Madame Bovary

nse green-sward, on which some cows were grazing among groups of large trees set out at regular intervals, while large beds of ar

red over the field bordered by two gently sloping, well timbered hillocks, and in the background amid the

s; servants appeared; the Marquis came forward, and, offering

fty, and the sound of footsteps and that of

or 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

al 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,

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

sat down at the first table in the vestibule; the ladies at t

aced 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 s

many ladies had not put the

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 point

went to their rooms to

her debut. She did her hair according to the directions of the

ers were tight

ll be rather awkward

?" repea

es

un of you; keep your place. Besides, it

ked up and down waiting fo

owards the ears, shone with a blue lustre; a rose in her chignon trembled on its mobile stalk, with artificial dewdrops

nd kissed her

she said; "you a

n and the notes of a horn. She went down

ests were arriving. T

on a form n

nted fans were fluttering, bouquets half hid smiling faces, and gold stoppered scent-bottles were turned in partly-closed hands, whose white gloves outlined the n

or sprays of mytosotis, jasmine, pomegranate blossoms, ears of corn, and corn-flowers. Ca

a, 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 we

among the dancers or talking at the doorways, distinguished themselves from the cr

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 mat

lue coat was talking of Italy with a pal

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

ball was heavy; the

ck 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,

pped her fan. A gen

e lady, "as to pick up my fan t

something white, folded in a triangle, into his hat. The gentleman, picking up the fan, offered it to

he 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

almo

one was waltzing, Mademoiselle d'Andervilliers herself and the Marquis; onl

aistcoat seemed moulded to his chest, came a second time to ask Madame Bovary to danc

ng-the lamps, the furniture, the wainscoting, the floor, like a disc on a pivot.

ent; 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

of the drawing room three waltzers were

unt, and the violin

, and he always in the same pose, his figure curved, his elbow rounded, his chin thrown for

after the goodnights, or rather good mornin

five consecutive hours standing bolt upright at the card tables, watching them play whist, without

her shoulders, opened th

her eyelids. The music of the ball was still murmuring in her ears. And she tried to keep herself

se she had noticed the evening before. She would fain have known their lives, have penetrated, blended with them.

. The repast lasted ten minutes; no liqueu

-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 interla

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

ught to the foot of the steps, and, all the parcels being crammed in, the Bovarys

rms wide apart, and the little horse ambled along in the shafts that were too big for him. The loose reins hanging

s passed laughing. Emma thought she recognized the Viscount, turned back, and caught on the horizo

stop to mend with some strin

ound between his horse's legs, and he picked up a cigar-case with a gre

it," said he; "they'll do fo

ou smoke?"

when I get

n his pocket and

r was not ready. Madame lost her

a. "You are forgetting you

onion soup and a piec

osite Emma, rubbed

is to be at

ormerly, during the wearisome time of his widowhood, kept him company many an

r warning for good

to prevent me

as being made ready. Charles began to smoke. He smoked with l

rself ill," she

cold water at the pump. Emma seizing hold of the cig

d 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

all, then, became an

id to herself as she awoke, "Ah! I was t

the faces grew confus

saw the liveries and appointments so distinctly; some