game-bag. - -Charles after dinner, seeing her gloomy, proposed, by way of -distraction, to take her to the chemist's, and the first person she -caught sight of in the shop was the taxcollector again. He was standing -in front of the counter, lit up by the gleams of the red bottle, and was -saying-- - -"Please give me half an ounce of vitriol." - -"Justin," cried the druggist, "bring us the sulphuric acid." Then to -Emma, who was going up to Madame Homais' room, "No, stay here; it isn't -worth while going up; she is just coming down. Warm yourself at the -stove in the meantime. Excuse me. Good-day, doctor," (for the chemist -much enjoyed pronouncing the word "doctor," as if addressing another by -it reflected on himself some of the grandeur that he found in it). "Now, -take care not to upset the mortars! You'd better fetch some chairs from -the little room; you know very well that the arm-chairs are not to be -taken out of the drawing-room." - -And to put his arm-chair back in its place he was darting away from the -counter, when Binet asked him for half an ounce of sugar acid. - -"Sugar acid!" said the chemist contemptuously, "don't know it; I'm -ignorant of it! But perhaps you want oxalic acid. It is oxalic acid, -isn't it?" - -Binet explained that he wanted a corrosive to make himself some -copperwater with which to remove rust from his hunting things. - -Emma shuddered. The chemist began saying-- - -"Indeed the weather is not propitious on account of the damp." - -"Nevertheless," replied the tax-collector, with a sly look, "there are -people who like it." - -She was stifling. - -"And give me--" - -"Will he never go?" thought she. - -"Half an ounce of resin and turpentine, four ounces of yellow wax, -and three half ounces of animal charcoal, if you please, to clean the -varnished leather of my togs." - -The druggist was beginning to cut the wax when Madame Homais appeared, -Irma in her arms, Napoleon by her side, and Athalie following. She sat -down on the velvet seat by the window, and the lad squatted down on a -footstool, while his eldest sister hovered round the jujube box near -her papa. The latter was filling funnels and corking phials, sticking on -labels, making up parcels. Around him all were silent; only from time -to time, were heard the weights jingling in the balance, and a few low -words from the chemist giving directions to his pupil. - -"And how's the little woman?" suddenly asked Madame Homais. - -"Silence!" exclaimed her husband, who was writing down some figures in -his waste-book. - -"Why didn't you bring her?" she went on in a low voice. - -"Hush! hush!" said Emma, pointing with her finger to the druggist. - -But Binet, quite absorbed in looking over his bill, had probably heard -nothing. At last he went out. Then Emma, relieved, uttered a deep sigh. - -"How hard you are breathing!" said Madame Homais. - -"Well, you see, it's rather warm," she replied. - -So the next day they talked over how to arrange their rendezvous. Emma -wanted to bribe her servant with a present, but it would be better to -find some safe house at Yonville. Rodolphe promised to look for one. - -All through the winter, three or four times a week, in the dead of night -he came to the garden. Emma had on purpose taken away the key of the -gate, which Charles thought lost. - -To call her, Rodolphe threw a sprinkle of sand at the shutters. She -jumped up with a start; but sometimes he had to wait, for Charles had a -mania for chatting by the fireside, and he would not stop. She was wild -with impatience; if her eyes could have done it, she would have hurled -him out at the window. At last she would begin to undress, then take up -a book, and go on reading very quietly as if the book amused her. But -Charles, who was in bed, called to her to come too. - -"Come, now, Emma," he said, "it is time." - -"Yes, I am coming," she answered. - -Then, as the candles dazzled him; he turned to the wall and fell asleep. -She escaped, smiling, palpitating, undressed. Rodolphe had a large -cloak; he wrapped her in it, and putting his arm round her waist, he -drew her without a word to the end of the garden. - -It was in the arbour, on the same seat of old sticks where formerly Leon -had looked at her so amorously on the summer evenings. She never thought -of him now. - -The stars shone through the leafless jasmine branches. Behind them they -heard the river flowing, and now and again on the bank the rustling -of the dry reeds. Masses of shadow here and there loomed out in the -darkness, and sometimes, vibrating with one movement, they rose up and -swayed like immense black waves pressing forward to engulf them. The -cold of the nights made them clasp closer; the sighs of their lips -seemed to them deeper; their eyes that they could hardly see, larger; -and in the midst of the silence low words were spoken that fell on -their souls sonorous, crystalline, and that reverberated in multiplied -vibrations. - -When the night was rainy, they took refuge in the consulting-room -between the cart-shed and the stable. She lighted one of the kitchen -candles that she had hidden behind the books. Rodolphe settled down -there as if at home. The sight of the library, of the bureau, of the -whole apartment, in fine, excited his merriment, and he could not -refrain from making jokes about Charles, which rather embarrassed Emma. -She would have liked to see him more serious, and even on occasions -more dramatic; as, for example, when she thought she heard a noise of -approaching steps in the alley. - -"Someone is coming!" she said. - -He blew out the light. - -"Have you your pistols?" - -"Why?" - -"Why, to defend yourself," replied Emma. - -"From your husband? Oh, poor devil!" And Rodolphe finished his sentence -with a gesture that said, "I could crush him with a flip of my finger." - -She was wonder-stricken at his bravery, although she felt in it a sort -of indecency and a naive coarseness that scandalised her. - -Rodolphe reflected a good deal on the affair of the pistols. If she had -spoken seriously, it was very ridiculous, he thought, even odious; for -he had no reason to hate the good Charles, not being what is called -devoured by jealousy; and on this subject Emma had taken a great vow -that he did not think in the best of taste. - -Besides, she was growing very sentimental. She had insisted on -exchanging miniatures; they had cut off handfuls of hair, and now she -was asking for a ring--a real wedding-ring, in sign of an eternal union. -She often spoke to him of the evening chimes, of the voices of nature. -Then she talked to him of her mother--hers! and of his mother--his! -Rodolphe had lost his twenty years ago. Emma none the less consoled -him with caressing words as one would have done a lost child, and she -sometimes even said to him, gazing at the moon-- - -"I am sure that above there together they approve of our love." - -But she was so pretty. He had possessed so few women of such -ingenuousness. This love without debauchery was a new experience for -him, and, drawing him out of his lazy habits, caressed at once his pride -and his sensuality. Emma's enthusiasm, which his bourgeois good sense -disdained, seemed to him in his heart of hearts charming, since it -was lavished on him. Then, sure of being loved, he no longer kept up -appearances, and insensibly his ways changed. - -He had no longer, as formerly, words so gentle that they made her cry, -nor passionate caresses that made her mad, so that their great love, -which engrossed her life, seemed to lessen beneath her like the water of -a stream absorbed into its channel, and she could see the bed of it. -She would not believe it; she redoubled in tenderness, and Rodolphe -concealed his indifference less and less. - -She did not know if she regretted having yielded to him, or whether she -did not wish, on the contrary, to enjoy him the more. The humiliation -of feeling herself weak was turning to rancour, tempered by their -voluptuous pleasures. It was not affection; it was like a continual -seduction. He subjugated her; she almost feared him. - -Appearances, nevertheless, were calmer than ever, Rodolphe having -succeeded in carrying out the adultery after his own fancy; and at the -end of six months, when the spring-time came, they were to one another -like a married couple, tranquilly keeping up a domestic flame. - -It was the time of year when old Rouault sent his turkey in remembrance -of the setting of his leg. The present always arrived with a letter. -Emma cut the string that tied it to the basket, and read the following -lines:-- - -"My Dear Children--I hope this will find you well, and that this one -will be as good as the others. For it seems to me a little more tender, -if I may venture to say so, and heavier. But next time, for a change, -I'll give you a turkeycock, unless you have a preference for some dabs; -and send me back the hamper, if you please, with the two old ones. I -have had an accident with my cart-sheds, whose covering flew off one -windy night among the trees. The harvest has not been overgood either. -Finally, I don't know when I shall come to see you. It is so difficult -now to leave the house since I am alone, my poor Emma." - -Here there was a break in the lines, as if the old fellow had dropped -his pen to dream a little while. - -"For myself, I am very well, except for a cold I caught the other day at -the fair at Yvetot, where I had gone to hire a shepherd, having turned -away mine because he was too dainty. How we are to be pitied with such -a lot of thieves! Besides, he was also rude. I heard from a pedlar, who, -travelling through your part of the country this winter, had a tooth -drawn, that Bovary was as usual working hard. That doesn't surprise me; -and he showed me his tooth; we had some coffee together. I asked him if -he had seen you, and he said not, but that he had seen two horses in the -stables, from which I conclude that business is looking up. So much -the better, my dear children, and may God send you every imaginable -happiness! It grieves me not yet to have seen my dear little -grand-daughter, Berthe Bovary. I have planted an Orleans plum-tree for -her in the garden under your room, and I won't have it touched unless it -is to have jam made for her by and bye, that I will keep in the cupboard -for her when she comes. - -"Good-bye, my dear children. I kiss you, my girl, you too, my -son-in-law, and the little one on both cheeks. I am, with best -compliments, your loving father. - -"Theodore Rouault." - -She held the coarse paper in her fingers for some minutes. The spelling -mistakes were interwoven one with the other, and Emma followed the -kindly thought that cackled right through it like a hen half hidden -in the hedge of thorns. The writing had been dried with ashes from -the hearth, for a little grey powder slipped from the letter on to her -dress, and she almost thought she saw her father bending over the hearth -to take up the tongs. How long since she had been with him, sitting on -the footstool in the chimney-corner, where she used to burn the end of -a bit of wood in the great flame of the sea-sedges! She remembered the -summer evenings all full of sunshine. The colts neighed when anyone -passed by, and galloped, galloped. Under her window there was a beehive, -and sometimes the bees wheeling round in the light struck against her -window like rebounding balls of gold. What happiness there had been -at that time, what freedom, what hope! What an abundance of illusions! -Nothing was left of them now. She had got rid of them all in her soul's -life, in all her successive conditions of life, maidenhood, her marriage, -and her love--thus constantly losing them all her life through, like -a traveller who leaves something of his wealth at every inn along his -road. - -But what then, made her so unhappy? What was the extraordinary -catastrophe that had transformed her? And she raised her head, looking -round as if to seek the cause of that which made her suffer. - -An April ray was dancing on the china of the whatnot; the fire burned; -beneath her slippers she felt the softness of the carpet; the day was -bright, the air warm, and she heard her child shouting with laughter. - -In fact, the little girl was just then rolling on the lawn in the midst -of the grass that was being turned. She was lying flat on her stomach -at the top of a rick. The servant was holding her by her skirt. -Lestiboudois was raking by her side, and every time he came near she -lent forward, beating the air with both her arms. - -"Bring her to me," said her mother, rushing to embrace her. "How I love -you, my poor child! How I love you!" - -Then noticing that the tips of her ears were rather dirty, she rang at -once for warm water, and washed her, changed her linen, her stockings, -her shoes, asked a thousand questions about her health, as if on the -return from a long journey, and finally, kissing her again and crying -a little, she gave her back to the servant, who stood quite -thunderstricken at this excess of tenderness. - -That evening Rodolphe found her more serious than usual. - -"That will pass over," he concluded; "it's a whim:" - -And he missed three rendezvous running. When he did come, she showed -herself cold and almost contemptuous. - -"Ah! you're losing your time, my lady!" - -And he pretended not to notice her melancholy sighs, nor the -handkerchief she took out. - -Then Emma repented. She even asked herself why she detested Charles; if -it had not been better to have been able to love him? But he gave her -no opportunities for such a revival of sentiment, so that she was much -embarrassed by her desire for sacrifice, when the druggist came just in -time to provide her with an opportunity. - - - -Chapter Eleven - -He had recently read a eulogy on a new method for curing club-foot, and -as he was a partisan of progress, he conceived the patriotic idea that -Yonville, in order to keep to the fore, ought to have some operations -for strephopody or club-foot. - -"For," said he to Emma, "what risk is there? See--" (and he enumerated -on his fingers the advantages of the attempt), "success, almost certain -relief and beautifying of the patient, celebrity acquired by the -operator. Why, for example, should not your husband relieve poor -Hippolyte of the 'Lion d'Or'? Note that he would not fail to tell about -his cure to all the travellers, and then" (Homais lowered his voice and -looked round him) "who is to prevent me from sending a short paragraph -on the subject to the paper? Eh! goodness me! an article gets about; it -is talked of; it ends by making a snowball! And who knows? who knows?" - -In fact, Bovary might succeed. Nothing proved to Emma that he was not -clever; and what a satisfaction for her to have urged him to a step by -which his reputation and fortune would be increased! She only wished to -lean on something more solid than love. - -Charles, urged by the druggist and by her, allowed himself to be -persuaded. He sent to Rouen for Dr. Duval's volume, and every evening, -holding his head between both hands, plunged into the reading of it. - -While he was studying equinus, varus, and valgus, that is to say, -katastrephopody, endostrephopody, and exostrephopody (or better, the -various turnings of the foot downwards, inwards, and outwards, with the -hypostrephopody and anastrephopody), otherwise torsion downwards and -upwards, Monsier Homais, with all sorts of arguments, was exhorting the -lad at the inn to submit to the operation. - -"You will scarcely feel, probably, a slight pain; it is a simple prick, -like a little blood-letting, less than the extraction of certain corns." - -Hippolyte, reflecting, rolled his stupid eyes. - -"However," continued the chemist, "it doesn't concern me. It's for your -sake, for pure humanity! I should like to see you, my friend, rid of -your hideous caudication, together with that waddling of the lumbar -regions which, whatever you say, must considerably interfere with you in -the exercise of your calling." - -Then Homais represented to him how much jollier and brisker he would -feel afterwards, and even gave him to understand that he would be more -likely to please the women; and the stable-boy began to smile heavily. -Then he attacked him through his vanity: - -"Aren't you a man? Hang it! what would you have done if you had had to -go into the army, to go and fight beneath the standard? Ah! Hippolyte!" - -And Homais retired, declaring that he could not understand this -obstinacy, this blindness in refusing the benefactions of science. - -The poor fellow gave way, for it was like a conspiracy. Binet, who never -interfered with other people's business, Madame Lefrancois, Artemise, -the neighbours, even the mayor, Monsieur Tuvache--everyone persuaded -him, lectured him, shamed him; but what finally decided him was that it -would cost him nothing. Bovary even undertook to provide the machine -for the operation. This generosity was an idea of Emma's, and Charles -consented to it, thinking in his heart of hearts that his wife was an -angel. - -So by the advice of the chemist, and after three fresh starts, he had a -kind of box made by the carpenter, with the aid of the locksmith, -that weighed about eight pounds, and in which iron, wood, sheer-iron, -leather, screws, and nuts had not been spared. - -But to know which of Hippolyte's tendons to cut, it was necessary first -of all to find out what kind of club-foot he had. - -He had a foot forming almost a straight line with the leg, which, -however, did not prevent it from being turned in, so that it was an -equinus together with something of a varus, or else a slight varus with -a strong tendency to equinus. But with this equinus, wide in foot like -a horse's hoof, with rugose skin, dry tendons, and large toes, on which -the black nails looked as if made of iron, the clubfoot ran about like -a deer from morn till night. He was constantly to be seen on the Place, -jumping round the carts, thrusting his limping foot forwards. He seemed -even stronger on that leg than the other. By dint of hard service it had -acquired, as it were, moral qualities of patience and energy; and -when he was given some heavy work, he stood on it in preference to its -fellow. - -Now, as it was an equinus, it was necessary to cut the tendon of -Achilles, and, if need were, the anterior tibial muscle could be seen to -afterwards for getting rid of the varus; for the doctor did not dare to -risk both operations at once; he was even trembling already for fear of -injuring some important region that he did not know. - -Neither Ambrose Pare, applying for the first time since Celsus, after an -interval of fifteen centuries, a ligature to an artery, nor Dupuytren, -about to open an abscess in the brain, nor Gensoul when he first took -away the superior maxilla, had hearts that trembled, hands that shook, -minds so strained as Monsieur Bovary when he approached Hippolyte, his -tenotome between his fingers. And as at hospitals, near by on a table -lay a heap of lint, with waxed thread, many bandages--a pyramid of -bandages--every bandage to be found at the druggist's. It was Monsieur -Homais who since morning had been organising all these preparations, -as much to dazzle the multitude as to keep up his illusions. Charles -pierced the skin; a dry crackling was heard. The tendon was cut, the -operation over. Hippolyte could not get over his surprise, but bent over -Bovary's hands to cover them with kisses. - -"Come, be calm," said the druggist; "later on you will show your -gratitude to your benefactor." - -And he went down to tell the result to five or six inquirers who were -waiting in the yard, and who fancied that Hippolyte would reappear -walking properly. Then Charles, having buckled his patient into the -machine, went home, where Emma, all anxiety, awaited him at the door. -She threw herself on his neck; they sat down to table; he ate much, -and at dessert he even wanted to take a cup of coffee, a luxury he only -permitted himself on Sundays when there was company. - -The evening was charming, full of prattle, of dreams together. They -talked about their future fortune, of the improvements to be made in -their house; he saw people's estimation of him growing, his comforts -increasing, his wife always loving him; and she was happy to refresh -herself with a new sentiment, healthier, better, to feel at last some -tenderness for this poor fellow who adored her. The thought of Rodolphe -for one moment passed through her mind, but her eyes turned again to -Charles; she even noticed with surprise that he had not bad teeth. - -They were in bed when Monsieur Homais, in spite of the servant, suddenly -entered the room, holding in his hand a sheet of paper just written. It -was the paragraph he intended for the "Fanal de Rouen." He brought it -for them to read. - -"Read it yourself," said Bovary. - -He read-- - -"'Despite the prejudices that still invest a part of the face of Europe -like a net, the light nevertheless begins to penetrate our country -places. Thus on Tuesday our little town of Yonville found itself the -scene of a surgical operation which is at the same time an act of -loftiest philanthropy. Monsieur Bovary, one of our most distinguished -practitioners--'" - -"Oh, that is too much! too much!" said Charles, choking with emotion. - -"No, no! not at all! What next!" - -"'--Performed an operation on a club-footed man.' I have not used the -scientific term, because you know in a newspaper everyone would not -perhaps understand. The masses must--'" - -"No doubt," said Bovary; "go on!" - -"I proceed," said the chemist. "'Monsieur Bovary, one of our most -distinguished practitioners, performed an operation on a club-footed man -called Hippolyte Tautain, stableman for the last twenty-five years at -the hotel of the "Lion d'Or," kept by Widow Lefrancois, at the Place -d'Armes. The novelty of the attempt, and the interest incident to the -subject, had attracted such a concourse of persons that there was -a veritable obstruction on the threshold of the establishment. The -operation, moreover, was performed as if by magic, and barely a -few drops of blood appeared on the skin, as though to say that the -rebellious tendon had at last given way beneath the efforts of art. The -patient, strangely enough--we affirm it as an eye-witness--complained -of no pain. His condition up to the present time leaves nothing to be -desired. Everything tends to show that his convelescence will be brief; -and who knows even if at our next village festivity we shall not see our -good Hippolyte figuring in the bacchic dance in the midst of a chorus -of joyous boon-companions, and thus proving to all eyes by his verve -and his capers his complete cure? Honour, then, to the generous savants! -Honour to those indefatigable spirits who consecrate their vigils to the -amelioration or to the alleviation of their kind! Honour, thrice honour! -Is it not time to cry that the blind shall see, the deaf hear, the lame -walk? But that which fanaticism formerly promised to its elect, science -now accomplishes for all men. We shall keep our readers informed as to -the successive phases of this remarkable cure.'" - -This did not prevent Mere Lefrancois, from coming five days after, -scared, and crying out-- - -"Help! he is dying! I am going crazy!" - -Charles rushed to the "Lion d'Or," and the chemist, who caught sight -of him passing along the Place hatless, abandoned his shop. He appeared -himself breathless, red, anxious, and asking everyone who was going up -the stairs-- - -"Why, what's the matter with our interesting strephopode?" - -The strephopode was writhing in hideous convulsions, so that the machine -in which his leg was enclosed was knocked against the wall enough to -break it. - -With many precautions, in order not to disturb the position of the limb, -the box was removed, and an awful sight presented itself. The outlines -of the foot disappeared in such a swelling that the entire skin seemed -about to burst, and it was covered with ecchymosis, caused by the famous -machine. Hippolyte had already complained of suffering from it. No -attention had been paid to him; they had to acknowledge that he had not -been altogether wrong, and he was freed for a few hours. But, hardly had -the oedema gone down to some extent, than the two savants thought fit -to put back the limb in the apparatus, strapping it tighter to hasten -matters. At last, three days after, Hippolyte being unable to endure it -any longer, they once more removed the machine, and were much surprised -at the result they saw. The livid tumefaction spread over the leg, with -blisters here and there, whence there oozed a black liquid. Matters -were taking a serious turn. Hippolyte began to worry himself, and Mere -Lefrancois, had him installed in the little room near the kitchen, so -that he might at least have some distraction. - -But the tax-collector, who dined there every day, complained bitterly of -such companionship. Then Hippolyte was removed to the billiard-room. -He lay there moaning under his heavy coverings, pale with long beard, -sunken eyes, and from time to time turning his perspiring head on the -dirty pillow, where the flies alighted. Madame Bovary went to see him. -She brought him linen for his poultices; she comforted, and encouraged -him. Besides, he did not want for company, especially on market-days, -when the peasants were knocking about the billiard-balls round him, -fenced with the cues, smoked, drank, sang, and brawled. - -"How are you?" they said, clapping him on the shoulder. "Ah! you're not -up to much, it seems, but it's your own fault. You should do this! do -that!" And then they told him stories of people who had all been cured -by other remedies than his. Then by way of consolation they added-- - -"You give way too much! Get up! You coddle yourself like a king! All the -same, old chap, you don't smell nice!" - -Gangrene, in fact, was spreading more and more. Bovary himself turned -sick at it. He came every hour, every moment. Hippolyte looked at him -with eyes full of terror, sobbing-- - -"When shall I get well? Oh, save me! How unfortunate I am! How -unfortunate I am!" - -And the doctor left, always recommending him to diet himself. - -"Don't listen to him, my lad," said Mere Lefrancois, "Haven't they -tortured you enough already? You'll grow still weaker. Here! swallow -this." - -And she gave him some good beef-tea, a slice of mutton, a piece of -bacon, and sometimes small glasses of brandy, that he had not the -strength to put to his lips. - -Abbe Bournisien, hearing that he was growing worse, asked to see him. -He began by pitying his sufferings, declaring at the same time that he -ought to rejoice at them since it was the will of the Lord, and take -advantage of the occasion to reconcile himself to Heaven. - -"For," said the ecclesiastic in a paternal tone, "you rather neglected -your duties; you were rarely seen at divine worship. How many years is -it since you approached the holy table? I understand that your work, -that the whirl of the world may have kept you from care for your -salvation. But now is the time to reflect. Yet don't despair. I have -known great sinners, who, about to appear before God (you are not yet -at this point I know), had implored His mercy, and who certainly died in -the best frame of mind. Let us hope that, like them, you will set us a -good example. Thus, as a precaution, what is to prevent you from saying -morning and evening a 'Hail Mary, full of grace,' and 'Our Father which -art in heaven'? Yes, do that, for my sake, to oblige me. That won't cost -you anything. Will you promise me?" - -The poor devil promised. The cure came back day after day. He chatted -with the landlady; and even told anecdotes interspersed with jokes and -puns that Hippolyte did not understand. Then, as soon as he could, he -fell back upon matters of religion, putting on an appropriate expression -of face. - -His zeal seemed successful, for the club-foot soon manifested a desire -to go on a pilgrimage to Bon-Secours if he were cured; to which Monsieur -Bournisien replied that he saw no objection; two precautions were better -than one; it was no risk anyhow. - -The druggist was indignant at what he called the manoeuvres of the -priest; they were prejudicial, he said, to Hippolyte's convalescence, -and he kept repeating to Madame Lefrancois, "Leave him alone! leave him -alone! You perturb his morals with your mysticism." But the good woman -would no longer listen to him; he was the cause of it all. From a spirit -of contradiction she hung up near the bedside of the patient a basin -filled with holy-water and a branch of box. - -Religion, however, seemed no more able to succour him than surgery, and -the invincible gangrene still spread from the extremities towards -the stomach. It was all very well to vary the potions and change the -poultices; the muscles each day rotted more and more; and at last -Charles replied by an affirmative nod of the head when Mere Lefrancois, -asked him if she could not, as a forlorn hope, send for Monsieur Canivet -of Neufchatel, who was a celebrity. - -A doctor of medicine, fifty years of age, enjoying a good position -and self-possessed, Charles's colleague did not refrain from laughing -disdainfully when he had uncovered the leg, mortified to the knee. Then -having flatly declared that it must be amputated, he went off to the -chemist's to rail at the asses who could have reduced a poor man to such -a state. Shaking Monsieur Homais by the button of his coat, he shouted -out in the shop-- - -"These are the inventions of Paris! These are the ideas of those gentry -of the capital! It is like strabismus, chloroform, lithotrity, a heap of -monstrosities that the Government ought to prohibit. But they want to do -the clever, and they cram you with remedies without, troubling about -the consequences. We are not so clever, not we! We are not savants, -coxcombs, fops! We are practitioners; we cure people, and we should -not dream of operating on anyone who is in perfect health. Straighten -club-feet! As if one could straighten club-feet! It is as if one wished, -for example, to make a hunchback straight!" - -Homais suffered as he listened to this discourse, and he concealed his -discomfort beneath a courtier's smile; for he needed to humour Monsier -Canivet, whose prescriptions sometimes came as far as Yonville. So he -did not take up the defence of Bovary; he did not even make a single -remark, and, renouncing his principles, he sacrificed his dignity to the -more serious interests of his business. - -This amputation of the thigh by Doctor Canivet was a great event in the -village. On that day all the inhabitants got up earlier, and the Grande -Rue, although full of people, had something lugubrious about it, as -if an execution had been expected. At the grocer's they discussed -Hippolyte's illness; the shops did no business, and Madame Tuvache, the -mayor's wife, did not stir from her window, such was her impatience to -see the operator arrive. - -He came in his gig, which he drove himself. But the springs of the right -side having at length given way beneath the weight of his corpulence, it -happened that the carriage as it rolled along leaned over a little, and -on the other cushion near him could be seen a large box covered in red -sheep-leather, whose three brass clasps shone grandly. - -After he had entered like a whirlwind the porch of the "Lion d'Or," the -doctor, shouting very loud, ordered them to unharness his horse. Then he -went into the stable to see that she was eating her oats all right; for -on arriving at a patient's he first of all looked after his mare and his -gig. People even said about this-- - -"Ah! Monsieur Canivet's a character!" - -And he was the more esteemed for this imperturbable coolness. The -universe to the last man might have died, and he would not have missed -the smallest of his habits. - -Homais presented himself. - -"I count on you," said the doctor. "Are we ready? Come along!" - -But the druggist, turning red, confessed that he was too sensitive to -assist at such an operation. - -"When one is a simple spectator," he said, "the imagination, you know, -is impressed. And then I have such a nervous system!" - -"Pshaw!" interrupted Canivet; "on the contrary, you seem to me inclined -to apoplexy. Besides, that doesn't astonish me, for you chemist fellows -are always poking about your kitchens, which must end by spoiling your -constitutions. Now just look at me. I get up every day at four o'clock; -I shave with cold water (and am never cold). I don't wear flannels, and -I never catch cold; my carcass is good enough! I live now in one way, -now in another, like a philosopher, taking pot-luck; that is why I -am not squeamish like you, and it is as indifferent to me to carve a -Christian as the first fowl that turns up. Then, perhaps, you will say, -habit! habit!" - -Then, without any consideration for Hippolyte, who was sweating with -agony between his sheets, these gentlemen entered into a conversation, -in which the druggist compared the coolness of a surgeon to that of a -general; and this comparison was pleasing to Canivet, who launched out -on the exigencies of his art. He looked upon, it as a sacred office, -although the ordinary practitioners dishonoured it. At last, coming back -to the patient, he examined the bandages brought by Homais, the same -that had appeared for the club-foot, and asked for someone to hold the -limb for him. Lestiboudois was sent for, and Monsieur Canivet having -turned up his sleeves, passed into the billiard-room, while the druggist -stayed with Artemise and the landlady, both whiter than their aprons, -and with ears strained towards the door. - -Bovary during this time did not dare to stir from his house. - -He kept downstairs in the sitting-room by the side of the fireless -chimney, his chin on his breast, his hands clasped, his eyes staring. -"What a mishap!" he thought, "what a mishap!" Perhaps, after all, he had -made some slip. He thought it over, but could hit upon nothing. But the -most famous surgeons also made mistakes; and that is what no one would -ever believe! People, on the contrary, would laugh, jeer! It would -spread as far as Forges, as Neufchatel, as Rouen, everywhere! Who could -say if his colleagues would not write against him. Polemics would ensue; -he would have to answer in the papers. Hippolyte might even prosecute -him. He saw himself dishonoured, ruined, lost; and his imagination, -assailed by a world of hypotheses, tossed amongst them like an empty -cask borne by the sea and floating upon the waves. - -Emma, opposite, watched him; she did not share his humiliation; she felt -another--that of having supposed such a man was worth anything. As if -twenty times already she had not sufficiently perceived his mediocrity. - -Charles was walking up and down the room; his boots creaked on the -floor. - -"Sit down," she said; "you fidget me." - -He sat down again. - -How was it that she--she, who was so intelligent--could have allowed -herself to be deceived again? and through what deplorable madness had -she thus ruined her life by continual sacrifices? She recalled all her -instincts of luxury, all the privations of her soul, the sordidness of -marriage, of the household, her dream sinking into the mire like wounded -swallows; all that she had longed for, all that she had denied herself, -all that she might have had! And for what? for what? - -In the midst of the silence that hung over the village a heart-rending -cry rose on the air. Bovary turned white to fainting. She knit her -brows with a nervous gesture, then went on. And it was for him, for this -creature, for this man, who understood nothing, who felt nothing! For he -was there quite quiet, not even suspecting that the ridicule of his name -would henceforth sully hers as well as his. She had made efforts to love -him, and she had repented with tears for having yielded to another! - -"But it was perhaps a valgus!" suddenly exclaimed Bovary, who was -meditating. - -At the unexpected shock of this phrase falling on her thought like a -leaden bullet on a silver plate, Emma, shuddering, raised her head in -order to find out what he meant to say; and they looked at the other in -silence, almost amazed to see each other, so far sundered were they -by their inner thoughts. Charles gazed at her with the dull look of -a drunken man, while he listened motionless to the last cries of the -sufferer, that followed each other in long-drawn modulations, broken by -sharp spasms like the far-off howling of some beast being slaughtered. -Emma bit her wan lips, and rolling between her fingers a piece of coral -that she had broken, fixed on Charles the burning glance of her eyes -like two arrows of fire about to dart forth. Everything in him irritated -her now; his face, his dress, what he did not say, his whole person, his -existence, in fine. She repented of her past virtue as of a crime, and -what still remained of it rumbled away beneath the furious blows of her -pride. She revelled in all the evil ironies of triumphant adultery. -The memory of her lover came back to her with dazzling attractions; she -threw her whole soul into it, borne away towards this image with a fresh -enthusiasm; and Charles seemed to her as much removed from her life, as -absent forever, as impossible and annihilated, as if he had been about -to die and were passing under her eyes. - -There was a sound of steps on the pavement. Charles looked up, and -through the lowered blinds he saw at the corner of the market in -the broad sunshine Dr. Canivet, who was wiping his brow with his -handkerchief. Homais, behind him, was carrying a large red box in his -hand, and both were going towards the chemist's. - -Then with a feeling of sudden tenderness and discouragement Charles -turned to his wife saying to her-- - -"Oh, kiss me, my own!" - -"Leave me!" she said, red with anger. - -"What is the matter?" he asked, stupefied. "Be calm; compose yourself. -You know well enough that I love you. Come!" - -"Enough!" she cried with a terrible look. - -And escaping from the room, Emma closed the door so violently that the -barometer fell from the wall and smashed on the floor. - -Charles sank back into his arm-chair overwhelmed, trying to discover -what could be wrong with her, fancying some nervous illness, weeping, -and vaguely feeling something fatal and incomprehensible whirling round -him. - -When Rodolphe came to the garden that evening, he found his mistress -waiting for him at the foot of the steps on the lowest stair. They threw -their arms round one another, and all their rancour melted like snow -beneath the warmth of that kiss. - - - -Chapter Twelve - -They began to love one another again. Often, even in the middle of the -day, Emma suddenly wrote to him, then from the window made a sign to -Justin, who, taking his apron off, quickly ran to La Huchette. Rodolphe -would come; she had sent for him to tell him that she was bored, that -her husband was odious, her life frightful. - -"But what can I do?" he cried one day impatiently. - -"Ah! if you would--" - -She was sitting on the floor between his knees, her hair loose, her look -lost. - -"Why, what?" said Rodolphe. - -She sighed. - -"We would go and live elsewhere--somewhere!" - -"You are really mad!" he said laughing. "How could that be possible?" - -She returned to the subject; he pretended not to understand, and turned -the conversation. - -What he did not understand was all this worry about so simple an affair -as love. She had a motive, a reason, and, as it were, a pendant to her -affection. - -Her tenderness, in fact, grew each day with her repulsion to her -husband. The more she gave up herself to the one, the more she loathed -the other. Never had Charles seemed to her so disagreeable, to have -such stodgy fingers, such vulgar ways, to be so dull as when they found -themselves together after her meeting with Rodolphe. Then, while playing -the spouse and virtue, she was burning at the thought of that head whose -black hair fell in a curl over the sunburnt brow, of that form at once -so strong and elegant, of that man, in a word, who had such experience -in his reasoning, such passion in his desires. It was for him that she -filed her nails with the care of a chaser, and that there was never -enough cold-cream for her skin, nor of patchouli for her handkerchiefs. -She loaded herself with bracelets, rings, and necklaces. When he -was coming she filled the two large blue glass vases with roses, and -prepared her room and her person like a courtesan expecting a prince. -The servant had to be constantly washing linen, and all day Felicite -did not stir from the kitchen, where little Justin, who often kept her -company, watched her at work. - -With his elbows on the long board on which she was ironing, he -greedily watched all these women's clothes spread about him, the dimity -petticoats, the fichus, the collars, and the drawers with running -strings, wide at the hips and growing narrower below. - -"What is that for?" asked the young fellow, passing his hand over the -crinoline or the hooks and eyes. - -"Why, haven't you ever seen anything?" Felicite answered laughing. "As -if your mistress, Madame Homais, didn't wear the same." - -"Oh, I daresay! Madame Homais!" And he added with a meditative air, "As -if she were a lady like madame!" - -But Felicite grew impatient of seeing him hanging round her. She was six -years older than he, and Theodore, Monsieur Guillaumin's servant, was -beginning to pay court to her. - -"Let me alone," she said, moving her pot of starch. "You'd better be -off and pound almonds; you are always dangling about women. Before you -meddle with such things, bad boy, wait till you've got a beard to your -chin." - -"Oh, don't be cross! I'll go and clean her boots." - -And he at once took down from the shelf Emma's boots, all coated with -mud, the mud of the rendezvous, that crumbled into powder beneath his -fingers, and that he watched as it gently rose in a ray of sunlight. - -"How afraid you are of spoiling them!" said the servant, who wasn't so -particular when she cleaned them herself, because as soon as the stuff -of the boots was no longer fresh madame handed them over to her. - -Emma had a number in her cupboard that she squandered one after the -other, without Charles allowing himself the slightest observation. So -also he disbursed three hundred francs for a wooden leg that she thought -proper to make a present of to Hippolyte. Its top was covered with cork, -and it had spring joints, a complicated mechanism, covered over by black -trousers ending in a patent-leather boot. But Hippolyte, not daring -to use such a handsome leg every day, begged Madame Bovary to get him -another more convenient one. The doctor, of course, had again to defray -the expense of this purchase. - -So little by little the stable-man took up his work again. One saw him -running about the village as before, and when Charles heard from afar -the sharp noise of the wooden leg, he at once went in another direction. - -It was Monsieur Lheureux, the shopkeeper, who had undertaken the order; -this provided him with an excuse for visiting Emma. He chatted with her -about the new goods from Paris, about a thousand feminine trifles, made -himself very obliging, and never asked for his money. Emma yielded to -this lazy mode of satisfying all her caprices. Thus she wanted to have -a very handsome ridding-whip that was at an umbrella-maker's at Rouen -to give to Rodolphe. The week after Monsieur Lheureux placed it on her -table. - -But the next day he called on her with a bill for two hundred and -seventy francs, not counting the centimes. Emma was much embarrassed; -all the drawers of the writing-table were empty; they owed over a -fortnight's wages to Lestiboudois, two quarters to the servant, for any -quantity of other things, and Bovary was impatiently expecting Monsieur -Derozeray's account, which he was in the habit of paying every year -about Midsummer. - -She succeeded at first in putting off Lheureux. At last he lost -patience; he was being sued; his capital was out, and unless he got some -in he should be forced to take back all the goods she had received. - -"Oh, very well, take them!" said Emma. - -"I was only joking," he replied; "the only thing I regret is the whip. -My word! I'll ask monsieur to return it to me." - -"No, no!" she said. - -"Ah! I've got you!" thought Lheureux. - -And, certain of his discovery, he went out repeating to himself in an -undertone, and with his usual low whistle-- - -"Good! we shall see! we shall see!" - -She was thinking how to get out of this when the servant coming in -put on the mantelpiece a small roll of blue paper "from Monsieur -Derozeray's." Emma pounced upon and opened it. It contained fifteen -napoleons; it was the account. She heard Charles on the stairs; threw -the gold to the back of her drawer, and took out the key. - -Three days after Lheureux reappeared. - -"I have an arrangement to suggest to you," he said. "If, instead of the -sum agreed on, you would take--" - -"Here it is," she said placing fourteen napoleons in his hand. - -The tradesman was dumfounded. Then, to conceal his disappointment, he -was profuse in apologies and proffers of service, all of which Emma -declined; then she remained a few moments fingering in the pocket of -her apron the two five-franc pieces that he had given her in change. -She promised herself she would economise in order to pay back later on. -"Pshaw!" she thought, "he won't think about it again." - -Besides the riding-whip with its silver-gilt handle, Rodolphe had -received a seal with the motto Amor nel cor* furthermore, a scarf for -a muffler, and, finally, a cigar-case exactly like the Viscount's, that -Charles had formerly picked up in the road, and that Emma had kept. -These presents, however, humiliated him; he refused several; she -insisted, and he ended by obeying, thinking her tyrannical and -overexacting. - - *A loving heart. - -Then she had strange ideas. - -"When midnight strikes," she said, "you must think of me." - -And if he confessed that he had not thought of her, there were floods of -reproaches that always ended with the eternal question-- - -"Do you love me?" - -"Why, of course I love you," he answered. - -"A great deal?" - -"Certainly!" - -"You haven't loved any others?" - -"Did you think you'd got a virgin?" he exclaimed laughing. - -Emma cried, and he tried to console her, adorning his protestations with -puns. - -"Oh," she went on, "I love you! I love you so that I could not live -without you, do you see? There are times when I long to see you again, -when I am torn by all the anger of love. I ask myself, Where is -he? Perhaps he is talking to other women. They smile upon him; he -approaches. Oh no; no one else pleases you. There are some more -beautiful, but I love you best. I know how to love best. I am your -servant, your concubine! You are my king, my idol! You are good, you are -beautiful, you are clever, you are strong!" - -He had so often heard these things said that they did not strike him as -original. Emma was like all his mistresses; and the charm of novelty, -gradually falling away like a garment, laid bare the eternal monotony -of passion, that has always the same forms and the same language. He -did not distinguish, this man of so much experience, the difference of -sentiment beneath the sameness of expression. Because lips libertine -and venal had murmured such words to him, he believed but little in the -candour of hers; exaggerated speeches hiding mediocre affections must be -discounted; as if the fullness of the soul did not sometimes overflow in -the emptiest metaphors, since no one can ever give the exact measure of -his needs, nor of his conceptions, nor of his sorrows; and since human -speech is like a cracked tin kettle, on which we hammer out tunes to -make bears dance when we long to move the stars. - -But with that superior critical judgment that belongs to him who, in no -matter what circumstance, holds back, Rodolphe saw other delights to be -got out of this love. He thought all modesty in the way. He treated her -quite sans facon.