Frederick the Great, discussion post 5: or: Yuletide requests are out!

[cahn]

All Yuletide requests are out!

Yuletide related:
-it is sad that I can't watch opera quickly enough these days to have offered any of them, these requests are delightful!

-That is... sure a lot of prompts for MCS/Jingyan. But happily some that are not :D (I like MCS/Jingyan! But there are So Many Other characters!)

Frederician-specific:
-I am so excited someone requested Fritz/Voltaire, please someone write it!!

-I also really want someone to write that request for Poniatowski, although that is... definitely a niche request, even for this niche fandom. But he has memoirs?? apparently they are translated from Polish into French

-But while we are waiting/writing/etc., check out this crack commentfic where Heinrich and Franz Stefan are drinking together while Maria Theresia and Frederick the Great have their secret summit, which turns into a plot to marry the future Emperor Joseph to Fritz...

Master link to Frederick the Great posts and associated online links

Comments

Re: Sibling Correspondance - II

[mildred_of_midgard]

This write-up is amaaaaazing, thank you so much. (Also for the Swedish write-up, and just generally the ongoing free education.)

two of her (milk) teeth have been pulled and includes them in her letter (they still exist)

Wooow. Are they on display somewhere?

Which reminds me, I have read (unreliable source) that Katte's grave was robbed by souvenir-hunters over the years, and people have helped themselves to teeth, the burial shroud, the cracked vertebra (how's that for gruesome?), and I forget what else. I say unreliable, but that's pretty damn typical of human beings, and Fritz memorabilia being in such high demand after 1786, so...I consider it plausible at the very least.

young Friedrich (!) didn't like hunting (!!), played the flute (!!!)

Wilhelmine: I can work with this.

FW made him drink an entire big cup of beer in one go (you know, the thing that had had unfortunate results with another Friedrich before)

Ahahahahaaa. Well, from FW's perspective, it didn't work out too badly! He did get to hear about how he was a bully and a boor first, but then he seemed just a bit disconcerted but generally pleased when Fritz started crying and kissing his hands.

(Go home, Fritz, you're drunk.)

Fritz to convey his displeasure had made AW write to her in his place occasionally

Wow. That was unknown to me. That's...some serious displeasure.

The Italian journey: if Fritz was, in fact, afraid of her staying in Italy in that letter I quoted, he wasn't being paranoid. She was tempted, because she was happy there, the climate while at first not as warm as was typical agreed with her

It's interesting seeing the same events from multiple perspectives. You mentioned a while back, in the first description you made of her trip, that Italy was unseasonably cold that year. When I went to read through the Algarotti/Fritz correspondence, I got to 1753/1754 and saw Algarotti complaining to Fritz, "We're getting about as much sun here as you would get in London," and I thought of Wilhelmine.

Then there was the letter where Algarotti tells Fritz how he met Wilhelmine, and everyone in Venice was really nice to her, and Fritz replies, "So I heard!" Now we get to see Wilhelmine talking about Algarotti, and backing his "I'm super sick!" story. (Like I said, his decreased productivity and travel after 1753 really backs the idea to me that he wasn't just avoiding Fritz.)

Cahn: As you can tell from the letter, she'd met Algarotti before. This was in 1740, just after Fritz became king, when he decided to visit her and then dart over to Strasbourg, incognito, with Algarotti, in hopes of doing a full Paris trip. As you recall, the incognito thing fell apart immediately, and he went home. But Wilhelmine recording liking Algarotti a lot, as pretty much everyone did. He seems to have had incredibly winning ways. (A footnote in the Lady Mary correspondence says that he was described as a total people-pleaser, which I think played a role in his gift for amicable non-breakups.)

As sick and miserable as you are, you still think about my miseries? That is going too far.

Wow. "I'm exempting you from the usual rule of putting me and my wars first!" That's some true sibling love right there.

No pressure, Voltaire.

No pressure! Also wow, in a different way.

Anyway, thanks for this whole thing, it was all gold. You are compensating in a serious way for my inability to read 1) German, 2) physical books. <3

Go home, Fritz, you're drunk

[mildred_of_midgard]

By the way, I turned up the original source (aside from Wilhelmine's more elliptical account) for the forced intoxication episode, or at least a German translation of what I assume was the original French. It's Suhm* writing a report to his boss August the Strong**.

