" Soon thereafter they went to dinner
and at the table made the acquaintance of a Jutland family, opposite
them, whose daughter, Thora von Penz, was as pretty as a picture and
attracted immediately the attention and admiration of both Innstetten
and Effi. Effi could not stop looking at her large blue eyes and
flaxen blonde hair, and when they left the table an hour and a half
later the Penz family, who unfortunately had to leave Copenhagen the
same day, expressed the hope that they might have the privilege of
entertaining the young Prussian couple in the near future at Aggerhuus
Castle, some two miles from the Lym-Fiord. The invitation was accepted
by the Innstettens with little hesitation.
Thus passed the hours in the hotel. But that was not yet enough of a
good thing for this memorable day, which Effi enthusiastically
declared ought to be a red-letter day in the calendar. To fill her
measure of happiness to the full the evening brought a performance at
the Tivoli Theatre, an Italian pantomime, _Arlequin and Columbine_.
She was completely captivated by the little roguish tricks, and when
they returned to their hotel late in the evening she said: "Do you
know, Geert, I now feel that I am gradually coming to again. I will
not even mention beautiful Thora, but when I consider that this
morning Thorwaldsen and this evening Columbine--"
"Whom at bottom you liked better than Thorwaldsen--"
"To be frank, yes. I have a natural appreciation of such things.
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