* He made of her something supple and corrupt. Hers -was an idiotic sort of attachment, full of admiration for him, of -voluptuousness for her, a beatitude that benumbed her; her soul sank -into this drunkenness, shrivelled up, drowned in it, like Clarence in -his butt of Malmsey. - - *Off-handedly. - - -By the mere effect of her love Madame Bovary's manners changed. -Her looks grew bolder, her speech more free; she even committed the -impropriety of walking out with Monsieur Rodolphe, a cigarette in her -mouth, "as if to defy the people." At last, those who still doubted -doubted no longer when one day they saw her getting out of the -"Hirondelle," her waist squeezed into a waistcoat like a man; and Madame -Bovary senior, who, after a fearful scene with her husband, had taken -refuge at her son's, was not the least scandalised of the women-folk. -Many other things displeased her. First, Charles had not attended to -her advice about the forbidding of novels; then the "ways of the house" -annoyed her; she allowed herself to make some remarks, and there were -quarrels, especially one on account of Felicite. - -Madame Bovary senior, the evening before, passing along the passage, -had surprised her in company of a man--a man with a brown collar, about -forty years old, who, at the sound of her step, had quickly escaped -through the kitchen. Then Emma began to laugh, but the good lady grew -angry, declaring that unless morals were to be laughed at one ought to -look after those of one's servants. - -"Where were you brought up?" asked the daughter-in-law, with so -impertinent a look that Madame Bovary asked her if she were not perhaps -defending her own case. - -"Leave the room!" said the young woman, springing up with a bound. - -"Emma! Mamma!" cried Charles, trying to reconcile them. - -But both had fled in their exasperation. Emma was stamping her feet as -she repeated-- - -"Oh! what manners! What a peasant!" - -He ran to his mother; she was beside herself. She stammered - -"She is an insolent, giddy-headed thing, or perhaps worse!" - -And she was for leaving at once if the other did not apologise. So -Charles went back again to his wife and implored her to give way; he -knelt to her; she ended by saying-- - -"Very well! I'll go to her." - -And in fact she held out her hand to her mother-in-law with the dignity -of a marchioness as she said-- - -"Excuse me, madame." - -Then, having gone up again to her room, she threw herself flat on her -bed and cried there like a child, her face buried in the pillow. - -She and Rodolphe had agreed that in the event of anything extraordinary -occurring, she should fasten a small piece of white paper to the blind, -so that if by chance he happened to be in Yonville, he could hurry to -the lane behind the house. Emma made the signal; she had been waiting -three-quarters of an hour when she suddenly caught sight of Rodolphe at -the corner of the market. She felt tempted to open the window and call -him, but he had already disappeared. She fell back in despair. - -Soon, however, it seemed to her that someone was walking on the -pavement. It was he, no doubt. She went downstairs, crossed the yard. He -was there outside. She threw herself into his arms. - -"Do take care!" he said. - -"Ah! if you knew!" she replied. - -And she began telling him everything, hurriedly, disjointedly, -exaggerating the facts, inventing many, and so prodigal of parentheses -that he understood nothing of it. - -"Come, my poor angel, courage! Be comforted! be patient!" - -"But I have been patient; I have suffered for four years. A love like -ours ought to show itself in the face of heaven. They torture me! I can -bear it no longer! Save me!" - -She clung to Rodolphe. Her eyes, full of tears, flashed like flames -beneath a wave; her breast heaved; he had never loved her so much, so -that he lost his head and said "What is, it? What do you wish?" - -"Take me away," she cried, "carry me off! Oh, I pray you!" - -And she threw herself upon his mouth, as if to seize there the -unexpected consent if breathed forth in a kiss. - -"But--" Rodolphe resumed. - -"What?" - -"Your little girl!" - -She reflected a few moments, then replied-- - -"We will take her! It can't be helped!" - -"What a woman!" he said to himself, watching her as she went. For she -had run into the garden. Someone was calling her. - -On the following days Madame Bovary senior was much surprised at the -change in her daughter-in-law. Emma, in fact, was showing herself more -docile, and even carried her deference so far as to ask for a recipe for -pickling gherkins. - -Was it the better to deceive them both? Or did she wish by a sort of -voluptuous stoicism to feel the more profoundly the bitterness of the -things she was about to leave? - -But she paid no heed to them; on the contrary, she lived as lost in the -anticipated delight of her coming happiness. - -It was an eternal subject for conversation with Rodolphe. She leant on -his shoulder murmuring-- - -"Ah! when we are in the mail-coach! Do you think about it? Can it be? It -seems to me that the moment I feel the carriage start, it will be as if -we were rising in a balloon, as if we were setting out for the clouds. -Do you know that I count the hours? And you?" - -Never had Madame Bovary been so beautiful as at this period; she had -that indefinable beauty that results from joy, from enthusiasm, from -success, and that is only the harmony of temperament with circumstances. -Her desires, her sorrows, the experience of pleasure, and her ever-young -illusions, that had, as soil and rain and winds and the sun make flowers -grow, gradually developed her, and she at length blossomed forth in all -the plenitude of her nature. Her eyelids seemed chiselled expressly for -her long amorous looks in which the pupil disappeared, while a strong -inspiration expanded her delicate nostrils and raised the fleshy corner -of her lips, shaded in the light by a little black down. One would have -thought that an artist apt in conception had arranged the curls of hair -upon her neck; they fell in a thick mass, negligently, and with the -changing chances of their adultery, that unbound them every day. Her -voice now took more mellow infections, her figure also; something subtle -and penetrating escaped even from the folds of her gown and from the -line of her foot. Charles, as when they were first married, thought her -delicious and quite irresistible. - -When he came home in the middle of the night, he did not dare to wake -her. The porcelain night-light threw a round trembling gleam upon the -ceiling, and the drawn curtains of the little cot formed as it were a -white hut standing out in the shade, and by the bedside Charles looked -at them. He seemed to hear the light breathing of his child. She would -grow big now; every season would bring rapid progress. He already saw -her coming from school as the day drew in, laughing, with ink-stains on -her jacket, and carrying her basket on her arm. Then she would have to -be sent to the boarding-school; that would cost much; how was it to -be done? Then he reflected. He thought of hiring a small farm in the -neighbourhood, that he would superintend every morning on his way to his -patients. He would save up what he brought in; he would put it in the -savings-bank. Then he would buy shares somewhere, no matter where; -besides, his practice would increase; he counted upon that, for he -wanted Berthe to be well-educated, to be accomplished, to learn to play -the piano. Ah! how pretty she would be later on when she was fifteen, -when, resembling her mother, she would, like her, wear large straw hats -in the summer-time; from a distance they would be taken for two sisters. -He pictured her to himself working in the evening by their side beneath -the light of the lamp; she would embroider him slippers; she would look -after the house; she would fill all the home with her charm and her -gaiety. At last, they would think of her marriage; they would find her -some good young fellow with a steady business; he would make her happy; -this would last for ever. - -Emma was not asleep; she pretended to be; and while he dozed off by her -side she awakened to other dreams. - -To the gallop of four horses she was carried away for a week towards a -new land, whence they would return no more. They went on and on, their -arms entwined, without a word. Often from the top of a mountain there -suddenly glimpsed some splendid city with domes, and bridges, and -ships, forests of citron trees, and cathedrals of white marble, on whose -pointed steeples were storks' nests. They went at a walking-pace because -of the great flag-stones, and on the ground there were bouquets of -flowers, offered you by women dressed in red bodices. They heard the -chiming of bells, the neighing of mules, together with the murmur of -guitars and the noise of fountains, whose rising spray refreshed heaps -of fruit arranged like a pyramid at the foot of pale statues that smiled -beneath playing waters. And then, one night they came to a fishing -village, where brown nets were drying in the wind along the cliffs and -in front of the huts. It was there that they would stay; they would live -in a low, flat-roofed house, shaded by a palm-tree, in the heart of a -gulf, by the sea. They would row in gondolas, swing in hammocks, and -their existence would be easy and large as their silk gowns, warm and -star-spangled as the nights they would contemplate. However, in the -immensity of this future that she conjured up, nothing special stood -forth; the days, all magnificent, resembled each other like waves; and -it swayed in the horizon, infinite, harmonised, azure, and bathed in -sunshine. But the child began to cough in her cot or Bovary snored -more loudly, and Emma did not fall asleep till morning, when the dawn -whitened the windows, and when little Justin was already in the square -taking down the shutters of the chemist's shop. - -She had sent for Monsieur Lheureux, and had said to him-- - -"I want a cloak--a large lined cloak with a deep collar." - -"You are going on a journey?" he asked. - -"No; but--never mind. I may count on you, may I not, and quickly?" - -He bowed. - -"Besides, I shall want," she went on, "a trunk--not too heavy--handy." - -"Yes, yes, I understand. About three feet by a foot and a half, as they -are being made just now." - -"And a travelling bag." - -"Decidedly," thought Lheureux, "there's a row on here." - -"And," said Madame Bovary, taking her watch from her belt, "take this; -you can pay yourself out of it." - -But the tradesman cried out that she was wrong; they knew one another; -did he doubt her? What childishness! - -She insisted, however, on his taking at least the chain, and Lheureux -had already put it in his pocket and was going, when she called him -back. - -"You will leave everything at your place. As to the cloak"--she seemed -to be reflecting--"do not bring it either; you can give me the maker's -address, and tell him to have it ready for me." - -It was the next month that they were to run away. She was to leave -Yonville as if she was going on some business to Rouen. Rodolphe would -have booked the seats, procured the passports, and even have written to -Paris in order to have the whole mail-coach reserved for them as far as -Marseilles, where they would buy a carriage, and go on thence without -stopping to Genoa. She would take care to send her luggage to Lheureux -whence it would be taken direct to the "Hirondelle," so that no one -would have any suspicion. And in all this there never was any allusion -to the child. Rodolphe avoided speaking of her; perhaps he no longer -thought about it. - -He wished to have two more weeks before him to arrange some affairs; -then at the end of a week he wanted two more; then he said he was ill; -next he went on a journey. The month of August passed, and, after all -these delays, they decided that it was to be irrevocably fixed for the -4th September--a Monday. - -At length the Saturday before arrived. - -Rodolphe came in the evening earlier than usual. - -"Everything is ready?" she asked him. - -"Yes." - -Then they walked round a garden-bed, and went to sit down near the -terrace on the kerb-stone of the wall. - -"You are sad," said Emma. - -"No; why?" - -And yet he looked at her strangely in a tender fashion. - -"It is because you are going away?" she went on; "because you are -leaving what is dear to you--your life? Ah! I understand. I have nothing -in the world! you are all to me; so shall I be to you. I will be your -people, your country; I will tend, I will love you!" - -"How sweet you are!" he said, seizing her in his arms. - -"Really!" she said with a voluptuous laugh. "Do you love me? Swear it -then!" - -"Do I love you--love you? I adore you, my love." - -The moon, full and purple-coloured, was rising right out of the earth -at the end of the meadow. She rose quickly between the branches of the -poplars, that hid her here and there like a black curtain pierced with -holes. Then she appeared dazzling with whiteness in the empty heavens -that she lit up, and now sailing more slowly along, let fall upon the -river a great stain that broke up into an infinity of stars; and the -silver sheen seemed to writhe through the very depths like a heedless -serpent covered with luminous scales; it also resembled some monster -candelabra all along which sparkled drops of diamonds running together. -The soft night was about them; masses of shadow filled the branches. -Emma, her eyes half closed, breathed in with deep sighs the fresh wind -that was blowing. They did not speak, lost as they were in the rush of -their reverie. The tenderness of the old days came back to their hearts, -full and silent as the flowing river, with the softness of the perfume -of the syringas, and threw across their memories shadows more immense -and more sombre than those of the still willows that lengthened out over -the grass. Often some night-animal, hedgehog or weasel, setting out on -the hunt, disturbed the lovers, or sometimes they heard a ripe peach -falling all alone from the espalier. - -"Ah! what a lovely night!" said Rodolphe. - -"We shall have others," replied Emma; and, as if speaking to herself: -"Yet, it will be good to travel. And yet, why should my heart be -so heavy? Is it dread of the unknown? The effect of habits left? Or -rather--? No; it is the excess of happiness. How weak I am, am I not? -Forgive me!" - -"There is still time!" he cried. "Reflect! perhaps you may repent!" - -"Never!" she cried impetuously. And coming closer to him: "What ill -could come to me? There is no desert, no precipice, no ocean I would not -traverse with you. The longer we live together the more it will be like -an embrace, every day closer, more heart to heart. There will be -nothing to trouble us, no cares, no obstacle. We shall be alone, all to -ourselves eternally. Oh, speak! Answer me!" - -At regular intervals he answered, "Yes--Yes--" She had passed her hands -through his hair, and she repeated in a childlike voice, despite the big -tears which were falling, "Rodolphe! Rodolphe! Ah! Rodolphe! dear little -Rodolphe!" - -Midnight struck. - -"Midnight!" said she. "Come, it is to-morrow. One day more!" - -He rose to go; and as if the movement he made had been the signal for -their flight, Emma said, suddenly assuming a gay air-- - -"You have the passports?" - -"Yes." - -"You are forgetting nothing?" - -"No." - -"Are you sure?" - -"Certainly." - -"It is at the Hotel de Provence, is it not, that you will wait for me at -midday?" - -He nodded. - -"Till to-morrow then!" said Emma in a last caress; and she watched him -go. - -He did not turn round. She ran after him, and, leaning over the water's -edge between the bulrushes-- - -"To-morrow!" she cried. - -He was already on the other side of the river and walking fast across -the meadow. - -After a few moments Rodolphe stopped; and when he saw her with her white -gown gradually fade away in the shade like a ghost, he was seized with -such a beating of the heart that he leant against a tree lest he should -fall. - -"What an imbecile I am!" he said with a fearful oath. "No matter! She -was a pretty mistress!" - -And immediately Emma's beauty, with all the pleasures of their love, -came back to him. For a moment he softened; then he rebelled against -her. - -"For, after all," he exclaimed, gesticulating, "I can't exile -myself--have a child on my hands." - -He was saying these things to give himself firmness. - -"And besides, the worry, the expense! Ah! no, no, no, no! a thousand -times no! That would be too stupid." - - - -Chapter Thirteen - -No sooner was Rodolphe at home than he sat down quickly at his bureau -under the stag's head that hung as a trophy on the wall. But when he had -the pen between his fingers, he could think of nothing, so that, resting -on his elbows, he began to reflect. Emma seemed to him to have receded -into a far-off past, as if the resolution he had taken had suddenly -placed a distance between them. - -To get back something of her, he fetched from the cupboard at the -bedside an old Rheims biscuit-box, in which he usually kept his letters -from women, and from it came an odour of dry dust and withered -roses. First he saw a handkerchief with pale little spots. It was a -handkerchief of hers. Once when they were walking her nose had bled; he -had forgotten it. Near it, chipped at all the corners, was a miniature -given him by Emma: her toilette seemed to him pretentious, and her -languishing look in the worst possible taste. Then, from looking at this -image and recalling the memory of its original, Emma's features little -by little grew confused in his remembrance, as if the living and the -painted face, rubbing one against the other, had effaced each other. -Finally, he read some of her letters; they were full of explanations -relating to their journey, short, technical, and urgent, like business -notes. He wanted to see the long ones again, those of old times. In -order to find them at the bottom of the box, Rodolphe disturbed all the -others, and mechanically began rummaging amidst this mass of papers and -things, finding pell-mell bouquets, garters, a black mask, pins, and -hair--hair! dark and fair, some even, catching in the hinges of the box, -broke when it was opened. - -Thus dallying with his souvenirs, he examined the writing and the style -of the letters, as varied as their orthography. They were tender or -jovial, facetious, melancholy; there were some that asked for love, -others that asked for money. A word recalled faces to him, certain -gestures, the sound of a voice; sometimes, however, he remembered -nothing at all. - -In fact, these women, rushing at once into his thoughts, cramped each -other and lessened, as reduced to a uniform level of love that equalised -them all. So taking handfuls of the mixed-up letters, he amused himself -for some moments with letting them fall in cascades from his right into -his left hand. At last, bored and weary, Rodolphe took back the box to -the cupboard, saying to himself, "What a lot of rubbish!" Which summed -up his opinion; for pleasures, like schoolboys in a school courtyard, -had so trampled upon his heart that no green thing grew there, and that -which passed through it, more heedless than children, did not even, like -them, leave a name carved upon the wall. - -"Come," said he, "let's begin." - -He wrote-- - -"Courage, Emma! courage! I would not bring misery into your life." - -"After all, that's true," thought Rodolphe. "I am acting in her -interest; I am honest." - -"Have you carefully weighed your resolution? Do you know to what an -abyss I was dragging you, poor angel? No, you do not, do you? You were -coming confident and fearless, believing in happiness in the future. Ah! -unhappy that we are--insensate!" - -Rodolphe stopped here to think of some good excuse. - -"If I told her all my fortune is lost? No! Besides, that would stop -nothing. It would all have to be begun over again later on. As if one -could make women like that listen to reason!" He reflected, then went -on-- - -"I shall not forget you, oh believe it; and I shall ever have a profound -devotion for you; but some day, sooner or later, this ardour (such is -the fate of human things) would have grown less, no doubt. Lassitude -would have come to us, and who knows if I should not even have had the -atrocious pain of witnessing your remorse, of sharing it myself, since -I should have been its cause? The mere idea of the grief that would come -to you tortures me, Emma. Forget me! Why did I ever know you? Why were -you so beautiful? Is it my fault? O my God! No, no! Accuse only fate." - -"That's a word that always tells," he said to himself. - -"Ah, if you had been one of those frivolous women that one sees, -certainly I might, through egotism, have tried an experiment, in that -case without danger for you. But that delicious exaltation, at once your -charm and your torment, has prevented you from understanding, adorable -woman that you are, the falseness of our future position. Nor had I -reflected upon this at first, and I rested in the shade of that ideal -happiness as beneath that of the manchineel tree, without foreseeing the -consequences." - -"Perhaps she'll think I'm giving it up from avarice. Ah, well! so much -the worse; it must be stopped!" - -"The world is cruel, Emma. Wherever we might have gone, it would have -persecuted us. You would have had to put up with indiscreet questions, -calumny, contempt, insult perhaps. Insult to you! Oh! And I, who would -place you on a throne! I who bear with me your memory as a talisman! For -I am going to punish myself by exile for all the ill I have done you. -I am going away. Whither I know not. I am mad. Adieu! Be good always. -Preserve the memory of the unfortunate who has lost you. Teach my name -to your child; let her repeat it in her prayers." - -The wicks of the candles flickered. Rodolphe got up to, shut the window, -and when he had sat down again-- - -"I think it's all right. Ah! and this for fear she should come and hunt -me up." - -"I shall be far away when you read these sad lines, for I have wished to -flee as quickly as possible to shun the temptation of seeing you again. -No weakness! I shall return, and perhaps later on we shall talk together -very coldly of our old love. Adieu!" - -And there was a last "adieu" divided into two words! "A Dieu!" which he -thought in very excellent taste. - -"Now how am I to sign?" he said to himself. "'Yours devotedly?' No! -'Your friend?' Yes, that's it." - -"Your friend." - -He re-read his letter. He considered it very good. - -"Poor little woman!" he thought with emotion. "She'll think me harder -than a rock. There ought to have been some tears on this; but I can't -cry; it isn't my fault." Then, having emptied some water into a glass, -Rodolphe dipped his finger into it, and let a big drop fall on the -paper, that made a pale stain on the ink. Then looking for a seal, he -came upon the one "Amor nel cor." - -"That doesn't at all fit in with the circumstances. Pshaw! never mind!" - -After which he smoked three pipes and went to bed. - -The next day when he was up (at about two o'clock--he had slept late), -Rodolphe had a basket of apricots picked. He put his letter at -the bottom under some vine leaves, and at once ordered Girard, his -ploughman, to take it with care to Madame Bovary. He made use of this -means for corresponding with her, sending according to the season fruits -or game. - -"If she asks after me," he said, "you will tell her that I have gone on -a journey. You must give the basket to her herself, into her own hands. -Get along and take care!" - -Girard put on his new blouse, knotted his handkerchief round the -apricots, and walking with great heavy steps in his thick iron-bound -galoshes, made his way to Yonville. - -Madame Bovary, when he got to her house, was arranging a bundle of linen -on the kitchen-table with Felicite. - -"Here," said the ploughboy, "is something for you--from the master." - -She was seized with apprehension, and as she sought in her pocket for -some coppers, she looked at the peasant with haggard eyes, while he -himself looked at her with amazement, not understanding how such a -present could so move anyone. At last he went out. Felicite remained. -She could bear it no longer; she ran into the sitting room as if to take -the apricots there, overturned the basket, tore away the leaves, found -the letter, opened it, and, as if some fearful fire were behind her, -Emma flew to her room terrified. - -Charles was there; she saw him; he spoke to her; she heard nothing, and -she went on quickly up the stairs, breathless, distraught, dumb, and -ever holding this horrible piece of paper, that crackled between her -fingers like a plate of sheet-iron. On the second floor she stopped -before the attic door, which was closed. - -Then she tried to calm herself; she recalled the letter; she must finish -it; she did not dare to. And where? How? She would be seen! "Ah, no! -here," she thought, "I shall be all right." - -Emma pushed open the door and went in. - -The slates threw straight down a heavy heat that gripped her temples, -stifled her; she dragged herself to the closed garret-window. She drew -back the bolt, and the dazzling light burst in with a leap. - -Opposite, beyond the roofs, stretched the open country till it was lost -to sight. Down below, underneath her, the village square was empty; the -stones of the pavement glittered, the weathercocks on the houses were -motionless. At the corner of the street, from a lower storey, rose a -kind of humming with strident modulations. It was Binet turning. - -She leant against the embrasure of the window, and reread the letter -with angry sneers. But the more she fixed her attention upon it, the -more confused were her ideas. She saw him again, heard him, encircled -him with her arms, and throbs of her heart, that beat against her breast -like blows of a sledge-hammer, grew faster and faster, with uneven -intervals. She looked about her with the wish that the earth might -crumble into pieces. Why not end it all? What restrained her? She was -free. She advanced, looking at the paving-stones, saying to herself, -"Come! come!" - -The luminous ray that came straight up from below drew the weight of -her body towards the abyss. It seemed to her that the ground of the -oscillating square went up the walls and that the floor dipped on -end like a tossing boat. She was right at the edge, almost hanging, -surrounded by vast space. The blue of the heavens suffused her, the air -was whirling in her hollow head; she had but to yield, to let herself -be taken; and the humming of the lathe never ceased, like an angry voice -calling her. - -"Emma! Emma!" cried Charles. - -She stopped. - -"Wherever are you? Come!" - -The thought that she had just escaped from death almost made her faint -with terror. She closed her eyes; then she shivered at the touch of a -hand on her sleeve; it was Felicite. - -"Master is waiting for you, madame; the soup is on the table." - -And she had to go down to sit at table. - -She tried to eat. The food choked her. Then she unfolded her napkin as -if to examine the darns, and she really thought of applying herself to -this work, counting the threads in the linen. Suddenly the remembrance -of the letter returned to her. How had she lost it? Where could she find -it? But she felt such weariness of spirit that she could not even invent -a pretext for leaving the table. Then she became a coward; she was -afraid of Charles; he knew all, that was certain! Indeed he pronounced -these words in a strange manner: - -"We are not likely to see Monsieur Rodolphe soon again, it seems." - -"Who told you?" she said, shuddering. - -"Who told me!" he replied, rather astonished at her abrupt tone. "Why, -Girard, whom I met just now at the door of the Cafe Francais. He has -gone on a journey, or is to go." - -She gave a sob. - -"What surprises you in that? He absents himself like that from time -to time for a change, and, ma foi, I think he's right, when one has a -fortune and is a bachelor. Besides, he has jolly times, has our friend. -He's a bit of a rake. Monsieur Langlois told me--" - -He stopped for propriety's sake because the servant came in. She put -back into the basket the apricots scattered on the sideboard. Charles, -without noticing his wife's colour, had them brought to him, took one, -and bit into it. - -"Ah! perfect!" said he; "just taste!" - -And he handed her the basket, which she put away from her gently. - -"Do just smell! What an odour!" he remarked, passing it under her nose -several times. - -"I am choking," she cried, leaping up. But by an effort of will the -spasm passed; then-- - -"It is nothing," she said, "it is nothing! It is nervousness. Sit down -and go on eating." For she dreaded lest he should begin questioning her, -attending to her, that she should not be left alone. - -Charles, to obey her, sat down again, and he spat the stones of the -apricots into his hands, afterwards putting them on his plate. - -Suddenly a blue tilbury passed across the square at a rapid trot. Emma -uttered a cry and fell back rigid to the ground. - -In fact, Rodolphe, after many reflections, had decided to set out for -Rouen. Now, as from La Huchette to Buchy there is no other way than by -Yonville, he had to go through the village, and Emma had recognised him -by the rays of the lanterns, which like lightning flashed through the -twilight. - -The chemist, at the tumult which broke out in the house ran thither. The -table with all the plates was upset; sauce, meat, knives, the salt, and -cruet-stand were strewn over the room; Charles was calling for help; -Berthe, scared, was crying; and Felicite, whose hands trembled, was -unlacing her mistress, whose whole body shivered convulsively. - -"I'll run to my laboratory for some aromatic vinegar," said the -druggist. - -Then as she opened her eyes on smelling the bottle-- - -"I was sure of it," he remarked; "that would wake any dead person for -you!" - -"Speak to us," said Charles; "collect yourself; it is your Charles, who -loves you. Do you know me? See! here is your little girl! Oh, kiss her!" - -The child stretched out her arms to her mother to cling to her neck. But -turning away her head, Emma said in a broken voice "No, no! no one!" - -She fainted again. They carried her to her bed. She lay there stretched -at full length, her lips apart, her eyelids closed, her hands open, -motionless, and white as a waxen image. Two streams of tears flowed from -her eyes and fell slowly upon the pillow. - -Charles, standing up, was at the back of the alcove, and the chemist, -near him, maintained that meditative silence that is becoming on the -serious occasions of life. - -"Do not be uneasy," he said, touching his elbow; "I think the paroxysm -is past." - -"Yes, she is resting a little now," answered Charles, watching her -sleep. "Poor girl! poor girl! She had gone off now!" - -Then Homais asked how the accident had come about. Charles answered that -she had been taken ill suddenly while she was eating some apricots. - -"Extraordinary!" continued the chemist. "But it might be that the -apricots had brought on the syncope. Some natures are so sensitive to -certain smells; and it would even be a very fine question to study both -in its pathological and physiological relation. The priests know the -importance of it, they who have introduced aromatics into all their -ceremonies. It is to stupefy the senses and to bring on ecstasies--a -thing, moreover, very easy in persons of the weaker sex, who are more -delicate than the other. Some are cited who faint at the smell of burnt -hartshorn, of new bread--" - -"Take care; you'll wake her!" said Bovary in a low voice. - -"And not only," the druggist went on, "are human beings subject to such -anomalies, but animals also. Thus you are not ignorant of the singularly -aphrodisiac effect produced by the Nepeta cataria, vulgarly called -catmint, on the feline race; and, on the other hand, to quote an example -whose authenticity I can answer for. Bridaux (one of my old comrades, at -present established in the Rue Malpalu) possesses a dog that falls into -convulsions as soon as you hold out a snuff-box to him. He often even -makes the experiment before his friends at his summer-house at Guillaume -Wood. Would anyone believe that a simple sternutation could produce such -ravages on a quadrupedal organism? It is extremely curious, is it not?" - -"Yes," said Charles, who was not listening to him. - -"This shows us," went on the other, smiling with benign -self-sufficiency, "the innumerable irregularities of the nervous system. -With regard to madame, she has always seemed to me, I confess, very -susceptible. And so I should by no means recommend to you, my dear -friend, any of those so-called remedies that, under the pretence -of attacking the symptoms, attack the constitution. No; no useless -physicking! Diet, that is all; sedatives, emollients, dulcification. -Then, don't you think that perhaps her imagination should be worked -upon?" - -"In what way? How?" said Bovary. - -"Ah! that is it. Such is indeed the question. 'That is the question,' as -I lately read in a newspaper." - -But Emma, awaking, cried out-- - -"The letter! the letter!" - -They thought she was delirious; and she was by midnight. Brain-fever had -set in. - -For forty-three days Charles did not leave her. He gave up all his -patients; he no longer went to bed; he was constantly feeling her pulse, -putting on sinapisms and cold-water compresses. He sent Justin as far as -Neufchatel for ice; the ice melted on the way; he sent him back again. -He called Monsieur Canivet into consultation; he sent for Dr. Lariviere, -his old master, from Rouen; he was in despair. What alarmed him most was -Emma's prostration, for she did not speak, did not listen, did not even -seem to suffer, as if her body and soul were both resting together after -all their troubles. - -About the middle of October she could sit up in bed supported by -pillows. Charles wept when he saw her eat her first bread-and-jelly. Her -strength returned to her; she got up for a few hours of an afternoon, -and one day, when she felt better, he tried to take her, leaning on his -arm, for a walk round the garden. The sand of the paths was disappearing -beneath the dead leaves; she walked slowly, dragging along her slippers, -and leaning against Charles's shoulder. She smiled all the time. - -They went thus to the bottom of the garden near the terrace. She drew -herself up slowly, shading her eyes with her hand to look. She looked -far off, as far as she could, but on the horizon were only great -bonfires of grass smoking on the hills. - -"You will tire yourself, my darling!" said Bovary. And, pushing her -gently to make her go into the arbour, "Sit down on this seat; you'll be -comfortable." - -"Oh! no; not there!" she said in a faltering voice. - -She was seized with giddiness, and from that evening her illness -recommenced, with a more uncertain character, it is true, and more -complex symptoms. Now she suffered in her heart, then in the chest, the -head, the limbs; she had vomitings, in which Charles thought he saw the -first signs of cancer. - -And besides this, the poor fellow was worried about money matters. - - - -Chapter Fourteen - -To begin with, he did not know how he could pay Monsieur Homais for all -the physic supplied by him, and though, as a medical man, he was not -obliged to pay for it, he nevertheless blushed a little at such an -obligation. Then the expenses of the household, now that the servant was -mistress, became terrible. Bills rained in upon the house; the tradesmen -grumbled; Monsieur Lheureux especially harassed him. In fact, at -the height of Emma's illness, the latter, taking advantage of the -circumstances to make his bill larger, had hurriedly brought the cloak, -the travelling-bag, two trunks instead of one, and a number of other -things. It was very well for Charles to say he did not want them. The -tradesman answered arrogantly that these articles had been ordered, and -that he would not take them back; besides, it would vex madame in her -convalescence; the doctor had better think it over; in short, he was -resolved to sue him rather than give up his rights and take back his -goods. Charles subsequently ordered them to be sent back to the shop. -Felicite forgot; he had other things to attend to; then thought no more -about them. Monsieur Lheureux returned to the charge, and, by turns -threatening and whining, so managed that Bovary ended by signing a -bill at six months. But hardly had he signed this bill than a bold idea -occurred to him: it was to borrow a thousand francs from Lheureux. -So, with an embarrassed air, he asked if it were possible to get them, -adding that it would be for a year, at any interest he wished. Lheureux -ran off to his shop, brought back the money, and dictated another bill, -by which Bovary undertook to pay to his order on the 1st of September -next the sum of one thousand and seventy francs, which, with the hundred -and eighty already agreed to, made just twelve hundred and fifty, thus -lending at six per cent in addition to one-fourth for commission: and -the things bringing him in a good third at the least, this ought in -twelve months to give him a profit of a hundred and thirty francs. He -hoped that the business would not stop there; that the bills would not -be paid; that they would be renewed; and that his poor little money, -having thriven at the doctor's as at a hospital, would come back to him -one day considerably more plump, and fat enough to burst his bag. - -Everything, moreover, succeeded with him. He was adjudicator for a -supply of cider to the hospital at Neufchatel; Monsieur Guillaumin -promised him some shares in the turf-pits of Gaumesnil, and he dreamt of -establishing a new diligence service between Arcueil and Rouen, which -no doubt would not be long in ruining the ramshackle van of the "Lion -d'Or," and that, travelling faster, at a cheaper rate, and carrying more -luggage, would thus put into his hands the whole commerce of Yonville. - -Charles several times asked himself by what means he should next year be -able to pay back so much money. He reflected, imagined expedients, such -as applying to his father or selling something. But his father would be -deaf, and he--he had nothing to sell. Then he foresaw such worries that -he quickly dismissed so disagreeable a subject of meditation from -his mind. He reproached himself with forgetting Emma, as if, all his -thoughts belonging to this woman, it was robbing her of something not to -be constantly thinking of her. - -The winter was severe, Madame Bovary's convalescence slow. When it -was fine they wheeled her arm-chair to the window that overlooked the -square, for she now had an antipathy to the garden, and the blinds on -that side were always down. She wished the horse to be sold; what she -formerly liked now displeased her. All her ideas seemed to be limited to -the care of herself. She stayed in bed taking little meals, rang for the -servant to inquire about her gruel or to chat with her. The snow on -the market-roof threw a white, still light into the room; then the rain -began to fall; and Emma waited daily with a mind full of eagerness for -the inevitable return of some trifling events which nevertheless had no -relation to her. The most important was the arrival of the "Hirondelle" -in the evening. Then the landlady shouted out, and other voices -answered, while Hippolyte's lantern, as he fetched the boxes from the -boot, was like a star in the darkness. At mid-day Charles came in; -then he went out again; next she took some beef-tea, and towards five -o'clock, as the day drew in, the children coming back from school, -dragging their wooden shoes along the pavement, knocked the clapper of -the shutters with their rulers one after the other. - -It was at this hour that Monsieur Bournisien came to see her. He -inquired after her health, gave her news, exhorted her to religion, in a -coaxing little prattle that was not without its charm. The mere thought -of his cassock comforted her. - -One day, when at the height of her illness, she had thought herself -dying, and had asked for the communion; and, while they were making the -preparations in her room for the sacrament, while they were turning the -night table covered with syrups into an altar, and while Felicite was -strewing dahlia flowers on the floor, Emma felt some power passing -over her that freed her from her pains, from all perception, from -all feeling. Her body, relieved, no longer thought; another life was -beginning; it seemed to her that her being, mounting toward God, would -be annihilated in that love like a burning incense that melts into -vapour. The bed-clothes were sprinkled with holy water, the priest drew -from the holy pyx the white wafer; and it was fainting with a celestial -joy that she put out her lips to accept the body of the Saviour -presented to her. The curtains of the alcove floated gently round her -like clouds, and the rays of the two tapers burning on the night-table -seemed to shine like dazzling halos. Then she let her head fall back, -fancying she heard in space the music of seraphic harps, and perceived -in an azure sky, on a golden throne in the midst of saints holding green -palms, God the Father, resplendent with majesty, who with a sign sent to -earth angels with wings of fire to carry her away in their arms. - -This splendid