Dearest Friend!
At last the confusion of the past few days begins to unravel itself! I am astonished how difficult it is to obtain accuracy even from clear-headed business men.
I shall report to you in time verbally into what a state of perplexity I have been thrown by incredible thoughtlessness and ignorance, as well as fantastic presumption not based on reality. Enough! No one has lost a penny by me or through me.
I send you herewith a cheque for seven hundred pounds, and beg you to place me on the subscription list with ten thousand marks, and to pay this sum at once to the most pressing creditor—the remainder of the London receipts to be placed at my disposal.
The result of the London subscription will be made known to us in a short time.
Now, don't be angry with me for my recent violence. It was really high time the singers should be paid; and the twelve hundred pounds was to be employed first of all for this purpose.
It was announced to me that only twelve thousand marks had been returned by you, and that the bank would not pay this to me without your special instruction. The first report (incorrect) caused the letter; the second, the telegram. I soon perceived the error in regard to the size of your remittance.
Therefore I beg for written absolution! I have reached the extreme point and could literally jump out of my skin at any moment. . . .
I thank you warmly for the good birthday wish; it delighted me greatly (on this gloomy day).
To-morrow evening we start for Ems, where we expect to arrive on the evening of the 5th. Only Adolph knows the address; I do not.
Kindest and best greetings from us to you and yours.
Your ever grateful
Richard Wagner.
Source: The Story of Bayreuth as Told in the Bayreuth Letters of Richard Wagner, trans. and ed. Caroline V. Kerr (Small, Maynard and Company, 1912), No. 106