He spoke further in this vein, indulging in all sorts of anti-bureaucratic remarks, and excusing himself from time to time with a blunt “I beg your pardon, Innstetten,” which he interjected in a variety of ways.  The Baron mechanically nodded assent, but in reality paid little attention to what was said.  He turned his gaze again and again, as though spellbound, to the wild grape-vine twining about the window, of which Briest had just spoken, and as his thoughts were thus engaged, it seemed to him as though he saw again the girls’ sandy heads among the vines and heard the saucy call, “Come, Effi.”

He did not believe in omens and the like; on the contrary, he was far from entertaining superstitious ideas.  Nevertheless he could not rid his mind of the two words, and while Briest’s peroration rambled on and on he had the constant feeling that the little incident was something more than mere chance.

Innstetten, who had taken only a short vacation, departed the following morning, after promising to write every day.  “Yes, you must do that,” Effi had said, and these words came from her heart.  She had for years known nothing more delightful than, for example, to receive a large number of birthday letters.  Everybody had to write her a letter for that day.  Such expressions as “Gertrude and Clara join me in sending you heartiest congratulations,” were tabooed.  Gertrude and Clara, if they wished to be considered friends, had to see to it that they sent individual letters with separate postage stamps, and, if possible, foreign ones, from Switzerland or Carlsbad, for her birthday came in the traveling season.

Innstetten actually wrote every day, as he had promised.  The thing that made the receipt of his letters particularly pleasurable was the circumstance that he expected in return only one very short letter every week.  This he received regularly and it was always full of charming trifles, which never failed to delight him.  Mrs. von Briest undertook to carry on the correspondence with her future son-in-law whenever there was any serious matter to be discussed, as, for example, the settling of the details of the wedding, and questions of the dowry and the furnishing of the new home.  Innstetten was now nearly three years in office, and his house in Kessin, while not splendidly furnished, was nevertheless very well suited to his station, and it seemed advisable to gain from correspondence with him some idea of what he already had, in order not to buy anything superfluous.  When Mrs. von Briest was finally well enough informed concerning all these details it was decided that the mother and daughter should go to Berlin, in order, as Briest expressed himself, to buy up the trousseau for Princess Effi.