vision dwelt in her memory as the most beautiful thing -that it was possible to dream, so that now she strove to recall her -sensation. That still lasted, however, but in a less exclusive fashion -and with a deeper sweetness. Her soul, tortured by pride, at length -found rest in Christian humility, and, tasting the joy of weakness, she -saw within herself the destruction of her will, that must have left a -wide entrance for the inroads of heavenly grace. There existed, then, -in the place of happiness, still greater joys--another love beyond all -loves, without pause and without end, one that would grow eternally! She -saw amid the illusions of her hope a state of purity floating above the -earth mingling with heaven, to which she aspired. She wanted to become -a saint. She bought chaplets and wore amulets; she wished to have in her -room, by the side of her bed, a reliquary set in emeralds that she might -kiss it every evening. - -The cure marvelled at this humour, although Emma's religion, he thought, -might, from its fervour, end by touching on heresy, extravagance. But -not being much versed in these matters, as soon as they went beyond a -certain limit he wrote to Monsieur Boulard, bookseller to Monsignor, -to send him "something good for a lady who was very clever." The -bookseller, with as much indifference as if he had been sending off -hardware to niggers, packed up, pellmell, everything that was then the -fashion in the pious book trade. There were little manuals in questions -and answers, pamphlets of aggressive tone after the manner of Monsieur -de Maistre, and certain novels in rose-coloured bindings and with -a honied style, manufactured by troubadour seminarists or penitent -blue-stockings. There were the "Think of it; the Man of the World at -Mary's Feet, by Monsieur de ***, decorated with many Orders"; "The -Errors of Voltaire, for the Use of the Young," etc. - -Madame Bovary's mind was not yet sufficiently clear to apply herself -seriously to anything; moreover, she began this reading in too much -hurry. She grew provoked at the doctrines of religion; the arrogance -of the polemic writings displeased her by their inveteracy in attacking -people she did not know; and the secular stories, relieved with -religion, seemed to her written in such ignorance of the world, that -they insensibly estranged her from the truths for whose proof she was -looking. Nevertheless, she persevered; and when the volume slipped -from her hands, she fancied herself seized with the finest Catholic -melancholy that an ethereal soul could conceive. - -As for the memory of Rodolphe, she had thrust it back to the bottom of -her heart, and it remained there more solemn and more motionless than -a king's mummy in a catacomb. An exhalation escaped from this embalmed -love, that, penetrating through everything, perfumed with tenderness the -immaculate atmosphere in which she longed to live. When she knelt on her -Gothic prie-Dieu, she addressed to the Lord the same suave words that -she had murmured formerly to her lover in the outpourings of adultery. -It was to make faith come; but no delights descended from the heavens, -and she arose with tired limbs and with a vague feeling of a gigantic -dupery. - -This searching after faith, she thought, was only one merit the more, -and in the pride of her devoutness Emma compared herself to those grand -ladies of long ago whose glory she had dreamed of over a portrait of La -Valliere, and who, trailing with so much majesty the lace-trimmed trains -of their long gowns, retired into solitudes to shed at the feet of -Christ all the tears of hearts that life had wounded. - -Then she gave herself up to excessive charity. She sewed clothes for the -poor, she sent wood to women in childbed; and Charles one day, on coming -home, found three good-for-nothings in the kitchen seated at the table -eating soup. She had her little girl, whom during her illness her -husband had sent back to the nurse, brought home. She wanted to teach -her to read; even when Berthe cried, she was not vexed. She had made -up her mind to resignation, to universal indulgence. Her language about -everything was full of ideal expressions. She said to her child, "Is -your stomach-ache better, my angel?" - -Madame Bovary senior found nothing to censure except perhaps this mania -of knitting jackets for orphans instead of mending her own house-linen; -but, harassed with domestic quarrels, the good woman took pleasure in -this quiet house, and she even stayed there till after Easter, to escape -the sarcasms of old Bovary, who never failed on Good Friday to order -chitterlings. - -Besides the companionship of her mother-in-law, who strengthened her a -little by the rectitude of her judgment and her grave ways, Emma almost -every day had other visitors. These were Madame Langlois, Madame Caron, -Madame Dubreuil, Madame Tuvache, and regularly from two to five o'clock -the excellent Madame Homais, who, for her part, had never believed any -of the tittle-tattle about her neighbour. The little Homais also came to -see her; Justin accompanied them. He went up with them to her bedroom, -and remained standing near the door, motionless and mute. Often even -Madame Bovary; taking no heed of him, began her toilette. She began by -taking out her comb, shaking her head with a quick movement, and when -he for the first time saw all this mass of hair that fell to her knees -unrolling in black ringlets, it was to him, poor child! like a sudden -entrance into something new and strange, whose splendour terrified him. - -Emma, no doubt, did not notice his silent attentions or his timidity. -She had no suspicion that the love vanished from her life was there, -palpitating by her side, beneath that coarse holland shirt, in that -youthful heart open to the emanations of her beauty. Besides, she -now enveloped all things with such indifference, she had words so -affectionate with looks so haughty, such contradictory ways, that one -could no longer distinguish egotism from charity, or corruption from -virtue. One evening, for example, she was angry with the servant, who -had asked to go out, and stammered as she tried to find some pretext. -Then suddenly-- - -"So you love him?" she said. - -And without waiting for any answer from Felicite, who was blushing, she -added, "There! run along; enjoy yourself!" - -In the beginning of spring she had the garden turned up from end to end, -despite Bovary's remonstrances. However, he was glad to see her at last -manifest a wish of any kind. As she grew stronger she displayed more -wilfulness. First, she found occasion to expel Mere Rollet, the nurse, -who during her convalescence had contracted the habit of coming too -often to the kitchen with her two nurslings and her boarder, better -off for teeth than a cannibal. Then she got rid of the Homais family, -successively dismissed all the other visitors, and even frequented -church less assiduously, to the great approval of the druggist, who said -to her in a friendly way-- - -"You were going in a bit for the cassock!" - -As formerly, Monsieur Bournisien dropped in every day when he came out -after catechism class. He preferred staying out of doors to taking the -air "in the grove," as he called the arbour. This was the time when -Charles came home. They were hot; some sweet cider was brought out, and -they drank together to madame's complete restoration. - -Binet was there; that is to say, a little lower down against the terrace -wall, fishing for crayfish. Bovary invited him to have a drink, and he -thoroughly understood the uncorking of the stone bottles. - -"You must," he said, throwing a satisfied glance all round him, even to -the very extremity of the landscape, "hold the bottle perpendicularly on -the table, and after the strings are cut, press up the cork with -little thrusts, gently, gently, as indeed they do seltzer-water at -restaurants." - -But during his demonstration the cider often spurted right into their -faces, and then the ecclesiastic, with a thick laugh, never missed this -joke-- - -"Its goodness strikes the eye!" - -He was, in fact, a good fellow and one day he was not even scandalised -at the chemist, who advised Charles to give madame some distraction -by taking her to the theatre at Rouen to hear the illustrious tenor, -Lagardy. Homais, surprised at this silence, wanted to know his opinion, -and the priest declared that he considered music less dangerous for -morals than literature. - -But the chemist took up the defence of letters. The theatre, he -contended, served for railing at prejudices, and, beneath a mask of -pleasure, taught virtue. - -"'Castigat ridendo mores,'* Monsieur Bournisien! Thus consider the -greater part of Voltaire's tragedies; they are cleverly strewn with -philosophical reflections, that made them a vast school of morals and -diplomacy for the people." - - *It corrects customs through laughter. - - -"I," said Binet, "once saw a piece called the 'Gamin de Paris,' in which -there was the character of an old general that is really hit off to a -T. He sets down a young swell who had seduced a working girl, who at the -ending--" - -"Certainly," continued Homais, "there is bad literature as there is bad -pharmacy, but to condemn in a lump the most important of the fine arts -seems to me a stupidity, a Gothic idea, worthy of the abominable times -that imprisoned Galileo." - -"I know very well," objected the cure, "that there are good works, -good authors. However, if it were only those persons of different sexes -united in a bewitching apartment, decorated rouge, those lights, those -effeminate voices, all this must, in the long-run, engender a -certain mental libertinage, give rise to immodest thoughts and impure -temptations. Such, at any rate, is the opinion of all the Fathers. -Finally," he added, suddenly assuming a mystic tone of voice while -he rolled a pinch of snuff between his fingers, "if the Church has -condemned the theatre, she must be right; we must submit to her -decrees." - -"Why," asked the druggist, "should she excommunicate actors? For -formerly they openly took part in religious ceremonies. Yes, in the -middle of the chancel they acted; they performed a kind of farce called -'Mysteries,' which often offended against the laws of decency." - -The ecclesiastic contented himself with uttering a groan, and the -chemist went on-- - -"It's like it is in the Bible; there there are, you know, more than one -piquant detail, matters really libidinous!" - -And on a gesture of irritation from Monsieur Bournisien-- - -"Ah! you'll admit that it is not a book to place in the hands of a young -girl, and I should be sorry if Athalie--" - -"But it is the Protestants, and not we," cried the other impatiently, -"who recommend the Bible." - -"No matter," said Homais. "I am surprised that in our days, in this -century of enlightenment, anyone should still persist in proscribing an -intellectual relaxation that is inoffensive, moralising, and sometimes -even hygienic; is it not, doctor?" - -"No doubt," replied the doctor carelessly, either because, sharing the -same ideas, he wished to offend no one, or else because he had not any -ideas. - -The conversation seemed at an end when the chemist thought fit to shoot -a Parthian arrow. - -"I've known priests who put on ordinary clothes to go and see dancers -kicking about." - -"Come, come!" said the cure. - -"Ah! I've known some!" And separating the words of his sentence, Homais -repeated, "I--have--known--some!" - -"Well, they were wrong," said Bournisien, resigned to anything. - -"By Jove! they go in for more than that," exclaimed the druggist. - -"Sir!" replied the ecclesiastic, with such angry eyes that the druggist -was intimidated by them. - -"I only mean to say," he replied in less brutal a tone, "that toleration -is the surest way to draw people to religion." - -"That is true! that is true!" agreed the good fellow, sitting down again -on his chair. But he stayed only a few moments. - -Then, as soon as he had gone, Monsieur Homais said to the doctor-- - -"That's what I call a cock-fight. I beat him, did you see, in a -way!--Now take my advice. Take madame to the theatre, if it were only -for once in your life, to enrage one of these ravens, hang it! If anyone -could take my place, I would accompany you myself. Be quick about it. -Lagardy is only going to give one performance; he's engaged to go to -England at a high salary. From what I hear, he's a regular dog; he's -rolling in money; he's taking three mistresses and a cook along with -him. All these great artists burn the candle at both ends; they require -a dissolute life, that suits the imagination to some extent. But they -die at the hospital, because they haven't the sense when young to lay -by. Well, a pleasant dinner! Goodbye till to-morrow." - -The idea of the theatre quickly germinated in Bovary's head, for he at -once communicated it to his wife, who at first refused, alleging the -fatigue, the worry, the expense; but, for a wonder, Charles did not give -in, so sure was he that this recreation would be good for her. He saw -nothing to prevent it: his mother had sent them three hundred francs -which he had no longer expected; the current debts were not very large, -and the falling in of Lheureux's bills was still so far off that -there was no need to think about them. Besides, imagining that she -was refusing from delicacy, he insisted the more; so that by dint of -worrying her she at last made up her mind, and the next day at eight -o'clock they set out in the "Hirondelle." - -The druggist, whom nothing whatever kept at Yonville, but who thought -himself bound not to budge from it, sighed as he saw them go. - -"Well, a pleasant journey!" he said to them; "happy mortals that you -are!" - -Then addressing himself to Emma, who was wearing a blue silk gown with -four flounces-- - -"You are as lovely as a Venus. You'll cut a figure at Rouen." - -The diligence stopped at the "Croix-Rouge" in the Place Beauvoisine. It -was the inn that is in every provincial faubourg, with large stables -and small bedrooms, where one sees in the middle of the court chickens -pilfering the oats under the muddy gigs of the commercial travellers--a -good old house, with worm-eaten balconies that creak in the wind on -winter nights, always full of people, noise, and feeding, whose black -tables are sticky with coffee and brandy, the thick windows made yellow -by the flies, the damp napkins stained with cheap wine, and that always -smells of the village, like ploughboys dressed in Sundayclothes, has -a cafe on the street, and towards the countryside a kitchen-garden. -Charles at once set out. He muddled up the stage-boxes with the gallery, -the pit with the boxes; asked for explanations, did not understand them; -was sent from the box-office to the acting-manager; came back to the -inn, returned to the theatre, and thus several times traversed the whole -length of the town from the theatre to the boulevard. - -Madame Bovary bought a bonnet, gloves, and a bouquet. The doctor was -much afraid of missing the beginning, and, without having had time to -swallow a plate of soup, they presented themselves at the doors of the -theatre, which were still closed. - - - - -Chapter Fifteen - -The crowd was waiting against the wall, symmetrically enclosed between -the balustrades. At the corner of the neighbouring streets huge bills -repeated in quaint letters "Lucie de Lammermoor-Lagardy-Opera-etc." The -weather was fine, the people were hot, perspiration trickled amid the -curls, and handkerchiefs taken from pockets were mopping red foreheads; -and now and then a warm wind that blew from the river gently stirred the -border of the tick awnings hanging from the doors of the public-houses. -A little lower down, however, one was refreshed by a current of icy air -that smelt of tallow, leather, and oil. This was an exhalation from -the Rue des Charrettes, full of large black warehouses where they made -casks. - -For fear of seeming ridiculous, Emma before going in wished to have a -little stroll in the harbour, and Bovary prudently kept his tickets in -his hand, in the pocket of his trousers, which he pressed against his -stomach. - -Her heart began to beat as soon as she reached the vestibule. She -involuntarily smiled with vanity on seeing the crowd rushing to the -right by the other corridor while she went up the staircase to the -reserved seats. She was as pleased as a child to push with her finger -the large tapestried door. She breathed in with all her might the -dusty smell of the lobbies, and when she was seated in her box she bent -forward with the air of a duchess. - -The theatre was beginning to fill; opera-glasses were taken from their -cases, and the subscribers, catching sight of one another, were bowing. -They came to seek relaxation in the fine arts after the anxieties of -business; but "business" was not forgotten; they still talked cottons, -spirits of wine, or indigo. The heads of old men were to be seen, -inexpressive and peaceful, with their hair and complexions looking like -silver medals tarnished by steam of lead. The young beaux were strutting -about in the pit, showing in the opening of their waistcoats their pink -or applegreen cravats, and Madame Bovary from above admired them leaning -on their canes with golden knobs in the open palm of their yellow -gloves. - -Now the lights of the orchestra were lit, the lustre, let down from the -ceiling, throwing by the glimmering of its facets a sudden gaiety over -the theatre; then the musicians came in one after the other; and -first there was the protracted hubbub of the basses grumbling, violins -squeaking, cornets trumpeting, flutes and flageolets fifing. But three -knocks were heard on the stage, a rolling of drums began, the brass -instruments played some chords, and the curtain rising, discovered a -country-scene. - -It was the cross-roads of a wood, with a fountain shaded by an oak to -the left. Peasants and lords with plaids on their shoulders were singing -a hunting-song together; then a captain suddenly came on, who evoked -the spirit of evil by lifting both his arms to heaven. Another appeared; -they went away, and the hunters started afresh. She felt herself -transported to the reading of her youth, into the midst of Walter Scott. -She seemed to hear through the mist the sound of the Scotch bagpipes -re-echoing over the heather. Then her remembrance of the novel helping -her to understand the libretto, she followed the story phrase by phrase, -while vague thoughts that came back to her dispersed at once again with -the bursts of music. She gave herself up to the lullaby of the melodies, -and felt all her being vibrate as if the violin bows were drawn over her -nerves. She had not eyes enough to look at the costumes, the scenery, -the actors, the painted trees that shook when anyone walked, and the -velvet caps, cloaks, swords--all those imaginary things that floated -amid the harmony as in the atmosphere of another world. But a young -woman stepped forward, throwing a purse to a squire in green. She was -left alone, and the flute was heard like the murmur of a fountain or the -warbling of birds. Lucie attacked her cavatina in G major bravely. She -plained of love; she longed for wings. Emma, too, fleeing from life, -would have liked to fly away in an embrace. Suddenly Edgar-Lagardy -appeared. - -He had that splendid pallor that gives something of the majesty of -marble to the ardent races of the South. His vigorous form was tightly -clad in a brown-coloured doublet; a small chiselled poniard hung against -his left thigh, and he cast round laughing looks showing his white -teeth. They said that a Polish princess having heard him sing one night -on the beach at Biarritz, where he mended boats, had fallen in love -with him. She had ruined herself for him. He had deserted her for -other women, and this sentimental celebrity did not fail to enhance his -artistic reputation. The diplomatic mummer took care always to slip into -his advertisements some poetic phrase on the fascination of his -person and the susceptibility of his soul. A fine organ, imperturbable -coolness, more temperament than intelligence, more power of emphasis -than of real singing, made up the charm of this admirable charlatan -nature, in which there was something of the hairdresser and the -toreador. - -From the first scene he evoked enthusiasm. He pressed Lucy in his arms, -he left her, he came back, he seemed desperate; he had outbursts of -rage, then elegiac gurglings of infinite sweetness, and the notes -escaped from his bare neck full of sobs and kisses. Emma leant forward -to see him, clutching the velvet of the box with her nails. She was -filling her heart with these melodious lamentations that were drawn -out to the accompaniment of the double-basses, like the cries of the -drowning in the tumult of a tempest. She recognised all the intoxication -and the anguish that had almost killed her. The voice of a prima donna -seemed to her to be but echoes of her conscience, and this illusion that -charmed her as some very thing of her own life. But no one on earth had -loved her with such love. He had not wept like Edgar that last moonlit -night when they said, "To-morrow! to-morrow!" The theatre rang with -cheers; they recommenced the entire movement; the lovers spoke of -the flowers on their tomb, of vows, exile, fate, hopes; and when they -uttered the final adieu, Emma gave a sharp cry that mingled with the -vibrations of the last chords. - -"But why," asked Bovary, "does that gentleman persecute her?" - -"No, no!" she answered; "he is her lover!" - -"Yet he vows vengeance on her family, while the other one who came on -before said, 'I love Lucie and she loves me!' Besides, he went off with -her father arm in arm. For he certainly is her father, isn't he--the -ugly little man with a cock's feather in his hat?" - -Despite Emma's explanations, as soon as the recitative duet began -in which Gilbert lays bare his abominable machinations to his master -Ashton, Charles, seeing the false troth-ring that is to deceive Lucie, -thought it was a love-gift sent by Edgar. He confessed, moreover, that -he did not understand the story because of the music, which interfered -very much with the words. - -"What does it matter?" said Emma. "Do be quiet!" - -"Yes, but you know," he went on, leaning against her shoulder, "I like -to understand things." - -"Be quiet! be quiet!" she cried impatiently. - -Lucie advanced, half supported by her women, a wreath of orange blossoms -in her hair, and paler than the white satin of her gown. Emma dreamed -of her marriage day; she saw herself at home again amid the corn in the -little path as they walked to the church. Oh, why had not she, like -this woman, resisted, implored? She, on the contrary, had been joyous, -without seeing the abyss into which she was throwing herself. Ah! if -in the freshness of her beauty, before the soiling of marriage and the -disillusions of adultery, she could have anchored her life upon some -great, strong heart, then virtue, tenderness, voluptuousness, and duty -blending, she would never have fallen from so high a happiness. But that -happiness, no doubt, was a lie invented for the despair of all desire. -She now knew the smallness of the passions that art exaggerated. So, -striving to divert her thoughts, Emma determined now to see in this -reproduction of her sorrows only a plastic fantasy, well enough to -please the eye, and she even smiled internally with disdainful pity when -at the back of the stage under the velvet hangings a man appeared in a -black cloak. - -His large Spanish hat fell at a gesture he made, and immediately the -instruments and the singers began the sextet. Edgar, flashing with fury, -dominated all the others with his clearer voice; Ashton hurled homicidal -provocations at him in deep notes; Lucie uttered her shrill plaint, -Arthur at one side, his modulated tones in the middle register, and the -bass of the minister pealed forth like an organ, while the voices of the -women repeating his words took them up in chorus delightfully. They were -all in a row gesticulating, and anger, vengeance, jealousy, terror, and -stupefaction breathed forth at once from their half-opened mouths. The -outraged lover brandished his naked sword; his guipure ruffle rose with -jerks to the movements of his chest, and he walked from right to left -with long strides, clanking against the boards the silver-gilt spurs of -his soft boots, widening out at the ankles. He, she thought must have an -inexhaustible love to lavish it upon the crowd with such effusion. -All her small fault-findings faded before the poetry of the part -that absorbed her; and, drawn towards this man by the illusion of the -character, she tried to imagine to herself his life--that life resonant, -extraordinary, splendid, and that might have been hers if fate had -willed it. They would have known one another, loved one another. With -him, through all the kingdoms of Europe she would have travelled from -capital to capital, sharing his fatigues and his pride, picking up the -flowers thrown to him, herself embroidering his costumes. Then each -evening, at the back of a box, behind the golden trellis-work she would -have drunk in eagerly the expansions of this soul that would have sung -for her alone; from the stage, even as he acted, he would have looked -at her. But the mad idea seized her that he was looking at her; it was -certain. She longed to run to his arms, to take refuge in his strength, -as in the incarnation of love itself, and to say to him, to cry out, -"Take me away! carry me with you! let us go! Thine, thine! all my ardour -and all my dreams!" - -The curtain fell. - -The smell of the gas mingled with that of the breaths, the waving of the -fans, made the air more suffocating. Emma wanted to go out; the -crowd filled the corridors, and she fell back in her arm-chair with -palpitations that choked her. Charles, fearing that she would faint, ran -to the refreshment-room to get a glass of barley-water. - -He had great difficulty in getting back to his seat, for his elbows were -jerked at every step because of the glass he held in his hands, and -he even spilt three-fourths on the shoulders of a Rouen lady in short -sleeves, who feeling the cold liquid running down to her loins, uttered -cries like a peacock, as if she were being assassinated. Her husband, -who was a millowner, railed at the clumsy fellow, and while she was with -her handkerchief wiping up the stains from her handsome cherry-coloured -taffeta gown, he angrily muttered about indemnity, costs, reimbursement. -At last Charles reached his wife, saying to her, quite out of breath-- - -"Ma foi! I thought I should have had to stay there. There is such a -crowd--SUCH a crowd!" - -He added-- - -"Just guess whom I met up there! Monsieur Leon!" - -"Leon?" - -"Himself! He's coming along to pay his respects." And as he finished -these words the ex-clerk of Yonville entered the box. - -He held out his hand with the ease of a gentleman; and Madame Bovary -extended hers, without doubt obeying the attraction of a stronger will. -She had not felt it since that spring evening when the rain fell upon -the green leaves, and they had said good-bye standing at the window. -But soon recalling herself to the necessities of the situation, with an -effort she shook off the torpor of her memories, and began stammering a -few hurried words. - -"Ah, good-day! What! you here?" - -"Silence!" cried a voice from the pit, for the third act was beginning. - -"So you are at Rouen?" - -"Yes." - -"And since when?" - -"Turn them out! turn them out!" People were looking at them. They were -silent. - -But from that moment she listened no more; and the chorus of the guests, -the scene between Ashton and his servant, the grand duet in D major, all -were for her as far off as if the instruments had grown less sonorous -and the characters more remote. She remembered the games at cards at the -druggist's, and the walk to the nurse's, the reading in the arbour, -the tete-a-tete by the fireside--all that poor love, so calm and so -protracted, so discreet, so tender, and that she had nevertheless -forgotten. And why had he come back? What combination of circumstances -had brought him back into her life? He was standing behind her, leaning -with his shoulder against the wall of the box; now and again she felt -herself shuddering beneath the hot breath from his nostrils falling upon -her hair. - -"Does this amuse you?" said he, bending over her so closely that the end -of his moustache brushed her cheek. She replied carelessly-- - -"Oh, dear me, no, not much." - -Then he proposed that they should leave the theatre and go and take an -ice somewhere. - -"Oh, not yet; let us stay," said Bovary. "Her hair's undone; this is -going to be tragic." - -But the mad scene did not at all interest Emma, and the acting of the -singer seemed to her exaggerated. - -"She screams too loud," said she, turning to Charles, who was listening. - -"Yes--a little," he replied, undecided between the frankness of his -pleasure and his respect for his wife's opinion. - -Then with a sigh Leon said-- - -"The heat is--" - -"Unbearable! Yes!" - -"Do you feel unwell?" asked Bovary. - -"Yes, I am stifling; let us go." - -Monsieur Leon put her long lace shawl carefully about her shoulders, and -all three went off to sit down in the harbour, in the open air, outside -the windows of a cafe. - -First they spoke of her illness, although Emma interrupted Charles -from time to time, for fear, she said, of boring Monsieur Leon; and the -latter told them that he had come to spend two years at Rouen in a large -office, in order to get practice in his profession, which was different -in Normandy and Paris. Then he inquired after Berthe, the Homais, Mere -Lefrancois, and as they had, in the husband's presence, nothing more to -say to one another, the conversation soon came to an end. - -People coming out of the theatre passed along the pavement, humming or -shouting at the top of their voices, "O bel ange, ma Lucie!*" Then Leon, -playing the dilettante, began to talk music. He had seen Tambourini, -Rubini, Persiani, Grisi, and, compared with them, Lagardy, despite his -grand outbursts, was nowhere. - - *Oh beautiful angel, my Lucie. - - -"Yet," interrupted Charles, who was slowly sipping his rum-sherbet, -"they say that he is quite admirable in the last act. I regret leaving -before the end, because it was beginning to amuse me." - -"Why," said the clerk, "he will soon give another performance." - -But Charles replied that they were going back next day. "Unless," he -added, turning to his wife, "you would like to stay alone, kitten?" - -And changing his tactics at this unexpected opportunity that presented -itself to his hopes, the young man sang the praises of Lagardy in the -last number. It was really superb, sublime. Then Charles insisted-- - -"You would get back on Sunday. Come, make up your mind. You are wrong if -you feel that this is doing you the least good." - -The tables round them, however, were emptying; a waiter came and stood -discreetly near them. Charles, who understood, took out his purse; the -clerk held back his arm, and did not forget to leave two more pieces of -silver that he made chink on the marble. - -"I am really sorry," said Bovary, "about the money which you are--" - -The other made a careless gesture full of cordiality, and taking his hat -said-- - -"It is settled, isn't it? To-morrow at six o'clock?" - -Charles explained once more that he could not absent himself longer, but -that nothing prevented Emma-- - -"But," she stammered, with a strange smile, "I am not sure--" - -"Well, you must think it over. We'll see. Night brings counsel." Then to -Leon, who was walking along with them, "Now that you are in our part of -the world, I hope you'll come and ask us for some dinner now and then." - -The clerk declared he would not fail to do so, being obliged, moreover, -to go to Yonville on some business for his office. And they parted -before the Saint-Herbland Passage just as the clock in the cathedral -struck half-past eleven. - - - - -Part III - - - -Chapter One - -Monsieur Leon, while studying law, had gone pretty often to the -dancing-rooms, where he was even a great success amongst the grisettes, -who thought he had a distinguished air. He was the best-mannered of the -students; he wore his hair neither too long nor too short, didn't spend -all his quarter's money on the first day of the month, and kept on good -terms with his professors. As for excesses, he had always abstained from -them, as much from cowardice as from refinement. - -Often when he stayed in his room to read, or else when sitting of an -evening under the lime-trees of the Luxembourg, he let his Code fall to -the ground, and the memory of Emma came back to him. But gradually this -feeling grew weaker, and other desires gathered over it, although it -still persisted through them all. For Leon did not lose all hope; there -was for him, as it were, a vague promise floating in the future, like a -golden fruit suspended from some fantastic tree. - -Then, seeing her again after three years of absence his passion -reawakened. He must, he thought, at last make up his mind to possess -her. Moreover, his timidity had worn off by contact with his gay -companions, and he returned to the provinces despising everyone who had -not with varnished shoes trodden the asphalt of the boulevards. By -the side of a Parisienne in her laces, in the drawing-room of some -illustrious physician, a person driving his carriage and wearing many -orders, the poor clerk would no doubt have trembled like a child; but -here, at Rouen, on the harbour, with the wife of this small doctor -he felt at his ease, sure beforehand he would shine. Self-possession -depends on its environment. We don't speak on the first floor as on the -fourth; and the wealthy woman seems to have, about her, to guard her -virtue, all her banknotes, like a cuirass in the lining of her corset. - -On leaving the Bovarys the night before, Leon had followed them -through the streets at a distance; then having seen them stop at the -"Croix-Rouge," he turned on his heel, and spent the night meditating a -plan. - -So the next day about five o'clock he walked into the kitchen of the -inn, with a choking sensation in his throat, pale cheeks, and that -resolution of cowards that stops at nothing. - -"The gentleman isn't in," answered a servant. - -This seemed to him a good omen. He went upstairs. - -She was not disturbed at his approach; on the contrary, she apologised -for having neglected to tell him where they were staying. - -"Oh, I divined it!" said Leon. - -He pretended he had been guided towards her by chance, by, instinct. She -began to smile; and at once, to repair his folly, Leon told her that he -had spent his morning in looking for her in all the hotels in the town -one after the other. - -"So you have made up your mind to stay?" he added. - -"Yes," she said, "and I am wrong. One ought not to accustom oneself to -impossible pleasures when there are a thousand demands upon one." - -"Oh, I can imagine!" - -"Ah! no; for you, you are a man!" - -But men too had had their trials, and the conversation went off into -certain philosophical reflections. Emma expatiated much on the misery of -earthly affections, and the eternal isolation in which the heart remains -entombed. - -To show off, or from a naive imitation of this melancholy which called -forth his, the young man declared that he had been awfully bored during -the whole course of his studies. The law irritated him, other vocations -attracted him, and his mother never ceased worrying him in every one -of her letters. As they talked they explained more and more fully the -motives of their sadness, working themselves up in their progressive -confidence. But they sometimes stopped short of the complete exposition -of their thought, and then sought to invent a phrase that might express -it all the same. She did not confess her passion for another; he did not -say that he had forgotten her. - -Perhaps he no longer remembered his suppers with girls after masked -balls; and no doubt she did not recollect the rendezvous of old when she -ran across the fields in the morning to her lover's house. The noises -of the town hardly reached them, and the room seemed small, as if -on purpose to hem in their solitude more closely. Emma, in a dimity -dressing-gown, leant her head against the back of the old arm-chair; the -yellow wall-paper formed, as it were, a golden background behind her, -and her bare head was mirrored in the glass with the white parting in -the middle, and the tip of her ears peeping out from the folds of her -hair. - -"But pardon me!" she said. "It is wrong of me. I weary you with my -eternal complaints." - -"No, never, never!" - -"If you knew," she went on, raising to the ceiling her beautiful eyes, -in which a tear was trembling, "all that I had dreamed!" - -"And I! Oh, I too have suffered! Often I went out; I went away. I -dragged myself along the quays, seeking distraction amid the din of the -crowd without being able to banish the heaviness that weighed upon me. -In an engraver's shop on the boulevard there is an Italian print of one -of the Muses. She is draped in a tunic, and she is looking at the -moon, with forget-me-nots in her flowing hair. Something drove me there -continually; I stayed there hours together." Then in a trembling voice, -"She resembled you a little." - -Madame Bovary turned away her head that he might not see the -irrepressible smile she felt rising to her lips. - -"Often," he went on, "I wrote you letters that I tore up." - -She did not answer. He continued-- - -"I sometimes fancied that some chance would bring you. I thought I -recognised you at street-corners, and I ran after all the carriages -through whose windows I saw a shawl fluttering, a veil like yours." - -She seemed resolved to let him go on speaking without interruption. -Crossing her arms and bending down her face, she looked at the rosettes -on her slippers, and at intervals made little movements inside the satin -of them with her toes. - -At last she sighed. - -"But the most wretched thing, is it not--is to drag out, as I do, a -useless existence. If our pains were only of some use to someone, we -should find consolation in the thought of the sacrifice." - -He started off in praise of virtue, duty, and silent immolation, having -himself an incredible longing for self-sacrifice that he could not -satisfy. - -"I should much like," she said, "to be a nurse at a hospital." - -"Alas! men have none of these holy missions, and I see nowhere any -calling--unless perhaps that of a doctor." - -With a slight shrug of her shoulders, Emma interrupted him to speak of -her illness, which had almost killed her. What a pity! She should not be -suffering now! Leon at once envied the calm of the tomb, and one evening -he had even made his will, asking to be buried in that beautiful rug -with velvet stripes he had received from her. For this was how they -would have wished to be, each setting up an ideal to which they were now -adapting their past life. Besides, speech is a rolling-mill that always -thins out the sentiment. - -But at this invention of the rug she asked, "But why?" - -"Why?" He hesitated. "Because I loved you so!" And congratulating -himself at having surmounted the difficulty, Leon watched her face out -of the corner of his eyes. - -It was like the sky when a gust of wind drives the clouds across. The -mass of sad thoughts that darkened them seemed to be lifted from her -blue eyes; her whole face shone. He waited. At last she replied-- - -"I always suspected it." - -Then they went over all the trifling events of that far-off existence, -whose joys and sorrows they had just summed up in one word. They -recalled the arbour with clematis, the dresses she had worn, the -furniture of her room, the whole of her house. - -"And our poor cactuses, where are they?" - -"The cold killed them this winter." - -"Ah! how I have thought of them, do you know? I often saw them again as -of yore, when on the summer mornings the sun beat down upon your blinds, -and I saw your two bare arms passing out amongst the flowers." - -"Poor friend!" she said, holding out her hand to him. - -Leon swiftly pressed his lips to it. Then, when he had taken a deep -breath-- - -"At that time you were to me I know not what incomprehensible force that -took captive my life. Once, for instance, I went to see you; but you, no -doubt, do not remember it." - -"I do," she said; "go on." - -"You were downstairs in the ante-room, ready to go out, standing on -the last stair; you were wearing a bonnet with small blue flowers; and -without any invitation from you, in spite of myself, I went with you. -Every moment, however, I grew more and more conscious of my folly, and -I went on walking by you, not daring to follow you completely, and -unwilling to leave you. When you went into a shop, I waited in the -street, and I watched you through the window taking off your gloves and -counting the change on the counter. Then you rang at Madame Tuvache's; -you were let in, and I stood like an idiot in front of the great heavy -door that had closed after you." - -Madame Bovary, as she listened to him, wondered that she was so old. All -these things reappearing before her seemed to widen out her life; it was -like some sentimental immensity to which she returned; and from time to -time she said in a low voice, her eyes half closed-- - -"Yes, it is true--true--true!" - -They heard eight strike on the different clocks of the Beauvoisine -quarter, which is full of schools, churches, and large empty hotels. -They no longer spoke, but they felt as they looked upon each other a -buzzing in their heads, as if something sonorous had escaped from the -fixed eyes of each of them. They were hand in hand now, and the past, -the future, reminiscences and dreams, all were confounded in the -sweetness of this ecstasy. Night was darkening over the walls, on which -still shone, half hidden in the shade, the coarse colours of four bills -representing four scenes from the "Tour de Nesle," with a motto in -Spanish and French at the bottom. Through the sash-window a patch of -dark sky was seen between the pointed roofs. - -She rose to light two wax-candles on the drawers, then she sat down -again. - -"Well!" said Leon. - -"Well!" she replied. - -He was thinking how to resume the interrupted conversation, when she -said to him-- - -"How is it that no one until now has ever expressed such sentiments to -me?" - -The clerk said that ideal natures were difficult to understand. He from -the first moment had loved her, and he despaired when he thought of the -happiness that would have been theirs, if thanks to fortune, meeting her -earlier, they had been indissolubly bound to one another. - -"I have sometimes thought of it," she went on. - -"What a dream!" murmured Leon. And fingering gently the blue binding of -her long white sash, he added, "And who prevents us from beginning now?" - -"No, my friend," she replied; "I am too old; you are too young. Forget -me! Others will love you; you will love them." - -"Not as you!" he cried. - -"What a child you are! Come, let us be sensible. I wish it." - -She showed him the impossibility of their love, and that they must -remain, as formerly, on the simple terms of a fraternal friendship. - -Was she speaking thus seriously? No doubt Emma did not herself know, -quite absorbed as she was by the charm of the seduction, and the -necessity of defending herself from it; and contemplating the young -man with a moved look, she gently repulsed the timid caresses that his -trembling hands attempted. - -"Ah! forgive me!" he cried, drawing back. - -Emma was seized with a vague fear at this shyness, more dangerous to her -than the boldness of Rodolphe when he advanced to her open-armed. No man -had ever seemed to her so beautiful. An exquisite candour emanated from -his being. He lowered his long fine eyelashes, that curled upwards. -His cheek, with the soft skin reddened, she thought, with desire of her -person, and Emma felt an invincible longing to press her lips to it. -Then, leaning towards the clock as if to see the time-- - -"Ah! how late it is!" she said; "how we do chatter!" - -He understood the hint and took up his hat. - -"It has even made me forget the theatre. And poor Bovary has left me -here especially for that. Monsieur Lormeaux, of the Rue Grand-Pont, was -to take me and his wife." - -And the opportunity was lost, as she was to leave the next day. - -"Really!" said Leon. - -"Yes." - -"But I must see you again," he went on. "I wanted to tell you--" - -"What?" - -"Something--important--serious. Oh, no! Besides, you will not go; it is -impossible. If you should--listen to me. Then you have