“Whotoldme!“hereplied,ratherastonishedatherabrupttone。
“Why,Girard,whomImetjustnowatthedooroftheCafeFrancais。Hehasgoneonajourney,oristogo。“
Shegaveasob。
“Whatsurprisesyouinthat?Heabsentshimselflikethatfromtimetotimeforachange,and,mafoi,Ithinkhe’sright,whenonehasafortuneandisabachelor。Besides,hehasjollytimes,hasourfriend。He’sabitofarake。MonsieurLangloistoldme——“
Hestoppedforpropriety’ssakebecausetheservantcamein。Sheputbackintothebaskettheapricotsscatteredonthesideboard。
Charles,withoutnoticinghiswife’scolour,hadthembroughttohim,tookone,andbitintoit。
“Ah!perfect!“saidhe;“justtaste!“
Andhehandedherthebasket,whichsheputawayfromhergently。
“Dojustsmell!Whatanodour!“heremarked,passingitunderhernoseseveraltimes。
“Iamchoking,“shecried,leapingup。Butbyaneffortofwillthespasmpassed;then——
“Itisnothing,“shesaid,“itisnothing!Itisnervousness。Sitdownandgooneating。“Forshedreadedlestheshouldbeginquestioningher,attendingtoher,thatsheshouldnotbeleftalone。
Charles,toobeyher,satdownagain,andhespatthestonesoftheapricotsintohishands,afterwardsputtingthemonhisplate。
Suddenlyabluetilburypassedacrossthesquareatarapidtrot。
Emmautteredacryandfellbackrigidtotheground。
Infact,Rodolphe,aftermanyreflections,haddecidedtosetoutforRouen。Now,asfromLaHuchettetoBuchythereisnootherwaythanbyYonville,hehadtogothroughthevillage,andEmmahadrecognisedhimbytheraysofthelanterns,whichlikelightningflashedthroughthetwilight。
Thechemist,atthetumultwhichbrokeoutinthehouseranthither。Thetablewithalltheplateswasupset;sauce,meat,knives,thesalt,andcruet-standwerestrewnovertheroom;
Charleswascallingforhelp;Berthe,scared,wascrying;andFelicite,whosehandstrembled,wasunlacinghermistress,whosewholebodyshiveredconvulsively。
“I’llruntomylaboratoryforsomearomaticvinegar,“saidthedruggist。
Thenassheopenedhereyesonsmellingthebottle——
“Iwassureofit,“heremarked;“thatwouldwakeanydeadpersonforyou!“
“Speaktous,“saidCharles;“collectyourself;itisyourCharles,wholovesyou。Doyouknowme?See!hereisyourlittlegirl!Oh,kissher!“
Thechildstretchedoutherarmstohermothertoclingtoherneck。Butturningawayherhead,Emmasaidinabrokenvoice“No,no!noone!“
Shefaintedagain。Theycarriedhertoherbed。Shelaytherestretchedatfulllength,herlipsapart,hereyelidsclosed,herhandsopen,motionless,andwhiteasawaxenimage。Twostreamsoftearsflowedfromhereyesandfellslowlyuponthepillow。
Charles,standingup,wasatthebackofthealcove,andthechemist,nearhim,maintainedthatmeditativesilencethatisbecomingontheseriousoccasionsoflife。
“Donotbeuneasy,“hesaid,touchinghiselbow;“Ithinktheparoxysmispast。“
“Yes,sheisrestingalittlenow,“answeredCharles,watchinghersleep。“Poorgirl!poorgirl!Shehadgoneoffnow!“
ThenHomaisaskedhowtheaccidenthadcomeabout。Charlesansweredthatshehadbeentakenillsuddenlywhileshewaseatingsomeapricots。
“Extraordinary!“continuedthechemist。“Butitmightbethattheapricotshadbroughtonthesyncope。Somenaturesaresosensitivetocertainsmells;anditwouldevenbeaveryfinequestiontostudybothinitspathologicalandphysiologicalrelation。Thepriestsknowtheimportanceofit,theywhohaveintroducedaromaticsintoalltheirceremonies。Itistostupefythesensesandtobringonecstasies——athing,moreover,veryeasyinpersonsoftheweakersex,whoaremoredelicatethantheother。Somearecitedwhofaintatthesmellofburnthartshorn,ofnewbread——“
“Takecare;you’llwakeher!“saidBovaryinalowvoice。
“Andnotonly,“thedruggistwenton,“arehumanbeingssubjecttosuchanomalies,butanimalsalso。ThusyouarenotignorantofthesingularlyaphrodisiaceffectproducedbytheNepetacataria,vulgarlycalledcatmint,onthefelinerace;and,ontheotherhand,toquoteanexamplewhoseauthenticityIcananswerfor。
Bridauxoneofmyoldcomrades,atpresentestablishedintheRueMalpalupossessesadogthatfallsintoconvulsionsassoonasyouholdoutasnuff-boxtohim。Heoftenevenmakestheexperimentbeforehisfriendsathissummer-houseatGuillaumeWood。Wouldanyonebelievethatasimplesternutationcouldproducesuchravagesonaquadrupedalorganism?Itisextremelycurious,isitnot?“
