in the future? And do I really wish to succeed? In the meantime,
at any rate, I do not. . . . And yet it must come in time." The
letters number twelve in all, and are couched in a tone of sentimental
regret for the brief, bright summer days of their acquaintanceship.
The keynote is struck in the inscription on the back of a photograph
which he gave her before they parted: _An die Maisonne eines
Septemberlebens--in Tirol_,(1) 27/9/89. In her album he had written
the words:


Hohes, schmerzliches Gluck--
um das Unerreichbare zu ringen!(2)


in which we may, if we like, see a foreshadowing of the Solness
frame of mind. In the fifth letter of the series he refers to her
as "an enigmatic Princess"; in the sixth he twice calls her "my dear
Princess"; but this is the only point at which the letters quite
definitely and unmistakably point forward to _The Master Builder_.
In the ninth letter (February 6, 1890) he says: "I feel it a matter of
conscience to end, or at any rate, to restrict, our correspondence."
The tenth letter, six months later, is one of kindly condolence on
the death of the young lady's father. In the eleventh (very short)
note, dated December 30, 1890, he acknowledges some small gift, but
says: "Please, for the present, do not write me again. . . . I will
soon send you my new play [_Hedda Gabler_]. Receive it in friendship,
but in silence!" This injunction she apparently obeyed. When _The
Master Builder_ appeared, it would seem that Ibsen did not even send
her a copy of the play; and we gather that he was rather annoyed when
she sent him a photograph signed "Princess of Orangia." On his