DOC.
474
MARCH
1918
489
474. To Anna
Besso-Winteler
[Berlin,
after
4
March
1918][1]
Dear
Anna,
I’m
downright grateful
to
you
for
the letter
with
the
complete
statement
of account.[2]
That
was
the
good,
trusty
Anna
again,
as
I
have
come
to know
her these
22
years
and
respect
highly.[3]
Now I
have
full confidence again
that
everything
is
being
done
correctly
and
properly.[4]
You’ll
see
that
I
am
very easy
to work with.
First
of
all,
I
agree
that
under
the
prevailing
conditions
a
livelihood
of
Fr 6
000
is
unthinkable. Therefore
we
shall set
Fr
8
000.[5]
From
now
on,
I’m
going
to send
the
money
to
you,
because
obviously you
also send
me
the
accounts.
Fr
900 will
be sent
to
you
as
well
for this
quarter.
This should be valid from
April
1st onwards. Then
you
will
receive Fr
2
000
at
the
beginning
of each quarter.
Of
this,
Maja is
to receive
the
fourth installment if Albert
goes
to
live
with
her;[6]
I’ll
write
you
more
details when
the
time
comes.
After extensive reflection
and
consultation
with
my highly competent
doctor,
my
attitude has
changed now
considerably.[7]
But
the essential
thing
for
me
remains
that
definitive conditions
must
be arranged,
at
last,
once
and
for
all, so
that
these constant
agitations
finally
cease.
I
imagine
the
following
solution
as
the
best:
Albert
goes
to
Maja
permanently. Miza,
who
will
remain
incapable
of
heading
a
household for
the
rest
of
her
life,
is
cared for
permanently
in
a
sanatorium,
in
Lucerne if she
likes,
so
that
she
can see
Albert
daily.
I
would
give
Maja
about
Fr
2
000
for
Albert,
so
Fr
6 000
would remain for Miza and Tete
together.
Tete should
grow
up
in
a
healthy
mountain
environment,
so
that
his chances of
overcoming
the
illnesses
are as
favorable
as
possible. My
doctor thinks
that
he
must
live
in
a
mild
or
relatively
germ-free
climate all his
life;
otherwise,
in
the
doctor’s
opinion,
as a
hereditarily
afflicted
tubercular,[8]
he would be
subject to
certain
early
death.
Zangger
did
not
want
to tell
me
this
directly,
in
order to
spare
me;
but
it’s
good
that
I
know.
I
understand that
in such circumstances
I must
attend
to
the
present.
If
I
die
early
and the
children
are
not
adequately provided for,
this
would
simply
be
a
blameless misfortune.
My
health
is substantially better,
incidentally;
this
is
evident
already by
the
fact
that
in
the last
few weeks
my
weight
increased from
127 to 132
pounds.
The extended
rest
and careful diet have
helped.[9]
In June
I’m
going
to
Switzerland
and
am staying
two months at
high
altitude-probably
on
Mount
Rigi.[10]
It’s
lucky
that
my position permits
me
to take such
care
of
myself.
Now I
must
come
back to
the
divorce
again.
Take
the
time to consider how
matters
stand. Think
of
the
two
young girls,
whose
prospects
of getting
married
are
being
hampered
considerably
under
the
present circumstances,
through
my
fault.[11]
Think
of the difficulties I have at
every
turn
because,
owing
to
my illness,