not understood -me; you have not guessed--" - -"Yet you speak plainly," said Emma. - -"Ah! you can jest. Enough! enough! Oh, for pity's sake, let me see you -once--only once!" - -"Well--" She stopped; then, as if thinking better of it, "Oh, not here!" - -"Where you will." - -"Will you--" She seemed to reflect; then abruptly, "To-morrow at eleven -o'clock in the cathedral." - -"I shall be there," he cried, seizing her hands, which she disengaged. - -And as they were both standing up, he behind her, and Emma with her head -bent, he stooped over her and pressed long kisses on her neck. - -"You are mad! Ah! you are mad!" she said, with sounding little laughs, -while the kisses multiplied. - -Then bending his head over her shoulder, he seemed to beg the consent of -her eyes. They fell upon him full of an icy dignity. - -Leon stepped back to go out. He stopped on the threshold; then he -whispered with a trembling voice, "Tomorrow!" - -She answered with a nod, and disappeared like a bird into the next room. - -In the evening Emma wrote the clerk an interminable letter, in which she -cancelled the rendezvous; all was over; they must not, for the sake of -their happiness, meet again. But when the letter was finished, as she -did not know Leon's address, she was puzzled. - -"I'll give it to him myself," she said; "he will come." - -The next morning, at the open window, and humming on his balcony, Leon -himself varnished his pumps with several coatings. He put on white -trousers, fine socks, a green coat, emptied all the scent he had into -his handkerchief, then having had his hair curled, he uncurled it again, -in order to give it a more natural elegance. - -"It is still too early," he thought, looking at the hairdresser's -cuckoo-clock, that pointed to the hour of nine. He read an old fashion -journal, went out, smoked a cigar, walked up three streets, thought it -was time, and went slowly towards the porch of Notre Dame. - -It was a beautiful summer morning. Silver plate sparkled in the -jeweller's windows, and the light falling obliquely on the cathedral -made mirrors of the corners of the grey stones; a flock of birds -fluttered in the grey sky round the trefoil bell-turrets; the square, -resounding with cries, was fragrant with the flowers that bordered its -pavement, roses, jasmines, pinks, narcissi, and tube-roses, unevenly -spaced out between moist grasses, catmint, and chickweed for the birds; -the fountains gurgled in the centre, and under large umbrellas, amidst -melons, piled up in heaps, flower-women, bare-headed, were twisting -paper round bunches of violets. - -The young man took one. It was the first time that he had bought flowers -for a woman, and his breast, as he smelt them, swelled with pride, as if -this homage that he meant for another had recoiled upon himself. - -But he was afraid of being seen; he resolutely entered the church. The -beadle, who was just then standing on the threshold in the middle of the -left doorway, under the "Dancing Marianne," with feather cap, and rapier -dangling against his calves, came in, more majestic than a cardinal, and -as shining as a saint on a holy pyx. - -He came towards Leon, and, with that smile of wheedling benignity -assumed by ecclesiastics when they question children-- - -"The gentleman, no doubt, does not belong to these parts? The gentleman -would like to see the curiosities of the church?" - -"No!" said the other. - -And he first went round the lower aisles. Then he went out to look at -the Place. Emma was not coming yet. He went up again to the choir. - -The nave was reflected in the full fonts with the beginning of the -arches and some portions of the glass windows. But the reflections of -the paintings, broken by the marble rim, were continued farther on upon -the flag-stones, like a many-coloured carpet. The broad daylight from -without streamed into the church in three enormous rays from the three -opened portals. From time to time at the upper end a sacristan passed, -making the oblique genuflexion of devout persons in a hurry. The crystal -lustres hung motionless. In the choir a silver lamp was burning, and -from the side chapels and dark places of the church sometimes rose -sounds like sighs, with the clang of a closing grating, its echo -reverberating under the lofty vault. - -Leon with solemn steps walked along by the walls. Life had never seemed -so good to him. She would come directly, charming, agitated, looking -back at the glances that followed her, and with her flounced dress, her -gold eyeglass, her thin shoes, with all sorts of elegant trifles that he -had never enjoyed, and with the ineffable seduction of yielding virtue. -The church like a huge boudoir spread around her; the arches bent down -to gather in the shade the confession of her love; the windows shone -resplendent to illumine her face, and the censers would burn that she -might appear like an angel amid the fumes of the sweet-smelling odours. - -But she did not come. He sat down on a chair, and his eyes fell upon a -blue stained window representing boatmen carrying baskets. He looked at -it long, attentively, and he counted the scales of the fishes and the -button-holes of the doublets, while his thoughts wandered off towards -Emma. - -The beadle, standing aloof, was inwardly angry at this individual who -took the liberty of admiring the cathedral by himself. He seemed to him -to be conducting himself in a monstrous fashion, to be robbing him in a -sort, and almost committing sacrilege. - -But a rustle of silk on the flags, the tip of a bonnet, a lined -cloak--it was she! Leon rose and ran to meet her. - -Emma was pale. She walked fast. - -"Read!" she said, holding out a paper to him. "Oh, no!" - -And she abruptly withdrew her hand to enter the chapel of the Virgin, -where, kneeling on a chair, she began to pray. - -The young man was irritated at this bigot fancy; then he nevertheless -experienced a certain charm in seeing her, in the middle of a -rendezvous, thus lost in her devotions, like an Andalusian marchioness; -then he grew bored, for she seemed never coming to an end. - -Emma prayed, or rather strove to pray, hoping that some sudden -resolution might descend to her from heaven; and to draw down divine -aid she filled full her eyes with the splendours of the tabernacle. She -breathed in the perfumes of the full-blown flowers in the large vases, -and listened to the stillness of the church, that only heightened the -tumult of her heart. - -She rose, and they were about to leave, when the beadle came forward, -hurriedly saying-- - -"Madame, no doubt, does not belong to these parts? Madame would like to -see the curiosities of the church?" - -"Oh, no!" cried the clerk. - -"Why not?" said she. For she clung with her expiring virtue to the -Virgin, the sculptures, the tombs--anything. - -Then, in order to proceed "by rule," the beadle conducted them right to -the entrance near the square, where, pointing out with his cane a large -circle of block-stones without inscription or carving-- - -"This," he said majestically, "is the circumference of the beautiful -bell of Ambroise. It weighed forty thousand pounds. There was not its -equal in all Europe. The workman who cast it died of the joy--" - -"Let us go on," said Leon. - -The old fellow started off again; then, having got back to the chapel of -the Virgin, he stretched forth his arm with an all-embracing gesture -of demonstration, and, prouder than a country squire showing you his -espaliers, went on-- - -"This simple stone covers Pierre de Breze, lord of Varenne and of -Brissac, grand marshal of Poitou, and governor of Normandy, who died at -the battle of Montlhery on the 16th of July, 1465." - -Leon bit his lips, fuming. - -"And on the right, this gentleman all encased in iron, on the -prancing horse, is his grandson, Louis de Breze, lord of Breval and of -Montchauvet, Count de Maulevrier, Baron de Mauny, chamberlain to the -king, Knight of the Order, and also governor of Normandy; died on the -23rd of July, 1531--a Sunday, as the inscription specifies; and below, -this figure, about to descend into the tomb, portrays the same person. -It is not possible, is it, to see a more perfect representation of -annihilation?" - -Madame Bovary put up her eyeglasses. Leon, motionless, looked at her, -no longer even attempting to speak a single word, to make a gesture, -so discouraged was he at this two-fold obstinacy of gossip and -indifference. - -The everlasting guide went on-- - -"Near him, this kneeling woman who weeps is his spouse, Diane de -Poitiers, Countess de Breze, Duchess de Valentinois, born in 1499, died -in 1566, and to the left, the one with the child is the Holy Virgin. Now -turn to this side; here are the tombs of the Ambroise. They were both -cardinals and archbishops of Rouen. That one was minister under Louis -XII. He did a great deal for the cathedral. In his will he left thirty -thousand gold crowns for the poor." - -And without stopping, still talking, he pushed them into a chapel -full of balustrades, some put away, and disclosed a kind of block that -certainly might once have been an ill-made statue. - -"Truly," he said with a groan, "it adorned the tomb of Richard Coeur de -Lion, King of England and Duke of Normandy. It was the Calvinists, sir, -who reduced it to this condition. They had buried it for spite in the -earth, under the episcopal seat of Monsignor. See! this is the door by -which Monsignor passes to his house. Let us pass on quickly to see the -gargoyle windows." - -But Leon hastily took some silver from his pocket and seized Emma's -arm. The beadle stood dumfounded, not able to understand this untimely -munificence when there were still so many things for the stranger to -see. So calling him back, he cried-- - -"Sir! sir! The steeple! the steeple!" - -"No, thank you!" said Leon. - -"You are wrong, sir! It is four hundred and forty feet high, nine less -than the great pyramid of Egypt. It is all cast; it--" - -Leon was fleeing, for it seemed to him that his love, that for nearly -two hours now had become petrified in the church like the stones, would -vanish like a vapour through that sort of truncated funnel, of oblong -cage, of open chimney that rises so grotesquely from the cathedral like -the extravagant attempt of some fantastic brazier. - -"But where are we going?" she said. - -Making no answer, he walked on with a rapid step; and Madame Bovary -was already, dipping her finger in the holy water when behind them they -heard a panting breath interrupted by the regular sound of a cane. Leon -turned back. - -"Sir!" - -"What is it?" - -And he recognised the beadle, holding under his arms and balancing -against his stomach some twenty large sewn volumes. They were works -"which treated of the cathedral." - -"Idiot!" growled Leon, rushing out of the church. - -A lad was playing about the close. - -"Go and get me a cab!" - -The child bounded off like a ball by the Rue Quatre-Vents; then they -were alone a few minutes, face to face, and a little embarrassed. - -"Ah! Leon! Really--I don't know--if I ought," she whispered. Then with a -more serious air, "Do you know, it is very improper--" - -"How so?" replied the clerk. "It is done at Paris." - -And that, as an irresistible argument, decided her. - -Still the cab did not come. Leon was afraid she might go back into the -church. At last the cab appeared. - -"At all events, go out by the north porch," cried the beadle, who was -left alone on the threshold, "so as to see the Resurrection, the Last -Judgment, Paradise, King David, and the Condemned in Hell-flames." - -"Where to, sir?" asked the coachman. - -"Where you like," said Leon, forcing Emma into the cab. - -And the lumbering machine set out. It went down the Rue Grand-Pont, -crossed the Place des Arts, the Quai Napoleon, the Pont Neuf, and -stopped short before the statue of Pierre Corneille. - -"Go on," cried a voice that came from within. - -The cab went on again, and as soon as it reached the Carrefour -Lafayette, set off down-hill, and entered the station at a gallop. - -"No, straight on!" cried the same voice. - -The cab came out by the gate, and soon having reached the Cours, trotted -quietly beneath the elm-trees. The coachman wiped his brow, put his -leather hat between his knees, and drove his carriage beyond the side -alley by the meadow to the margin of the waters. - -It went along by the river, along the towing-path paved with sharp -pebbles, and for a long while in the direction of Oyssel, beyond the -isles. - -But suddenly it turned with a dash across Quatremares, Sotteville, La -Grande-Chaussee, the Rue d'Elbeuf, and made its third halt in front of -the Jardin des Plantes. - -"Get on, will you?" cried the voice more furiously. - -And at once resuming its course, it passed by Saint-Sever, by the -Quai'des Curandiers, the Quai aux Meules, once more over the bridge, by -the Place du Champ de Mars, and behind the hospital gardens, where old -men in black coats were walking in the sun along the terrace all green -with ivy. It went up the Boulevard Bouvreuil, along the Boulevard -Cauchoise, then the whole of Mont-Riboudet to the Deville hills. - -It came back; and then, without any fixed plan or direction, wandered -about at hazard. The cab was seen at Saint-Pol, at Lescure, at Mont -Gargan, at La Rougue-Marc and Place du Gaillardbois; in the Rue -Maladrerie, Rue Dinanderie, before Saint-Romain, Saint-Vivien, -Saint-Maclou, Saint-Nicaise--in front of the Customs, at the "Vieille -Tour," the "Trois Pipes," and the Monumental Cemetery. From time to time -the coachman, on his box cast despairing eyes at the public-houses. -He could not understand what furious desire for locomotion urged these -individuals never to wish to stop. He tried to now and then, and at -once exclamations of anger burst forth behind him. Then he lashed his -perspiring jades afresh, but indifferent to their jolting, running up -against things here and there, not caring if he did, demoralised, and -almost weeping with thirst, fatigue, and depression. - -And on the harbour, in the midst of the drays and casks, and in the -streets, at the corners, the good folk opened large wonder-stricken -eyes at this sight, so extraordinary in the provinces, a cab with blinds -drawn, and which appeared thus constantly shut more closely than a tomb, -and tossing about like a vessel. - -Once in the middle of the day, in the open country, just as the sun -beat most fiercely against the old plated lanterns, a bared hand passed -beneath the small blinds of yellow canvas, and threw out some scraps -of paper that scattered in the wind, and farther off lighted like white -butterflies on a field of red clover all in bloom. - -At about six o'clock the carriage stopped in a back street of the -Beauvoisine Quarter, and a woman got out, who walked with her veil down, -and without turning her head. - - - -Chapter Two - -On reaching the inn, Madame Bovary was surprised not to see the -diligence. Hivert, who had waited for her fifty-three minutes, had at -last started. - -Yet nothing forced her to go; but she had given her word that she would -return that same evening. Moreover, Charles expected her, and in her -heart she felt already that cowardly docility that is for some women at -once the chastisement and atonement of adultery. - -She packed her box quickly, paid her bill, took a cab in the yard, -hurrying on the driver, urging him on, every moment inquiring about -the time and the miles traversed. He succeeded in catching up the -"Hirondelle" as it neared the first houses of Quincampoix. - -Hardly was she seated in her corner than she closed her eyes, and opened -them at the foot of the hill, when from afar she recognised Felicite, -who was on the lookout in front of the farrier's shop. Hivert pulled -in his horses and, the servant, climbing up to the window, said -mysteriously-- - -"Madame, you must go at once to Monsieur Homais. It's for something -important." - -The village was silent as usual. At the corner of the streets were small -pink heaps that smoked in the air, for this was the time for jam-making, -and everyone at Yonville prepared his supply on the same day. But in -front of the chemist's shop one might admire a far larger heap, and that -surpassed the others with the superiority that a laboratory must have -over ordinary stores, a general need over individual fancy. - -She went in. The large arm-chair was upset, and even the "Fanal de -Rouen" lay on the ground, outspread between two pestles. She pushed open -the lobby door, and in the middle of the kitchen, amid brown jars full -of picked currants, of powdered sugar and lump sugar, of the scales on -the table, and of the pans on the fire, she saw all the Homais, small -and large, with aprons reaching to their chins, and with forks in their -hands. Justin was standing up with bowed head, and the chemist was -screaming-- - -"Who told you to go and fetch it in the Capharnaum." - -"What is it? What is the matter?" - -"What is it?" replied the druggist. "We are making preserves; they are -simmering; but they were about to boil over, because there is too -much juice, and I ordered another pan. Then he, from indolence, from -laziness, went and took, hanging on its nail in my laboratory, the key -of the Capharnaum." - -It was thus the druggist called a small room under the leads, full of -the utensils and the goods of his trade. He often spent long hours there -alone, labelling, decanting, and doing up again; and he looked upon -it not as a simple store, but as a veritable sanctuary, whence there -afterwards issued, elaborated by his hands, all sorts of pills, boluses, -infusions, lotions, and potions, that would bear far and wide his -celebrity. No one in the world set foot there, and he respected it so, -that he swept it himself. Finally, if the pharmacy, open to all comers, -was the spot where he displayed his pride, the Capharnaum was the refuge -where, egoistically concentrating himself, Homais delighted in the -exercise of his predilections, so that Justin's thoughtlessness seemed -to him a monstrous piece of irreverence, and, redder than the currants, -he repeated-- - -"Yes, from the Capharnaum! The key that locks up the acids and caustic -alkalies! To go and get a spare pan! a pan with a lid! and that I -shall perhaps never use! Everything is of importance in the delicate -operations of our art! But, devil take it! one must make distinctions, -and not employ for almost domestic purposes that which is meant for -pharmaceutical! It is as if one were to carve a fowl with a scalpel; as -if a magistrate--" - -"Now be calm," said Madame Homais. - -And Athalie, pulling at his coat, cried "Papa! papa!" - -"No, let me alone," went on the druggist "let me alone, hang it! My -word! One might as well set up for a grocer. That's it! go it! respect -nothing! break, smash, let loose the leeches, burn the mallow-paste, -pickle the gherkins in the window jars, tear up the bandages!" - -"I thought you had--" said Emma. - -"Presently! Do you know to what you exposed yourself? Didn't you see -anything in the corner, on the left, on the third shelf? Speak, answer, -articulate something." - -"I--don't--know," stammered the young fellow. - -"Ah! you don't know! Well, then, I do know! You saw a bottle of blue -glass, sealed with yellow wax, that contains a white powder, on which I -have even written 'Dangerous!' And do you know what is in it? Arsenic! -And you go and touch it! You take a pan that was next to it!" - -"Next to it!" cried Madame Homais, clasping her hands. "Arsenic! You -might have poisoned us all." - -And the children began howling as if they already had frightful pains in -their entrails. - -"Or poison a patient!" continued the druggist. "Do you want to see me -in the prisoner's dock with criminals, in a court of justice? To see -me dragged to the scaffold? Don't you know what care I take in managing -things, although I am so thoroughly used to it? Often I am horrified -myself when I think of my responsibility; for the Government persecutes -us, and the absurd legislation that rules us is a veritable Damocles' -sword over our heads." - -Emma no longer dreamed of asking what they wanted her for, and the -druggist went on in breathless phrases-- - -"That is your return for all the kindness we have shown you! That is how -you recompense me for the really paternal care that I lavish on you! For -without me where would you be? What would you be doing? Who provides -you with food, education, clothes, and all the means of figuring one day -with honour in the ranks of society? But you must pull hard at the oar -if you're to do that, and get, as, people say, callosities upon your -hands. Fabricando fit faber, age quod agis.*" - - * The worker lives by working, do what he will. - - -He was so exasperated he quoted Latin. He would have quoted Chinese -or Greenlandish had he known those two languages, for he was in one -of those crises in which the whole soul shows indistinctly what it -contains, like the ocean, which, in the storm, opens itself from the -seaweeds on its shores down to the sands of its abysses. - -And he went on-- - -"I am beginning to repent terribly of having taken you up! I should -certainly have done better to have left you to rot in your poverty and -the dirt in which you were born. Oh, you'll never be fit for anything -but to herd animals with horns! You have no aptitude for science! You -hardly know how to stick on a label! And there you are, dwelling with me -snug as a parson, living in clover, taking your ease!" - -But Emma, turning to Madame Homais, "I was told to come here--" - -"Oh, dear me!" interrupted the good woman, with a sad air, "how am I to -tell you? It is a misfortune!" - -She could not finish, the druggist was thundering--"Empty it! Clean it! -Take it back! Be quick!" - -And seizing Justin by the collar of his blouse, he shook a book out of -his pocket. The lad stooped, but Homais was the quicker, and, having -picked up the volume, contemplated it with staring eyes and open mouth. - -"CONJUGAL--LOVE!" he said, slowly separating the two words. "Ah! very -good! very good! very pretty! And illustrations! Oh, this is too much!" - -Madame Homais came forward. - -"No, do not touch it!" - -The children wanted to look at the pictures. - -"Leave the room," he said imperiously; and they went out. - -First he walked up and down with the open volume in his hand, rolling -his eyes, choking, tumid, apoplectic. Then he came straight to his -pupil, and, planting himself in front of him with crossed arms-- - -"Have you every vice, then, little wretch? Take care! you are on a -downward path. Did not you reflect that this infamous book might fall -in the hands of my children, kindle a spark in their minds, tarnish the -purity of Athalie, corrupt Napoleon. He is already formed like a man. -Are you quite sure, anyhow, that they have not read it? Can you certify -to me--" - -"But really, sir," said Emma, "you wished to tell me--" - -"Ah, yes! madame. Your father-in-law is dead." - -In fact, Monsieur Bovary senior had expired the evening before suddenly -from an attack of apoplexy as he got up from table, and by way of -greater precaution, on account of Emma's sensibility, Charles had begged -Homais to break the horrible news to her gradually. Homais had thought -over his speech; he had rounded, polished it, made it rhythmical; it was -a masterpiece of prudence and transitions, of subtle turns and delicacy; -but anger had got the better of rhetoric. - -Emma, giving up all chance of hearing any details, left the pharmacy; -for Monsieur Homais had taken up the thread of his vituperations. -However, he was growing calmer, and was now grumbling in a paternal tone -whilst he fanned himself with his skull-cap. - -"It is not that I entirely disapprove of the work. Its author was a -doctor! There are certain scientific points in it that it is not ill a -man should know, and I would even venture to say that a man must know. -But later--later! At any rate, not till you are man yourself and your -temperament is formed." - -When Emma knocked at the door. Charles, who was waiting for her, came -forward with open arms and said to her with tears in his voice-- - -"Ah! my dear!" - -And he bent over her gently to kiss her. But at the contact of his lips -the memory of the other seized her, and she passed her hand over her -face shuddering. - -But she made answer, "Yes, I know, I know!" - -He showed her the letter in which his mother told the event without any -sentimental hypocrisy. She only regretted her husband had not received -the consolations of religion, as he had died at Daudeville, in the -street, at the door of a cafe after a patriotic dinner with some -ex-officers. - -Emma gave him back the letter; then at dinner, for appearance's sake, -she affected a certain repugnance. But as he urged her to try, she -resolutely began eating, while Charles opposite her sat motionless in a -dejected attitude. - -Now and then he raised his head and gave her a long look full of -distress. Once he sighed, "I should have liked to see him again!" - -She was silent. At last, understanding that she must say something, "How -old was your father?" she asked. - -"Fifty-eight." - -"Ah!" - -And that was all. - -A quarter of an hour after he added, "My poor mother! what will become -of her now?" - -She made a gesture that signified she did not know. Seeing her so -taciturn, Charles imagined her much affected, and forced himself to say -nothing, not to reawaken this sorrow which moved him. And, shaking off -his own-- - -"Did you enjoy yourself yesterday?" he asked. - -"Yes." - -When the cloth was removed, Bovary did not rise, nor did Emma; and as -she looked at him, the monotony of the spectacle drove little by little -all pity from her heart. He seemed to her paltry, weak, a cipher--in -a word, a poor thing in every way. How to get rid of him? What an -interminable evening! Something stupefying like the fumes of opium -seized her. - -They heard in the passage the sharp noise of a wooden leg on the boards. -It was Hippolyte bringing back Emma's luggage. In order to put it down -he described painfully a quarter of a circle with his stump. - -"He doesn't even remember any more about it," she thought, looking at -the poor devil, whose coarse red hair was wet with perspiration. - -Bovary was searching at the bottom of his purse for a centime, and -without appearing to understand all there was of humiliation for him -in the mere presence of this man, who stood there like a personified -reproach to his incurable incapacity. - -"Hallo! you've a pretty bouquet," he said, noticing Leon's violets on -the chimney. - -"Yes," she replied indifferently; "it's a bouquet I bought just now from -a beggar." - -Charles picked up the flowers, and freshening his eyes, red with tears, -against them, smelt them delicately. - -She took them quickly from his hand and put them in a glass of water. - -The next day Madame Bovary senior arrived. She and her son wept much. -Emma, on the pretext of giving orders, disappeared. The following day -they had a talk over the mourning. They went and sat down with their -workboxes by the waterside under the arbour. - -Charles was thinking of his father, and was surprised to feel so much -affection for this man, whom till then he had thought he cared little -about. Madame Bovary senior was thinking of her husband. The worst -days of the past seemed enviable to her. All was forgotten beneath the -instinctive regret of such a long habit, and from time to time whilst -she sewed, a big tear rolled along her nose and hung suspended there a -moment. Emma was thinking that it was scarcely forty-eight hours since -they had been together, far from the world, all in a frenzy of joy, and -not having eyes enough to gaze upon each other. She tried to recall the -slightest details of that past day. But the presence of her husband and -mother-in-law worried her. She would have liked to hear nothing, to see -nothing, so as not to disturb the meditation on her love, that, do what -she would, became lost in external sensations. - -She was unpicking the lining of a dress, and the strips were scattered -around her. Madame Bovary senior was plying her scissor without looking -up, and Charles, in his list slippers and his old brown surtout that he -used as a dressing-gown, sat with both hands in his pockets, and did not -speak either; near them Berthe, in a little white pinafore, was raking -sand in the walks with her spade. Suddenly she saw Monsieur Lheureux, -the linendraper, come in through the gate. - -He came to offer his services "under the sad circumstances." Emma -answered that she thought she could do without. The shopkeeper was not -to be beaten. - -"I beg your pardon," he said, "but I should like to have a private talk -with you." Then in a low voice, "It's about that affair--you know." - -Charles crimsoned to his ears. "Oh, yes! certainly." And in his -confusion, turning to his wife, "Couldn't you, my darling?" - -She seemed to understand him, for she rose; and Charles said to his -mother, "It is nothing particular. No doubt, some household trifle." He -did not want her to know the story of the bill, fearing her reproaches. - -As soon as they were alone, Monsieur Lheureux in sufficiently clear -terms began to congratulate Emma on the inheritance, then to talk of -indifferent matters, of the espaliers, of the harvest, and of his own -health, which was always so-so, always having ups and downs. In fact, he -had to work devilish hard, although he didn't make enough, in spite of -all people said, to find butter for his bread. - -Emma let him talk on. She had bored herself so prodigiously the last two -days. - -"And so you're quite well again?" he went on. "Ma foi! I saw your -husband in a sad state. He's a good fellow, though we did have a little -misunderstanding." - -She asked what misunderstanding, for Charles had said nothing of the -dispute about the goods supplied to her. - -"Why, you know well enough," cried Lheureux. "It was about your little -fancies--the travelling trunks." - -He had drawn his hat over his eyes, and, with his hands behind his -back, smiling and whistling, he looked straight at her in an unbearable -manner. Did he suspect anything? - -She was lost in all kinds of apprehensions. At last, however, he went -on-- - -"We made it up, all the same, and I've come again to propose another -arrangement." - -This was to renew the bill Bovary had signed. The doctor, of course, -would do as he pleased; he was not to trouble himself, especially just -now, when he would have a lot of worry. "And he would do better to give -it over to someone else--to you, for example. With a power of attorney -it could be easily managed, and then we (you and I) would have our -little business transactions together." - -She did not understand. He was silent. Then, passing to his trade, -Lheureux declared that madame must require something. He would send her -a black barege, twelve yards, just enough to make a gown. - -"The one you've on is good enough for the house, but you want another -for calls. I saw that the very moment that I came in. I've the eye of an -American!" - -He did not send the stuff; he brought it. Then he came again to measure -it; he came again on other pretexts, always trying to make himself -agreeable, useful, "enfeoffing himself," as Homais would have said, and -always dropping some hint to Emma about the power of attorney. He never -mentioned the bill; she did not think of it. Charles, at the beginning -of her convalescence, had certainly said something about it to her, -but so many emotions had passed through her head that she no longer -remembered it. Besides, she took care not to talk of any money -questions. Madame Bovary seemed surprised at this, and attributed the -change in her ways to the religious sentiments she had contracted during -her illness. - -But as soon as she was gone, Emma greatly astounded Bovary by her -practical good sense. It would be necessary to make inquiries, to look -into mortgages, and see if there were any occasion for a sale by auction -or a liquidation. She quoted technical terms casually, pronounced the -grand words of order, the future, foresight, and constantly exaggerated -the difficulties of settling his father's affairs so much, that at last -one day she showed him the rough draft of a power of attorney to manage -and administer his business, arrange all loans, sign and endorse all -bills, pay all sums, etc. She had profited by Lheureux's lessons. -Charles naively asked her where this paper came from. - -"Monsieur Guillaumin"; and with the utmost coolness she added, "I don't -trust him overmuch. Notaries have such a bad reputation. Perhaps we -ought to consult--we only know--no one." - -"Unless Leon--" replied Charles, who was reflecting. But it was -difficult to explain matters by letter. Then she offered to make the -journey, but he thanked her. She insisted. It was quite a contest of -mutual consideration. At last she cried with affected waywardness-- - -"No, I will go!" - -"How good you are!" he said, kissing her forehead. - -The next morning she set out in the "Hirondelle" to go to Rouen to -consult Monsieur Leon, and she stayed there three days. - - - -Chapter Three - -They were three full, exquisite days--a true honeymoon. They were at -the Hotel-de-Boulogne, on the harbour; and they lived there, with drawn -blinds and closed doors, with flowers on the floor, and iced syrups were -brought them early in the morning. - -Towards evening they took a covered boat and went to dine on one of the -islands. It was the time when one hears by the side of the dockyard the -caulking-mallets sounding against the hull of vessels. The smoke of -the tar rose up between the trees; there were large fatty drops on the -water, undulating in the purple colour of the sun, like floating plaques -of Florentine bronze. - -They rowed down in the midst of moored boats, whose long oblique cables -grazed lightly against the bottom of the boat. The din of the town -gradually grew distant; the rolling of carriages, the tumult of voices, -the yelping of dogs on the decks of vessels. She took off her bonnet, -and they landed on their island. - -They sat down in the low-ceilinged room of a tavern, at whose door hung -black nets. They ate fried smelts, cream and cherries. They lay down -upon the grass; they kissed behind the poplars; and they would fain, -like two Robinsons, have lived for ever in this little place, which -seemed to them in their beatitude the most magnificent on earth. It was -not the first time that they had seen trees, a blue sky, meadows; that -they had heard the water flowing and the wind blowing in the leaves; -but, no doubt, they had never admired all this, as if Nature had -not existed before, or had only begun to be beautiful since the -gratification of their desires. - -At night they returned. The boat glided along the shores of the islands. -They sat at the bottom, both hidden by the shade, in silence. The square -oars rang in the iron thwarts, and, in the stillness, seemed to mark -time, like the beating of a metronome, while at the stern the rudder -that trailed behind never ceased its gentle splash against the water. - -Once the moon rose; they did not fail to make fine phrases, finding the -orb melancholy and full of poetry. She even began to sing-- - -"One night, do you remember, we were sailing," etc. - -Her musical but weak voice died away along the waves, and the winds -carried off the trills that Leon heard pass like the flapping of wings -about him. - -She was opposite him, leaning against the partition of the shallop, -through one of whose raised blinds the moon streamed in. Her black -dress, whose drapery spread out like a fan, made her seem more slender, -taller. Her head was raised, her hands clasped, her eyes turned towards -heaven. At times the shadow of the willows hid her completely; then she -reappeared suddenly, like a vision in the moonlight. - -Leon, on the floor by her side, found under his hand a ribbon of scarlet -silk. The boatman looked at it, and at last said-- - -"Perhaps it belongs to the party I took out the other day. A lot -of jolly folk, gentlemen and ladies, with cakes, champagne, -cornets--everything in style! There was one especially, a tall handsome -man with small moustaches, who was that funny! And they all kept saying, -'Now tell us something, Adolphe--Dolpe,' I think." - -She shivered. - -"You are in pain?" asked Leon, coming closer to her. - -"Oh, it's nothing! No doubt, it is only the night air." - -"And who doesn't want for women, either," softly added the sailor, -thinking he was paying the stranger a compliment. - -Then, spitting on his hands, he took the oars again. - -Yet they had to part. The adieux were sad. He was to send his letters to -Mere Rollet, and she gave him such precise instructions about a double -envelope that he admired greatly her amorous astuteness. - -"So you can assure me it is all right?" she said with her last kiss. - -"Yes, certainly." - -"But why," he thought afterwards as he came back through the streets -alone, "is she so very anxious to get this power of attorney?" - - - -Chapter Four - -Leon soon put on an air of superiority before his comrades, avoided -their company, and completely neglected his work. - -He waited for her letters; he re-read them; he wrote to her. He called -her to mind with all the strength of his desires and of his memories. -Instead of lessening with absence, this longing to see her again grew, -so that at last on Saturday morning he escaped from his office. - -When, from the summit of the hill, he saw in the valley below the -church-spire with its tin flag swinging in the wind, he felt that -delight mingled with triumphant vanity and egoistic tenderness that -millionaires must experience when they come back to their native -village. - -He went rambling round her house. A light was burning in the kitchen. He -watched for her shadow behind the curtains, but nothing appeared. - -Mere Lefrancois, when she saw him, uttered many exclamations. She -thought he "had grown and was thinner," while Artemise, on the contrary, -thought him stouter and darker. - -He dined in the little room as of yore, but alone, without the -tax-gatherer; for Binet, tired of waiting for the "Hirondelle," had -definitely put forward his meal one hour, and now he dined punctually at -five, and yet he declared usually the rickety old concern "was late." - -Leon, however, made up his mind, and knocked at the doctor's door. -Madame was in her room, and did not come down for a quarter of an hour. -The doctor seemed delighted to see him, but he never stirred out that -evening, nor all the next day. - -He saw her alone in the evening, very late, behind the garden in the -lane; in the lane, as she had the other one! It was a stormy night, and -they talked under an umbrella by lightning flashes. - -Their separation was becoming intolerable. "I would rather die!" said -Emma. She was writhing in his arms, weeping. "Adieu! adieu! When shall I -see you again?" - -They came back again to embrace once more, and it was then that -she promised him to find soon, by no matter what means, a regular -opportunity for seeing one another in freedom at least once a week. Emma -never doubted she should be able to do this. Besides, she was full of -hope. Some money was coming to her. - -On the strength of it she bought a pair of yellow curtains with large -stripes for her room, whose cheapness Monsieur Lheureux had commended; -she dreamed of getting a carpet, and Lheureux, declaring that it wasn't -"drinking the sea," politely undertook to supply her with one. She could -no longer do without his services. Twenty times a day she sent for him, -and he at once put by his business without a murmur. People could not -understand either why Mere Rollet breakfasted with her every day, and -even paid her private visits. - -It was about this time, that is to say, the beginning of winter, that -she seemed seized with great musical fervour. - -One evening when Charles was listening to her, she began the same piece -four times over, each time with much vexation, while he, not noticing -any difference, cried-- - -"Bravo! very goodl You are wrong to stop. Go on!" - -"Oh, no; it is execrable! My fingers are quite rusty." - -The next day he begged her to play him something again. - -"Very well; to please you!" - -And Charles confessed she had gone off a little. She played wrong notes -and blundered; then, stopping short-- - -"Ah! it is no use. I ought to take some lessons; but--" She bit her lips -and added, "Twenty francs a lesson, that's too dear!" - -"Yes, so it is--rather," said Charles, giggling stupidly. "But it seems -to me that one might be able to do it for less; for there are artists of -no reputation, and who are often better than the celebrities." - -"Find them!" said Emma. - -The next day when he came home he looked at her shyly, and at last could -no longer keep back the words. - -"How obstinate you are sometimes! I went to Barfucheres to-day. Well, -Madame Liegard assured me that her three young ladies who are at -La Misericorde have lessons at fifty sous apiece, and that from an -excellent mistress!" - -She shrugged her shoulders and did not open her piano again. But when -she passed by it (if Bovary were there), she sighed-- - -"Ah! my poor piano!" - -And when anyone came to see her, she did not fail to inform them she -had given up music, and could not begin again now for important reasons. -Then people commiserated her-- - -"What a pity! she had so much talent!" - -They even spoke to Bovary about it. They put him to shame, and -especially the chemist. - -"You are wrong. One should never let any of the faculties of nature lie -fallow. Besides, just think, my good friend, that by inducing madame to -study; you are economising on the subsequent musical education of -your child. For my own part, I think that mothers ought themselves to -instruct their children. That is an idea of Rousseau's, still rather -new perhaps, but that will end by triumphing, I am certain of it, like -mothers nursing their own children and vaccination." - -So Charles returned once more to this question of the piano. Emma -replied bitterly that it would be better to sell it. This poor piano, -that had given her vanity so much satisfaction--to see it go was to -Bovary like the indefinable suicide of a part of herself. - -"If you liked," he said, "a lesson from time to time, that wouldn't -after all be very ruinous." - -"But lessons," she replied, "are only of use when followed up." - -And thus it was she set about obtaining her husband's permission to go -to town once a week to see her lover. At the end of a month she was even -considered to have made considerable progress. - - - -Chapter Five - -She went on Thursdays. She got up and dressed silently, in order not to -awaken Charles, who would have made remarks about her getting ready too -early. Next she walked up and down, went to the windows, and looked out -at the Place. The early dawn was broadening between the pillars of the -market, and the chemist's shop, with the shutters still up, showed in -the pale light of the dawn the large letters of his signboard. - -When the clock pointed to a quarter past seven, she went off to the -"Lion d'Or," whose door Artemise opened yawning. The girl then made -up the coals covered by the cinders, and Emma remained alone in the -kitchen. Now and again she went out. Hivert was leisurely harnessing his -horses, listening, moreover, to Mere Lefrancois, who, passing her head -and nightcap through a grating, was charging him with commissions and -giving him explanations that would have confused anyone else. Emma kept -beating the soles of her boots against the pavement of the yard. - -At last, when he had eaten his soup, put on his cloak, lighted his pipe, -and grasped his whip, he calmly installed himself on his seat. - -The "Hirondelle" started at a slow trot, and for about a mile stopped -here and there to pick up passengers who waited for it, standing at the -border of the road, in front of their yard gates. - -Those who had secured seats the evening before kept it waiting; some -even were still in bed in their houses. Hivert called, shouted, swore; -then he got down from his seat and went and knocked loudly at the doors. -The wind blew through the cracked windows. - -The four seats, however, filled up. The carriage rolled off; rows of -apple-trees followed one upon another, and the road between its two long -ditches, full of yellow water, rose, constantly narrowing towards the -horizon. - -Emma knew it from end to end; she knew that after a meadow there was -a sign-post, next an elm, a barn, or the hut of a lime-kiln tender. -Sometimes even, in the hope of getting some surprise, she shut her eyes, -but she never lost the clear perception of the distance to be traversed. - -At