The wife of our concierge had entered into a sort of arrangement with us.  At first we had occasionally availed ourselves of her services, especially in the kitchen, also for brushing clothes, cleaning boots, and so on; but even the slight outlay that this involved was eventually too heavy for us, and after having dispensed with her services, Minna had to suffer the humiliation of doing the whole work of the household, even the most menial part of it, herself.  As we did not like to mention this to Brix, Minna was obliged, not only to do all the cooking and washing up, but even to clean our lodger’s boots as well.  What we felt most, however, was the thought of what the concierge and his wife would think of us; but we were mistaken, for they only respected us the more, though of course we could not avoid a little familiarity at times, Now and then, therefore, the man would have a chat with me on politics.  When the Quadruple Alliance against France had been concluded, and the situation under Thiers’ ministry was regarded as very critical, my concierge tried to reassure me one day by saying:  ’Monsieur, il y a quatre hommes en Europe qui s’appellent:  le roi Louis Philippe, l’empereur d’Autriche, l’empereur de Russie, le roi de Prusse; eh bien, ces quatre sont des c...; et nous n’aurons pas la guerre.’

Of an evening I very seldom lacked entertainment; but the few faithful friends who came to see me had to put up with my going on scribbling music till late in the night.  Once they prepared a touching surprise for me in the form of a little party which they arranged for New Year’s Eve (1840).  Lehrs arrived at dusk, rang the bell, and brought a leg of veal; Kietz brought some rum, sugar, and a lemon; Pecht supplied a goose; and Anders two bottles of the champagne with which he had been presented by a musical instrument-maker in return for a flattering article he had written about his pianos.  Bottles from that stock were produced only on very great occasions.  I soon threw the confounded Favorita aside, therefore, and entered enthusiastically into the fun.

We all had to assist in the preparations, to light the fire in the salon, give a hand to my wife in the kitchen, and get what was wanted from the grocer.  The supper developed into a dithyrambic orgy.  When the champagne was drunk, and the punch began to produce its effects, I delivered a fiery speech which so provoked the hilarity of the company that it seemed as though it would never end.  I became so excited that I first mounted a chair, and then, by way of heightening the effect, at last stood on the table, thence to preach the maddest gospel of the contempt of life together with a eulogy on the South American Free States.  My charmed listeners eventually broke into such fits of sobs and laughter, and were so overcome, that we had to give them all shelter for the night—­their condition making it impossible for them to reach their own homes in safety.  On New Year’s Day (1841) I was again busy with my Favorita.