Therese was the daughter of a noble house. Beethoven was welcome both
as teacher and guest in the most aristocratic circles of Vienna. The
noble men and women who figure in the dedications of his works were
friends, not merely patrons. Despite his uncouth manners and
appearance, his genius, up to the point at least when it took its
highest flights in the "Ninth Symphony" and the last quartets, was
appreciated; and he was a figure in Viennese society. The Brunswick
house was one of many that were open to him. The Brunswicks were art
lovers. Franz, the son of the house, was the composer's intimate
friend. The mother had all possible graciousness and charm, but with
it also a passionate pride in her family and her rank, a hauteur that
would have caused her to regard an alliance between Therese and
Beethoven as monstrous. Therese was an exceptional woman. She had an
oval, classic face, a lovely disposition, a pure heart and a finely
cultivated mind. The German painter, Peter Cornelius, said of her that
any one who spoke with her felt elevated and ennobled. The family was
of the right mettle. The Countess Blanka Teleki, who was condemned to
death for complicity in the Hungarian uprising of 1848, but whose
sentence was commuted to life imprisonment--she finally was released in
1858,--was Therese's niece, and is said to have borne a striking
likeness to her. It may be mentioned that Giulietta Guicciardi, of the
"Moonlight Sonata," was Therese's cousin. There seems no doubt that
the composer was attracted to Giulietta before he fell in love with his
"Immortal Beloved." That is why his biographers were so ready to
believe that the letter was addressed to the lady with the romantic
name and identified with one of his most romantic works.

Therese herself told Miriam that one day Giulietta, who had become the
affianced of Count Gallenberg, rushed into her room, threw herself at
her feet like a "stage princess," and cried out: "Counsel me, cold,