“The one you’ve on is good enough for the house, but you want another for calls.  I saw that the very moment that I came in.  I’ve the eye of an American!”

He did not send the stuff; he brought it.  Then he came again to measure it; he came again on other pretexts, always trying to make himself agreeable, useful, “enfeoffing himself,” as Homais would have said, and always dropping some hint to Emma about the power of attorney.  He never mentioned the bill; she did not think of it.  Charles, at the beginning of her convalescence, had certainly said something about it to her, but so many emotions had passed through her head that she no longer remembered it.  Besides, she took care not to talk of any money questions.  Madame Bovary seemed surprised at this, and attributed the change in her ways to the religious sentiments she had contracted during her illness.

But as soon as she was gone, Emma greatly astounded Bovary by her practical good sense.  It would be necessary to make inquiries, to look into mortgages, and see if there were any occasion for a sale by auction or a liquidation.  She quoted technical terms casually, pronounced the grand words of order, the future, foresight, and constantly exaggerated the difficulties of settling his father’s affairs so much, that at last one day she showed him the rough draft of a power of attorney to manage and administer his business, arrange all loans, sign and endorse all bills, pay all sums, etc.  She had profited by Lheureux’s lessons.  Charles naively asked her where this paper came from.

“Monsieur Guillaumin”; and with the utmost coolness she added, “I don’t trust him overmuch.  Notaries have such a bad reputation.  Perhaps we ought to consult—­we only know—­no one.”

“Unless Leon—­” replied Charles, who was reflecting.  But it was difficult to explain matters by letter.  Then she offered to make the journey, but he thanked her.  She insisted.  It was quite a contest of mutual consideration.  At last she cried with affected waywardness—­

“No, I will go!”

“How good you are!” he said, kissing her forehead.

The next morning she set out in the “Hirondelle” to go to Rouen to consult Monsieur Leon, and she stayed there three days.

Chapter Three

They were three full, exquisite days—­a true honeymoon.  They were at the Hotel-de-Boulogne, on the harbour; and they lived there, with drawn blinds and closed doors, with flowers on the floor, and iced syrups were brought them early in the morning.

Towards evening they took a covered boat and went to dine on one of the islands.  It was the time when one hears by the side of the dockyard the caulking-mallets sounding against the hull of vessels.  The smoke of the tar rose up between the trees; there were large fatty drops on the water, undulating in the purple colour of the sun, like floating plaques of Florentine bronze.