CHAPTER FOUR

The guests arrived early. All the relatives on both sides had been invited. The ladies wore their best dresses and matching hats, with gold watch-chains. The boys were dressed like their fathers, and looked uncomfortable in their new clothes. Many of them were wearing the first pair of boots they had ever had.

The wedding began. The violinist walked first, followed by the bride and groom. Rouault, with a new hat on his head, walked with the groom's mother. Monsieur Bovary senior hated such events, as well as the guests present.

The wedding dinner had been set. On the table sat several dishes of choice pork sausages, chicken and buttered vegetables. Bottles of brandy, cider, and wine stood at the corners of the table. Every glass had already been filled to the top with wine. At dessert, the cook brought out the tall, elegant wedding cake, and the guests cried out in surprise.

The meal went on through late in the evening. When they got tired of sitting, they went for a walk around the farm, after which they returned to their seats. Towards the end, some of the guests were asleep in their chairs. But the coffee soon arrived to awaken them. Soon, the guests left, laughing merrily as they went.

The elder Madame Bovary had not spoken a word all day. The bride had not asked her opinion on the wedding dress, or about the wedding dinner. She went to bed early. Instead of following her, her husband stayed awake to smoke cigars till the morning.

Next morning, Charles was in perfect happiness. He called Emma "my wife," spoke to her tenderly, kept asking everyone where she was, looked for her everywhere, and frequently took her out into the yard, where he would put his arms around her waist and kiss her gently.

Two days after the wedding, husband and wife left Les Bertaux. Charles had to return to his patients. They said their good-byes to Monsieur Rouault. There he kissed his daughter for the last time. As he watched the two depart, he remembered his own wedding, his early-married life, and his wife's first pregnancy. He had been pretty happy himself, that day he took his wife from her father and brought her home ... How long ago it was, all that.

Monsieur and Madame Bovary arrived at Tostes at about six o'clock. The servant greeted them, and apologized for not having dinner ready, and suggested that Madame look over her new house.

(end of section)