Note that when Mariequita inquires whether the young lovers are married, Robert laughs when he replies, "Of course not." For such passion to occur within the stable (and adult) institution of marriage seems unthinkable to him. This attitude echoes Edna's own feeling: Chapter 7 reveals that Edna took "some unaccountable satisfaction that no trace of passion" was found in her marriage, "threatening its dissolution" with passion's instability or whimsy.
Whimsy underlies the growing connection between Edna and Robert. They plan to steal away by themselves to Grande Terre and find pirate treasure with the help of the Gulf spirit captivated by Edna — a distinctly romantic venture as evidenced by Robert's blushing face. Edna's insistence that they take the pirate gold and "throw it to the four winds, for the fun of seeing the golden specks fly" represents the ultimate devotion to capricious pleasure. Their conversation reveals that Edna has found a willing partner to indulge her love of sensuality.
Edna's overwhelming need in Chapter 8 to "quit the stifling atmosphere of the church and reach the open air" is symbolic of her increasing disinterest in meeting the demands of convention.
Note that as Edna and Robert make their way to Madame Antoine's, the text has a marked increase in visual and kinesthetic language, as if to contrast their day together away from their families with the soporific church or with the subculture left on Grand Isle. Chopin uses imagery more strongly now than previously in the novel to convey a sense of the Chênière's sensual appeal: "little gray, weather-beaten houses nestled peacefully among the orange trees," a fence "made of sea-drift," the "big four-posted bed, snow white" and holding the "sweet country odor of laurel."
