Chapter summary
After six weeks of absence (he had decided not to return right away, went off hunting, and, fearing afterward that it was too late, convinced himself that her impatience would make her love him even more), Rodolphe Boulanger returns and declares himself to Emma Bovary, who is alone. He says he forced himself to stay away and that one does not fight against destiny, and she hears someone speak this way for the first time. Charles Bovary, who arrives in the middle of the scene, supports the idea that Emma should ride a horse for her health; she refuses the horse offered, says it would be strange and, in the end, claims she lacks a riding habit, and Charles orders one made: the outfit decides it.
At the beginning of October the two ride to the forest. Emma resists, says it is impossible, asks for the horses, and is startled by Rodolphe's smile and open arms; she gives him her arm when he changes his tone; after he speaks of her as a madonna on a pedestal and leads her to the edge of a pond, she says she has no sense in listening to him, leans on his shoulder, and yields. Alone before the mirror, she repeats "I have a lover! A lover!", savoring the idea as if it were the arrival of a new puberty, and at last sees herself within the type of passionate woman she had so envied in novels.
The next day they meet in a clog-maker's hut, and afterward they exchange letters hidden in a crack of the terrace, and Emma goes at dawn to his house at La Huchette, until Rodolphe warns her that the visits compromise them.
Analysis
Emma resists in the forest, says it is impossible, asks for the horses, is startled by Rodolphe's smile and open arms. When he changes his expression, she gives him her arm; after the speech about the madonna on a pedestal, at the edge of the pond, she says she has no sense in listening to him and leans on his shoulder. The victory belongs to the change of register: the man who frightens her becomes the one who respects her, and the speech of adoration makes the next gesture seem to be hers.
Rodolphe's return, after the six weeks, is a matter of cold calculation, not impulse: he waits for the effect of absence to work in his favor.
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