ave him a slap with her fan,
but accompanied the blow with such a gracious look that he saw no
occasion to change the tone.

These were heavenly days for all three, no less for Cousin Dagobert
than for the ladies, for he was a past master in the art of escorting
and always knew how quickly to compromise little differences. Of the
differences of opinion to be expected between mother and daughter
there was never any lack during the whole time, but fortunately they
never came out in connection with the purchases to be made. Whether
they bought a half dozen or three dozen of a particular thing, Effi
was uniformly satisfied, and when they talked, on the way home, about
the prices of the articles bought, she regularly confounded the
figures. Mrs. von Briest, ordinarily so critical, even toward her own
beloved child, not only took this apparent lack of interest lightly,
she even recognized in it an advantage. "All these things," said she
to herself, "do not mean much to Effi. Effi is unpretentious; she
lives in her own ideas and dreams, and when one of the Hohenzollern
princesses drives by and bows a friendly greeting from her carriage
that means more to Effi than a whole chest full of linen."

That was all correct enough, and yet only half the truth. Effi cared
but little for the possession of more or less commonplace things, but
when she walked up and down Unter den Linden with her mother, and,
after inspecting the most beautiful show-windows, went into Demuth's
to buy a number of things for the honeymoon tour of Italy, her true,
character showed itself. Only the most elegant articles found favor in
her sight, and, if she could not have the best, she forewent the
second-best, because this second meant nothing to her. Beyond
question, she was able to forego,--in that her mother was right,--and
in this ability to forego there was a certain amount of
unpretentiousness. But when, by way of exception, it became a question
of really possessing a thing, it always had to be something out of the
ordinary. In this regard she was pretentious.

CHAPTER IV

Cousin Dagobert was at the station when the ladies took the train for
Hohen-Cremmen. The Berlin sojourn had been a succession of happy days,
chiefly because there had been no suffering from disagreeable and, one
might almost say, inferior relatives. Immediately after their arrival
Effi had said: "This time we must remain incognito, so far as Aunt
Therese is concerned. It