“Yes,“saidCharles,whowasnotlisteningtohim。
“Thisshowsus,“wentontheother,smilingwithbenignself-sufficiency,“theinnumerableirregularitiesofthenervoussystem。Withregardtomadame,shehasalwaysseemedtome,I
confess,verysusceptible。AndsoIshouldbynomeansrecommendtoyou,mydearfriend,anyofthoseso-calledremediesthat,underthepretenceofattackingthesymptoms,attacktheconstitution。No;nouselessphysicking!Diet,thatisall;
sedatives,emollients,dulcification。Then,don’tyouthinkthatperhapsherimaginationshouldbeworkedupon?“
“Inwhatway?How?“saidBovary。
“Ah!thatisit。Suchisindeedthequestion。’Thatisthequestion,’asIlatelyreadinanewspaper。“
ButEmma,awaking,criedout——
“Theletter!theletter!“
Theythoughtshewasdelirious;andshewasbymidnight。
Brain-feverhadsetin。
Forforty-threedaysCharlesdidnotleaveher。Hegaveupallhispatients;henolongerwenttobed;hewasconstantlyfeelingherpulse,puttingonsinapismsandcold-watercompresses。HesentJustinasfarasNeufchatelforice;theicemeltedontheway;hesenthimbackagain。HecalledMonsieurCanivetintoconsultation;hesentforDr。Lariviere,hisoldmaster,fromRouen;hewasindespair。WhatalarmedhimmostwasEmma’sprostration,forshedidnotspeak,didnotlisten,didnotevenseemtosuffer,asifherbodyandsoulwerebothrestingtogetherafteralltheirtroubles。
AboutthemiddleofOctobershecouldsitupinbedsupportedbypillows。Charlesweptwhenhesawhereatherfirstbread-and-jelly。Herstrengthreturnedtoher;shegotupforafewhoursofanafternoon,andoneday,whenshefeltbetter,hetriedtotakeher,leaningonhisarm,forawalkroundthegarden。Thesandofthepathswasdisappearingbeneaththedeadleaves;shewalkedslowly,draggingalongherslippers,andleaningagainstCharles’sshoulder。Shesmiledallthetime。
Theywentthustothebottomofthegardenneartheterrace。Shedrewherselfupslowly,shadinghereyeswithherhandtolook。
Shelookedfaroff,asfarasshecould,butonthehorizonwereonlygreatbonfiresofgrasssmokingonthehills。
“Youwilltireyourself,mydarling!“saidBovary。And,pushinghergentlytomakehergointothearbour,“Sitdownonthisseat;you’llbecomfortable。“
“Oh!no;notthere!“shesaidinafalteringvoice。
Shewasseizedwithgiddiness,andfromthateveningherillnessrecommenced,withamoreuncertaincharacter,itistrue,andmorecomplexsymptoms。Nowshesufferedinherheart,theninthechest,thehead,thelimbs;shehadvomitings,inwhichCharlesthoughthesawthefirstsignsofcancer。
Andbesidesthis,thepoorfellowwasworriedaboutmoneymatters。
ChapterFourteenTobeginwith,hedidnotknowhowhecouldpayMonsieurHomaisforallthephysicsuppliedbyhim,andthough,asamedicalman,hewasnotobligedtopayforit,heneverthelessblushedalittleatsuchanobligation。Thentheexpensesofthehousehold,nowthattheservantwasmistress,becameterrible。Billsrainedinuponthehouse;thetradesmengrumbled;MonsieurLheureuxespeciallyharassedhim。Infact,attheheightofEmma’sillness,thelatter,takingadvantageofthecircumstancestomakehisbilllarger,hadhurriedlybroughtthecloak,thetravelling-bag,twotrunksinsteadofone,andanumberofotherthings。ItwasverywellforCharlestosayhedidnotwantthem。
Thetradesmanansweredarrogantlythatthesearticleshadbeenordered,andthathewouldnottakethemback;besides,itwouldvexmadameinherconvalescence;thedoctorhadbetterthinkitover;inshort,hewasresolvedtosuehimratherthangiveuphisrightsandtakebackhisgoods。Charlessubsequentlyorderedthemtobesentbacktotheshop。Feliciteforgot;hehadotherthingstoattendto;thenthoughtnomoreaboutthem。MonsieurLheureuxreturnedtothecharge,and,byturnsthreateningandwhining,somanagedthatBovaryendedbysigningabillatsixmonths。Buthardlyhadhesignedthisbillthanaboldideaoccurredtohim:itwastoborrowathousandfrancsfromLheureux。So,withanembarrassedair,heaskedifitwerepossibletogetthem,addingthatitwouldbeforayear,atanyinteresthewished。Lheureuxranofftohisshop,broughtbackthemoney,anddictatedanotherbill,bywhichBovaryundertooktopaytohisorderonthe1stofSeptembernextthesumofonethousandandseventyfrancs,which,withthehundredandeightyalreadyagreedto,madejusttwelvehundredandfifty,thuslendingatsixpercentinadditiontoone-fourthforcommission: