In his extremity the exile now bethought him of the kind-hearted lady
who had offered him an asylum in case of need. Frau Henriette von
Wolzogen was a widow of humble means who had several sons in the
academy at Stuttgart. She had conceived a liking for Schiller, and
although there was some danger that her role of protectress might, if
discovered, offend the Duke of Wuerttemberg, she did not hesitate to
keep her word. The necessary arrangements were soon made, and late in
November Schiller bade farewell to Streicher and set out for Bauerbach,
a little village near Meiningen, to occupy the vacant cottage that had
been placed at his disposal. He still kept the name of 'Dr.
Ritter',--not so much from the fear of arrest, probably, as from a
natural desire to remain in obscurity until he had won a position which
would justify his flight in the eyes of the world, and more
particularly of his father. While at Oggersheim he had occasionally
sent out misleading letters, in which he spoke of journeys here and
there, of remarkable prosperity and of brilliant prospects in Leipzig,
Berlin and St. Petersburg. But his family knew of his whereabouts, and
before leaving the Palatinate he contrived a meeting with his mother
and his sister Christophine, who drove over to a half-way village to
see him. He arrived at Bauerbach on the 7th of December, and wrote thus
to Streicher on the following day: 'At last I am here, happy and
contented that I am actually ashore. I found everything in excess of my
wishes; needs no longer trouble me, and no annoyances from outside
shall disturb my poetic dreams and my idealistic illusions.'--And in
this quiet retreat, well supplied by the villagers with the necessaries
of physical existence, he did actually find for the next seven months
all that he needed. There were books, friendship, leisure,
peace,--until the peace was disturbed by a maiden's eyes.