[Innstetten could see by Effi's letters from Ems that Mrs. Zwicker was
not the right kind of a companion for her and he longed for her to
come back to him. As the end of her sojourn at the watering place
approached, preparations were made to welcome her on her return home.
A "W," made of forget-me-nots, was to be hung up and some verses
composed by a friend of the family were to be spoken by Annie. One day
when Annie was returning from school Roswitha went out to meet her and
was challenged by her to a race up the stairs. When Annie reached the
top she stumbled and fell upon a scraper, cutting an ugly gash in her
forehead. Roswitha and Johanna washed the wound with cold water and
decided to tie it up with the long bandage once used to bind the
mother's sprained ankle. In their search for the bandage they broke
open the lock to the sewing table drawers, which they began to empty
of their contents. Among other things they took out a small package of
letters tied up with a red silk cord. Before they had ended the search
Innstetten came home. He examined the wound and sent for Dr.
Rummschüttel. After scolding Annie and telling her what she must do
till her mother came home, he sat down with her to dine and promised
to read her a letter just received from her mother.]