last the brick houses began to follow one another more closely, the -earth resounded beneath the wheels, the "Hirondelle" glided between the -gardens, where through an opening one saw statues, a periwinkle plant, -clipped yews, and a swing. Then on a sudden the town appeared. Sloping -down like an amphitheatre, and drowned in the fog, it widened out -beyond the bridges confusedly. Then the open country spread away with -a monotonous movement till it touched in the distance the vague line of -the pale sky. Seen thus from above, the whole landscape looked immovable -as a picture; the anchored ships were massed in one corner, the river -curved round the foot of the green hills, and the isles, oblique in -shape, lay on the water, like large, motionless, black fishes. The -factory chimneys belched forth immense brown fumes that were blown away -at the top. One heard the rumbling of the foundries, together with the -clear chimes of the churches that stood out in the mist. The leafless -trees on the boulevards made violet thickets in the midst of the -houses, and the roofs, all shining with the rain, threw back unequal -reflections, according to the height of the quarters in which they were. -Sometimes a gust of wind drove the clouds towards the Saint Catherine -hills, like aerial waves that broke silently against a cliff. - -A giddiness seemed to her to detach itself from this mass of existence, -and her heart swelled as if the hundred and twenty thousand souls that -palpitated there had all at once sent into it the vapour of the passions -she fancied theirs. Her love grew in the presence of this vastness, and -expanded with tumult to the vague murmurings that rose towards her. She -poured it out upon the square, on the walks, on the streets, and the -old Norman city outspread before her eyes as an enormous capital, as a -Babylon into which she was entering. She leant with both hands against -the window, drinking in the breeze; the three horses galloped, the -stones grated in the mud, the diligence rocked, and Hivert, from afar, -hailed the carts on the road, while the bourgeois who had spent the -night at the Guillaume woods came quietly down the hill in their little -family carriages. - -They stopped at the barrier; Emma undid her overshoes, put on other -gloves, rearranged her shawl, and some twenty paces farther she got down -from the "Hirondelle." - -The town was then awakening. Shop-boys in caps were cleaning up the -shop-fronts, and women with baskets against their hips, at intervals -uttered sonorous cries at the corners of streets. She walked with -downcast eyes, close to the walls, and smiling with pleasure under her -lowered black veil. - -For fear of being seen, she did not usually take the most direct road. -She plunged into dark alleys, and, all perspiring, reached the bottom -of the Rue Nationale, near the fountain that stands there. It is the -quarter for theatres, public-houses, and whores. Often a cart would -pass near her, bearing some shaking scenery. Waiters in aprons were -sprinkling sand on the flagstones between green shrubs. It all smelt of -absinthe, cigars, and oysters. - -She turned down a street; she recognised him by his curling hair that -escaped from beneath his hat. - -Leon walked along the pavement. She followed him to the hotel. He went -up, opened the door, entered--What an embrace! - -Then, after the kisses, the words gushed forth. They told each other the -sorrows of the week, the presentiments, the anxiety for the letters; but -now everything was forgotten; they gazed into each other's faces with -voluptuous laughs, and tender names. - -The bed was large, of mahogany, in the shape of a boat. The curtains -were in red levantine, that hung from the ceiling and bulged out too -much towards the bell-shaped bedside; and nothing in the world was so -lovely as her brown head and white skin standing out against this purple -colour, when, with a movement of shame, she crossed her bare arms, -hiding her face in her hands. - -The warm room, with its discreet carpet, its gay ornaments, and its -calm light, seemed made for the intimacies of passion. The curtain-rods, -ending in arrows, their brass pegs, and the great balls of the fire-dogs -shone suddenly when the sun came in. On the chimney between the -candelabra there were two of those pink shells in which one hears the -murmur of the sea if one holds them to the ear. - -How they loved that dear room, so full of gaiety, despite its rather -faded splendour! They always found the furniture in the same place, and -sometimes hairpins, that she had forgotten the Thursday before, under -the pedestal of the clock. They lunched by the fireside on a little -round table, inlaid with rosewood. Emma carved, put bits on his plate -with all sorts of coquettish ways, and she laughed with a sonorous and -libertine laugh when the froth of the champagne ran over from the -glass to the rings on her fingers. They were so completely lost in -the possession of each other that they thought themselves in their -own house, and that they would live there till death, like two spouses -eternally young. They said "our room," "our carpet," she even said "my -slippers," a gift of Leon's, a whim she had had. They were pink satin, -bordered with swansdown. When she sat on his knees, her leg, then too -short, hung in the air, and the dainty shoe, that had no back to it, was -held only by the toes to her bare foot. - -He for the first time enjoyed the inexpressible delicacy of feminine -refinements. He had never met this grace of language, this reserve of -clothing, these poses of the weary dove. He admired the exaltation of -her soul and the lace on her petticoat. Besides, was she not "a lady" -and a married woman--a real mistress, in fine? - -By the diversity of her humour, in turn mystical or mirthful, talkative, -taciturn, passionate, careless, she awakened in him a thousand desires, -called up instincts or memories. She was the mistress of all the novels, -the heroine of all the dramas, the vague "she" of all the volumes -of verse. He found again on her shoulder the amber colouring of the -"Odalisque Bathing"; she had the long waist of feudal chatelaines, and -she resembled the "Pale Woman of Barcelona." But above all she was the -Angel! - -Often looking at her, it seemed to him that his soul, escaping towards -her, spread like a wave about the outline of her head, and descended -drawn down into the whiteness of her breast. He knelt on the ground -before her, and with both elbows on her knees looked at her with a -smile, his face upturned. - -She bent over him, and murmured, as if choking with intoxication-- - -"Oh, do not move! do not speak! look at me! Something so sweet comes -from your eyes that helps me so much!" - -She called him "child." "Child, do you love me?" - -And she did not listen for his answer in the haste of her lips that -fastened to his mouth. - -On the clock there was a bronze cupid, who smirked as he bent his arm -beneath a golden garland. They had laughed at it many a time, but when -they had to part everything seemed serious to them. - -Motionless in front of each other, they kept repeating, "Till Thursday, -till Thursday." - -Suddenly she seized his head between her hands, kissed him hurriedly on -the forehead, crying, "Adieu!" and rushed down the stairs. - -She went to a hairdresser's in the Rue de la Comedie to have her hair -arranged. Night fell; the gas was lighted in the shop. She heard the -bell at the theatre calling the mummers to the performance, and she saw, -passing opposite, men with white faces and women in faded gowns going in -at the stage-door. - -It was hot in the room, small, and too low where the stove was hissing -in the midst of wigs and pomades. The smell of the tongs, together with -the greasy hands that handled her head, soon stunned her, and she dozed -a little in her wrapper. Often, as he did her hair, the man offered her -tickets for a masked ball. - -Then she went away. She went up the streets; reached the Croix-Rouge, -put on her overshoes, that she had hidden in the morning under the seat, -and sank into her place among the impatient passengers. Some got out -at the foot of the hill. She remained alone in the carriage. At every -turning all the lights of the town were seen more and more completely, -making a great luminous vapour about the dim houses. Emma knelt on the -cushions and her eyes wandered over the dazzling light. She sobbed; -called on Leon, sent him tender words and kisses lost in the wind. - -On the hillside a poor devil wandered about with his stick in the midst -of the diligences. A mass of rags covered his shoulders, and an old -staved-in beaver, turned out like a basin, hid his face; but when he -took it off he discovered in the place of eyelids empty and bloody -orbits. The flesh hung in red shreds, and there flowed from it liquids -that congealed into green scale down to the nose, whose black nostrils -sniffed convulsively. To speak to you he threw back his head with an -idiotic laugh; then his bluish eyeballs, rolling constantly, at the -temples beat against the edge of the open wound. He sang a little song -as he followed the carriages-- - -"Maids an the warmth of a summer day Dream of love, and of love always" - -And all the rest was about birds and sunshine and green leaves. - -Sometimes he appeared suddenly behind Emma, bareheaded, and she drew -back with a cry. Hivert made fun of him. He would advise him to get a -booth at the Saint Romain fair, or else ask him, laughing, how his young -woman was. - -Often they had started when, with a sudden movement, his hat entered the -diligence through the small window, while he clung with his other arm -to the footboard, between the wheels splashing mud. His voice, feeble -at first and quavering, grew sharp; it resounded in the night like the -indistinct moan of a vague distress; and through the ringing of the -bells, the murmur of the trees, and the rumbling of the empty vehicle, -it had a far-off sound that disturbed Emma. It went to the bottom of -her soul, like a whirlwind in an abyss, and carried her away into the -distances of a boundless melancholy. But Hivert, noticing a weight -behind, gave the blind man sharp cuts with his whip. The thong lashed -his wounds, and he fell back into the mud with a yell. Then the -passengers in the "Hirondelle" ended by falling asleep, some with open -mouths, others with lowered chins, leaning against their neighbour's -shoulder, or with their arm passed through the strap, oscillating -regularly with the jolting of the carriage; and the reflection of the -lantern swinging without, on the crupper of the wheeler; penetrating -into the interior through the chocolate calico curtains, threw -sanguineous shadows over all these motionless people. Emma, drunk with -grief, shivered in her clothes, feeling her feet grow colder and colder, -and death in her soul. - -Charles at home was waiting for her; the "Hirondelle" was always late -on Thursdays. Madame arrived at last, and scarcely kissed the child. The -dinner was not ready. No matter! She excused the servant. This girl now -seemed allowed to do just as she liked. - -Often her husband, noting her pallor, asked if she were unwell. - -"No," said Emma. - -"But," he replied, "you seem so strange this evening." - -"Oh, it's nothing! nothing!" - -There were even days when she had no sooner come in than she went up to -her room; and Justin, happening to be there, moved about noiselessly, -quicker at helping her than the best of maids. He put the matches -ready, the candlestick, a book, arranged her nightgown, turned back the -bedclothes. - -"Come!" said she, "that will do. Now you can go." - -For he stood there, his hands hanging down and his eyes wide open, as if -enmeshed in the innumerable threads of a sudden reverie. - -The following day was frightful, and those that came after still more -unbearable, because of her impatience to once again seize her happiness; -an ardent lust, inflamed by the images of past experience, and that -burst forth freely on the seventh day beneath Leon's caresses. His -ardours were hidden beneath outbursts of wonder and gratitude. Emma -tasted this love in a discreet, absorbed fashion, maintained it by all -the artifices of her tenderness, and trembled a little lest it should be -lost later on. - -She often said to him, with her sweet, melancholy voice-- - -"Ah! you too, you will leave me! You will marry! You will be like all -the others." - -He asked, "What others?" - -"Why, like all men," she replied. Then added, repulsing him with a -languid movement-- - -"You are all evil!" - -One day, as they were talking philosophically of earthly disillusions, -to experiment on his jealousy, or yielding, perhaps, to an over-strong -need to pour out her heart, she told him that formerly, before him, she -had loved someone. - -"Not like you," she went on quickly, protesting by the head of her child -that "nothing had passed between them." - -The young man believed her, but none the less questioned her to find out -what he was. - -"He was a ship's captain, my dear." - -Was this not preventing any inquiry, and, at the same time, assuming a -higher ground through this pretended fascination exercised over a man -who must have been of warlike nature and accustomed to receive homage? - -The clerk then felt the lowliness of his position; he longed for -epaulettes, crosses, titles. All that would please her--he gathered that -from her spendthrift habits. - -Emma nevertheless concealed many of these extravagant fancies, such as -her wish to have a blue tilbury to drive into Rouen, drawn by an English -horse and driven by a groom in top-boots. It was Justin who had inspired -her with this whim, by begging her to take him into her service as -valet-de-chambre*, and if the privation of it did not lessen the -pleasure of her arrival at each rendezvous, it certainly augmented the -bitterness of the return. - - * Manservant. - - -Often, when they talked together of Paris, she ended by murmuring, "Ah! -how happy we should be there!" - -"Are we not happy?" gently answered the young man passing his hands over -her hair. - -"Yes, that is true," she said. "I am mad. Kiss me!" - -To her husband she was more charming than ever. She made him -pistachio-creams, and played him waltzes after dinner. So he thought -himself the most fortunate of men and Emma was without uneasiness, when, -one evening suddenly he said-- - -"It is Mademoiselle Lempereur, isn't it, who gives you lessons?" - -"Yes." - -"Well, I saw her just now," Charles went on, "at Madame Liegeard's. I -spoke to her about you, and she doesn't know you." - -This was like a thunderclap. However, she replied quite naturally-- - -"Ah! no doubt she forgot my name." - -"But perhaps," said the doctor, "there are several Demoiselles Lempereur -at Rouen who are music-mistresses." - -"Possibly!" Then quickly--"But I have my receipts here. See!" - -And she went to the writing-table, ransacked all the drawers, rummaged -the papers, and at last lost her head so completely that Charles -earnestly begged her not to take so much trouble about those wretched -receipts. - -"Oh, I will find them," she said. - -And, in fact, on the following Friday, as Charles was putting on one -of his boots in the dark cabinet where his clothes were kept, he felt -a piece of paper between the leather and his sock. He took it out and -read-- - -"Received, for three months' lessons and several pieces of music, the -sum of sixty-three francs.--Felicie Lempereur, professor of music." - -"How the devil did it get into my boots?" - -"It must," she replied, "have fallen from the old box of bills that is -on the edge of the shelf." - -From that moment her existence was but one long tissue of lies, in which -she enveloped her love as in veils to hide it. It was a want, a mania, -a pleasure carried to such an extent that if she said she had the day -before walked on the right side of a road, one might know she had taken -the left. - -One morning, when she had gone, as usual, rather lightly clothed, it -suddenly began to snow, and as Charles was watching the weather from the -window, he caught sight of Monsieur Bournisien in the chaise of Monsieur -Tuvache, who was driving him to Rouen. Then he went down to give the -priest a thick shawl that he was to hand over to Emma as soon as he -reached the "Croix-Rouge." When he got to the inn, Monsieur Bournisien -asked for the wife of the Yonville doctor. The landlady replied that -she very rarely came to her establishment. So that evening, when he -recognised Madame Bovary in the "Hirondelle," the cure told her his -dilemma, without, however, appearing to attach much importance to it, -for he began praising a preacher who was doing wonders at the Cathedral, -and whom all the ladies were rushing to hear. - -Still, if he did not ask for any explanation, others, later on, might -prove less discreet. So she thought well to get down each time at the -"Croix-Rouge," so that the good folk of her village who saw her on the -stairs should suspect nothing. - -One day, however, Monsieur Lheureux met her coming out of the Hotel -de Boulogne on Leon's arm; and she was frightened, thinking he would -gossip. He was not such a fool. But three days after he came to her -room, shut the door, and said, "I must have some money." - -She declared she could not give him any. Lheureux burst into -lamentations and reminded her of all the kindnesses he had shown her. - -In fact, of the two bills signed by Charles, Emma up to the present had -paid only one. As to the second, the shopkeeper, at her request, had -consented to replace it by another, which again had been renewed for a -long date. Then he drew from his pocket a list of goods not paid for; to -wit, the curtains, the carpet, the material for the armchairs, several -dresses, and divers articles of dress, the bills for which amounted to -about two thousand francs. - -She bowed her head. He went on-- - -"But if you haven't any ready money, you have an estate." And he -reminded her of a miserable little hovel situated at Barneville, near -Aumale, that brought in almost nothing. It had formerly been part of a -small farm sold by Monsieur Bovary senior; for Lheureux knew everything, -even to the number of acres and the names of the neighbours. - -"If I were in your place," he said, "I should clear myself of my debts, -and have money left over." - -She pointed out the difficulty of getting a purchaser. He held out the -hope of finding one; but she asked him how she should manage to sell it. - -"Haven't you your power of attorney?" he replied. - -The phrase came to her like a breath of fresh air. "Leave me the bill," -said Emma. - -"Oh, it isn't worth while," answered Lheureux. - -He came back the following week and boasted of having, after much -trouble, at last discovered a certain Langlois, who, for a long time, -had had an eye on the property, but without mentioning his price. - -"Never mind the price!" she cried. - -But they would, on the contrary, have to wait, to sound the fellow. -The thing was worth a journey, and, as she could not undertake it, he -offered to go to the place to have an interview with Langlois. On his -return he announced that the purchaser proposed four thousand francs. - -Emma was radiant at this news. - -"Frankly," he added, "that's a good price." - -She drew half the sum at once, and when she was about to pay her account -the shopkeeper said-- - -"It really grieves me, on my word! to see you depriving yourself all at -once of such a big sum as that." - -Then she looked at the bank-notes, and dreaming of the unlimited number -of rendezvous represented by those two thousand francs, she stammered-- - -"What! what!" - -"Oh!" he went on, laughing good-naturedly, "one puts anything one likes -on receipts. Don't you think I know what household affairs are?" And he -looked at her fixedly, while in his hand he held two long papers that he -slid between his nails. At last, opening his pocket-book, he spread out -on the table four bills to order, each for a thousand francs. - -"Sign these," he said, "and keep it all!" - -She cried out, scandalised. - -"But if I give you the surplus," replied Monsieur Lheureux impudently, -"is that not helping you?" - -And taking a pen he wrote at the bottom of the account, "Received of -Madame Bovary four thousand francs." - -"Now who can trouble you, since in six months you'll draw the arrears -for your cottage, and I don't make the last bill due till after you've -been paid?" - -Emma grew rather confused in her calculations, and her ears tingled -as if gold pieces, bursting from their bags, rang all round her on -the floor. At last Lheureux explained that he had a very good friend, -Vincart, a broker at Rouen, who would discount these four bills. Then -he himself would hand over to madame the remainder after the actual debt -was paid. - -But instead of two thousand francs he brought only eighteen hundred, for -the friend Vincart (which was only fair) had deducted two hundred francs -for commission and discount. Then he carelessly asked for a receipt. - -"You understand--in business--sometimes. And with the date, if you -please, with the date." - -A horizon of realisable whims opened out before Emma. She was prudent -enough to lay by a thousand crowns, with which the first three bills -were paid when they fell due; but the fourth, by chance, came to the -house on a Thursday, and Charles, quite upset, patiently awaited his -wife's return for an explanation. - -If she had not told him about this bill, it was only to spare him such -domestic worries; she sat on his knees, caressed him, cooed to him, gave -him a long enumeration of all the indispensable things that had been got -on credit. - -"Really, you must confess, considering the quantity, it isn't too dear." - -Charles, at his wit's end, soon had recourse to the eternal Lheureux, -who swore he would arrange matters if the doctor would sign him two -bills, one of which was for seven hundred francs, payable in three -months. In order to arrange for this he wrote his mother a pathetic -letter. Instead of sending a reply she came herself; and when Emma -wanted to know whether he had got anything out of her, "Yes," he -replied; "but she wants to see the account." The next morning at -daybreak Emma ran to Lheureux to beg him to make out another account for -not more than a thousand francs, for to show the one for four thousand -it would be necessary to say that she had paid two-thirds, and confess, -consequently, the sale of the estate--a negotiation admirably carried -out by the shopkeeper, and which, in fact, was only actually known later -on. - -Despite the low price of each article, Madame Bovary senior, of course, -thought the expenditure extravagant. - -"Couldn't you do without a carpet? Why have recovered the arm-chairs? In -my time there was a single arm-chair in a house, for elderly persons--at -any rate it was so at my mother's, who was a good woman, I can tell you. -Everybody can't be rich! No fortune can hold out against waste! I should -be ashamed to coddle myself as you do! And yet I am old. I need looking -after. And there! there! fitting up gowns! fallals! What! silk for -lining at two francs, when you can get jaconet for ten sous, or even for -eight, that would do well enough!" - -Emma, lying on a lounge, replied as quietly as possible--"Ah! Madame, -enough! enough!" - -The other went on lecturing her, predicting they would end in the -workhouse. But it was Bovary's fault. Luckily he had promised to destroy -that power of attorney. - -"What?" - -"Ah! he swore he would," went on the good woman. - -Emma opened the window, called Charles, and the poor fellow was obliged -to confess the promise torn from him by his mother. - -Emma disappeared, then came back quickly, and majestically handed her a -thick piece of paper. - -"Thank you," said the old woman. And she threw the power of attorney -into the fire. - -Emma began to laugh, a strident, piercing, continuous laugh; she had an -attack of hysterics. - -"Oh, my God!" cried Charles. "Ah! you really are wrong! You come here -and make scenes with her!" - -His mother, shrugging her shoulders, declared it was "all put on." - -But Charles, rebelling for the first time, took his wife's part, so that -Madame Bovary, senior, said she would leave. She went the very next day, -and on the threshold, as he was trying to detain her, she replied-- - -"No, no! You love her better than me, and you are right. It is natural. -For the rest, so much the worse! You will see. Good day--for I am not -likely to come soon again, as you say, to make scenes." - -Charles nevertheless was very crestfallen before Emma, who did not hide -the resentment she still felt at his want of confidence, and it needed -many prayers before she would consent to have another power of attorney. -He even accompanied her to Monsieur Guillaumin to have a second one, -just like the other, drawn up. - -"I understand," said the notary; "a man of science can't be worried with -the practical details of life." - -And Charles felt relieved by this comfortable reflection, which gave his -weakness the flattering appearance of higher pre-occupation. - -And what an outburst the next Thursday at the hotel in their room with -Leon! She laughed, cried, sang, sent for sherbets, wanted to smoke -cigarettes, seemed to him wild and extravagant, but adorable, superb. - -He did not know what recreation of her whole being drove her more and -more to plunge into the pleasures of life. She was becoming irritable, -greedy, voluptuous; and she walked about the streets with him carrying -her head high, without fear, so she said, of compromising herself. -At times, however, Emma shuddered at the sudden thought of meeting -Rodolphe, for it seemed to her that, although they were separated -forever, she was not completely free from her subjugation to him. - -One night she did not return to Yonville at all. Charles lost his head -with anxiety, and little Berthe would not go to bed without her mamma, -and sobbed enough to break her heart. Justin had gone out searching the -road at random. Monsieur Homais even had left his pharmacy. - -At last, at eleven o'clock, able to bear it no longer, Charles -harnessed his chaise, jumped in, whipped up his horse, and reached the -"Croix-Rouge" about two o'clock in the morning. No one there! He thought -that the clerk had perhaps seen her; but where did he live? Happily, -Charles remembered his employer's address, and rushed off there. - -Day was breaking, and he could distinguish the escutcheons over the -door, and knocked. Someone, without opening the door, shouted out the -required information, adding a few insults to those who disturb people -in the middle of the night. - -The house inhabited by the clerk had neither bell, knocker, nor porter. -Charles knocked loudly at the shutters with his hands. A policeman -happened to pass by. Then he was frightened, and went away. - -"I am mad," he said; "no doubt they kept her to dinner at Monsieur -Lormeaux'." But the Lormeaux no longer lived at Rouen. - -"She probably stayed to look after Madame Dubreuil. Why, Madame Dubreuil -has been dead these ten months! Where can she be?" - -An idea occurred to him. At a cafe he asked for a Directory, and -hurriedly looked for the name of Mademoiselle Lempereur, who lived at -No. 74 Rue de la Renelle-des-Maroquiniers. - -As he was turning into the street, Emma herself appeared at the other -end of it. He threw himself upon her rather than embraced her, crying-- - -"What kept you yesterday?" - -"I was not well." - -"What was it? Where? How?" - -She passed her hand over her forehead and answered, "At Mademoiselle -Lempereur's." - -"I was sure of it! I was going there." - -"Oh, it isn't worth while," said Emma. "She went out just now; but for -the future don't worry. I do not feel free, you see, if I know that the -least delay upsets you like this." - -This was a sort of permission that she gave herself, so as to get -perfect freedom in her escapades. And she profited by it freely, fully. -When she was seized with the desire to see Leon, she set out upon any -pretext; and as he was not expecting her on that day, she went to fetch -him at his office. - -It was a great delight at first, but soon he no longer concealed the -truth, which was, that his master complained very much about these -interruptions. - -"Pshaw! come along," she said. - -And he slipped out. - -She wanted him to dress all in black, and grow a pointed beard, to -look like the portraits of Louis XIII. She wanted to see his lodgings; -thought them poor. He blushed at them, but she did not notice this, then -advised him to buy some curtains like hers, and as he objected to the -expense-- - -"Ah! ah! you care for your money," she said laughing. - -Each time Leon had to tell her everything that he had done since their -last meeting. She asked him for some verses--some verses "for herself," -a "love poem" in honour of her. But he never succeeded in getting a -rhyme for the second verse; and at last ended by copying a sonnet in -a "Keepsake." This was less from vanity than from the one desire of -pleasing her. He did not question her ideas; he accepted all her tastes; -he was rather becoming her mistress than she his. She had tender words -and kisses that thrilled his soul. Where could she have learnt this -corruption almost incorporeal in the strength of its profanity and -dissimulation? - - - -Chapter Six - -During the journeys he made to see her, Leon had often dined at the -chemist's, and he felt obliged from politeness to invite him in turn. - -"With pleasure!" Monsieur Homais replied; "besides, I must invigorate -my mind, for I am getting rusty here. We'll go to the theatre, to the -restaurant; we'll make a night of it." - -"Oh, my dear!" tenderly murmured Madame Homais, alarmed at the vague -perils he was preparing to brave. - -"Well, what? Do you think I'm not sufficiently ruining my health living -here amid the continual emanations of the pharmacy? But there! that is -the way with women! They are jealous of science, and then are opposed to -our taking the most legitimate distractions. No matter! Count upon -me. One of these days I shall turn up at Rouen, and we'll go the pace -together." - -The druggist would formerly have taken good care not to use such an -expression, but he was cultivating a gay Parisian style, which he -thought in the best taste; and, like his neighbour, Madame Bovary, he -questioned the clerk curiously about the customs of the capital; he -even talked slang to dazzle the bourgeois, saying bender, crummy, dandy, -macaroni, the cheese, cut my stick and "I'll hook it," for "I am going." - -So one Thursday Emma was surprised to meet Monsieur Homais in the -kitchen of the "Lion d'Or," wearing a traveller's costume, that is to -say, wrapped in an old cloak which no one knew he had, while he carried -a valise in one hand and the foot-warmer of his establishment in the -other. He had confided his intentions to no one, for fear of causing the -public anxiety by his absence. - -The idea of seeing again the place where his youth had been spent no -doubt excited him, for during the whole journey he never ceased talking, -and as soon as he had arrived, he jumped quickly out of the diligence -to go in search of Leon. In vain the clerk tried to get rid of him. -Monsieur Homais dragged him off to the large Cafe de la Normandie, -which he entered majestically, not raising his hat, thinking it very -provincial to uncover in any public place. - -Emma waited for Leon three quarters of an hour. At last she ran to -his office; and, lost in all sorts of conjectures, accusing him of -indifference, and reproaching herself for her weakness, she spent the -afternoon, her face pressed against the window-panes. - -At two o'clock they were still at a table opposite each other. The large -room was emptying; the stove-pipe, in the shape of a palm-tree, spread -its gilt leaves over the white ceiling, and near them, outside the -window, in the bright sunshine, a little fountain gurgled in a white -basin, where; in the midst of watercress and asparagus, three torpid -lobsters stretched across to some quails that lay heaped up in a pile on -their sides. - -Homais was enjoying himself. Although he was even more intoxicated with -the luxury than the rich fare, the Pommard wine all the same rather -excited his faculties; and when the omelette au rhum* appeared, he began -propounding immoral theories about women. What seduced him above all -else was chic. He admired an elegant toilette in a well-furnished -apartment, and as to bodily qualities, he didn't dislike a young girl. - - * In rum. - - -Leon watched the clock in despair. The druggist went on drinking, -eating, and talking. - -"You must be very lonely," he said suddenly, "here at Rouen. To be sure -your lady-love doesn't live far away." - -And the other blushed-- - -"Come now, be frank. Can you deny that at Yonville--" - -The young man stammered something. - -"At Madame Bovary's, you're not making love to--" - -"To whom?" - -"The servant!" - -He was not joking; but vanity getting the better of all prudence, Leon, -in spite of himself protested. Besides, he only liked dark women. - -"I approve of that," said the chemist; "they have more passion." - -And whispering into his friend's ear, he pointed out the symptoms by -which one could find out if a woman had passion. He even launched into -an ethnographic digression: the German was vapourish, the French woman -licentious, the Italian passionate. - -"And negresses?" asked the clerk. - -"They are an artistic taste!" said Homais. "Waiter! two cups of coffee!" - -"Are we going?" at last asked Leon impatiently. - -"Ja!" - -But before leaving he wanted to see the proprietor of the establishment -and made him a few compliments. Then the young man, to be alone, alleged -he had some business engagement. - -"Ah! I will escort you," said Homais. - -And all the while he was walking through the streets with him he talked -of his wife, his children; of their future, and of his business; told -him in what a decayed condition it had formerly been, and to what a -degree of perfection he had raised it. - -Arrived in front of the Hotel de Boulogne, Leon left him abruptly, ran -up the stairs, and found his mistress in great excitement. At mention of -the chemist she flew into a passion. He, however, piled up good reasons; -it wasn't his fault; didn't she know Homais--did she believe that he -would prefer his company? But she turned away; he drew her back, and, -sinking on his knees, clasped her waist with his arms in a languorous -pose, full of concupiscence and supplication. - -She was standing up, her large flashing eyes looked at him seriously, -almost terribly. Then tears obscured them, her red eyelids were lowered, -she gave him her hands, and Leon was pressing them to his lips when a -servant appeared to tell the gentleman that he was wanted. - -"You will come back?" she said. - -"Yes." - -"But when?" - -"Immediately." - -"It's a trick," said the chemist, when he saw Leon. "I wanted to -interrupt this visit, that seemed to me to annoy you. Let's go and have -a glass of garus at Bridoux'." - -Leon vowed that he must get back to his office. Then the druggist joked -him about quill-drivers and the law. - -"Leave Cujas and Barthole alone a bit. Who the devil prevents you? Be a -man! Let's go to Bridoux'. You'll see his dog. It's very interesting." - -And as the clerk still insisted-- - -"I'll go with you. I'll read a paper while I wait for you, or turn over -the leaves of a 'Code.'" - -Leon, bewildered by Emma's anger, Monsieur Homais' chatter, and, -perhaps, by the heaviness of the luncheon, was undecided, and, as it -were, fascinated by the chemist, who kept repeating-- - -"Let's go to Bridoux'. It's just by here, in the Rue Malpalu." - -Then, through cowardice, through stupidity, through that indefinable -feeling that drags us into the most distasteful acts, he allowed -himself to be led off to Bridoux', whom they found in his small yard, -superintending three workmen, who panted as they turned the large -wheel of a machine for making seltzer-water. Homais gave them some good -advice. He embraced Bridoux; they took some garus. Twenty times Leon -tried to escape, but the other seized him by the arm saying-- - -"Presently! I'm coming! We'll go to the 'Fanal de Rouen' to see the -fellows there. I'll introduce you to Thornassin." - -At last he managed to get rid of him, and rushed straight to the hotel. -Emma was no longer there. She had just gone in a fit of anger. She -detested him now. This failing to keep their rendezvous seemed to her an -insult, and she tried to rake up other reasons to separate herself from -him. He was incapable of heroism, weak, banal, more spiritless than a -woman, avaricious too, and cowardly. - -Then, growing calmer, she at length discovered that she had, no doubt, -calumniated him. But the disparaging of those we love always alienates -us from them to some extent. We must not touch our idols; the gilt -sticks to our fingers. - -They gradually came to talking more frequently of matters outside their -love, and in the letters that Emma wrote him she spoke of flowers, -verses, the moon and the stars, naive resources of a waning passion -striving to keep itself alive by all external aids. She was constantly -promising herself a profound felicity on her next journey. Then -she confessed to herself that she felt nothing extraordinary. This -disappointment quickly gave way to a new hope, and Emma returned to him -more inflamed, more eager than ever. She undressed brutally, tearing off -the thin laces of her corset that nestled around her hips like a gliding -snake. She went on tiptoe, barefooted, to see once more that the -door was closed, then, pale, serious, and, without speaking, with one -movement, she threw herself upon his breast with a long shudder. - -Yet there was upon that brow covered with cold drops, on those quivering -lips, in those wild eyes, in the strain of those arms, something vague -and dreary that seemed to Leon to glide between them subtly as if to -separate them. - -He did not dare to question her; but, seeing her so skilled, she must -have passed, he thought, through every experience of suffering and of -pleasure. What had once charmed now frightened him a little. Besides, he -rebelled against his absorption, daily more marked, by her personality. -He begrudged Emma this constant victory. He even strove not to love her; -then, when he heard the creaking of her boots, he turned coward, like -drunkards at the sight of strong drinks. - -She did not fail, in truth, to lavish all sorts of attentions upon him, -from the delicacies of food to the coquettries of dress and languishing -looks. She brought roses to her breast from Yonville, which she threw -into his face; was anxious about his health, gave him advice as to his -conduct; and, in order the more surely to keep her hold on him, hoping -perhaps that heaven would take her part, she tied a medal of the -Virgin round his neck. She inquired like a virtuous mother about his -companions. She said to him-- - -"Don't see them; don't go out; think only of ourselves; love me!" - -She would have liked to be able to watch over his life; and the idea -occurred to her of having him followed in the streets. Near the hotel -there was always a kind of loafer who accosted travellers, and who would -not refuse. But her pride revolted at this. - -"Bah! so much the worse. Let him deceive me! What does it matter to me? -As If I cared for him!" - -One day, when they had parted early and she was returning alone along -the boulevard, she saw the walls of her convent; then she sat down on a -form in the shade of the elm-trees. How calm that time had been! How she -longed for the ineffable sentiments of love that she had tried to figure -to herself out of books! The first month of her marriage, her rides in -the wood, the viscount that waltzed, and Lagardy singing, all repassed -before her eyes. And Leon suddenly appeared to her as far off as the -others. - -"Yet I love him," she said to herself. - -No matter! She was not happy--she never had been. Whence came this -insufficiency in life--this instantaneous turning to decay of everything -on which she leant? But if there were somewhere a being strong and -beautiful, a valiant nature, full at once of exaltation and refinement, -a poet's heart in an angel's form, a lyre with sounding chords ringing -out elegiac epithalamia to heaven, why, perchance, should she not find -him? Ah! how impossible! Besides, nothing was worth the trouble of -seeking it; everything was a lie. Every smile hid a yawn of boredom, -every joy a curse, all pleasure satiety, and the sweetest kisses left -upon your lips only the unattainable desire for a greater delight. - -A metallic clang droned through the air, and four strokes were heard -from the convent-clock. Four o'clock! And it seemed to her that she had -been there on that form an eternity. But an infinity of passions may be -contained in a minute, like a crowd in a small space. - -Emma lived all absorbed in hers, and troubled no more about money -matters than an archduchess. - -Once, however, a wretched-looking man, rubicund and bald, came to her -house, saying he had been sent by Monsieur Vincart of Rouen. He took out -the pins that held together the side-pockets of his long green overcoat, -stuck them into his sleeve, and politely handed her a paper. - -It was a bill for seven hundred francs, signed by her, and which -Lheureux, in spite of all his professions, had paid away to Vincart. She -sent her servant for him. He could not come. Then the stranger, who -had remained standing, casting right and left curious glances, that his -thick, fair eyebrows hid, asked with a naive air-- - -"What answer am I to take Monsieur Vincart?" - -"Oh," said Emma, "tell him that I haven't it. I will send next week; he -must wait; yes, till next week." - -And the fellow went without another word. - -But the next day at twelve o'clock she received a summons, and the sight -of the stamped paper, on which appeared several times in large letters, -"Maitre Hareng, bailiff at Buchy," so frightened her that she rushed in -hot haste to the linendraper's. She found him in his shop, doing up a -parcel. - -"Your obedient!" he said; "I am at your service." - -But Lheureux, all the same, went on with his work, helped by a young -girl of about thirteen, somewhat hunch-backed, who was at once his clerk -and his servant. - -Then, his clogs clattering on the shop-boards, he went up in front -of Madame Bovary to the first door, and introduced her into a narrow -closet, where, in a large bureau in sapon-wood, lay some ledgers, -protected by a horizontal padlocked iron bar. Against the wall, under -some remnants of calico, one glimpsed a safe, but of such dimensions -that it must contain something besides bills and money. Monsieur -Lheureux, in fact, went in for pawnbroking, and it was there that he had -put Madame Bovary's gold chain, together with the earrings of poor old -Tellier, who, at last forced to sell out, had bought a meagre store -of grocery at Quincampoix, where he was dying of catarrh amongst his -candles, that were less yellow than his face. - -Lheureux sat down in a large cane arm-chair, saying: "What news?" - -"See!" - -And she showed him the paper. - -"Well how can I help it?" - -Then she grew angry, reminding him of the promise he had given not to -pay away her bills. He acknowledged it. - -"But I was pressed myself; the knife was at my own throat." - -"And what will happen now?" she went on. - -"Oh, it's very simple; a judgment and then a distraint--that's about -it!" - -Emma kept down a desire to strike him, and asked gently if there was no -way of quieting Monsieur Vincart. - -"I dare say! Quiet Vincart! You don't know him; he's more ferocious than -an Arab!" - -Still Monsieur Lheureux must interfere. - -"Well, listen. It seems to me so far I've been very good to you." And -opening one of his ledgers, "See," he said. Then running up the page -with his finger, "Let's see! let's see! August 3d, two hundred francs; -June 17th, a hundred and fifty; March 23d, forty-six. In April--" - -He stopped, as if afraid of making some mistake. - -"Not to speak of the bills signed by Monsieur Bovary, one for seven -hundred francs, and another for three hundred. As to your little -installments, with the interest, why, there's no end to 'em; one gets -quite muddled over 'em. I'll have nothing more to do with it." - -She wept; she even called him "her good Monsieur Lheureux." But he -always fell back upon "that rascal Vincart." Besides, he hadn't a brass -farthing; no one was paying him now-a-days; they were eating his coat -off his back; a poor shopkeeper like him couldn't advance money. - -Emma was silent, and Monsieur Lheureux, who was biting the