Page 123 - madame-bovary

One day Emma was suddenly seized with the desire to
see her little girl, who had been put to nurse with the car-
penter’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 neigh-
bouring 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 accom-
pany 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 compro-
mising 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 bor-

1 Madame Bovary