Page 363 - madame-bovary

This was a sort of permission that she gave herself, so as
to get perfect freedom in her escapades. And she profited by
it freely, fully. When she was seized with the desire to see
Leon, she set out upon any pretext; and as he was not ex-
pecting her on that day, she went to fetch him at his office.
It was a great delight at first, but soon he no longer con-
cealed the truth, which was, that his master complained
very much about these interruptions.
‘Pshaw! come along,’ she said.
And he slipped out.
She wanted him to dress all in black, and grow a pointed
beard, to look like the portraits of Louis XIII. She wanted
to see his lodgings; thought them poor. He blushed at them,
but she did not notice this, then advised him to buy some
curtains like hers, and as he objected to the expense—
‘Ah! ah! you care for your money,’ she said laughing.
Each time Leon had to tell her everything that he had
done since their last meeting. She asked him for some vers-
es—some verses ‘for herself,’ a ‘love poem’ in honour of her.
But he never succeeded in getting a rhyme for the second
verse; and at last ended by copying a sonnet in a ‘Keep-
sake.’ This was less from vanity than from the one desire
of pleasing her. He did not question her ideas; he accepted
all her tastes; he was rather becoming her mistress than she
his. She had tender words and kisses that thrilled his soul.
Where could she have learnt this corruption almost incor-
poreal in the strength of its profanity and dissimulation?

Madame Bovary