Then the city calls began, some of which were made in a
closed carriage, for the rains came just right to make this unusual
procedure seem the sensible thing to do. When all the city calls had
been made the country nobility came next in order. These took longer,
as in most cases the distances were so great that it was not possible
to make more than one visit on any one day. First they went to the
Borckes' in Rothenmoor, then to Morgnitz, Dabergotz, and Kroschentin,
where they made their duty call at the Ahlemanns', the Jatzkows', and
the Grasenabbs'. Further down the list came, among other families,
that of Baron von Gueldenklee in Papenhagen. The impression that Effi
received was everywhere the same. Mediocre people, whose friendliness
was for the most part of an uncertain character, and who, while
pretending to speak of Bismarck and the Crown Princess, were in
reality merely scrutinizing Effi's dress, which some considered too
pretentious for so youthful a woman, while others looked upon it as
too little suited to a lady of social position. Everything about her,
they said, betrayed the Berlin school,--sense in external matters and
a remarkable degree of uncertainty and embarrassment in the discussion
of great problems. At the Borckes', and also at the homes in Morgnitz
and Dabergotz, she had been declared "infected with rationalism," but
at the Grasenabbs' she was pronounced point-blank an "atheist." To be
sure, the elderly Mrs. Grasenabb, _nee_ Stiefel, of Stiefelstein in
South Germany, had made a weak attempt to save Effi at least for
deism.
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