Page 365 - madame-bovary

Homais in the kitchen of the ‘Lion d’Or,’ wearing a travel-
ler’s costume, that is to say, wrapped in an old cloak which
no one knew he had, while he carried a valise in one hand
and the foot-warmer of his establishment in the other. He
had confided his intentions to no one, for fear of causing the
public anxiety by his absence.
The idea of seeing again the place where his youth had
been spent no doubt excited him, for during the whole jour-
ney he never ceased talking, and as soon as he had arrived,
he jumped quickly out of the diligence to go in search of
Leon. In vain the clerk tried to get rid of him. Monsieur
Homais dragged him off to the large Cafe de la Normandie,
which he entered majestically, not raising his hat, thinking
it very provincial to uncover in any public place.
Emma waited for Leon three quarters of an hour. At last
she ran to his office; and, lost in all sorts of conjectures, ac-
cusing him of indifference, and reproaching herself for her
weakness, she spent the afternoon, her face pressed against
the window-panes.
At two o’clock they were still at a table opposite each
other. The large room was emptying; the stove-pipe, in the
shape of a palm-tree, spread its gilt leaves over the white
ceiling, and near them, outside the window, in the bright
sunshine, a little fountain gurgled in a white basin, where;
in the midst of watercress and asparagus, three torpid lob-
sters stretched across to some quails that lay heaped up in a
pile on their sides.
Homais was enjoying himself. Although he was even
more intoxicated with the luxury than the rich fare, the

Madame Bovary