My dear Minna!
Tomorrow morning Karl Ritter is leaving for a visit to Dresden in order to congratulate his mother on her birthday on the 25th of this month. You can well imagine that I am taking the opportunity to congratulate you on our wedding day—even though you've had a lot of trouble with your bad husband. Karl has promised me to arrive on the 24th, if possible, and to go to see you at once in order to bring you my wedding gifts. Take them also for Christmas presents. It is very difficult here to send anything, and every time it takes a thousand errands and export duty on top of it. Karl shall smuggle it out. May God give him his blessing for it.
Well, then, a coat, all my own choice, specially made and the material selected. I hope it will take your fancy. You can't imagine anything more substantial and fine, and yet it looks discreet. The hood looks very nice; but you can also take it off if it is too hot for you; for that reason it is merely attached. It looks very well even without a hood.
And now the black satin dress I owe you—this time turned out to be a little more substantial than its predecessor. This I shall never ask to use as lining for a dressing gown.
Well, if only I've done it the way you want it. At least, dear Mutz, recognize the good will to make you happy. Don't spoil this hope for me and accept the presents in good grace!
Karl has found a photograph which also shows my palace. You will see my three windows and the bay window quite distinctly. Watch it sometimes, and I'll be looking out of it.
Today, on St. Mark's Square, a man again offered me a beautiful little dog. Only with difficulty could I part from it, and already the idea occurred to me to ask Karl to take it along for you. But it would sadden me too much to cause the good faithful Fips grief through such an addition to the family: certainly he would grieve if he were to get a successor in the house. As far as I'm concerned, I miss a little dog very much; and if for any reason I had believed or feared that I would not be coming back to you in the near future, I would have bought the little fellow for myself today. But you can see from that, dear Minna, how definitely I hope and how firmly I assume that I'll be with you again beginning next summer; for that very reason I'm not getting a dog so that Fips won't be unhappy.
I have nothing more to say to you today except that my recovery has been progressing rapidly. I'm in a really excellent mood for composing, and therefore I'm taking as good care of myself as I can in order to preserve it; for so much now depends on the completion of my work, in fact, the entire change in my existence. With Tristan—as you know—I return to Germany.
So take good care of yourself too; that's the most important thing with which you can make me happy. Pusinelli wrote to me giving me exact information about your illness and also an extraordinarily comforting consolation and real assurance, so that I see how understanding and sincerely concerned he is about your recovery. Be sure to follow his directions: obediently! I entreat you!
And if you want to give me a present too, then get me—at Kressner's—genuine Parisian snuff, two pounds. And you could also give me a nice cigar case for small cigars, as I always smoke them. Karl will bring it along.
And now write soon; keep yourself quiet, have hope and confidence!
Accept a thousand greetings and congratulations from your
Richard
Karl is also bringing you the score of my Rheingold. You should keep it for the time being until I write you where you should send it.
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner: The Burrell Collection, ed. John N. Burk (Macmillan, 1950), No. 197