Page 410 - madame-bovary

Suddenly it seemed to her that fiery spheres were explod-
ing in the air like fulminating balls when they strike, and
were whirling, whirling, to melt at last upon the snow be-
tween the branches of the trees. In the midst of each of them
appeared the face of Rodolphe. They multiplied and drew
near her, penetrating, her. It all disappeared; she recognised
the lights of the houses that shone through the fog.
Now her situation, like an abyss, rose up before her. She
was panting as if her heart would burst. Then in an ecsta-
sy of heroism, that made her almost joyous, she ran down
the hill, crossed the cow-plank, the foot-path, the alley, the
market, and reached the chemist’s shop. She was about to
enter, but at the sound of the bell someone might come, and
slipping in by the gate, holding her breath, feeling her way
along the walls, she went as far as the door of the kitchen,
where a candle stuck on the stove was burning. Justin in his
shirt-sleeves was carrying out a dish.
‘Ah! they are dining; I will wait.’
He returned; she tapped at the window. He went out.
‘The key! the one for upstairs where he keeps the—‘
‘What?’
And he looked at her, astonished at the pallor of her face,
that stood out white against the black background of the
night. She seemed to him extraordinarily beautiful and
majestic as a phantom. Without understanding what she
wanted, he had the presentiment of something terrible.
But she went on quickly in a love voice; in a sweet, melt-
ing voice, ‘I want it; give it to me.’
As the partition wall was thin, they could hear the clatter

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