[...] I was touched by your decision, and by Natalie's letter too. Once again, I deplore that she of all people has not been able to persuade herself to be permanently a faithful and pleasant attendant to you. But all this is a question of temperamental dispositions which are simply not to be changed. The Berne project vexed me chiefly because of the select and expensive pension. [...] Let Natalie adhere to her wish, then, to train herself as a governess, but let her do so at home. I should be sorry if she were to go back to the rough social conditions of Zwickau merely on account of the small cost of her keep; and you, my dear Minna, found the idea repellent yourself. Accordingly, I wish Natalie to stay in Dresden and take rooms with Mme. Schiffner, or close by, arranging with Mme. Schiffner for her board. Then she can look about her for good tuition. [...] I will defray the full cost of all this until Natalie gets a post which will keep her entirely. So, in any event, she is to spend a few years now in learning something thoroughly; this will stand her in good stead all her life and improve her position. If she should have an opportunity of marrying and the marriage appear impossible simply by reason of her poverty, I pledge myself herewith to give her a good trousseau, together with 200 thalers a year for life, which might suffice a decent man as dowry.
Accordingly, from to-day on I assume full responsibility for Natalie, so that she may know she is fully provided for and is dependent on no one in this world but myself. [...]
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner, Vol. 2, selected and ed. Wilhelm Altmann, trans. M. M. Bozman (J. M. Dent & Sons, 1927), No. 435