[...] Just one word, I conjure you, to give me hope!—I am extremely unwell. I have found refuge here on Lake Zurich for the last ten days, with a family I used to know. Personally I hope to find shelter here till the end of this summer, and ultimately, no doubt, should attain peace of mind to take up that work for which I have suffered so much. But, as I am quite helpless in other respects, I lack assurance that my wife is provided for. Oh, could you but give me this comfort!—
Believe me, I know of no one to whom I can turn for this help but our dear Grand Duchess! That is how it is with me. But if you will and can give me the ease of mind which is indispensably necessary, send me a word of comfort! When last I wrote from Penzing at the beginning of March, I believe I said all I could say to bring my situation home to you. [...]
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner, Vol. 2, selected and ed. Wilhelm Altmann, trans. M. M. Bozman (J. M. Dent & Sons, 1927), No. 567