Page 255 - madame-bovary

her to give way; he knelt to her; she ended by saying—
‘Very well! I’ll go to her.’
And in fact she held out her hand to her mother-in-law
with the dignity of a marchioness as she said—
‘Excuse me, madame.’
Then, having gone up again to her room, she threw her-
self flat on her bed and cried there like a child, her face
buried in the pillow.
She and Rodolphe had agreed that in the event of any-
thing extraordinary occurring, she should fasten a small
piece of white paper to the blind, so that if by chance he hap-
pened to be in Yonville, he could hurry to the lane behind
the house. Emma made the signal; she had been waiting
three-quarters of an hour when she suddenly caught sight
of Rodolphe at the corner of the market. She felt tempted to
open the window and call him, but he had already disap-
peared. She fell back in despair.
Soon, however, it seemed to her that someone was
walking on the pavement. It was he, no doubt. She went
downstairs, crossed the yard. He was there outside. She
threw herself into his arms.
‘Do take care!’ he said.
‘Ah! if you knew!’ she replied.
And she began telling him everything, hurriedly, dis-
jointedly, exaggerating the facts, inventing many, and so
prodigal of parentheses that he understood nothing of it.
‘Come, my poor angel, courage! Be comforted! be pa-
tient!’
‘But I have been patient; I have suffered for four years. A

Madame Bovary