CHAPTER FOUR

Leon soon stopped seeing his friends and disregarded his work. He waited eagerly for her letters, and read and re-read them. He wrote to her. He thought about her often, and his longing for her only grew. One Saturday morning, he went to Yonville.

He arrived at the Bovary home. Charles answered the door, and seemed delighted to see young Leon. Madame was upstairs, and did not come down to greet him for quite some time.

He saw her alone that night.

She promised to find a way for them to meet, at least once a week regularly. Some money would soon be coming to her after her father-in-law's death. Yes, she would find a way.

During this time, Madame Bovary had again begun to play piano, although she had stopped playing a few years ago. Charles admired her musical abilities, and often listened contentedly to her play.

"Well done! Don't stop"

"No, it's awful! I need some lessons, but ... " she paused, "They're too expensive, at twenty francs a lesson."

"Yes, they are."

The next day, Charles came home, looking quite happy with himself. He told her he had found a teacher for just two and a half francs a time—from a famous teacher!"

She was not interested, and didn't play the piano that evening.

But, whenever Charles was nearby, she would look at her piano and say, "Oh, my poor piano!"

Finally, one day, Charles said to her, "If you'd like to begin lessons, I suppose that would be all right."

Once a week, she would go into Rouen to see her lover, although her poor husband believed she was going for piano lessons.

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