Chapter 9

Rodolphe resolves to wait awhile before seeing Emma again and then a hunting trip further delays him.  Six weeks later he finally visits her.  He plies her with romantic platitudes and she is overwhelmed by the force of his passion.  Charles, who suspects nothing, interrupts them.  Rodolphe greets the officier de sainté as docteur which flatters Charles' pride.  Rodolphe suggests that horseback riding would be good for Madame Bovary's health and Charles, who is worried about his wife, readily agrees.  Rodolphe offers to lend her a horse but Emma refuses.  After Rodolphe departs Charles convinces his wife to accept by offering to buy her a riding habit.  When the habit arrives Charles writes to Monsieur Boulanger that his wife was at his disposal and the next day Rodolphe arrives with two horses.  As they ride out of the village Homais yells to the pair, "Accidents happen so quickly," and "Your horses may be more spirited than you know."  They ride to a wooded hill overlooking the town and Emma notices that the wretched village looks exceedingly small.  They ride into the forest, dismount and continue on foot.  Emma pleads exhaustion but Rodolphe urges her onward.  They come to an area recently cleared of saplings and while they sit on a log Rodolphe gently woos her.  She resists and insists that what he asks for is impossible.  She asks to return to the horses and he reluctantly acquiesces but before they reach the animals he convinces her to walk to the edge of a nearby pond where, weeping and filled with emotion, she surrenders and gives herself to him.  Afterward they ride back to the village and Emma notices that though the outside world has not changed she feels very different.  She is distracted at dinner and hardly notices when Charles tells her that he has bought her a horse.  After dinner he leaves to see patients and Emma goes to her room and thinks of Rodolphe.  She repeats joyfully "I have a lover!"  She sees herself as a heroine in a novel.  Rodolphe and Emma meet the next day and spend the afternoon in a rude hut in the forest.  They write to each other every day and one morning when Charles has left before daybreak she runs to La Huchette to spend the early morning with her lover.  From then on, whenever Charles leaves early, she dares the journey to the estate.  One morning, however, Rodolphe tells her that her visits are foolhardy and she is risking her reputation.