Part 1: Chapter 2 Summary

The Bovary's are awakened in the middle of the night by a messenger asking Charles to come set a broken leg at Les Bertaux, an eighteen-mile ride from Tostes. He has been called to the house of Monsieur Rouault, a well-to-do farmer. Upon his arrival at the farm, he is taken up to meet the patient. Charles is thankful that the break is relatively simple and easily corrected. He is then invited to dine with Monsieur Rouault's daughter before he returns home. Thus, the reader is introduced to the novel's title character Emma.

Emma is described very sensually from the start. Charles notices all the feminine refinements she possesses. As he looks for his riding whip, he brushes against her, and they both blush. Instead of returning to Bertaux three days later, as promised, he returns the next day and then...