“Never mind the price!” she cried.

But they would, on the contrary, have to wait, to sound the fellow.  The thing was worth a journey, and, as she could not undertake it, he offered to go to the place to have an interview with Langlois.  On his return he announced that the purchaser proposed four thousand francs.

Emma was radiant at this news.

“Frankly,” he added, “that’s a good price.”

She drew half the sum at once, and when she was about to pay her account the shopkeeper said—­

“It really grieves me, on my word! to see you depriving yourself all at once of such a big sum as that.”

Then she looked at the bank-notes, and dreaming of the unlimited number of rendezvous represented by those two thousand francs, she stammered—­

“What! what!”

“Oh!” he went on, laughing good-naturedly, “one puts anything one likes on receipts.  Don’t you think I know what household affairs are?” And he looked at her fixedly, while in his hand he held two long papers that he slid between his nails.  At last, opening his pocket-book, he spread out on the table four bills to order, each for a thousand francs.

“Sign these,” he said, “and keep it all!”

She cried out, scandalised.

“But if I give you the surplus,” replied Monsieur Lheureux impudently, “is that not helping you?”

And taking a pen he wrote at the bottom of the account, “Received of Madame Bovary four thousand francs.”

“Now who can trouble you, since in six months you’ll draw the arrears for your cottage, and I don’t make the last bill due till after you’ve been paid?”

Emma grew rather confused in her calculations, and her ears tingled as if gold pieces, bursting from their bags, rang all round her on the floor.  At last Lheureux explained that he had a very good friend, Vincart, a broker at Rouen, who would discount these four bills.  Then he himself would hand over to madame the remainder after the actual debt was paid.

But instead of two thousand francs he brought only eighteen hundred, for the friend Vincart (which was only fair) had deducted two hundred francs for commission and discount.  Then he carelessly asked for a receipt.

“You understand—­in business—­sometimes.  And with the date, if you please, with the date.”

A horizon of realisable whims opened out before Emma.  She was prudent enough to lay by a thousand crowns, with which the first three bills were paid when they fell due; but the fourth, by chance, came to the house on a Thursday, and Charles, quite upset, patiently awaited his wife’s return for an explanation.

If she had not told him about this bill, it was only to spare him such domestic worries; she sat on his knees, caressed him, cooed to him, gave him a long enumeration of all the indispensable things that had been got on credit.

“Really, you must confess, considering the quantity, it isn’t too dear.”