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.




readonlinefreebook.com Copyright 2016 - 2024