feathers of a -quill, no doubt became uneasy at her silence, for he went on-- - -"Unless one of these days I have something coming in, I might--" - -"Besides," said she, "as soon as the balance of Barneville--" - -"What!" - -And on hearing that Langlois had not yet paid he seemed much surprised. -Then in a honied voice-- - -"And we agree, you say?" - -"Oh! to anything you like." - -On this he closed his eyes to reflect, wrote down a few figures, and -declaring it would be very difficult for him, that the affair was shady, -and that he was being bled, he wrote out four bills for two hundred and -fifty francs each, to fall due month by month. - -"Provided that Vincart will listen to me! However, it's settled. I don't -play the fool; I'm straight enough." - -Next he carelessly showed her several new goods, not one of which, -however, was in his opinion worthy of madame. - -"When I think that there's a dress at threepence-halfpenny a yard, and -warranted fast colours! And yet they actually swallow it! Of course you -understand one doesn't tell them what it really is!" He hoped by this -confession of dishonesty to others to quite convince her of his probity -to her. - -Then he called her back to show her three yards of guipure that he had -lately picked up "at a sale." - -"Isn't it lovely?" said Lheureux. "It is very much used now for the -backs of arm-chairs. It's quite the rage." - -And, more ready than a juggler, he wrapped up the guipure in some blue -paper and put it in Emma's hands. - -"But at least let me know--" - -"Yes, another time," he replied, turning on his heel. - -That same evening she urged Bovary to write to his mother, to ask her -to send as quickly as possible the whole of the balance due from the -father's estate. The mother-in-law replied that she had nothing more, -the winding up was over, and there was due to them besides Barneville an -income of six hundred francs, that she would pay them punctually. - -Then Madame Bovary sent in accounts to two or three patients, and she -made large use of this method, which was very successful. She was always -careful to add a postscript: "Do not mention this to my husband; you -know how proud he is. Excuse me. Yours obediently." There were some -complaints; she intercepted them. - -To get money she began selling her old gloves, her old hats, the old -odds and ends, and she bargained rapaciously, her peasant blood standing -her in good stead. Then on her journey to town she picked up nick-nacks -secondhand, that, in default of anyone else, Monsieur Lheureux would -certainly take off her hands. She bought ostrich feathers, Chinese -porcelain, and trunks; she borrowed from Felicite, from Madame -Lefrancois, from the landlady at the Croix-Rouge, from everybody, no -matter where. - -With the money she at last received from Barneville she paid two bills; -the other fifteen hundred francs fell due. She renewed the bills, and -thus it was continually. - -Sometimes, it is true, she tried to make a calculation, but she -discovered things so exorbitant that she could not believe them -possible. Then she recommenced, soon got confused, gave it all up, and -thought no more about it. - -The house was very dreary now. Tradesmen were seen leaving it with angry -faces. Handkerchiefs were lying about on the stoves, and little Berthe, -to the great scandal of Madame Homais, wore stockings with holes in -them. If Charles timidly ventured a remark, she answered roughly that it -wasn't her fault. - -What was the meaning of all these fits of temper? He explained -everything through her old nervous illness, and reproaching himself with -having taken her infirmities for faults, accused himself of egotism, and -longed to go and take her in his arms. - -"Ah, no!" he said to himself; "I should worry her." - -And he did not stir. - -After dinner he walked about alone in the garden; he took little Berthe -on his knees, and unfolding his medical journal, tried to teach her -to read. But the child, who never had any lessons, soon looked up with -large, sad eyes and began to cry. Then he comforted her; went to fetch -water in her can to make rivers on the sand path, or broke off branches -from the privet hedges to plant trees in the beds. This did not spoil -the garden much, all choked now with long weeds. They owed Lestiboudois -for so many days. Then the child grew cold and asked for her mother. - -"Call the servant," said Charles. "You know, dearie, that mamma does not -like to be disturbed." - -Autumn was setting in, and the leaves were already falling, as they did -two years ago when she was ill. Where would it all end? And he walked up -and down, his hands behind his back. - -Madame was in her room, which no one entered. She stayed there all -day long, torpid, half dressed, and from time to time burning Turkish -pastilles which she had bought at Rouen in an Algerian's shop. In order -not to have at night this sleeping man stretched at her side, by dint of -manoeuvring, she at last succeeded in banishing him to the second floor, -while she read till morning extravagant books, full of pictures of -orgies and thrilling situations. Often, seized with fear, she cried out, -and Charles hurried to her. - -"Oh, go away!" she would say. - -Or at other times, consumed more ardently than ever by that inner flame -to which adultery added fuel, panting, tremulous, all desire, she threw -open her window, breathed in the cold air, shook loose in the wind her -masses of hair, too heavy, and, gazing upon the stars, longed for some -princely love. She thought of him, of Leon. She would then have given -anything for a single one of those meetings that surfeited her. - -These were her gala days. She wanted them to be sumptuous, and when he -alone could not pay the expenses, she made up the deficit liberally, -which happened pretty well every time. He tried to make her understand -that they would be quite as comfortable somewhere else, in a smaller -hotel, but she always found some objection. - -One day she drew six small silver-gilt spoons from her bag (they were -old Roualt's wedding present), begging him to pawn them at once for her, -and Leon obeyed, though the proceeding annoyed him. He was afraid of -compromising himself. - -Then, on, reflection, he began to think his mistress's ways were growing -odd, and that they were perhaps not wrong in wishing to separate him -from her. - -In fact someone had sent his mother a long anonymous letter to warn her -that he was "ruining himself with a married woman," and the good lady at -once conjuring up the eternal bugbear of families, the vague pernicious -creature, the siren, the monster, who dwells fantastically in depths of -love, wrote to Lawyer Dubocage, his employer, who behaved perfectly in -the affair. He kept him for three quarters of an hour trying to open -his eyes, to warn him of the abyss into which he was falling. Such -an intrigue would damage him later on, when he set up for himself. He -implored him to break with her, and, if he would not make this sacrifice -in his own interest, to do it at least for his, Dubocage's sake. - -At last Leon swore he would not see Emma again, and he reproached -himself with not having kept his word, considering all the worry and -lectures this woman might still draw down upon him, without reckoning -the jokes made by his companions as they sat round the stove in the -morning. Besides, he was soon to be head clerk; it was time to settle -down. So he gave up his flute, exalted sentiments, and poetry; for every -bourgeois in the flush of his youth, were it but for a day, a moment, -has believed himself capable of immense passions, of lofty enterprises. -The most mediocre libertine has dreamed of sultanas; every notary bears -within him the debris of a poet. - -He was bored now when Emma suddenly began to sob on his breast, and his -heart, like the people who can only stand a certain amount of music, -dozed to the sound of a love whose delicacies he no longer noted. - -They knew one another too well for any of those surprises of possession -that increase its joys a hundred-fold. She was as sick of him as he -was weary of her. Emma found again in adultery all the platitudes of -marriage. - -But how to get rid of him? Then, though she might feel humiliated at -the baseness of such enjoyment, she clung to it from habit or from -corruption, and each day she hungered after them the more, exhausting -all felicity in wishing for too much of it. She accused Leon of her -baffled hopes, as if he had betrayed her; and she even longed for some -catastrophe that would bring about their separation, since she had not -the courage to make up her mind to it herself. - -She none the less went on writing him love letters, in virtue of the -notion that a woman must write to her lover. - -But whilst she wrote it was another man she saw, a phantom fashioned out -of her most ardent memories, of her finest reading, her strongest -lusts, and at last he became so real, so tangible, that she palpitated -wondering, without, however, the power to imagine him clearly, so lost -was he, like a god, beneath the abundance of his attributes. He dwelt in -that azure land where silk ladders hang from balconies under the breath -of flowers, in the light of the moon. She felt him near her; he was -coming, and would carry her right away in a kiss. - -Then she fell back exhausted, for these transports of vague love wearied -her more than great debauchery. - -She now felt constant ache all over her. Often she even received -summonses, stamped paper that she barely looked at. She would have liked -not to be alive, or to be always asleep. - -On Mid-Lent she did not return to Yonville, but in the evening went to -a masked ball. She wore velvet breeches, red stockings, a club wig, and -three-cornered hat cocked on one side. She danced all night to the wild -tones of the trombones; people gathered round her, and in the morning -she found herself on the steps of the theatre together with five or six -masks, debardeuses* and sailors, Leon's comrades, who were talking about -having supper. - - * People dressed as longshoremen. - - -The neighbouring cafes were full. They caught sight of one on the -harbour, a very indifferent restaurant, whose proprietor showed them to -a little room on the fourth floor. - -The men were whispering in a corner, no doubt consorting about expenses. -There were a clerk, two medical students, and a shopman--what company -for her! As to the women, Emma soon perceived from the tone of their -voices that they must almost belong to the lowest class. Then she was -frightened, pushed back her chair, and cast down her eyes. - -The others began to eat; she ate nothing. Her head was on fire, her eyes -smarted, and her skin was ice-cold. In her head she seemed to feel the -floor of the ball-room rebounding again beneath the rhythmical pulsation -of the thousands of dancing feet. And now the smell of the punch, the -smoke of the cigars, made her giddy. She fainted, and they carried her -to the window. - -Day was breaking, and a great stain of purple colour broadened out -in the pale horizon over the St. Catherine hills. The livid river was -shivering in the wind; there was no one on the bridges; the street lamps -were going out. - -She revived, and began thinking of Berthe asleep yonder in the servant's -room. Then a cart filled with long strips of iron passed by, and made a -deafening metallic vibration against the walls of the houses. - -She slipped away suddenly, threw off her costume, told Leon she must get -back, and at last was alone at the Hotel de Boulogne. Everything, even -herself, was now unbearable to her. She wished that, taking wing like a -bird, she could fly somewhere, far away to regions of purity, and there -grow young again. - -She went out, crossed the Boulevard, the Place Cauchoise, and the -Faubourg, as far as an open street that overlooked some gardens. She -walked rapidly; the fresh air calming her; and, little by little, the -faces of the crowd, the masks, the quadrilles, the lights, the supper, -those women, all disappeared like mists fading away. Then, reaching the -"Croix-Rouge," she threw herself on the bed in her little room on the -second floor, where there were pictures of the "Tour de Nesle." At four -o'clock Hivert awoke her. - -When she got home, Felicite showed her behind the clock a grey paper. -She read-- - -"In virtue of the seizure in execution of a judgment." - -What judgment? As a matter of fact, the evening before another paper -had been brought that she had not yet seen, and she was stunned by these -words-- - -"By order of the king, law, and justice, to Madame Bovary." Then, -skipping several lines, she read, "Within twenty-four hours, without -fail--" But what? "To pay the sum of eight thousand francs." And there -was even at the bottom, "She will be constrained thereto by every -form of law, and notably by a writ of distraint on her furniture and -effects." - -What was to be done? In twenty-four hours--tomorrow. Lheureux, she -thought, wanted to frighten her again; for she saw through all his -devices, the object of his kindnesses. What reassured her was the very -magnitude of the sum. - -However, by dint of buying and not paying, of borrowing, signing bills, -and renewing these bills that grew at each new falling-in, she had ended -by preparing a capital for Monsieur Lheureux which he was impatiently -awaiting for his speculations. - -She presented herself at his place with an offhand air. - -"You know what has happened to me? No doubt it's a joke!" - -"How so?" - -He turned away slowly, and, folding his arms, said to her-- - -"My good lady, did you think I should go on to all eternity being your -purveyor and banker, for the love of God? Now be just. I must get back -what I've laid out. Now be just." - -She cried out against the debt. - -"Ah! so much the worse. The court has admitted it. There's a judgment. -It's been notified to you. Besides, it isn't my fault. It's Vincart's." - -"Could you not--?" - -"Oh, nothing whatever." - -"But still, now talk it over." - -And she began beating about the bush; she had known nothing about it; it -was a surprise. - -"Whose fault is that?" said Lheureux, bowing ironically. "While I'm -slaving like a nigger, you go gallivanting about." - -"Ah! no lecturing." - -"It never does any harm," he replied. - -She turned coward; she implored him; she even pressed her pretty white -and slender hand against the shopkeeper's knee. - -"There, that'll do! Anyone'd think you wanted to seduce me!" - -"You are a wretch!" she cried. - -"Oh, oh! go it! go it!" - -"I will show you up. I shall tell my husband." - -"All right! I too. I'll show your husband something." - -And Lheureux drew from his strong box the receipt for eighteen hundred -francs that she had given him when Vincart had discounted the bills. - -"Do you think," he added, "that he'll not understand your little theft, -the poor dear man?" - -She collapsed, more overcome than if felled by the blow of a pole-axe. -He was walking up and down from the window to the bureau, repeating all -the while-- - -"Ah! I'll show him! I'll show him!" Then he approached her, and in a -soft voice said-- - -"It isn't pleasant, I know; but, after all, no bones are broken, and, -since that is the only way that is left for you paying back my money--" - -"But where am I to get any?" said Emma, wringing her hands. - -"Bah! when one has friends like you!" - -And he looked at her in so keen, so terrible a fashion, that she -shuddered to her very heart. - -"I promise you," she said, "to sign--" - -"I've enough of your signatures." - -"I will sell something." - -"Get along!" he said, shrugging his shoulders; "you've not got -anything." - -And he called through the peep-hole that looked down into the shop-- - -"Annette, don't forget the three coupons of No. 14." - -The servant appeared. Emma understood, and asked how much money would be -wanted to put a stop to the proceedings. - -"It is too late." - -"But if I brought you several thousand francs--a quarter of the sum--a -third--perhaps the whole?" - -"No; it's no use!" - -And he pushed her gently towards the staircase. - -"I implore you, Monsieur Lheureux, just a few days more!" She was -sobbing. - -"There! tears now!" - -"You are driving me to despair!" - -"What do I care?" said he, shutting the door. - - - -Chapter Seven - -She was stoical the next day when Maitre Hareng, the bailiff, with two -assistants, presented himself at her house to draw up the inventory for -the distraint. - -They began with Bovary's consulting-room, and did not write down -the phrenological head, which was considered an "instrument of his -profession"; but in the kitchen they counted the plates; the saucepans, -the chairs, the candlesticks, and in the bedroom all the nick-nacks on -the whatnot. They examined her dresses, the linen, the dressing-room; -and her whole existence to its most intimate details, was, like a corpse -on whom a post-mortem is made, outspread before the eyes of these three -men. - -Maitre Hareng, buttoned up in his thin black coat, wearing a white -choker and very tight foot-straps, repeated from time to time--"Allow -me, madame. You allow me?" Often he uttered exclamations. "Charming! -very pretty." Then he began writing again, dipping his pen into the horn -inkstand in his left hand. - -When they had done with the rooms they went up to the attic. She kept a -desk there in which Rodolphe's letters were locked. It had to be opened. - -"Ah! a correspondence," said Maitre Hareng, with a discreet smile. "But -allow me, for I must make sure the box contains nothing else." And he -tipped up the papers lightly, as if to shake out napoleons. Then she -grew angered to see this coarse hand, with fingers red and pulpy like -slugs, touching these pages against which her heart had beaten. - -They went at last. Felicite came back. Emma had sent her out to watch -for Bovary in order to keep him off, and they hurriedly installed the -man in possession under the roof, where he swore he would remain. - -During the evening Charles seemed to her careworn. Emma watched him with -a look of anguish, fancying she saw an accusation in every line of his -face. Then, when her eyes wandered over the chimney-piece ornamented -with Chinese screens, over the large curtains, the armchairs, all -those things, in a word, that had, softened the bitterness of her life, -remorse seized her or rather an immense regret, that, far from crushing, -irritated her passion. Charles placidly poked the fire, both his feet on -the fire-dogs. - -Once the man, no doubt bored in his hiding-place, made a slight noise. - -"Is anyone walking upstairs?" said Charles. - -"No," she replied; "it is a window that has been left open, and is -rattling in the wind." - -The next day, Sunday, she went to Rouen to call on all the brokers whose -names she knew. They were at their country-places or on journeys. She -was not discouraged; and those whom she did manage to see she asked for -money, declaring she must have some, and that she would pay it back. -Some laughed in her face; all refused. - -At two o'clock she hurried to Leon, and knocked at the door. No one -answered. At length he appeared. - -"What brings you here?" - -"Do I disturb you?" - -"No; but--" And he admitted that his landlord didn't like his having -"women" there. - -"I must speak to you," she went on. - -Then he took down the key, but she stopped him. - -"No, no! Down there, in our home!" - -And they went to their room at the Hotel de Boulogne. - -On arriving she drank off a large glass of water. She was very pale. She -said to him-- - -"Leon, you will do me a service?" - -And, shaking him by both hands that she grasped tightly, she added-- - -"Listen, I want eight thousand francs." - -"But you are mad!" - -"Not yet." - -And thereupon, telling him the story of the distraint, she explained -her distress to him; for Charles knew nothing of it; her mother-in-law -detested her; old Rouault could do nothing; but he, Leon, he would set -about finding this indispensable sum. - -"How on earth can I?" - -"What a coward you are!" she cried. - -Then he said stupidly, "You are exaggerating the difficulty. Perhaps, -with a thousand crowns or so the fellow could be stopped." - -All the greater reason to try and do something; it was impossible that -they could not find three thousand francs. Besides, Leon, could be -security instead of her. - -"Go, try, try! I will love you so!" - -He went out, and came back at the end of an hour, saying, with solemn -face-- - -"I have been to three people with no success." - -Then they remained sitting face to face at the two chimney corners, -motionless, in silence. Emma shrugged her shoulders as she stamped her -feet. He heard her murmuring-- - -"If I were in your place _I_ should soon get some." - -"But where?" - -"At your office." And she looked at him. - -An infernal boldness looked out from her burning eyes, and their lids -drew close together with a lascivious and encouraging look, so that the -young man felt himself growing weak beneath the mute will of this woman -who was urging him to a crime. Then he was afraid, and to avoid any -explanation he smote his forehead, crying-- - -"Morel is to come back to-night; he will not refuse me, I hope" (this -was one of his friends, the son of a very rich merchant); "and I will -bring it you to-morrow," he added. - -Emma did not seem to welcome this hope with all the joy he had expected. -Did she suspect the lie? He went on, blushing-- - -"However, if you don't see me by three o'clock do not wait for me, my -darling. I must be off now; forgive me! Goodbye!" - -He pressed her hand, but it felt quite lifeless. Emma had no strength -left for any sentiment. - -Four o'clock struck, and she rose to return to Yonville, mechanically -obeying the force of old habits. - -The weather was fine. It was one of those March days, clear and sharp, -when the sun shines in a perfectly white sky. The Rouen folk, in -Sunday-clothes, were walking about with happy looks. She reached the -Place du Parvis. People were coming out after vespers; the crowd flowed -out through the three doors like a stream through the three arches of -a bridge, and in the middle one, more motionless than a rock, stood the -beadle. - -Then she remembered the day when, all anxious and full of hope, she had -entered beneath this large nave, that had opened out before her, less -profound than her love; and she walked on weeping beneath her veil, -giddy, staggering, almost fainting. - -"Take care!" cried a voice issuing from the gate of a courtyard that was -thrown open. - -She stopped to let pass a black horse, pawing the ground between the -shafts of a tilbury, driven by a gentleman in sable furs. Who was it? -She knew him. The carriage darted by and disappeared. - -Why, it was he--the Viscount. She turned away; the street was empty. She -was so overwhelmed, so sad, that she had to lean against a wall to keep -herself from falling. - -Then she thought she had been mistaken. Anyhow, she did not know. All -within her and around her was abandoning her. She felt lost, sinking -at random into indefinable abysses, and it was almost with joy that, on -reaching the "Croix-Rouge," she saw the good Homais, who was watching -a large box full of pharmaceutical stores being hoisted on to the -"Hirondelle." In his hand he held tied in a silk handkerchief six -cheminots for his wife. - -Madame Homais was very fond of these small, heavy turban-shaped loaves, -that are eaten in Lent with salt butter; a last vestige of Gothic food -that goes back, perhaps, to the time of the Crusades, and with which -the robust Normans gorged themselves of yore, fancying they saw on the -table, in the light of the yellow torches, between tankards of hippocras -and huge boars' heads, the heads of Saracens to be devoured. The -druggist's wife crunched them up as they had done--heroically, despite -her wretched teeth. And so whenever Homais journeyed to town, he never -failed to bring her home some that he bought at the great baker's in the -Rue Massacre. - -"Charmed to see you," he said, offering Emma a hand to help her into the -"Hirondelle." Then he hung up his cheminots to the cords of the netting, -and remained bare-headed in an attitude pensive and Napoleonic. - -But when the blind man appeared as usual at the foot of the hill he -exclaimed-- - -"I can't understand why the authorities tolerate such culpable -industries. Such unfortunates should be locked up and forced to work. -Progress, my word! creeps at a snail's pace. We are floundering about in -mere barbarism." - -The blind man held out his hat, that flapped about at the door, as if it -were a bag in the lining that had come unnailed. - -"This," said the chemist, "is a scrofulous affection." - -And though he knew the poor devil, he pretended to see him for the first -time, murmured something about "cornea," "opaque cornea," "sclerotic," -"facies," then asked him in a paternal tone-- - -"My friend, have you long had this terrible infirmity? Instead of -getting drunk at the public, you'd do better to die yourself." - -He advised him to take good wine, good beer, and good joints. The blind -man went on with his song; he seemed, moreover, almost idiotic. At last -Monsieur Homais opened his purse-- - -"Now there's a sou; give me back two lairds, and don't forget my advice: -you'll be the better for it." - -Hivert openly cast some doubt on the efficacy of it. But the druggist -said that he would cure himself with an antiphlogistic pomade of his own -composition, and he gave his address--"Monsieur Homais, near the market, -pretty well known." - -"Now," said Hivert, "for all this trouble you'll give us your -performance." - -The blind man sank down on his haunches, with his head thrown back, -whilst he rolled his greenish eyes, lolled out his tongue, and rubbed -his stomach with both hands as he uttered a kind of hollow yell like a -famished dog. Emma, filled with disgust, threw him over her shoulder -a five-franc piece. It was all her fortune. It seemed to her very fine -thus to throw it away. - -The coach had gone on again when suddenly Monsieur Homais leant out -through the window, crying-- - -"No farinaceous or milk food, wear wool next the skin, and expose the -diseased parts to the smoke of juniper berries." - -The sight of the well-known objects that defiled before her eyes -gradually diverted Emma from her present trouble. An intolerable fatigue -overwhelmed her, and she reached her home stupefied, discouraged, almost -asleep. - -"Come what may come!" she said to herself. "And then, who knows? Why, at -any moment could not some extraordinary event occur? Lheureux even might -die!" - -At nine o'clock in the morning she was awakened by the sound of voices -in the Place. There was a crowd round the market reading a large bill -fixed to one of the posts, and she saw Justin, who was climbing on to -a stone and tearing down the bill. But at this moment the rural guard -seized him by the collar. Monsieur Homais came out of his shop, and Mere -Lefrangois, in the midst of the crowd, seemed to be perorating. - -"Madame! madame!" cried Felicite, running in, "it's abominable!" - -And the poor girl, deeply moved, handed her a yellow paper that she had -just torn off the door. Emma read with a glance that all her furniture -was for sale. - -Then they looked at one another silently. The servant and mistress had -no secret one from the other. At last Felicite sighed-- - -"If I were you, madame, I should go to Monsieur Guillaumin." - -"Do you think--" - -And this question meant to say-- - -"You who know the house through the servant, has the master spoken -sometimes of me?" - -"Yes, you'd do well to go there." - -She dressed, put on her black gown, and her hood with jet beads, and -that she might not be seen (there was still a crowd on the Place), she -took the path by the river, outside the village. - -She reached the notary's gate quite breathless. The sky was sombre, and -a little snow was falling. At the sound of the bell, Theodore in a -red waistcoat appeared on the steps; he came to open the door almost -familiarly, as to an acquaintance, and showed her into the dining-room. - -A large porcelain stove crackled beneath a cactus that filled up the -niche in the wall, and in black wood frames against the oak-stained -paper hung Steuben's "Esmeralda" and Schopin's "Potiphar." The -ready-laid table, the two silver chafing-dishes, the crystal door-knobs, -the parquet and the furniture, all shone with a scrupulous, English -cleanliness; the windows were ornamented at each corner with stained -glass. - -"Now this," thought Emma, "is the dining-room I ought to have." - -The notary came in pressing his palm-leaf dressing-gown to his breast -with his left arm, while with the other hand he raised and quickly put -on again his brown velvet cap, pretentiously cocked on the right side, -whence looked out the ends of three fair curls drawn from the back of -the head, following the line of his bald skull. - -After he had offered her a seat he sat down to breakfast, apologising -profusely for his rudeness. - -"I have come," she said, "to beg you, sir--" - -"What, madame? I am listening." - -And she began explaining her position to him. Monsieur Guillaumin knew -it, being secretly associated with the linendraper, from whom he always -got capital for the loans on mortgages that he was asked to make. - -So he knew (and better than she herself) the long story of the bills, -small at first, bearing different names as endorsers, made out at long -dates, and constantly renewed up to the day, when, gathering together -all the protested bills, the shopkeeper had bidden his friend Vincart -take in his own name all the necessary proceedings, not wishing to pass -for a tiger with his fellow-citizens. - -She mingled her story with recriminations against Lheureux, to which the -notary replied from time to time with some insignificant word. Eating -his cutlet and drinking his tea, he buried his chin in his sky-blue -cravat, into which were thrust two diamond pins, held together by a -small gold chain; and he smiled a singular smile, in a sugary, ambiguous -fashion. But noticing that her feet were damp, he said-- - -"Do get closer to the stove; put your feet up against the porcelain." - -She was afraid of dirtying it. The notary replied in a gallant tone-- - -"Beautiful things spoil nothing." - -Then she tried to move him, and, growing moved herself, she began -telling him about the poorness of her home, her worries, her wants. -He could understand that; an elegant woman! and, without leaving off -eating, he had turned completely round towards her, so that his knee -brushed against her boot, whose sole curled round as it smoked against -the stove. - -But when she asked for a thousand sous, he closed his lips, and declared -he was very sorry he had not had the management of her fortune before, -for there were hundreds of ways very convenient, even for a lady, of -turning her money to account. They might, either in the turf-peats -of Grumesnil or building-ground at Havre, almost without risk, have -ventured on some excellent speculations; and he let her consume herself -with rage at the thought of the fabulous sums that she would certainly -have made. - -"How was it," he went on, "that you didn't come to me?" - -"I hardly know," she said. - -"Why, hey? Did I frighten you so much? It is I, on the contrary, who -ought to complain. We hardly know one another; yet I am very devoted to -you. You do not doubt that, I hope?" - -He held out his hand, took hers, covered it with a greedy kiss, then -held it on his knee; and he played delicately with her fingers whilst -he murmured a thousand blandishments. His insipid voice murmured like a -running brook; a light shone in his eyes through the glimmering of his -spectacles, and his hand was advancing up Emma's sleeve to press her -arm. She felt against her cheek his panting breath. This man oppressed -her horribly. - -She sprang up and said to him-- - -"Sir, I am waiting." - -"For what?" said the notary, who suddenly became very pale. - -"This money." - -"But--" Then, yielding to the outburst of too powerful a desire, "Well, -yes!" - -He dragged himself towards her on his knees, regardless of his -dressing-gown. - -"For pity's sake, stay. I love you!" - -He seized her by her waist. Madame Bovary's face flushed purple. She -recoiled with a terrible look, crying-- - -"You are taking a shameless advantage of my distress, sir! I am to be -pitied--not to be sold." - -And she went out. - -The notary remained quite stupefied, his eyes fixed on his fine -embroidered slippers. They were a love gift, and the sight of them at -last consoled him. Besides, he reflected that such an adventure might -have carried him too far. - -"What a wretch! what a scoundrel! what an infamy!" she said to herself, -as she fled with nervous steps beneath the aspens of the path. The -disappointment of her failure increased the indignation of her outraged -modesty; it seemed to her that Providence pursued her implacably, and, -strengthening herself in her pride, she had never felt so much esteem -for herself nor so much contempt for others. A spirit of warfare -transformed her. She would have liked to strike all men, to spit in -their faces, to crush them, and she walked rapidly straight on, pale, -quivering, maddened, searching the empty horizon with tear-dimmed eyes, -and as it were rejoicing in the hate that was choking her. - -When she saw her house a numbness came over her. She could not go on; -and yet she must. Besides, whither could she flee? - -Felicite was waiting for her at the door. "Well?" - -"No!" said Emma. - -And for a quarter of an hour the two of them went over the various -persons in Yonville who might perhaps be inclined to help her. But each -time that Felicite named someone Emma replied-- - -"Impossible! they will not!" - -"And the master'll soon be in." - -"I know that well enough. Leave me alone." - -She had tried everything; there was nothing more to be done now; and -when Charles came in she would have to say to him-- - -"Go away! This carpet on which you are walking is no longer ours. In -your own house you do not possess a chair, a pin, a straw, and it is I, -poor man, who have ruined you." - -Then there would be a great sob; next he would weep abundantly, and at -last, the surprise past, he would forgive her. - -"Yes," she murmured, grinding her teeth, "he will forgive me, he who -would give a million if I would forgive him for having known me! Never! -never!" - -This thought of Bovary's superiority to her exasperated her. Then, -whether she confessed or did not confess, presently, immediately, -to-morrow, he would know the catastrophe all the same; so she must wait -for this horrible scene, and bear the weight of his magnanimity. The -desire to return to Lheureux's seized her--what would be the use? To -write to her father--it was too late; and perhaps, she began to repent -now that she had not yielded to that other, when she heard the trot of -a horse in the alley. It was he; he was opening the gate; he was whiter -than the plaster wall. Rushing to the stairs, she ran out quickly to the -square; and the wife of the mayor, who was talking to Lestiboudois in -front of the church, saw her go in to the tax-collector's. - -She hurried off to tell Madame Caron, and the two ladies went up to -the attic, and, hidden by some linen spread across props, stationed -themselves comfortably for overlooking the whole of Binet's room. - -He was alone in his garret, busy imitating in wood one of those -indescribable bits of ivory, composed of crescents, of spheres hollowed -out one within the other, the whole as straight as an obelisk, and of no -use whatever; and he was beginning on the last piece--he was nearing his -goal. In the twilight of the workshop the white dust was flying from his -tools like a shower of sparks under the hoofs of a galloping horse; the -two wheels were turning, droning; Binet smiled, his chin lowered, his -nostrils distended, and, in a word, seemed lost in one of those complete -happinesses that, no doubt, belong only to commonplace occupations, -which amuse the mind with facile difficulties, and satisfy by a -realisation of that beyond which such minds have not a dream. - -"Ah! there she is!" exclaimed Madame Tuvache. - -But it was impossible because of the lathe to hear what she was saying. - -At last these ladies thought they made out the word "francs," and Madame -Tuvache whispered in a low voice-- - -"She is begging him to give her time for paying her taxes." - -"Apparently!" replied the other. - -They saw her walking up and down, examining the napkin-rings, the -candlesticks, the banister rails against the walls, while Binet stroked -his beard with satisfaction. - -"Do you think she wants to order something of him?" said Madame Tuvache. - -"Why, he doesn't sell anything," objected her neighbour. - -The tax-collector seemed to be listening with wide-open eyes, as if he -did not understand. She went on in a tender, suppliant manner. She came -nearer to him, her breast heaving; they no longer spoke. - -"Is she making him advances?" said Madame Tuvache. Binet was scarlet to -his very ears. She took hold of his hands. - -"Oh, it's too much!" - -And no doubt she was suggesting something abominable to him; for the -tax-collector--yet he was brave, had fought at Bautzen and at Lutzen, -had been through the French campaign, and had even been recommended for -the cross--suddenly, as at the sight of a serpent, recoiled as far as he -could from her, crying-- - -"Madame! what do you mean?" - -"Women like that ought to be whipped," said Madame Tuvache. - -"But where is she?" continued Madame Caron, for she had disappeared -whilst they spoke; then catching sight of her going up the Grande Rue, -and turning to the right as if making for the cemetery, they were lost -in conjectures. - -"Nurse Rollet," she said on reaching the nurse's, "I am choking; unlace -me!" She fell on the bed sobbing. Nurse Rollet covered her with a -petticoat and remained standing by her side. Then, as she did not -answer, the good woman withdrew, took her wheel and began spinning flax. - -"Oh, leave off!" she murmured, fancying she heard Binet's lathe. - -"What's bothering her?" said the nurse to herself. "Why has she come -here?" - -She had rushed thither; impelled by a kind of horror that drove her from -her home. - -Lying on her back, motionless, and with staring eyes, she saw things but -vaguely, although she tried to with idiotic persistence. She looked -at the scales on the walls, two brands smoking end to end, and a long -spider crawling over her head in a rent in the beam. At last she began -to collect her thoughts. She remembered--one day--Leon--Oh! how long -ago that was--the sun was shining on the river, and the clematis were -perfuming the air. Then, carried away as by a rushing torrent, she soon -began to recall the day before. - -"What time is it?" she asked. - -Mere Rollet went out, raised the fingers of her right hand to that side -of the sky that was brightest, and came back slowly, saying-- - -"Nearly three." - -"Ah! thanks, thanks!" - -For he would come; he would have found some money. But he would, -perhaps, go down yonder, not guessing she was here, and she told the -nurse to run to her house to fetch him. - -"Be quick!" - -"But, my dear lady, I'm going, I'm going!" - -She wondered now that she had not thought of him from the first. -Yesterday he had given his word; he would not break it. And she already -saw herself at Lheureux's spreading out her three bank-notes on his -bureau. Then she would have to invent some story to explain matters to -Bovary. What should it be? - -The nurse, however, was a long while gone. But, as there was no clock -in the cot, Emma feared she was perhaps exaggerating the length of time. -She began walking round the garden, step by step; she went into the path -by the hedge, and returned quickly, hoping that the woman would have -come back by another road. At last, weary of waiting, assailed by fears -that she thrust from her, no longer conscious whether she had been here -a century or a moment, she sat down in a corner, closed her eyes, and -stopped her ears. The gate grated; she sprang up. Before she had spoken -Mere Rollet said to her-- - -"There is no one at your house!" - -"What?" - -"Oh, no one! And the doctor is crying. He is calling for you; they're -looking for you." - -Emma answered nothing. She gasped as she turned her eyes about -her, while the peasant woman, frightened at her face, drew back -instinctively, thinking her mad. Suddenly she struck her brow and -uttered a cry; for the thought of Rodolphe, like a flash of lightning in -a dark night, had passed into her soul. He was so good, so delicate, so -generous! And besides, should he hesitate to do her this service, she -would know well enough how to constrain him to it by re-waking, in a -single moment, their lost love. So she set out towards La Huchette, not -seeing that she was hastening to offer herself to that which but a while -ago had so angered her, not in the least conscious of her prostitution. - - - -Chapter Eight - -She asked herself as she walked along, "What am I going to say? How -shall I begin?" And as she went on she recognised the thickets, -the trees, the sea-rushes on the hill, the chateau yonder. All the -sensations of her first tenderness came back to her, and her poor aching -heart opened out amorously. A warm wind blew in her face; the melting -snow fell drop by drop from the buds to the grass. - -She entered, as she used to, through the small park-gate. She reached -the avenue bordered by a double row of dense lime-trees. They were -swaying their long whispering branches to and fro. The dogs in their -kennels all barked, and the noise of their voices resounded, but brought -out no one. - -She went up the large straight staircase with wooden balusters that led -to the corridor paved with dusty flags, into which several doors in a -row opened, as in a monastery or an inn. His was at the top, right -at the end, on the left. When she placed her fingers on the lock her -strength suddenly deserted her. She was afraid, almost wished he -would not be there, though this was her only hope, her last chance of -salvation. She collected her thoughts for one moment, and, strengthening -herself by the feeling of present necessity, went in. - -He was in front of the fire, both his feet on the mantelpiece, smoking a -pipe. - -"What! it is you!" he said, getting up hurriedly. - -"Yes, it is I, Rodolphe. I should like to ask your advice." - -And, despite all her efforts, it was impossible for her to open her -lips. - -"You have not changed; you are charming as ever!" - -"Oh," she replied bitterly, "they are poor charms since you disdained -them." - -Then he began a long explanation of his conduct, excusing himself in -vague terms, in default of being able to invent better. - -She yielded to his words, still more to his voice and the sight of him, -so that, she pretended to believe, or perhaps believed; in the pretext -he gave for their rupture; this was a secret on which depended the -honour, the very life of a third person. - -"No matter!" she said, looking at him sadly. "I have suffered much." - -He replied philosophically-- - -"Such is life!" - -"Has life," Emma went on, "been good to you at least, since our -separation?" - -"Oh, neither good nor bad." - -"Perhaps it would have been better never to have parted." - -"Yes, perhaps." - -"You think so?" she said, drawing nearer, and she sighed. "Oh, Rodolphe! -if you but knew! I loved you so!" - -It was then that she took his hand, and they remained some time, their -fingers intertwined, like that first day at the Show. With a gesture of -pride he struggled against this emotion. But sinking upon his breast she -said to him-- - -"How did you think I could live without you? One cannot lose the habit -of happiness. I was desolate. I thought I should die. I will tell you -about all that and you will see. And you--you fled from me!" - -For, all the three years, he had carefully avoided her in consequence -of that natural cowardice that characterises the stronger sex. Emma went -on, with dainty little nods, more coaxing than an amorous kitten-- - -"You love others, confess it! Oh, I understand them, dear! I excuse -them. You probably seduced them as you seduced me. You are indeed a man; -you have everything to make one love you. But we'll begin again, won't -we? We will love one another. See! I am laughing; I am happy! Oh, -speak!" - -And she was charming to see, with her eyes, in which trembled a tear, -like the rain of a storm in a blue corolla. - -He had drawn her upon his knees, and with the back of his hand was -caressing her smooth hair, where in the twilight was mirrored like a -golden arrow one last ray of the sun. She bent down her