Tell me how matters stand."
"Pshaw! Briest, you always come back to the same things. We have
talked about and exchanged our views on this question more than a
dozen times, and yet you always come back and, in spite of your
pretended omniscience, ask me about it with the most dreadful naivete,
as though my eyes could penetrate any depth. What kind of notions have
you, anyhow, of a young wife, and more especially of your daughter? Do
you think that the whole situation is so plain? Or that I am an
oracle--I can't just recall the name of the person--or that I hold the
truth cut and dried in my hands, when Effi has poured out her heart to
me?--at least what is so designated. For what does pouring out one's
heart mean? After all, the real thing is kept back. She will take care
not to initiate me into her secrets. Besides, I don't know from whom
she inherited it, but she is--well, she is a very sly little person
and this slyness in her is the more dangerous because she is so very
lovable."
"So you do admit that--lovable. And good, too?"
"Good, too. That is, full of goodness of heart. I am not quite certain
about anything further. I believe she has an inclination to let
matters take their course and to console herself with the hope that
God will not call her to a very strict account."
"Do you think so?"
"Yes, I do. Furthermore I think she has improved in many ways. Her
character is what it is, but the conditions since she moved to Berlin
are much more favorable and they are becoming more and more devoted to
each other.
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