MY DEAR COUSIN:

My trip to Vienna, which I have put off again and again, at last has
to be made. As I must leave in the near future, I am asking you the
great favor of spending the summer here to superintend my household.
I am counting greatly on your good influence on my child, who has had
practically no education, although Miss Mina, my housekeeper, has of
course done her best, with the help of our good Esther, who reigns in
the kitchen. Old Martha, a former nurse of my poor dead wife, has done
more than anybody else. Of course one can hardly call it education,
and I have to blame myself for this neglect. As I am so busy with my
affairs, I do not see much of my child. Besides, I know extremely
little about bringing up little girls. There is no greater misfortune
than the loss of a mother, especially such a mother as my Cornelia.
It was terrible for my poor child to lose her at the tender age of
three. Please bring a good friend with you, so that you won't suffer
from solitude in this lonely place.

Please gladden me soon by your arrival, and oblige

Your sincere cousin,

FREDERICK HELLMUT.

That same evening, when Director Hellmut was sitting in the living
room with his daughter, he spoke of his hope that a cousin of his,
Miss Kitty Dorner, would come to stay in Iller-Stream while he was on
his trip to Vienna. He also told Cornelli to be glad of this prospect.