* Saxon envoy to Berlin at the time, later to St. Petersburg. The same Suhm who was later Fritz's close friend at Rheinsberg, whose translation of Wolff for Fritz was set on fire by Fritz's monkey. Fritz's nickname for him was "Diaphane", which one of my sources says may be a play on "Durchlaucht", usually translated "Serene Highness" in English and used for minor German princes, but we're not sure.

** He of the 354 supposed illegitimate children, father of Orzelska.

Anyway, translation mine with help from the internet (Google Translate and some dictionaries). I've bracketed a few places where I could use clarification.

"October 21, 1728,

"Finally the St. Hubert's Hunt came. Etiquette dictates that the Crown Prince sit opposite the King at the table and act as host. I sat next to him and also across from the Queen. All the companions at table had to keep pace with the King in drinking; only I [And here I need either a clearer translation or else some cultural context for how Suhm got out of this requirement: 'nur mir liess er etwas darin nach, weil ich dazu begnadigt worden war, als ich nach Beendigung der Jagd die Taufe erhalten hatte']...

"The Crown Prince drank a lot, but only against his will [any further nuance of 'mit Widerwillen' would be appreciated], as he later confided to me. It meant that he would be sick the next day. Finally the wine began to have an effect on him. He spoke quite loudly of all the grounds that he had for being unhappy with his lot in life. The queen kept waving at me to signal me to make him be quiet, and I did everything I could. I asked him to use what little sense he had left.

"But it didn't help at all: on the contrary, he turned all the way toward me and said everything that came to his tongue...

"Suddenly, the King asked me, 'What is he saying?'

"I replied that the Crown Prince was drunk and couldn't stop himself any more.

"The King answered, 'Oh, he's just pretending. But what's he saying?'

"I replied that he had squeezed my arm the whole time and said that although the King made him drink too much, he still loved him.

"The King repeated that the Crown Prince was only pretending to be drunk. I replied that I could testify that he really was: he had squeezed me so hard in the arm that I couldn't move it.

"Then the Crown Prince suddenly became very serious about that. Then the wine got the upper hand again, and he started to talk again. The Queen was so embarrassed she left the table. Everyone stood up, but only to sit down again. General Keppel and I asked the Crown Prince to go to bed, since he really couldn't hold himself upright any more.

"To this, the Crown Prince began to cry ['schreien'] that he wanted to kiss the King's hand first. The others called out that this was right. The King laughed, when he saw the condition the Prince was in, and held out his hand across the table. But the Crown Prince also wanted to have the other, and he kissed them both, one after another, swore that he loved him with all his heart, and had the King bend over so he could hug him.

"Everyone called, 'Long live the Crown Prince!' This got the Crown Prince even more worked up; he stood up, walked around the table, embraced the King intimately, sank onto one knee, and stayed a long time in that position, all the while talking to the King.

"His Majesty was deeply affected and kept saying, 'Now, that's very good, just be an honest fellow, just be honest,' and so on. The whole proceeding was extremely moving and moved most of those present to tears.

"Finally, the Prince was lifted up. The King lifted up the table. ['hob die Tafel auf'--What? Why? Does this mean he released everyone by standing up?] Herr von Keppel, I, and several officers carried the Prince to his room and put him to bed."

Footnote in my source: "Eyewitnesses expressed the not entirely unfounded opinion that Friedrich's performance was a cleverly calculated comedy."

Okay, eyewitnesses. It's painful to think about either way.

Re: Go home, Fritz, you're drunk

[selenak]

nur mir liess er etwas darin nach, weil ich dazu begnadigt worden war, als ich nach Beendigung der Jagd die Taufe erhalten hatte'

Translation: "Only towards me he was more lenient, as I had been pardoned" - here in the sense of "had been given more leaveway" - "due to having gotten my baptism after the hunt was finished".

I'm assuming "baptism" means Suhm hadn't been hunting before, or at least not with FW. It puts me in mind of today's ceremonies when you cross the aequator for the first time, or travel with a balloon for the first time. Champagne is involved, and it's refered to as a baptism as well. Anyway, that's why Suhm hadn't to Keep pace with FW drinking.

"Widerwillen": actually means more "intense dislike", though the literal Translation of the word means "against one's will", that's true.

"Schreien" usually means more "scream" than "cry", but in this particular description I'd translate it as "cry" as well.

