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Vienna IX, Berggasse 19
July 7, 1912
Dear Sir
My little Sophie,1 whom we had sent on a few weeks' vacation to Hamburg, returned two days ago, gay, radiant, determined, and broke the surprising news that she is engaged to you. We realize that this fact makes us, so to speak, superfluous and that
there is nothing left for us to do but go through the formality of bestowing our blessing. Since our wishes have always been for our daughters to feel free to follow their hearts in the choice of a husband, as our eldest daughter has actually done, we have every reason to be satisfied with this event. But we are parents after all, burdened with all the delusions that accompany this condition, feel obliged to assert our importance, and we would therefore like to set eyes on the energetic young man whose determination has infected our child before we declare a solemn Yes and Amen.
It benefits your plans that you are not entirely unknown to us. True, I brought back from my visit to your studio only a fleeting though most pleasant impression, but the two mothers-my wife and my sister-in-law-know you, your mother, your family and, according to them, have always considered you a member of the intimate circle of our relations. So from this side too all hearts are disposed in your favor. I have good reason to believe that our daughter, hardly out of her teens, will find a safe home at the side of a serious, loving, clear-headed, and intelligent husband.
Should this be the case then it is our duty as parents to welcome her choice. Now, I feel the urge to get to know you better soon, and it is only a few practical considerations that compel me to temper my impatience. Sophie, who already completely identifies herself with your interests (which seems so strange), tells me that you can get away in the immediate future only with great difficulty. We ourselves are dissolving our household during this coming week; my wife will be very occupied, and I myself am working more than nine hours a da