brow; at last he -kissed her on the eyelids quite gently with the tips of his lips. - -"Why, you have been crying! What for?" - -She burst into tears. Rodolphe thought this was an outburst of her -love. As she did not speak, he took this silence for a last remnant of -resistance, and then he cried out-- - -"Oh, forgive me! You are the only one who pleases me. I was imbecile and -cruel. I love you. I will love you always. What is it. Tell me!" He was -kneeling by her. - -"Well, I am ruined, Rodolphe! You must lend me three thousand francs." - -"But--but--" said he, getting up slowly, while his face assumed a grave -expression. - -"You know," she went on quickly, "that my husband had placed his whole -fortune at a notary's. He ran away. So we borrowed; the patients don't -pay us. Moreover, the settling of the estate is not yet done; we shall -have the money later on. But to-day, for want of three thousand francs, -we are to be sold up. It is to be at once, this very moment, and, -counting upon your friendship, I have come to you." - -"Ah!" thought Rodolphe, turning very pale, "that was what she came for." -At last he said with a calm air-- - -"Dear madame, I have not got them." - -He did not lie. If he had had them, he would, no doubt, have given them, -although it is generally disagreeable to do such fine things: a demand -for money being, of all the winds that blow upon love, the coldest and -most destructive. - -First she looked at him for some moments. - -"You have not got them!" she repeated several times. "You have not got -them! I ought to have spared myself this last shame. You never loved me. -You are no better than the others." - -She was betraying, ruining herself. - -Rodolphe interrupted her, declaring he was "hard up" himself. - -"Ah! I pity you," said Emma. "Yes--very much." - -And fixing her eyes upon an embossed carabine, that shone against its -panoply, "But when one is so poor one doesn't have silver on the butt of -one's gun. One doesn't buy a clock inlaid with tortoise shell," she went -on, pointing to a buhl timepiece, "nor silver-gilt whistles for one's -whips," and she touched them, "nor charms for one's watch. Oh, he wants -for nothing! even to a liqueur-stand in his room! For you love yourself; -you live well. You have a chateau, farms, woods; you go hunting; you -travel to Paris. Why, if it were but that," she cried, taking up two -studs from the mantelpiece, "but the least of these trifles, one can get -money for them. Oh, I do not want them, keep them!" - -And she threw the two links away from her, their gold chain breaking as -it struck against the wall. - -"But I! I would have given you everything. I would have sold all, worked -for you with my hands, I would have begged on the highroads for a smile, -for a look, to hear you say 'Thanks!' And you sit there quietly in your -arm-chair, as if you had not made me suffer enough already! But for you, -and you know it, I might have lived happily. What made you do it? Was -it a bet? Yet you loved me--you said so. And but a moment since--Ah! -it would have been better to have driven me away. My hands are hot with -your kisses, and there is the spot on the carpet where at my knees you -swore an eternity of love! You made me believe you; for two years you -held me in the most magnificent, the sweetest dream! Eh! Our plans for -the journey, do you remember? Oh, your letter! your letter! it tore my -heart! And then when I come back to him--to him, rich, happy, free--to -implore the help the first stranger would give, a suppliant, and -bringing back to him all my tenderness, he repulses me because it would -cost him three thousand francs!" - -"I haven't got them," replied Rodolphe, with that perfect calm with -which resigned rage covers itself as with a shield. - -She went out. The walls trembled, the ceiling was crushing her, and she -passed back through the long alley, stumbling against the heaps of dead -leaves scattered by the wind. At last she reached the ha-ha hedge in -front of the gate; she broke her nails against the lock in her haste to -open it. Then a hundred steps farther on, breathless, almost falling, -she stopped. And now turning round, she once more saw the impassive -chateau, with the park, the gardens, the three courts, and all the -windows of the facade. - -She remained lost in stupor, and having no more consciousness of herself -than through the beating of her arteries, that she seemed to hear -bursting forth like a deafening music filling all the fields. The earth -beneath her feet was more yielding than the sea, and the furrows seemed -to her immense brown waves breaking into foam. Everything in her -head, of memories, ideas, went off at once like a thousand pieces of -fireworks. She saw her father, Lheureux's closet, their room at home, -another landscape. Madness was coming upon her; she grew afraid, and -managed to recover herself, in a confused way, it is true, for she did -not in the least remember the cause of the terrible condition she was -in, that is to say, the question of money. She suffered only in her -love, and felt her soul passing from her in this memory; as wounded men, -dying, feel their life ebb from their bleeding wounds. - -Night was falling, crows were flying about. - -Suddenly it seemed to her that fiery spheres were exploding in the air -like fulminating balls when they strike, and were whirling, whirling, -to melt at last upon the snow between the branches of the trees. In the -midst of each of them appeared the face of Rodolphe. They multiplied and -drew near her, penetrating, her. It all disappeared; she recognised the -lights of the houses that shone through the fog. - -Now her situation, like an abyss, rose up before her. She was panting as -if her heart would burst. Then in an ecstasy of heroism, that made -her almost joyous, she ran down the hill, crossed the cow-plank, the -foot-path, the alley, the market, and reached the chemist's shop. She -was about to enter, but at the sound of the bell someone might come, and -slipping in by the gate, holding her breath, feeling her way along the -walls, she went as far as the door of the kitchen, where a candle stuck -on the stove was burning. Justin in his shirt-sleeves was carrying out a -dish. - -"Ah! they are dining; I will wait." - -He returned; she tapped at the window. He went out. - -"The key! the one for upstairs where he keeps the--" - -"What?" - -And he looked at her, astonished at the pallor of her face, that stood -out white against the black background of the night. She seemed to -him extraordinarily beautiful and majestic as a phantom. Without -understanding what she wanted, he had the presentiment of something -terrible. - -But she went on quickly in a love voice; in a sweet, melting voice, "I -want it; give it to me." - -As the partition wall was thin, they could hear the clatter of the forks -on the plates in the dining-room. - -She pretended that she wanted to kill the rats that kept her from -sleeping. - -"I must tell master." - -"No, stay!" Then with an indifferent air, "Oh, it's not worth while; -I'll tell him presently. Come, light me upstairs." - -She entered the corridor into which the laboratory door opened. Against -the wall was a key labelled Capharnaum. - -"Justin!" called the druggist impatiently. - -"Let us go up." - -And he followed her. The key turned in the lock, and she went straight -to the third shelf, so well did her memory guide her, seized the blue -jar, tore out the cork, plunged in her hand, and withdrawing it full of -a white powder, she began eating it. - -"Stop!" he cried, rushing at her. - -"Hush! someone will come." - -He was in despair, was calling out. - -"Say nothing, or all the blame will fall on your master." - -Then she went home, suddenly calmed, and with something of the serenity -of one that had performed a duty. - -When Charles, distracted by the news of the distraint, returned home, -Emma had just gone out. He cried aloud, wept, fainted, but she did not -return. Where could she be? He sent Felicite to Homais, to Monsieur -Tuvache, to Lheureux, to the "Lion d'Or," everywhere, and in the -intervals of his agony he saw his reputation destroyed, their fortune -lost, Berthe's future ruined. By what?--Not a word! He waited till six -in the evening. At last, unable to bear it any longer, and fancying she -had gone to Rouen, he set out along the highroad, walked a mile, met no -one, again waited, and returned home. She had come back. - -"What was the matter? Why? Explain to me." - -She sat down at her writing-table and wrote a letter, which she sealed -slowly, adding the date and the hour. Then she said in a solemn tone: - -"You are to read it to-morrow; till then, I pray you, do not ask me a -single question. No, not one!" - -"But--" - -"Oh, leave me!" - -She lay down full length on her bed. A bitter taste that she felt in her -mouth awakened her. She saw Charles, and again closed her eyes. - -She was studying herself curiously, to see if she were not suffering. -But no! nothing as yet. She heard the ticking of the clock, the -crackling of the fire, and Charles breathing as he stood upright by her -bed. - -"Ah! it is but a little thing, death!" she thought. "I shall fall asleep -and all will be over." - -She drank a mouthful of water and turned to the wall. The frightful -taste of ink continued. - -"I am thirsty; oh! so thirsty," she sighed. - -"What is it?" said Charles, who was handing her a glass. - -"It is nothing! Open the window; I am choking." - -She was seized with a sickness so sudden that she had hardly time to -draw out her handkerchief from under the pillow. - -"Take it away," she said quickly; "throw it away." - -He spoke to her; she did not answer. She lay motionless, afraid that -the slightest movement might make her vomit. But she felt an icy cold -creeping from her feet to her heart. - -"Ah! it is beginning," she murmured. - -"What did you say?" - -She turned her head from side to side with a gentle movement full of -agony, while constantly opening her mouth as if something very heavy -were weighing upon her tongue. At eight o'clock the vomiting began -again. - -Charles noticed that at the bottom of the basin there was a sort of -white sediment sticking to the sides of the porcelain. - -"This is extraordinary--very singular," he repeated. - -But she said in a firm voice, "No, you are mistaken." - -Then gently, and almost as caressing her, he passed his hand over her -stomach. She uttered a sharp cry. He fell back terror-stricken. - -Then she began to groan, faintly at first. Her shoulders were shaken by -a strong shuddering, and she was growing paler than the sheets in which -her clenched fingers buried themselves. Her unequal pulse was now almost -imperceptible. - -Drops of sweat oozed from her bluish face, that seemed as if rigid in -the exhalations of a metallic vapour. Her teeth chattered, her dilated -eyes looked vaguely about her, and to all questions she replied only -with a shake of the head; she even smiled once or twice. Gradually, her -moaning grew louder; a hollow shriek burst from her; she pretended she -was better and that she would get up presently. But she was seized with -convulsions and cried out-- - -"Ah! my God! It is horrible!" - -He threw himself on his knees by her bed. - -"Tell me! what have you eaten? Answer, for heaven's sake!" - -And he looked at her with a tenderness in his eyes such as she had never -seen. - -"Well, there--there!" she said in a faint voice. He flew to the -writing-table, tore open the seal, and read aloud: "Accuse no one." He -stopped, passed his hands across his eyes, and read it over again. - -"What! help--help!" - -He could only keep repeating the word: "Poisoned! poisoned!" Felicite -ran to Homais, who proclaimed it in the market-place; Madame Lefrancois -heard it at the "Lion d'Or"; some got up to go and tell their -neighbours, and all night the village was on the alert. - -Distraught, faltering, reeling, Charles wandered about the room. He -knocked against the furniture, tore his hair, and the chemist had never -believed that there could be so terrible a sight. - -He went home to write to Monsieur Canivet and to Doctor Lariviere. He -lost his head, and made more than fifteen rough copies. Hippolyte went -to Neufchatel, and Justin so spurred Bovary's horse that he left it -foundered and three parts dead by the hill at Bois-Guillaume. - -Charles tried to look up his medical dictionary, but could not read it; -the lines were dancing. - -"Be calm," said the druggist; "we have only to administer a powerful -antidote. What is the poison?" - -Charles showed him the letter. It was arsenic. - -"Very well," said Homais, "we must make an analysis." - -For he knew that in cases of poisoning an analysis must be made; and the -other, who did not understand, answered-- - -"Oh, do anything! save her!" - -Then going back to her, he sank upon the carpet, and lay there with his -head leaning against the edge of her bed, sobbing. - -"Don't cry," she said to him. "Soon I shall not trouble you any more." - -"Why was it? Who drove you to it?" - -She replied. "It had to be, my dear!" - -"Weren't you happy? Is it my fault? I did all I could!" - -"Yes, that is true--you are good--you." - -And she passed her hand slowly over his hair. The sweetness of this -sensation deepened his sadness; he felt his whole being dissolving -in despair at the thought that he must lose her, just when she was -confessing more love for him than ever. And he could think of nothing; -he did not know, he did not dare; the urgent need for some immediate -resolution gave the finishing stroke to the turmoil of his mind. - -So she had done, she thought, with all the treachery; and meanness, -and numberless desires that had tortured her. She hated no one now; a -twilight dimness was settling upon her thoughts, and, of all earthly -noises, Emma heard none but the intermittent lamentations of this poor -heart, sweet and indistinct like the echo of a symphony dying away. - -"Bring me the child," she said, raising herself on her elbow. - -"You are not worse, are you?" asked Charles. - -"No, no!" - -The child, serious, and still half-asleep, was carried in on the -servant's arm in her long white nightgown, from which her bare -feet peeped out. She looked wonderingly at the disordered room, and -half-closed her eyes, dazzled by the candles burning on the table. They -reminded her, no doubt, of the morning of New Year's day and Mid-Lent, -when thus awakened early by candle-light she came to her mother's bed to -fetch her presents, for she began saying-- - -"But where is it, mamma?" And as everybody was silent, "But I can't see -my little stocking." - -Felicite held her over the bed while she still kept looking towards the -mantelpiece. - -"Has nurse taken it?" she asked. - -And at this name, that carried her back to the memory of her adulteries -and her calamities, Madame Bovary turned away her head, as at the -loathing of another bitterer poison that rose to her mouth. But Berthe -remained perched on the bed. - -"Oh, how big your eyes are, mamma! How pale you are! how hot you are!" - -Her mother looked at her. "I am frightened!" cried the child, recoiling. - -Emma took her hand to kiss it; the child struggled. - -"That will do. Take her away," cried Charles, who was sobbing in the -alcove. - -Then the symptoms ceased for a moment; she seemed less agitated; and at -every insignificant word, at every respiration a little more easy, he -regained hope. At last, when Canivet came in, he threw himself into his -arms. - -"Ah! it is you. Thanks! You are good! But she is better. See! look at -her." - -His colleague was by no means of this opinion, and, as he said of -himself, "never beating about the bush," he prescribed, an emetic in -order to empty the stomach completely. - -She soon began vomiting blood. Her lips became drawn. Her limbs were -convulsed, her whole body covered with brown spots, and her pulse -slipped beneath the fingers like a stretched thread, like a harp-string -nearly breaking. - -After this she began to scream horribly. She cursed the poison, railed -at it, and implored it to be quick, and thrust away with her stiffened -arms everything that Charles, in more agony than herself, tried to make -her drink. He stood up, his handkerchief to his lips, with a rattling -sound in his throat, weeping, and choked by sobs that shook his whole -body. Felicite was running hither and thither in the room. Homais, -motionless, uttered great sighs; and Monsieur Canivet, always retaining -his self-command, nevertheless began to feel uneasy. - -"The devil! yet she has been purged, and from the moment that the cause -ceases--" - -"The effect must cease," said Homais, "that is evident." - -"Oh, save her!" cried Bovary. - -And, without listening to the chemist, who was still venturing the -hypothesis, "It is perhaps a salutary paroxysm," Canivet was about to -administer some theriac, when they heard the cracking of a whip; all the -windows rattled, and a post-chaise drawn by three horses abreast, up to -their ears in mud, drove at a gallop round the corner of the market. It -was Doctor Lariviere. - -The apparition of a god would not have caused more commotion. Bovary -raised his hands; Canivet stopped short; and Homais pulled off his -skull-cap long before the doctor had come in. - -He belonged to that great school of surgery begotten of Bichat, to that -generation, now extinct, of philosophical practitioners, who, loving -their art with a fanatical love, exercised it with enthusiasm and -wisdom. Everyone in his hospital trembled when he was angry; and his -students so revered him that they tried, as soon as they were themselves -in practice, to imitate him as much as possible. So that in all the -towns about they were found wearing his long wadded merino overcoat -and black frock-coat, whose buttoned cuffs slightly covered his brawny -hands--very beautiful hands, and that never knew gloves, as though to be -more ready to plunge into suffering. Disdainful of honours, of titles, -and of academies, like one of the old Knight-Hospitallers, generous, -fatherly to the poor, and practising virtue without believing in it, he -would almost have passed for a saint if the keenness of his intellect -had not caused him to be feared as a demon. His glance, more penetrating -than his bistouries, looked straight into your soul, and dissected every -lie athwart all assertions and all reticences. And thus he went along, -full of that debonair majesty that is given by the consciousness -of great talent, of fortune, and of forty years of a labourious and -irreproachable life. - -He frowned as soon as he had passed the door when he saw the cadaverous -face of Emma stretched out on her back with her mouth open. Then, while -apparently listening to Canivet, he rubbed his fingers up and down -beneath his nostrils, and repeated-- - -"Good! good!" - -But he made a slow gesture with his shoulders. Bovary watched him; they -looked at one another; and this man, accustomed as he was to the sight -of pain, could not keep back a tear that fell on his shirt-frill. - -He tried to take Canivet into the next room. Charles followed him. - -"She is very ill, isn't she? If we put on sinapisms? Anything! Oh, think -of something, you who have saved so many!" - -Charles caught him in both his arms, and gazed at him wildly, -imploringly, half-fainting against his breast. - -"Come, my poor fellow, courage! There is nothing more to be done." - -And Doctor Lariviere turned away. - -"You are going?" - -"I will come back." - -He went out only to give an order to the coachman, with Monsieur -Canivet, who did not care either to have Emma die under his hands. - -The chemist rejoined them on the Place. He could not by temperament keep -away from celebrities, so he begged Monsieur Lariviere to do him the -signal honour of accepting some breakfast. - -He sent quickly to the "Lion d'Or" for some pigeons; to the butcher's -for all the cutlets that were to be had; to Tuvache for cream; and -to Lestiboudois for eggs; and the druggist himself aided in the -preparations, while Madame Homais was saying as she pulled together the -strings of her jacket-- - -"You must excuse us, sir, for in this poor place, when one hasn't been -told the night before--" - -"Wine glasses!" whispered Homais. - -"If only we were in town, we could fall back upon stuffed trotters." - -"Be quiet! Sit down, doctor!" - -He thought fit, after the first few mouthfuls, to give some details as -to the catastrophe. - -"We first had a feeling of siccity in the pharynx, then intolerable -pains at the epigastrium, super purgation, coma." - -"But how did she poison herself?" - -"I don't know, doctor, and I don't even know where she can have procured -the arsenious acid." - -Justin, who was just bringing in a pile of plates, began to tremble. - -"What's the matter?" said the chemist. - -At this question the young man dropped the whole lot on the ground with -a crash. - -"Imbecile!" cried Homais, "awkward lout! block-head! confounded ass!" - -But suddenly controlling himself-- - -"I wished, doctor, to make an analysis, and primo I delicately -introduced a tube--" - -"You would have done better," said the physician, "to introduce your -fingers into her throat." - -His colleague was silent, having just before privately received a severe -lecture about his emetic, so that this good Canivet, so arrogant and so -verbose at the time of the clubfoot, was to-day very modest. He smiled -without ceasing in an approving manner. - -Homais dilated in Amphytrionic pride, and the affecting thought of -Bovary vaguely contributed to his pleasure by a kind of egotistic -reflex upon himself. Then the presence of the doctor transported him. -He displayed his erudition, cited pell-mell cantharides, upas, the -manchineel, vipers. - -"I have even read that various persons have found themselves -under toxicological symptoms, and, as it were, thunderstricken by -black-pudding that had been subjected to a too vehement fumigation. -At least, this was stated in a very fine report drawn up by one of our -pharmaceutical chiefs, one of our masters, the illustrious Cadet de -Gassicourt!" - -Madame Homais reappeared, carrying one of those shaky machines that -are heated with spirits of wine; for Homais liked to make his coffee -at table, having, moreover, torrefied it, pulverised it, and mixed it -himself. - -"Saccharum, doctor?" said he, offering the sugar. - -Then he had all his children brought down, anxious to have the -physician's opinion on their constitutions. - -At last Monsieur Lariviere was about to leave, when Madame Homais asked -for a consultation about her husband. He was making his blood too thick -by going to sleep every evening after dinner. - -"Oh, it isn't his blood that's too thick," said the physician. - -And, smiling a little at his unnoticed joke, the doctor opened the -door. But the chemist's shop was full of people; he had the greatest -difficulty in getting rid of Monsieur Tuvache, who feared his spouse -would get inflammation of the lungs, because she was in the habit of -spitting on the ashes; then of Monsieur Binet, who sometimes experienced -sudden attacks of great hunger; and of Madame Caron, who suffered -from tinglings; of Lheureux, who had vertigo; of Lestiboudois, who had -rheumatism; and of Madame Lefrancois, who had heartburn. At last the -three horses started; and it was the general opinion that he had not -shown himself at all obliging. - -Public attention was distracted by the appearance of Monsieur -Bournisien, who was going across the market with the holy oil. - -Homais, as was due to his principles, compared priests to ravens -attracted by the odour of death. The sight of an ecclesiastic was -personally disagreeable to him, for the cassock made him think of the -shroud, and he detested the one from some fear of the other. - -Nevertheless, not shrinking from what he called his mission, he returned -to Bovary's in company with Canivet whom Monsieur Lariviere, before -leaving, had strongly urged to make this visit; and he would, but for -his wife's objections, have taken his two sons with him, in order -to accustom them to great occasions; that this might be a lesson, an -example, a solemn picture, that should remain in their heads later on. - -The room when they went in was full of mournful solemnity. On the -work-table, covered over with a white cloth, there were five or six -small balls of cotton in a silver dish, near a large crucifix between -two lighted candles. - -Emma, her chin sunken upon her breast, had her eyes inordinately wide -open, and her poor hands wandered over the sheets with that hideous -and soft movement of the dying, that seems as if they wanted already to -cover themselves with the shroud. Pale as a statue and with eyes red as -fire, Charles, not weeping, stood opposite her at the foot of the bed, -while the priest, bending one knee, was muttering words in a low voice. - -She turned her face slowly, and seemed filled with joy on seeing -suddenly the violet stole, no doubt finding again, in the midst of -a temporary lull in her pain, the lost voluptuousness of her first -mystical transports, with the visions of eternal beatitude that were -beginning. - -The priest rose to take the crucifix; then she stretched forward her -neck as one who is athirst, and glueing her lips to the body of the -Man-God, she pressed upon it with all her expiring strength the fullest -kiss of love that she had ever given. Then he recited the Misereatur and -the Indulgentiam, dipped his right thumb in the oil, and began to give -extreme unction. First upon the eyes, that had so coveted all worldly -pomp; then upon the nostrils, that had been greedy of the warm breeze -and amorous odours; then upon the mouth, that had uttered lies, that had -curled with pride and cried out in lewdness; then upon the hands that -had delighted in sensual touches; and finally upon the soles of the -feet, so swift of yore, when she was running to satisfy her desires, and -that would now walk no more. - -The cure wiped his fingers, threw the bit of cotton dipped in oil into -the fire, and came and sat down by the dying woman, to tell her that -she must now blend her sufferings with those of Jesus Christ and abandon -herself to the divine mercy. - -Finishing his exhortations, he tried to place in her hand a blessed -candle, symbol of the celestial glory with which she was soon to be -surrounded. Emma, too weak, could not close her fingers, and the taper, -but for Monsieur Bournisien would have fallen to the ground. - -However, she was not quite so pale, and her face had an expression of -serenity as if the sacrament had cured her. - -The priest did not fail to point this out; he even explained to Bovary -that the Lord sometimes prolonged the life of persons when he thought it -meet for their salvation; and Charles remembered the day when, so near -death, she had received the communion. Perhaps there was no need to -despair, he thought. - -In fact, she looked around her slowly, as one awakening from a dream; -then in a distinct voice she asked for her looking-glass, and remained -some time bending over it, until the big tears fell from her eyes. Then -she turned away her head with a sigh and fell back upon the pillows. - -Her chest soon began panting rapidly; the whole of her tongue protruded -from her mouth; her eyes, as they rolled, grew paler, like the two -globes of a lamp that is going out, so that one might have thought -her already dead but for the fearful labouring of her ribs, shaken -by violent breathing, as if the soul were struggling to free itself. -Felicite knelt down before the crucifix, and the druggist himself -slightly bent his knees, while Monsieur Canivet looked out vaguely at -the Place. Bournisien had again begun to pray, his face bowed against -the edge of the bed, his long black cassock trailing behind him in the -room. Charles was on the other side, on his knees, his arms outstretched -towards Emma. He had taken her hands and pressed them, shuddering at -every beat of her heart, as at the shaking of a falling ruin. As the -death-rattle became stronger the priest prayed faster; his prayers -mingled with the stifled sobs of Bovary, and sometimes all seemed lost -in the muffled murmur of the Latin syllables that tolled like a passing -bell. - -Suddenly on the pavement was heard a loud noise of clogs and the -clattering of a stick; and a voice rose--a raucous voice--that sang-- - -"Maids in the warmth of a summer day Dream of love and of love always" - -Emma raised herself like a galvanised corpse, her hair undone, her eyes -fixed, staring. - -"Where the sickle blades have been, Nannette, gathering ears of corn, -Passes bending down, my queen, To the earth where they were born." - -"The blind man!" she cried. And Emma began to laugh, an atrocious, -frantic, despairing laugh, thinking she saw the hideous face of the poor -wretch that stood out against the eternal night like a menace. - -"The wind is strong this summer day, Her petticoat has flown away." - -She fell back upon the mattress in a convulsion. They all drew near. She -was dead. - - - -Chapter Nine - -There is always after the death of anyone a kind of stupefaction; -so difficult is it to grasp this advent of nothingness and to resign -ourselves to believe in it. But still, when he saw that she did not -move, Charles threw himself upon her, crying-- - -"Farewell! farewell!" - -Homais and Canivet dragged him from the room. - -"Restrain yourself!" - -"Yes." said he, struggling, "I'll be quiet. I'll not do anything. But -leave me alone. I want to see her. She is my wife!" - -And he wept. - -"Cry," said the chemist; "let nature take her course; that will solace -you." - -Weaker than a child, Charles let himself be led downstairs into the -sitting-room, and Monsieur Homais soon went home. On the Place he -was accosted by the blind man, who, having dragged himself as far as -Yonville, in the hope of getting the antiphlogistic pomade, was asking -every passer-by where the druggist lived. - -"There now! as if I hadn't got other fish to fry. Well, so much the -worse; you must come later on." - -And he entered the shop hurriedly. - -He had to write two letters, to prepare a soothing potion for Bovary, to -invent some lie that would conceal the poisoning, and work it up into an -article for the "Fanal," without counting the people who were waiting to -get the news from him; and when the Yonvillers had all heard his story -of the arsenic that she had mistaken for sugar in making a vanilla -cream. Homais once more returned to Bovary's. - -He found him alone (Monsieur Canivet had left), sitting in an arm-chair -near the window, staring with an idiotic look at the flags of the floor. - -"Now," said the chemist, "you ought yourself to fix the hour for the -ceremony." - -"Why? What ceremony?" Then, in a stammering, frightened voice, "Oh, no! -not that. No! I want to see her here." - -Homais, to keep himself in countenance, took up a water-bottle on the -whatnot to water the geraniums. - -"Ah! thanks," said Charles; "you are good." - -But he did not finish, choking beneath the crowd of memories that this -action of the druggist recalled to him. - -Then to distract him, Homais thought fit to talk a little horticulture: -plants wanted humidity. Charles bowed his head in sign of approbation. - -"Besides, the fine days will soon be here again." - -"Ah!" said Bovary. - -The druggist, at his wit's end, began softly to draw aside the small -window-curtain. - -"Hallo! there's Monsieur Tuvache passing." - -Charles repeated like a machine--- - -"Monsieur Tuvache passing!" - -Homais did not dare to speak to him again about the funeral -arrangements; it was the priest who succeeded in reconciling him to -them. - -He shut himself up in his consulting-room, took a pen, and after sobbing -for some time, wrote-- - -"I wish her to be buried in her wedding-dress, with white shoes, and a -wreath. Her hair is to be spread out over her shoulders. Three coffins, -one of oak, one of mahogany, one of lead. Let no one say anything to me. -I shall have strength. Over all there is to be placed a large piece of -green velvet. This is my wish; see that it is done." - -The two men were much surprised at Bovary's romantic ideas. The chemist -at once went to him and said-- - -"This velvet seems to me a superfetation. Besides, the expense--" - -"What's that to you?" cried Charles. "Leave me! You did not love her. -Go!" - -The priest took him by the arm for a turn in the garden. He discoursed -on the vanity of earthly things. God was very great, was very good: one -must submit to his decrees without a murmur; nay, must even thank him. - -Charles burst out into blasphemies: "I hate your God!" - -"The spirit of rebellion is still upon you," sighed the ecclesiastic. - -Bovary was far away. He was walking with great strides along by the -wall, near the espalier, and he ground his teeth; he raised to heaven -looks of malediction, but not so much as a leaf stirred. - -A fine rain was falling: Charles, whose chest was bare, at last began to -shiver; he went in and sat down in the kitchen. - -At six o'clock a noise like a clatter of old iron was heard on the -Place; it was the "Hirondelle" coming in, and he remained with his -forehead against the windowpane, watching all the passengers get -out, one after the other. Felicite put down a mattress for him in the -drawing-room. He threw himself upon it and fell asleep. - -Although a philosopher, Monsieur Homais respected the dead. So bearing -no grudge to poor Charles, he came back again in the evening to sit up -with the body; bringing with him three volumes and a pocket-book for -taking notes. - -Monsieur Bournisien was there, and two large candles were burning at the -head of the bed, that had been taken out of the alcove. The druggist, on -whom the silence weighed, was not long before he began formulating some -regrets about this "unfortunate young woman." and the priest replied -that there was nothing to do now but pray for her. - -"Yet," Homais went on, "one of two things; either she died in a state of -grace (as the Church has it), and then she has no need of our prayers; -or else she departed impertinent (that is, I believe, the ecclesiastical -expression), and then--" - -Bournisien interrupted him, replying testily that it was none the less -necessary to pray. - -"But," objected the chemist, "since God knows all our needs, what can be -the good of prayer?" - -"What!" cried the ecclesiastic, "prayer! Why, aren't you a Christian?" - -"Excuse me," said Homais; "I admire Christianity. To begin with, it -enfranchised the slaves, introduced into the world a morality--" - -"That isn't the question. All the texts-" - -"Oh! oh! As to texts, look at history; it, is known that all the texts -have been falsified by the Jesuits." - -Charles came in, and advancing towards the bed, slowly drew the -curtains. - -Emma's head was turned towards her right shoulder, the corner of her -mouth, which was open, seemed like a black hole at the lower part of her -face; her two thumbs were bent into the palms of her hands; a kind -of white dust besprinkled her lashes, and her eyes were beginning to -disappear in that viscous pallor that looks like a thin web, as if -spiders had spun it over. The sheet sunk in from her breast to her -knees, and then rose at the tips of her toes, and it seemed to Charles -that infinite masses, an enormous load, were weighing upon her. - -The church clock struck two. They could hear the loud murmur of the -river flowing in the darkness at the foot of the terrace. Monsieur -Bournisien from time to time blew his nose noisily, and Homais' pen was -scratching over the paper. - -"Come, my good friend," he said, "withdraw; this spectacle is tearing -you to pieces." - -Charles once gone, the chemist and the cure recommenced their -discussions. - -"Read Voltaire," said the one, "read D'Holbach, read the -'Encyclopaedia'!" - -"Read the 'Letters of some Portuguese Jews,'" said the other; "read 'The -Meaning of Christianity,' by Nicolas, formerly a magistrate." - -They grew warm, they grew red, they both talked at once without -listening to each other. Bournisien was scandalized at such audacity; -Homais marvelled at such stupidity; and they were on the point of -insulting one another when Charles suddenly reappeared. A fascination -drew him. He was continually coming upstairs. - -He stood opposite her, the better to see her, and he lost himself in a -contemplation so deep that it was no longer painful. - -He recalled stories of catalepsy, the marvels of magnetism, and he -said to himself that by willing it with all his force he might perhaps -succeed in reviving her. Once he even bent towards he, and cried in a -low voice, "Emma! Emma!" His strong breathing made the flames of the -candles tremble against the wall. - -At daybreak Madame Bovary senior arrived. Charles as he embraced her -burst into another flood of tears. She tried, as the chemist had done, -to make some remarks to him on the expenses of the funeral. He became so -angry that she was silent, and he even commissioned her to go to town at -once and buy what was necessary. - -Charles remained alone the whole afternoon; they had taken Berthe -to Madame Homais'; Felicite was in the room upstairs with Madame -Lefrancois. - -In the evening he had some visitors. He rose, pressed their hands, -unable to speak. Then they sat down near one another, and formed a large -semicircle in front of the fire. With lowered faces, and swinging one -leg crossed over the other knee, they uttered deep sighs at intervals; -each one was inordinately bored, and yet none would be the first to go. - -Homais, when he returned at nine o'clock (for the last two days only -Homais seemed to have been on the Place), was laden with a stock of -camphor, of benzine, and aromatic herbs. He also carried a large jar -full of chlorine water, to keep off all miasmata. Just then the servant, -Madame Lefrancois, and Madame Bovary senior were busy about Emma, -finishing dressing her, and they were drawing down the long stiff veil -that covered her to her satin shoes. - -Felicite was sobbing--"Ah! my poor mistress! my poor mistress!" - -"Look at her," said the landlady, sighing; "how pretty she still is! -Now, couldn't you swear she was going to get up in a minute?" - -Then they bent over her to put on her wreath. They had to raise the head -a little, and a rush of black liquid issued, as if she were vomiting, -from her mouth. - -"Oh, goodness! The dress; take care!" cried Madame Lefrancois. "Now, -just come and help," she said to the chemist. "Perhaps you're afraid?" - -"I afraid?" replied he, shrugging his shoulders. "I dare say! I've seen -all sorts of things at the hospital when I was studying pharmacy. We -used to make punch in the dissecting room! Nothingness does not terrify -a philosopher; and, as I often say, I even intend to leave my body to -the hospitals, in order, later on, to serve science." - -The cure on his arrival inquired how Monsieur Bovary was, and, on -the reply of the druggist, went on--"The blow, you see, is still too -recent." - -Then Homais congratulated him on not being exposed, like other people, -to the loss of a beloved companion; whence there followed a discussion -on the celibacy of priests. - -"For," said the chemist, "it is unnatural that a man should do without -women! There have been crimes--" - -"But, good heaven!" cried the ecclesiastic, "how do you expect an -individual who is married to keep the secrets of the confessional, for -example?" - -Homais fell foul of the confessional. Bournisien defended it; he -enlarged on the acts of restitution that it brought about. He cited -various anecdotes about thieves who had suddenly become honest. Military -men on approaching the tribunal of penitence had felt the scales fall -from their eyes. At Fribourg there was a minister-- - -His companion was asleep. Then he felt somewhat stifled by the -over-heavy atmosphere of the room; he opened the window; this awoke the -chemist. - -"Come, take a pinch of snuff," he said to him. "Take it; it'll relieve -you." - -A continual barking was heard in the distance. "Do you hear that dog -howling?" said the chemist. - -"They smell the dead," replied the priest. "It's like bees; they leave -their hives on the decease of any person." - -Homais made no remark upon these prejudices, for he had again dropped -asleep. Monsieur Bournisien, stronger than he, went on moving his lips -gently for some time, then insensibly his chin sank down, he let fall -his big black boot, and began to snore. - -They sat opposite one another, with protruding stomachs, puffed-up -faces, and frowning looks, after so much disagreement uniting at last in -the same human weakness, and they moved no more than the corpse by their -side, that seemed to be sleeping. - -Charles coming in did not wake them. It was the last time; he came to -bid her farewell. - -The aromatic herbs were still smoking, and spirals of bluish vapour -blended at the window-sash with the fog that was coming in. There were -few stars, and the night was warm. The wax of the candles fell in great -drops upon the sheets of the bed. Charles watched them burn, tiring his -eyes against the glare of their yellow flame. - -The watering on the satin gown shimmered white as moonlight. Emma was -lost beneath it; and it seemed to him that, spreading beyond her own -self, she blended confusedly with everything around her--the silence, -the night, the passing wind, the damp odours rising from the ground. - -Then suddenly he saw her in the garden at Tostes, on a bench against the -thorn hedge, or else at Rouen in the streets, on the threshold of their -house, in the yard at Bertaux. He again heard the laughter of the happy -boys beneath the apple-trees: the room was filled with the perfume -of her hair; and her dress rustled in his arms with a noise like -electricity. The dress was still the same. - -For a long while he thus recalled all his lost joys, her attitudes, -her movements, the sound of her voice. Upon one fit of despair followed -another, and even others, inexhaustible as the waves of an overflowing -sea. - -A terrible curiosity seized him. Slowly, with the tips of his fingers, -palpitating, he lifted her veil. But he uttered a cry of horror that -awoke the other two. - -They dragged him down into the sitting-room. Then Felicite came up to -say that he wanted some of her hair. - -"Cut some off," replied the druggist. - -And as she did not dare to, he himself stepped forward, scissors in -hand. He trembled so that he pierced the skin of the temple in several -places. At last, stiffening himself against emotion, Homais gave two -or three great cuts at random that left white patches amongst that -beautiful black hair. - -The chemist and the cure plunged anew into their occupations, not -without sleeping from time to time, of which they accused each other -reciprocally at each fresh awakening. Then Monsieur Bournisien sprinkled -the room with holy water and Homais threw a little chlorine water on the -floor. - -Felicite had taken care to put on the chest of drawers, for each -of them, a bottle of brandy, some cheese, and a large roll. And the -druggist, who could not hold out any longer, about four in the morning -sighed-- - -"My word! I should like to take some sustenance." - -The priest did not need any persuading; he went out to go and say mass, -came back, and then they ate and hobnobbed, giggling a little without -knowing why, stimulated by that vague gaiety that comes upon us after -times of sadness, and at the last glass the priest said to the druggist, -as he clapped him on the shoulder-- - -"We shall end by understanding one another." - -In the passage downstairs they met the undertaker's men, who were coming -in. Then Charles for two hours had to suffer the torture of hearing the -hammer resound against the wood. Next day they lowered her into her -oak coffin, that was fitted into the other two; but as the bier was -too large, they had to fill up the gaps with the wool of a mattress. At -last, when the three lids had been planed down, nailed, soldered, it was -placed outside in front of the door; the house was thrown open, and the -people of Yonville began to flock round. - -Old Rouault arrived, and fainted on the Place when he saw the black -cloth! - - - -Chapter Ten - -He had only received the chemist's letter thirty-six hours after the -event; and, from consideration for his feelings, Homais had so worded it -that it was impossible to make out what it was all about. - -First, the old fellow had fallen as if struck by apoplexy. Next, he -understood that she was not dead, but she might be. At last, he had put -on his blouse, taken his hat, fastened his spurs to his boots, and set -out at full speed; and the whole of the way old Rouault, panting, was -torn by anguish. Once even he was obliged