"Lifted up the table" made me laugh out loud, because it's one of those expressions that sound funny if you translate them literally - like "it's raining cats and dogs" sounds hilarious to us in German if you render it word by word. It simply means FW gave the signal that mealtime was over and everyone could go. It's an old fashioned expression these days, very occasionally still used.

Re: Go home, Fritz, you're drunk

[mildred_of_midgard]

Awesome, thank you! My dictionaries were telling me "scream" and "disgust" for "schreien" and "Widerwillen", but I thought I would check with you, because I thought "cry" was more likely, and I didn't want to go with something as strong as "intense dislike" without checking.

"Baptism": that makes sense, thank you. I was trying to figure out how a literal Christian baptism would work at all in this context.

"Lifted up the table": good to see my guess from context was pretty much right.

Re: Sibling Correspondance - II

[selenak]

You're very welcome. Re: teeth, don't know, Uwe Oster doesn't say; at a guess, they're at a state archive in Berlin or Potsdam, though. (Incidentally, the fact all these letters survived intense firebombings says something about determination to preserve history. (Would that such determination had been shown to saving one's Jewish neighbour, of course.) Most of the artifacts and letters were put into underground shelters. That the Fritz/Fredersdorff letters survived is a not so minor miracle, because for some reason Göring (who as Ministerpräsident of Prussia could get his paws on them) thought they'd make comfort reading to Hitler (waiting for his own Miracle of the House of Brandenburg).

(Must have gone something like this: G: Mein Führer, let me impress you on your birthday with a bunch of letters of our heroic Frederick the Great who proves that you can emerge from a three front war covered in glory and success.

H: Just what I've been saying, but alas, if these are in French again, I can't read them.

G: Not so! These are authentic Frederick the Great letters in German! Proving his touching utterly platonic regard for his loyal servant. May they inspire you in these dark days!

...yep, being in a fandom with them is the worst.

Katte souvenir hunters: haven't heard that, but would believe it, because yes, people do that, and did.

That was unknown to me. That's...some serious displeasure.

No kidding. Have now ordered Eva Ziebura's AW biography from the library (it doesn't have her Heinrich one, alas); the reviews of same mention that because he was FW's favourite son, he used to be the mediator between his father and the other siblings, so that was one family role he was used to. (But presumably did not expect having to take between Fritz and Wilhelmine. The age gap between AW and the oldest two practically ensured he didn't really relate to them until years later - he was, what, eight when Katte died?) In case you're wondering, Oster along with other biographers says FW's favourite daughter was Friederike Luise. He also liked Ulrike a lot, but Friederike Luise was the one getting letters a few months after her wedding like "My dearest darling Ickerle, I haven't written to you for such a long, long time and have gotten so many letters from you. My dearest daughter, do not forget your father who loves you with all his heart and soul. God be praised you are well" and so forth, signing off with "I am, keeping my dearest daughter in my heart until death, your faithful father FW". (So yes, he could write to girls.)

Friederike Luise, who was the first of the siblings to get married - and that her marriage to the Margrave of Ansbach got negotiated quickly and went with minimum fuss while the English marriage negotiations for Wilhelmine and Fritz were simultanously in an endless loop must have made the later all the more irritating for FW - gets one memorable scene in Wilhelmine's memoirs shortly before her wedding. Friederike Luise, as a reminder is 15, the sibling born after Fritz. Her marriage will be truly miserable and she'll sink into depression (she also developed symptoms of porphyria, supporting the theory that both FW and Fritz could have had it), but as of yet, she's a spirited girl who actually talks back at FW thusly:

"(The King) asked my sister whether she was looking forward to her marriage and how she planned on conducting her household. My sister had established a footing with him where she told him everything frankly, even hard truths, without him getting enraged by it. Thus, she replied with her usual frankness that she would offer a good and richly decorated table at meals, which, as she added, "Shall be better than yours; and when I get chldren, I will not maltreat them as you do, nor force them to eat things that disagree with them." "What do you mean by this," the King asked, "what is lacking at my table?"
"It lacks," she said, "because one doesn't get full on it, and that the few things offered consist of heavy vegetables which we cannot stomach." The King was already indignant about the first reply, but the later caused him to explode, yet his entire fury fell on my brother and myself. First, he threw a plate in the direction of my brother's head who evaded the throw, and then he let one fly in my direction. I avoided it as well.These first hostilities were followed by a hailstorm of abuse."

