Page 176 - madame-bovary

tress at Rouen, whom he kept; and when he had pondered
over this image, with which, even in remembrance, he was
satiated—
‘Ah! Madame Bovary,’ he thought, ‘is much prettier, es-
pecially fresher. Virginie is decidedly beginning to grow fat.
She is so finikin about her pleasures; and, besides, she has a
mania for prawns.’
The fields were empty, and around him Rodolphe only
heard the regular beating of the grass striking against his
boots, with a cry of the grasshopper hidden at a distance
among the oats. He again saw Emma in her room, dressed
as he had seen her, and he undressed her.
‘Oh, I will have her,’ he cried, striking a blow with his stick
at a clod in front of him. And he at once began to consider
the political part of the enterprise. He asked himself—
‘Where shall we meet? By what means? We shall always
be having the brat on our hands, and the servant, the neigh-
bours, and husband, all sorts of worries. Pshaw! one would
lose too much time over it.’
Then he resumed, ‘She really has eyes that pierce one’s
heart like a gimlet. And that pale complexion! I adore pale
women!’
When he reached the top of the Arguiel hills he had
made up his mind. ‘It’s only finding the opportunities. Well,
I will call in now and then. I’ll send them venison, poultry;
I’ll have myself bled, if need be. We shall become friends;
I’ll invite them to my place. By Jove!’ added he, ‘there’s the
agricultural show coming on. She’ll be there. I shall see her.
We’ll begin boldly, for that’s the surest way.’

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