to dismount. He was dizzy; he -heard voices round about him; he felt himself going mad. - -Day broke. He saw three black hens asleep in a tree. He shuddered, -horrified at this omen. Then he promised the Holy Virgin three chasubles -for the church, and that he would go barefooted from the cemetery at -Bertaux to the chapel of Vassonville. - -He entered Maromme shouting for the people of the inn, burst open the -door with a thrust of his shoulder, made for a sack of oats, emptied a -bottle of sweet cider into the manger, and again mounted his nag, whose -feet struck fire as it dashed along. - -He said to himself that no doubt they would save her; the doctors would -discover some remedy surely. He remembered all the miraculous cures -he had been told about. Then she appeared to him dead. She was there; -before his eyes, lying on her back in the middle of the road. He reined -up, and the hallucination disappeared. - -At Quincampoix, to give himself heart, he drank three cups of coffee -one after the other. He fancied they had made a mistake in the name in -writing. He looked for the letter in his pocket, felt it there, but did -not dare to open it. - -At last he began to think it was all a joke; someone's spite, the jest -of some wag; and besides, if she were dead, one would have known it. But -no! There was nothing extraordinary about the country; the sky was blue, -the trees swayed; a flock of sheep passed. He saw the village; he was -seen coming bending forward upon his horse, belabouring it with great -blows, the girths dripping with blood. - -When he had recovered consciousness, he fell, weeping, into Bovary's -arms: "My girl! Emma! my child! tell me--" - -The other replied, sobbing, "I don't know! I don't know! It's a curse!" - -The druggist separated them. "These horrible details are useless. I will -tell this gentleman all about it. Here are the people coming. Dignity! -Come now! Philosophy!" - -The poor fellow tried to show himself brave, and repeated several times. -"Yes! courage!" - -"Oh," cried the old man, "so I will have, by God! I'll go along o' her -to the end!" - -The bell began tolling. All was ready; they had to start. And seated in -a stall of the choir, side by side, they saw pass and repass in front of -them continually the three chanting choristers. - -The serpent-player was blowing with all his might. Monsieur Bournisien, -in full vestments, was singing in a shrill voice. He bowed before the -tabernacle, raising his hands, stretched out his arms. Lestiboudois -went about the church with his whalebone stick. The bier stood near the -lectern, between four rows of candles. Charles felt inclined to get up -and put them out. - -Yet he tried to stir himself to a feeling of devotion, to throw himself -into the hope of a future life in which he should see her again. He -imagined to himself she had gone on a long journey, far away, for a long -time. But when he thought of her lying there, and that all was over, -that they would lay her in the earth, he was seized with a fierce, -gloomy, despairful rage. At times he thought he felt nothing more, and -he enjoyed this lull in his pain, whilst at the same time he reproached -himself for being a wretch. - -The sharp noise of an iron-ferruled stick was heard on the stones, -striking them at irregular intervals. It came from the end of the -church, and stopped short at the lower aisles. A man in a coarse brown -jacket knelt down painfully. It was Hippolyte, the stable-boy at the -"Lion d'Or." He had put on his new leg. - -One of the choristers went round the nave making a collection, and the -coppers chinked one after the other on the silver plate. - -"Oh, make haste! I am in pain!" cried Bovary, angrily throwing him a -five-franc piece. The churchman thanked him with a deep bow. - -They sang, they knelt, they stood up; it was endless! He remembered that -once, in the early times, they had been to mass together, and they had -sat down on the other side, on the right, by the wall. The bell began -again. There was a great moving of chairs; the bearers slipped their -three staves under the coffin, and everyone left the church. - -Then Justin appeared at the door of the shop. He suddenly went in again, -pale, staggering. - -People were at the windows to see the procession pass. Charles at the -head walked erect. He affected a brave air, and saluted with a nod those -who, coming out from the lanes or from their doors, stood amidst the -crowd. - -The six men, three on either side, walked slowly, panting a little. -The priests, the choristers, and the two choirboys recited the De -profundis*, and their voices echoed over the fields, rising and falling -with their undulations. Sometimes they disappeared in the windings of -the path; but the great silver cross rose always before the trees. - - *Psalm CXXX. - - -The women followed in black cloaks with turned-down hoods; each of them -carried in her hands a large lighted candle, and Charles felt himself -growing weaker at this continual repetition of prayers and torches, -beneath this oppressive odour of wax and of cassocks. A fresh breeze was -blowing; the rye and colza were sprouting, little dewdrops trembled at -the roadsides and on the hawthorn hedges. All sorts of joyous sounds -filled the air; the jolting of a cart rolling afar off in the ruts, the -crowing of a cock, repeated again and again, or the gambling of a foal -running away under the apple-trees: The pure sky was fretted with rosy -clouds; a bluish haze rested upon the cots covered with iris. Charles as -he passed recognised each courtyard. He remembered mornings like this, -when, after visiting some patient, he came out from one and returned to -her. - -The black cloth bestrewn with white beads blew up from time to time, -laying bare the coffin. The tired bearers walked more slowly, and it -advanced with constant jerks, like a boat that pitches with every wave. - -They reached the cemetery. The men went right down to a place in the -grass where a grave was dug. They ranged themselves all round; and while -the priest spoke, the red soil thrown up at the sides kept noiselessly -slipping down at the corners. - -Then when the four ropes were arranged the coffin was placed upon them. -He watched it descend; it seemed descending for ever. At last a thud was -heard; the ropes creaked as they were drawn up. Then Bournisien took -the spade handed to him by Lestiboudois; with his left hand all the -time sprinkling water, with the right he vigorously threw in a large -spadeful; and the wood of the coffin, struck by the pebbles, gave forth -that dread sound that seems to us the reverberation of eternity. - -The ecclesiastic passed the holy water sprinkler to his neighbour. This -was Homais. He swung it gravely, then handed it to Charles, who sank to -his knees in the earth and threw in handfuls of it, crying, "Adieu!" He -sent her kisses; he dragged himself towards the grave, to engulf himself -with her. They led him away, and he soon grew calmer, feeling perhaps, -like the others, a vague satisfaction that it was all over. - -Old Rouault on his way back began quietly smoking a pipe, which Homais -in his innermost conscience thought not quite the thing. He also noticed -that Monsieur Binet had not been present, and that Tuvache had "made -off" after mass, and that Theodore, the notary's servant wore a blue -coat, "as if one could not have got a black coat, since that is the -custom, by Jove!" And to share his observations with others he went from -group to group. They were deploring Emma's death, especially Lheureux, -who had not failed to come to the funeral. - -"Poor little woman! What a trouble for her husband!" - -The druggist continued, "Do you know that but for me he would have -committed some fatal attempt upon himself?" - -"Such a good woman! To think that I saw her only last Saturday in my -shop." - -"I haven't had leisure," said Homais, "to prepare a few words that I -would have cast upon her tomb." - -Charles on getting home undressed, and old Rouault put on his blue -blouse. It was a new one, and as he had often during the journey wiped -his eyes on the sleeves, the dye had stained his face, and the traces of -tears made lines in the layer of dust that covered it. - -Madame Bovary senior was with them. All three were silent. At last the -old fellow sighed-- - -"Do you remember, my friend, that I went to Tostes once when you had -just lost your first deceased? I consoled you at that time. I thought of -something to say then, but now--" Then, with a loud groan that shook his -whole chest, "Ah! this is the end for me, do you see! I saw my wife go, -then my son, and now to-day it's my daughter." - -He wanted to go back at once to Bertaux, saying that he could not sleep -in this house. He even refused to see his granddaughter. - -"No, no! It would grieve me too much. Only you'll kiss her many times -for me. Good-bye! you're a good fellow! And then I shall never forget -that," he said, slapping his thigh. "Never fear, you shall always have -your turkey." - -But when he reached the top of the hill he turned back, as he had turned -once before on the road of Saint-Victor when he had parted from her. The -windows of the village were all on fire beneath the slanting rays of the -sun sinking behind the field. He put his hand over his eyes, and saw -in the horizon an enclosure of walls, where trees here and there formed -black clusters between white stones; then he went on his way at a gentle -trot, for his nag had gone lame. - -Despite their fatigue, Charles and his mother stayed very long that -evening talking together. They spoke of the days of the past and of the -future. She would come to live at Yonville; she would keep house for -him; they would never part again. She was ingenious and caressing, -rejoicing in her heart at gaining once more an affection that had -wandered from her for so many years. Midnight struck. The village as -usual was silent, and Charles, awake, thought always of her. - -Rodolphe, who, to distract himself, had been rambling about the wood all -day, was sleeping quietly in his chateau, and Leon, down yonder, always -slept. - -There was another who at that hour was not asleep. - -On the grave between the pine-trees a child was on his knees weeping, -and his heart, rent by sobs, was beating in the shadow beneath the load -of an immense regret, sweeter than the moon and fathomless as the night. -The gate suddenly grated. It was Lestiboudois; he came to fetch his -spade, that he had forgotten. He recognised Justin climbing over the -wall, and at last knew who was the culprit who stole his potatoes. - - - -Chapter Eleven - -The next day Charles had the child brought back. She asked for her -mamma. They told her she was away; that she would bring her back some -playthings. Berthe spoke of her again several times, then at last -thought no more of her. The child's gaiety broke Bovary's heart, and he -had to bear besides the intolerable consolations of the chemist. - -Money troubles soon began again, Monsieur Lheureux urging on anew his -friend Vincart, and Charles pledged himself for exorbitant sums; for he -would never consent to let the smallest of the things that had belonged -to HER be sold. His mother was exasperated with him; he grew even more -angry than she did. He had altogether changed. She left the house. - -Then everyone began "taking advantage" of him. Mademoiselle Lempereur -presented a bill for six months' teaching, although Emma had never taken -a lesson (despite the receipted bill she had shown Bovary); it was an -arrangement between the two women. The man at the circulating library -demanded three years' subscriptions; Mere Rollet claimed the postage due -for some twenty letters, and when Charles asked for an explanation, she -had the delicacy to reply-- - -"Oh, I don't know. It was for her business affairs." - -With every debt he paid Charles thought he had come to the end of them. -But others followed ceaselessly. He sent in accounts for professional -attendance. He was shown the letters his wife had written. Then he had -to apologise. - -Felicite now wore Madame Bovary's gowns; not all, for he had kept some -of them, and he went to look at them in her dressing-room, locking -himself up there; she was about her height, and often Charles, seeing -her from behind, was seized with an illusion, and cried out-- - -"Oh, stay, stay!" - -But at Whitsuntide she ran away from Yonville, carried off by Theodore, -stealing all that was left of the wardrobe. - -It was about this time that the widow Dupuis had the honour to inform -him of the "marriage of Monsieur Leon Dupuis her son, notary at Yvetot, -to Mademoiselle Leocadie Leboeuf of Bondeville." Charles, among the -other congratulations he sent him, wrote this sentence-- - -"How glad my poor wife would have been!" - -One day when, wandering aimlessly about the house, he had gone up to the -attic, he felt a pellet of fine paper under his slipper. He opened it -and read: "Courage, Emma, courage. I would not bring misery into your -life." It was Rodolphe's letter, fallen to the ground between the boxes, -where it had remained, and that the wind from the dormer window had just -blown towards the door. And Charles stood, motionless and staring, in -the very same place where, long ago, Emma, in despair, and paler even -than he, had thought of dying. At last he discovered a small R at the -bottom of the second page. What did this mean? He remembered Rodolphe's -attentions, his sudden, disappearance, his constrained air when they -had met two or three times since. But the respectful tone of the letter -deceived him. - -"Perhaps they loved one another platonically," he said to himself. - -Besides, Charles was not of those who go to the bottom of things; he -shrank from the proofs, and his vague jealousy was lost in the immensity -of his woe. - -Everyone, he thought, must have adored her; all men assuredly must have -coveted her. She seemed but the more beautiful to him for this; he -was seized with a lasting, furious desire for her, that inflamed his -despair, and that was boundless, because it was now unrealisable. - -To please her, as if she were still living, he adopted her -predilections, her ideas; he bought patent leather boots and took to -wearing white cravats. He put cosmetics on his moustache, and, like her, -signed notes of hand. She corrupted him from beyond the grave. - -He was obliged to sell his silver piece by piece; next he sold the -drawing-room furniture. All the rooms were stripped; but the bedroom, -her own room, remained as before. After his dinner Charles went up -there. He pushed the round table in front of the fire, and drew up her -armchair. He sat down opposite it. A candle burnt in one of the gilt -candlesticks. Berthe by his side was painting prints. - -He suffered, poor man, at seeing her so badly dressed, with laceless -boots, and the arm-holes of her pinafore torn down to the hips; for the -charwoman took no care of her. But she was so sweet, so pretty, and her -little head bent forward so gracefully, letting the dear fair hair fall -over her rosy cheeks, that an infinite joy came upon him, a happiness -mingled with bitterness, like those ill-made wines that taste of -resin. He mended her toys, made her puppets from cardboard, or sewed up -half-torn dolls. Then, if his eyes fell upon the workbox, a ribbon lying -about, or even a pin left in a crack of the table, he began to dream, -and looked so sad that she became as sad as he. - -No one now came to see them, for Justin had run away to Rouen, where he -was a grocer's assistant, and the druggist's children saw less and less -of the child, Monsieur Homais not caring, seeing the difference of their -social position, to continue the intimacy. - -The blind man, whom he had not been able to cure with the pomade, had -gone back to the hill of Bois-Guillaume, where he told the travellers of -the vain attempt of the druggist, to such an extent, that Homais when -he went to town hid himself behind the curtains of the "Hirondelle" to -avoid meeting him. He detested him, and wishing, in the interests of his -own reputation, to get rid of him at all costs, he directed against -him a secret battery, that betrayed the depth of his intellect and the -baseness of his vanity. Thus, for six consecutive months, one could read -in the "Fanal de Rouen" editorials such as these-- - -"All who bend their steps towards the fertile plains of Picardy have, no -doubt, remarked, by the Bois-Guillaume hill, a wretch suffering from -a horrible facial wound. He importunes, persecutes one, and levies a -regular tax on all travellers. Are we still living in the monstrous -times of the Middle Ages, when vagabonds were permitted to display in -our public places leprosy and scrofulas they had brought back from the -Crusades?" - -Or-- - -"In spite of the laws against vagabondage, the approaches to our great -towns continue to be infected by bands of beggars. Some are seen going -about alone, and these are not, perhaps, the least dangerous. What are -our ediles about?" - -Then Homais invented anecdotes-- - -"Yesterday, by the Bois-Guillaume hill, a skittish horse--" And then -followed the story of an accident caused by the presence of the blind -man. - -He managed so well that the fellow was locked up. But he was released. -He began again, and Homais began again. It was a struggle. Homais won -it, for his foe was condemned to life-long confinement in an asylum. - -This success emboldened him, and henceforth there was no longer a dog -run over, a barn burnt down, a woman beaten in the parish, of which -he did not immediately inform the public, guided always by the love of -progress and the hate of priests. He instituted comparisons between the -elementary and clerical schools to the detriment of the latter; called -to mind the massacre of St. Bartholomew a propos of a grant of one -hundred francs to the church, and denounced abuses, aired new views. -That was his phrase. Homais was digging and delving; he was becoming -dangerous. - -However, he was stifling in the narrow limits of journalism, and soon a -book, a work was necessary to him. Then he composed "General Statistics -of the Canton of Yonville, followed by Climatological Remarks." The -statistics drove him to philosophy. He busied himself with great -questions: the social problem, moralisation of the poorer classes, -pisciculture, caoutchouc, railways, etc. He even began to blush at being -a bourgeois. He affected the artistic style, he smoked. He bought two -chic Pompadour statuettes to adorn his drawing-room. - -He by no means gave up his shop. On the contrary, he kept well abreast -of new discoveries. He followed the great movement of chocolates; he -was the first to introduce "cocoa" and "revalenta" into the -Seine-Inferieure. He was enthusiastic about the hydro-electric -Pulvermacher chains; he wore one himself, and when at night he took off -his flannel vest, Madame Homais stood quite dazzled before the golden -spiral beneath which he was hidden, and felt her ardour redouble for -this man more bandaged than a Scythian, and splendid as one of the Magi. - -He had fine ideas about Emma's tomb. First he proposed a broken column -with some drapery, next a pyramid, then a Temple of Vesta, a sort of -rotunda, or else a "mass of ruins." And in all his plans Homais always -stuck to the weeping willow, which he looked upon as the indispensable -symbol of sorrow. - -Charles and he made a journey to Rouen together to look at some tombs -at a funeral furnisher's, accompanied by an artist, one Vaufrylard, a -friend of Bridoux's, who made puns all the time. At last, after having -examined some hundred designs, having ordered an estimate and made -another journey to Rouen, Charles decided in favour of a mausoleum, -which on the two principal sides was to have a "spirit bearing an -extinguished torch." - -As to the inscription, Homais could think of nothing so fine as Sta -viator*, and he got no further; he racked his brain, he constantly -repeated Sta viator. At last he hit upon Amabilen conjugem calcas**, -which was adopted. - - * Rest traveler. - - ** Tread upon a loving wife. - -A strange thing was that Bovary, while continually thinking of Emma, was -forgetting her. He grew desperate as he felt this image fading from his -memory in spite of all efforts to retain it. Yet every night he dreamt -of her; it was always the same dream. He drew near her, but when he was -about to clasp her she fell into decay in his arms. - -For a week he was seen going to church in the evening. Monsieur -Bournisien even paid him two or three visits, then gave him up. -Moreover, the old fellow was growing intolerant, fanatic, said Homais. -He thundered against the spirit of the age, and never failed, every -other week, in his sermon, to recount the death agony of Voltaire, who -died devouring his excrements, as everyone knows. - -In spite of the economy with which Bovary lived, he was far from being -able to pay off his old debts. Lheureux refused to renew any more -bills. A distraint became imminent. Then he appealed to his mother, who -consented to let him take a mortgage on her property, but with a great -many recriminations against Emma; and in return for her sacrifice she -asked for a shawl that had escaped the depredations of Felicite. Charles -refused to give it her; they quarrelled. - -She made the first overtures of reconciliation by offering to have the -little girl, who could help her in the house, to live with her. Charles -consented to this, but when the time for parting came, all his courage -failed him. Then there was a final, complete rupture. - -As his affections vanished, he clung more closely to the love of his -child. She made him anxious, however, for she coughed sometimes, and had -red spots on her cheeks. - -Opposite his house, flourishing and merry, was the family of the -chemist, with whom everything was prospering. Napoleon helped him in the -laboratory, Athalie embroidered him a skullcap, Irma cut out rounds of -paper to cover the preserves, and Franklin recited Pythagoras' table in -a breath. He was the happiest of fathers, the most fortunate of men. - -Not so! A secret ambition devoured him. Homais hankered after the cross -of the Legion of Honour. He had plenty of claims to it. - -"First, having at the time of the cholera distinguished myself by a -boundless devotion; second, by having published, at my expense, -various works of public utility, such as" (and he recalled his pamphlet -entitled, "Cider, its manufacture and effects," besides observation -on the lanigerous plant-louse, sent to the Academy; his volume of -statistics, and down to his pharmaceutical thesis); "without counting -that I am a member of several learned societies" (he was member of a -single one). - -"In short!" he cried, making a pirouette, "if it were only for -distinguishing myself at fires!" - -Then Homais inclined towards the Government. He secretly did the -prefect great service during the elections. He sold himself--in a word, -prostituted himself. He even addressed a petition to the sovereign -in which he implored him to "do him justice"; he called him "our good -king," and compared him to Henri IV. - -And every morning the druggist rushed for the paper to see if his -nomination were in it. It was never there. At last, unable to bear it -any longer, he had a grass plot in his garden designed to represent the -Star of the Cross of Honour with two little strips of grass running from -the top to imitate the ribband. He walked round it with folded arms, -meditating on the folly of the Government and the ingratitude of men. - -From respect, or from a sort of sensuality that made him carry on his -investigations slowly, Charles had not yet opened the secret drawer of -a rosewood desk which Emma had generally used. One day, however, he -sat down before it, turned the key, and pressed the spring. All Leon's -letters were there. There could be no doubt this time. He devoured them -to the very last, ransacked every corner, all the furniture, all the -drawers, behind the walls, sobbing, crying aloud, distraught, mad. He -found a box and broke it open with a kick. Rodolphe's portrait flew full -in his face in the midst of the overturned love-letters. - -People wondered at his despondency. He never went out, saw no one, -refused even to visit his patients. Then they said "he shut himself up -to drink." - -Sometimes, however, some curious person climbed on to the garden hedge, -and saw with amazement this long-bearded, shabbily clothed, wild man, -who wept aloud as he walked up and down. - -In the evening in summer he took his little girl with him and led her to -the cemetery. They came back at nightfall, when the only light left in -the Place was that in Binet's window. - -The voluptuousness of his grief was, however, incomplete, for he had no -one near him to share it, and he paid visits to Madame Lefrancois to be -able to speak of her. - -But the landlady only listened with half an ear, having troubles -like himself. For Lheureux had at last established the "Favorites du -Commerce," and Hivert, who enjoyed a great reputation for doing errands, -insisted on a rise of wages, and was threatening to go over "to the -opposition shop." - -One day when he had gone to the market at Argueil to sell his horse--his -last resource--he met Rodolphe. - -They both turned pale when they caught sight of one another. Rodolphe, -who had only sent his card, first stammered some apologies, then grew -bolder, and even pushed his assurance (it was in the month of August and -very hot) to the length of inviting him to have a bottle of beer at the -public-house. - -Leaning on the table opposite him, he chewed his cigar as he talked, and -Charles was lost in reverie at this face that she had loved. He seemed -to see again something of her in it. It was a marvel to him. He would -have liked to have been this man. - -The other went on talking agriculture, cattle, pasturage, filling out -with banal phrases all the gaps where an allusion might slip in. Charles -was not listening to him; Rodolphe noticed it, and he followed the -succession of memories that crossed his face. This gradually grew -redder; the nostrils throbbed fast, the lips quivered. There was at -last a moment when Charles, full of a sombre fury, fixed his eyes on -Rodolphe, who, in something of fear, stopped talking. But soon the same -look of weary lassitude came back to his face. - -"I don't blame you," he said. - -Rodolphe was dumb. And Charles, his head in his hands, went on in a -broken voice, and with the resigned accent of infinite sorrow-- - -"No, I don't blame you now." - -He even added a fine phrase, the only one he ever made-- - -"It is the fault of fatality!" - -Rodolphe, who had managed the fatality, thought the remark very offhand -from a man in his position, comic even, and a little mean. - -The next day Charles went to sit down on the seat in the arbour. Rays -of light were straying through the trellis, the vine leaves threw their -shadows on the sand, the jasmines perfumed the air, the heavens were -blue, Spanish flies buzzed round the lilies in bloom, and Charles was -suffocating like a youth beneath the vague love influences that filled -his aching heart. - -At seven o'clock little Berthe, who had not seen him all the afternoon, -went to fetch him to dinner. - -His head was thrown back against the wall, his eyes closed, his mouth -open, and in his hand was a long tress of black hair. - -"Come along, papa," she said. - -And thinking he wanted to play; she pushed him gently. He fell to the -ground. He was dead. - -Thirty-six hours after, at the druggist's request, Monsieur Canivet came -thither. He made a post-mortem and found nothing. - -When everything had been sold, twelve francs seventy-five centimes -remained, that served to pay for Mademoiselle Bovary's going to -her grandmother. The good woman died the same year; old Rouault was -paralysed, and it was an aunt who took charge of her. She is poor, and -sends her to a cotton-factory to earn a living. - -Since Bovary's death three doctors have followed one another at Yonville -without any success, so severely did Homais attack them. He has an -enormous practice; the authorities treat him with consideration, and -public opinion protects him. - -He has just received the cross of the Legion of Honour. - - - - - -End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Madame Bovary, by Gustave Flaubert - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MADAME BOVARY *** - -***** This file should be named 2413.txt or 2413.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/2/4/1/2413/ - -Produced by An Anonymous Volunteer, Noah Adams and David Widger - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions -will be renamed. - -Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no -one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation -(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without -permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, -set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to -copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to -protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project -Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you -charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you -do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the -rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose -such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and -research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do -practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is -subject to the trademark license, especially commercial -redistribution. - - - -*** START: FULL LICENSE *** - -THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE -PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK - -To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free -distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work -(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project -Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project -Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at -http://gutenberg.org/license). - - -Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic works - -1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to -and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property -(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all -the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy -all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. -If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the -terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or -entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. - -1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be -used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who -agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few -things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works -even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See -paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement -and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. See paragraph 1.E below. - -1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" -or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the -collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an -individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are -located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from -copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative -works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg -are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project -Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by -freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of -this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with -the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by -keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project -Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. - -1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern -what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in -a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check -the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement -before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or -creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project -Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning -the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United -States. - -1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: - -1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate -access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently -whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the -phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project -Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, -copied or distributed: - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with -almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or -re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included -with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org - -1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived -from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is -posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied -and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees -or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work -with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the -work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 -through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the -Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or -1.E.9. - -1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted -with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution -must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional -terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked -to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the -permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. - -1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this -work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. - -1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this -electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without -prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with -active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project -Gutenberg-tm License. - -1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, -compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any -word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or -distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than -"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version -posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), -you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a -copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon -request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other -form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm -License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. - -1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, -performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works -unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. - -1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing -access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided -that - -- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from - the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method - you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is - owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he - has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the - Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments - must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you - prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax - returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and - sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the - address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to - the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." - -- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies - you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he - does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm - License. You must require such a user to return or - destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium - and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of - Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any - money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the - electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days - of receipt of the work. - -- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free - distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. - -1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm -electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set -forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from -both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael -Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the -Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. - -1.F. - -1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable -effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread -public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm -collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain -"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or -corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual -property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a -computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by -your equipment. - -1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right -of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project -Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project -Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all -liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal -fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT -LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE -PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH F3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE -TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE -LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR -INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH -DAMAGE. - -1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a -defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can -receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a -written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you -received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with -your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with -the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a -refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity -providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to -receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy -is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further -opportunities to fix the problem. - -1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth -in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER -WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO -WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. - -1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied -warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. -If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the -law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be -interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by -the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any -provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. - -1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the -trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone -providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance -with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, -promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, -harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, -that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do -or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm -work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any -Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. - - -Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm - -Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of -electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers -including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists -because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from -people in all walks of life. - -Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the -assistance they need, is critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's -goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will -remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project -Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure -and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. -To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation -and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 -and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. - - -Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive -Foundation - -The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit -501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the -state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal -Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification -number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at -http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent -permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. - -The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. -Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered -throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at -809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email -business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact -information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official -page at http://pglaf.org - -For additional contact information: - Dr. Gregory B. Newby - Chief Executive and Director - gbnewby@pglaf.org - - -Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg -Literary Archive Foundation - -Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide -spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of -increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be -freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest -array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations -($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt -status with the IRS. - -The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating -charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United -States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a -considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up -with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations -where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To -SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any -particular state visit http://pglaf.org - -While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we -have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition -against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who -approach us with offers to donate. - -International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make -any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from -outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. - -Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation -methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other -ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. -To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate - - -Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic -works. - -Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm -concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared -with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project -Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. - - -Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed -editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. -unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily -keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. - - -Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: - - http://www.gutenberg.org - -This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, -including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary -Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to -subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. |