But towards the end of September something extraordinary
fell upon her life; she was invited by the Marquis
d’Andervilliers to Vaubyessard.
Secretary of State under the Restoration, the Marquis,
anxious to re-enter political life, set about preparing
for his candidature to the Chamber of Deputies long
beforehand. In the winter he distributed a great
deal of wood, and in the Conseil General always enthusiastically
demanded new roads for his arrondissement. During
the dog-days he had suffered from an abscess, which
Charles had cured as if by miracle by giving a timely
little touch with the lancet. The steward sent
to Tostes to pay for the operation reported in the
evening that he had seen some superb cherries in the
doctor’s little garden. Now cherry trees
did not thrive at Vaubyessard; the Marquis asked Bovary
for some slips; made it his business to thank his
personally; saw Emma; thought she had a pretty figure,
and that she did not bow like a peasant; so that he
did not think he was going beyond the bounds of condescension,
nor, on the other hand, making a mistake, in inviting
the young couple.
On Wednesday at three o’clock, Monsieur and
Madame Bovary, seated in their dog-cart, set out for
Vaubyessard, with a great trunk strapped on behind
and a bonnet-box in front of the apron. Besides
these Charles held a bandbox between his knees.
They arrived at nightfall, just as the lamps in the
park were being lit to show the way for the carriages.
Chapter Eight
The chateau, a modern building in Italian style, with
two projecting wings and three flights of steps, lay
at the foot of an immense green-sward, on which some
cows were grazing among groups of large trees set
out at regular intervals, while large beds of arbutus,
rhododendron, syringas, and guelder roses bulged out
their irregular clusters of green along the curve
of the gravel path. A river flowed under a bridge;
through the mist one could distinguish buildings with
thatched roofs scattered over the field bordered by
two gently sloping, well timbered hillocks, and in
the background amid the trees rose in two parallel
lines the coach houses and stables, all that was left
of the ruined old chateau.
Charles’s dog-cart pulled up before the middle
flight of steps; servants appeared; the Marquis came
forward, and, offering his arm to the doctor’s
wife, conducted her to the vestibule.
It was paved with marble slabs, was very lofty, and
the sound of footsteps and that of voices re-echoed
through it as in a church.
Opposite rose a straight staircase, and on the left
a gallery overlooking the garden led to the billiard
room, through whose door one could hear the click
of the ivory balls. As she crossed it to go to
the drawing room, Emma saw standing round the table
men with grave faces, their chins resting on high
cravats. They all wore orders, and smiled silently
as they made their strokes.
