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, sec. She had profited by Lheureux's lessons. Charles naively asked her where this paper came from.
Notaries have such a bad reputation.
But it was difficult to explain matters by letter. Then she offered to make the journey, but he thanked her. It was quite a contest of mutual consideration.