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