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.




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