I shall not be able to come to Baden.  Excuse me from mentioning my reasons; you would perhaps think them miserable, but they determine me categorically.  Although I do not think that you will return to Paris as early as Saturday, the hurried character of our meeting, especially in the landscape surroundings of Baden, would be painful.  I had made arrangements to start to-night, and the resolution of resigning the pleasure of seeing you again costs me much.  Nevertheless, I think it preferable to wait for an opportunity more favourable to both of us, which, I hope, will occur soon.

B. was with me when your letter of August 10th arrived.  He came from Wiesbaden, where they were expecting you for a performance of “Lohengrin” (with Niemann).  By-the-bye, there will be no lack of “Tannhauser” and “Lohengrin” performances in these regions.  Be a little lenient and longsuffering with regard to their defects.  Do not misinterpret my stopping at home for the present; there is not an atom of laziness or egoism in it—­mats tout bien considere je dois faire ainsi, parceque cela vaut mieux pour vous—­and I feel convinced that, later on, you will agree with me.

Your

F. L.

Weymar, August 14th, 1860.

My gracious master, the Grand Duke, spoke of you lately with the most lively interest, and expressed his wish to see you here, to which I replied, that for that a special occasion would be necessary.  You should not forget, however, that he has more than once interceded for you with the King of Saxony by word and by letter.

308.

Paris, September 13th, 1860.

At last I find time and the proper mood for writing to you in a more collected manner than is usually the case.  My late brief letters left a debt to you unpaid.

The letter I received from you at Baden quite satisfied me, and I felt quite ashamed at having proposed so hurried, and to you so inconvenient, a meeting.  The matter simply came to this:—­

A longer excursion to Germany was on my part quite out of the question, and I had to abandon all hope of the long-desired proper visit to you for this year.  A brief interruption of my anything but pleasant stay in Paris was, on the other hand, very desirable to me.  I had promised my wife to fetch her, if possible, from Loden.  The Rhine I had never seen.  I was told at the Prussian Embassy that the Princess of Prussia would shortly arrive on the Rhine, and the Saxon ambassador told me that he would be very pleased, and that it would be agreeable to the King of Saxony also, if I were to thank the Princess for the interest she had taken in the decision finally made in my favour.  These various motives I developed into the plan of a very short tour to the Rhine, such as suited my limited finances.  One or two days more would have caused the most painful embarrassment to me.  I could of course not have thought of staying a day in Frankfort without thinking of the