That FW isn't angry with the child who actually backmouthed but his two older children demonstrates, among other things, that they've become his lightning rods at this time. (And btw, also worth noting that Fritz had to my knowledge a non-relationship - neither positive nor negative - with Friederike Luise, who was after all only as many years younger than him as Wilhelmine was older and in theory could have been close. Ansbach was next to Bayreuth, but he never visited her when visiting Wilhelmine. She was also not present at the wedding of Wilhelmine's daughter, which practically happened next door to her, but as Oster says, at this point she'd already succumed to depression and likely porphyria enough to become a total hermit.

"I'm exempting you from the usual rule of putting me and my wars first!" That's some true sibling love right there.

Indeed, and since we've quoted ample examples of his other tendencies, I thought it only fair to include this. He really did love her above and beyond.

Voltaire: quite. In the spirit of fairness as well, he did write an ode to her after her death he included in the first edition of Candide, and got tearful with Fritz years later about her; I don't think it was just because of what her brother might still do for him. Speaking of Voltaire and dead women, his remark about Madame de Pompadour after her death in a letter to a friend also sound genuine: : "I am very sad at the death of Madame de Pompadour. I was indebted to her and I mourn her out of gratitude. It seems absurd that while an ancient pen-pusher like me, hardly able to walk, should still be alive, a beautiful woman, in the midst of a splendid career, should die at the age of forty-two."

ETA: Forgot, about future Margrave of Bayreuth going through the same hunt + having to empty a big cup of beer experience with FW, Oster frustratingly doesn't provide a literal quote, just a paraphrase, but he does make it sound as if FW had decided to give this son-in-law the (almost) full Fritz treatment. Re: the regiment, when marrying Bayreuth Friedrich had asked for a Prussian one in order to please his future father-in-law and his father at the same time (remember, Bayreuth was a small principality).

Oster: "(The drink) didn't agree with (Bayreuth Friedrich), which must have confirmed the King's opinion of him, especially since the drunken prince did not hold back with his opinion on the King's behavior. Friedrich Wilhelm then took to refering to his son-in-law as an "ass and simpleton". He said he would "educate him in his own style, or he wouldn't be FW". Openly, he demanded the officers of Friedrich's regiment should mock and taunt their superior. That was too much even for the Queen who otherwise didn't think much of her unwanted son-in-law, but now spiritedly made it clear to her husband that everything had its limits. "I tremble," Wilhelmine wrote on January 13th 1733 to her brother, "that he treats him the way he has treated you. I don't know what he holds against him."
Nothing, one might add, though Wilhelmine wasn't wrong in her fear: The King wanted to break his son-in-law the same way he'd broken his son. Every bit of pride, every will power was to be eliminated. But Wilhelmine's husband hadn't gone through Friedrich's childhood. He faced his father-in-law's behavior with utter disbelief. He had no intention of being broken and being censored."

(Future Margrave: WTF? What did I marry into? WTF is going on here????)

Re: Sibling Correspondance - II

[cahn]

*icky fritz fanboy facepalm*

Aw man, this is just classic golden-child scapegoat familial relations :(

I really like that quote from Voltaire <3 :(

Fredersdorf

[mildred_of_midgard]

G: Not so! These are authentic Frederick the Great letters in German! Proving his touching utterly platonic regard for his loyal servant. May they inspire you in these dark days!

...yep, being in a fandom with them is the worst.

I went on a scavenger hunt for Fredersdorf material today, found an article describing this episode, and it said the context was even worse: the letters were valued because they contained anti-Semitic comments from Old Fritz. Because while Fritz was often liberal for his time, he lived in dark times. *facepalm* Fucking out of my fandom now, Nazis! Nobody invited you.

Anyway. This article said something about 300 pages of Fritz/Fredersdorf letters. The University of Trier site has roughly 30 pages. And while I was churning through these letters in Google translate, I did not see a bunch of things I'd seen quoted elsewhere, leading me to believe Trier has only a small sample.

So I went and looked for the book that I keep seeing cited for the Fritz/Fredersdorf correspondence, and Amazon said it was 400+ pages. Amazon also said it was $5.48.

You can guess what happened.

Yes, mes amies, I ordered yet another hard copy of a book that I can't physically hold without pain, in a language I don't know, at a time when I'm not working and shouldn't be buying books (but it was only $5!). Because fandom plus bibliophilia really messes with your mind.

