:23:03
He's the best of husbands...
:23:05
a bit too old and too good for her.
:23:09
But now the worst is over.
:23:13
That was the expression she used...
:23:15
and it rather surprised me.
:23:20
Why? lt may not be
the best of expressions, but....
:23:24
There's something behind it...
:23:27
which she wanted to allude to.
:23:31
You think so?
:23:33
Yes, Briest.
:23:35
You think butter wouldn't melt in her mouth.
:23:39
But you're wrong.
:23:43
She likes to drift with the current...
:23:47
and if the current is good, so is she.
:23:52
Fighting and resistance
are not her strong points.
:24:01
She recaIIed the day...
:24:03
scarceIy two years before...
:24:05
when the visitor had come...
:24:07
and she had cIimbed
the steps beside the bench...
:24:09
and an hour Iater she was betrothed.
:24:12
Images of her Iife in Kessin
rose unbidden before her inward eye.
:24:18
There was Crampas coming to greet her...
:24:20
then Roswitha with the baby.
:24:23
She took the chiId,
heId her up and kissed her.
:24:26
''That was the first day,
when everything had begun.''
:24:28
The nearby cIock began to strike...
:24:31
and Effi counted the strokes.
:24:33
''10.:00.
:24:35
''This time tomorrow, I'II be in BerIin.
:24:37
''It's our wedding anniversary.
:24:40
''He'II say nice things,
an affectionate word perhaps...
:24:43
''and I shaII sit and Iisten...
:24:45
''with guiIt weighing on my souI.
:24:48
''Yes, it is there...
:24:50
''but does it weigh on my souI?
No, it doesn't...
:24:53
''and that's what frightens me about myseIf.
:24:56
''What weighs on me is something different.
:24:59
''Fear, a mortaI dread...