As Herr and Madame Wesendonck seem to have abandoned that footing of intimacy whereon they would drop in on us of an evening uninvited, I suppose we must ceremoniously inquire whether they perhaps could deign to take us unawares to-day, or — in case certain Professors have been given this day for imparting their learning to the gentleman and lady — whether we might expect a similar surprise to-morrow?
Source: Richard Wagner to Mathilde Wesendonck, trans. William Ashton Ellis (Charles Scribner's Sons, 1905), No. 15