pastry on the sly, he was very angry. He soon grew perfectly
miserable, and would fain have escaped, had not a certain feeling
of honour prevented him from doing so. The news reached him here
of the sudden death of a rich uncle, who had left a considerable
fortune to every member of Karl's family. His mother, in telling
him and me of the improvement in her position, declared that she
was now able to assure me the income which the two families of
Laussot and Ritter had offered me some time ago. Thus I stepped
into an annual income of two thousand four hundred marks for as
long as I required it, and into partnership with the Ritter
family.

This happy and encouraging turn of events made me decide to
complete my original sketch of the Nibelungen, and to bring it
out in our theatres without paying any regard to the
practicability of its various parts. In order to do this I felt
that I must free myself from all obligations to the management of
the Weimar theatre. I had already drawn six hundred marks salary
from this source, but Karl was enchanted to place this sum at my
disposal in order that I might return it. I sent the money back
to Weimar with a letter expressing my most grateful
acknowledgments to the management for their conduct towards me,
and at the same time I wrote to Liszt, giving him the fullest
particulars of my great plan, and explaining how I felt
absolutely compelled to carry it out.

Liszt, in his reply, told me how delighted he was to know that I
was now in a position to undertake such a remarkable work, which
he considered in every respect worthy of me if only on account of
its surprising originality. I began to breathe freely at last,