over and over, High Lord—­what does that mean?  That is misleading and it distorts the whole situation.  Innstetten is unquestionably a fine specimen of the race, a man of character and energy, but, when it comes to that, the Briests are not of base parentage either.  We are indisputably a historic family—­let me add:  ’Thank God’—­and the Innstettens are not.  The Innstettens are merely old, belong to the oldest nobility, if you like; but what does oldest nobility mean?  I will not permit that a von Briest, or even a figure in the wedding-eve performance, whom everybody must recognize as the counterpart of our Effi—­I will not permit, I say, that a Briest either in person or through a representative speak incessantly of ‘High Lord.’  Certainly not, unless Innstetten were at least a disguised Hohenzollern; there are some, you know.  But he is not one and hence I can only repeat that it distorts the whole situation.”

For a long time von Briest really held fast to this view with remarkable tenacity.  But after the second rehearsal, at which Kaethchen was half in costume, wearing a tight-fitting velvet bodice, he was so carried away as to remark:  “Kaethchen lies there beautifully,” which turn was pretty much the equivalent of a surrender, or at least prepared the way for one.  That all these things were kept secret from Effi goes without saying.  With more curiosity on her part, however, it would have been wholly impossible.  But she had so little desire to find out about the preparations made and the surprises planned that she declared to her mother with all emphasis:  “I can wait and see,” and, when Mrs. von Briest still doubted her, Effi closed the conversation with repeated assurances that it was really true and her mother might just as well believe it.  And why not?  It was all just a theatrical performance, and prettier and more poetical than Cinderella, which she had seen on the last evening in Berlin—­no, on second thought, it couldn’t be prettier and more poetical.  In this play she herself would have been glad to take a part, even if only for the purpose of making a chalk mark on the back of the ridiculous boarding-school teacher.  “And how charming in the last act is ‘Cinderella’s awakening as a princess,’ or at least as a countess!  Really, it was just like a fairy tale.”  She often spoke in this way, was for the most part more exuberant than before, and was vexed only at the constant whisperings and mysterious conduct of her girl friends.  “I wish they felt less important and paid more attention to me.  When the time comes they will only forget their lines and I shall have to be in suspense on their account and be ashamed that they are my friends.”