Dear Fräulein Bertha,
I asked you last time to come to some arrangement whereby you could wait until the end of August. I still hope to be able to send you everything by the end of this month: but it is possible that it will be September. I cannot possibly press for payment of the monies which I am expecting around that time; I should only cause myself inestimable harm. However, I have taken account of all this in my calculations, so that you will receive everything in the very near future: but, as I say, it may be September, and I should like to prepare you for that possibility. If these delays cause you sacrifices, I shall compensate you for any loss, you can certainly count upon me to do so. I shall be coming to Vienna for a few days around that time and shall see you then. Rely upon it! -
I can also see now that in future I cannot, and may not, expect any further outlay of such magnitude on your part. You yourself misled me here by depicting this as easier for you than it is. - Well, all this shall be sorted out within the next few days, and, I may add, it shall not be allowed to happen again.
And so: I shall be seeing you soon. Until then, I remain,
your devoted servant,
Rich. Wagner.
Source: Selected Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Stewart Spencer and Barry Millington (W. W. Norton & Company, 1988), No. 331