CHAPTER FIVE
It was a snowy Sunday afternoon in February. They had allMonsieur and Madame Bovary, Homais and Monsieur Leongone together to visit an old factory in the valley a mile and a half from Yonville. The chemist brought two of his children, and Justin came along to take care of them.
The factory was unfinished; the sky could be seen through the roof, as it had many large holes. Homais explained how important the factory was going to be, with the strength of the floor and thickness of the walls.
Emma was standing with Homais. She turned around; there stood Charles, looking stupid. Even his face annoyed her. As she watched her husband, Leon came to stand next to her. His face looked soft and loving.
The weather was getting quite cool; they turned back towards Yonville. Madame Bovary did not go with Charles to their neighbors' that evening. When he had gone and she was alone, she remembered the great differences between her awkward husband and the charming Leon. She said over and over again:
"Charming, yes charming ... And in love?" she asked herself. "In love with whom ... with me!"
When Charles came in at midnight, she pretended to be asleep, but then asked about what had happened during the evening as he got into bed.
"Monsieur Leon," he said, "left us early."
She had to smile, and she fell asleep; her heart was content.
The next evening, Emma had her dinner in her bedroom, by the fire. She was very satisfied with everything. She heard someone coming upstairs. It was Leon. She quickly picked up her sewing to look busy when he came in. She said nothing, and he remained silent, wondering about her thoughts.
"Poor boy!" she was thinking.
"Why is she angry with me?" he was wondering.
Later, he said that he would have to leave for Rouen for business in a few days.
"He is so kind!" she thought to herself. She looked up at the clock. Charles was late; she began to worry.
Leon liked Monsieur Bovary, but Emma's discontent surprised and worried him. He continued to speak fondly of him, however. Emma said little during their conversation.
It was the same on the following days. Her talk, her manner, everything about her was different. She became more interested in her housework and family. She spent more time with her daughter, Berthe, and declared that she loved children. When Charles came home every night, she was sitting near the door waiting for him. She no longer hated taking walks in the garden with her husband. Charles' suggestions were always accepted, even if she disagreed.
One evening, Leon was dining at the Bovarys', when he noticed Madame Bovary's new interest in her husband and child. She was quite attentive to her daughter that evening, and was seen leaning over her chair to kiss her husband tenderly.
"I must be crazy!" Leon said to himself, as he watched Madame Bovary's new behavior. "How shall I attract her?"
She looked so in love with her family, so unreachable, that he stopped pursuing her completely, and gave up all hope of a love between he and Emma.
Emma grew thinner, and her cheeks paled. She was so sad and quiet, sweet, but so distant. Other people noticed the change in her behavior, as well.
Housewives admired her for her talents, the patients for her good manners and the poor for her kindness. But within her, she was filled with desire, anger, and hatred. She was in love with Leon; and she remained distant from him so he, too, would continue to love her, just as he had. Leon never knew, however, that when he would leave her, she would immediately get up to watch him through the window. She thought the chemist's wife was a lucky woman, to be sleeping in the same home with him. She would have been glad if Leon knew she was in love with him, but her fear kept her from telling him. She wondered if she had been too distant. To distract her from thinking of him, she would think about her lack of fortune, the clothes she did not have, or the smallness of her house.
To make it more difficult for her, Charles did not know she was suffering. He believed that he made her happy, which greatly upset Emma. And so, he became the center of her anger. And all the while, she smiled, saying that she was very happy, pretending to be so.
She often had thoughts, however, of leaving the town with Leon to begin a new life far away, but she knew she could never leave. Instead, she cried all day.
"Why do you not tell your husband?" asked the maid, as she saw Emma crying.
"Don't say anything, you'll only worry him."
"Ah, yes!" Felicite said. "You are quite similar to my friend. She would go off by herself to cry and cry ... People have told me that she stopped crying when she got married, however."
"But with me," replied Emma, "it didn't start till I was married."
(end of section)