Anyway. It's on its way. Among other things, I want to see if it has any material on or post-dating the estrangement. Various of my sources say Fredersdorf was dismissed over financial irregularities in mid-1757, and he proceeded to die in January 1758, after a lengthy illness, wracked with grief over his disgrace. If you know your chronology, you may compare AW, who was dismissed over a military failure in mid-1757 and proceeded to die in mid-1758, after a somewhat less lengthy illness, wracked with grief over his disgrace.

Fritz, in mid-1757, was writing suicidal-sounding letters after a major military defeat. I'm guessing his mood and his interpersonal relations at this time had something of a chicken-and-egg effect on each other. Then everyone dies in 1757-1758, his sister on the day of an even bigger military disaster, and he becomes even more depressed. A year later, the ultimate military defeat happens, surviving loved ones are thin on the ground, and Fritz tells Catt, "You know, if I ever look like I'm about to be captured, I'm taking a fatal dose of opium so fast it'll make your head spin."

Speaking of Catt: interesting Fredersdorf parallels. Fritz meets Fredersdorf shortly after Katte's death. They're together for 26 years. During this time, Fredersdorf gets married, which makes Fritz unhappy. After 26 years, Fritz dismisses him for financial irregularities. Within a year, he's taken Catt on. Catt is with him for 24 years. During this time, Catt gets married, which makes Fritz unhappy (okay, this part was kind of a thing). After 24 years, Fritz dismisses him for financial irregularities. Catt does not proceed to die, but outlives Fritz by a good many years (being a good many years younger).

But what I really came here to say, is that I have to share this absolutely endearing, ship-writes-itself moment from the Fritz/Fredersdorf letters.

In April 1754, while Fredersdorf was extremely ill and housebound, and Fritz was frantically writing touching utterly platonic "For God's sake, take care of yourself!" letters to him, Fritz wrote the following: "I'm planning on riding out today around noon. Come to the window, I want to see you; but keep the window shut and make sure there's a strong fire in your room."

I AWWWed out loud. I'm still AWWWing. When you're traveling on business all the time, and you don't have FaceTime or WhatsApp, you have to get creative to see your sick loved ones. <3

Actual quote to Fredersdorf from the same year: "Monday I go to the camp in Spandau, Friday I'm back here, Monday to Berlin, then Tuesday to Silesia*."

Related quote, also from 1754, which made me laugh out loud: "Tomorrow I'm leaving, but on Monday I'm coming back, and then no devil will get me out of Potsdam, or the King of England will have to come here with his Russians to besiege me."

* It's August, so time for those autumn military reviews which are going to pay off in a few years.

You know...it occurs to me this might be the context for that galley slave comment to Wilhelmine. She's about to leave for Italy in a couple months, and Fritz is thinking, "I just want to see my sick boyfriend here in Berlin, and I can hardly even do that." :(

But seriously. Sick Fredersdorf coming to the window so Fritz can see him as he rides past his house, omg. <333 4ever

Re: Fredersdorf

[selenak]

See, I knew these two qualify for curtain fic. ;) 'Tis indeed heartwarming. And I salute your devotion to aquire that book!

Heinrich's boyfriends got married to, and not just when they left him, a la Mara; the last one, the beautiful French emigré count, picked up a wife who became part of the Rheinsberg circle and lived long enough for a young Theodor Fontane to meet her and get some first hand accounts of Heinrich in his old age. (And of her husband, which explains the enthusiastic description of his looks and charm in the Wanderungen!) The widow was a cat lover and died, Fontane says, in a Rococo way - one of her favored cats bit her on the lower lip, the wound got infected, and that was that.

Fredersdorff also makes it into the Wanderungen apropos Zernikow, the estate he managed and Fontane has this to say:
For eighteen years, from 1740 to 1758, Fredersdorff was in possession of Zernikow, to which fact we pose the question whether he was a blessing to the village and its inhabitants or not. The answer to the question is quite in his favor. While having ambition and an unmistakable desire for respect and wealth, he has been mainly of a kind and benevolent nature, and he turned out to be mild, indulgent, helpful, as a landlord. His farmers and day laborers fared well. And as for the inhabitants at the time, he was fortunate enough for the village itself. Most innovations, as far as they are not merely the beautification, can be traced back to him. He found a neglected piece of sand and left behind a well-cultivated estate, which he had given partly through investments of all kinds, partly through the purchase of meadows and forests, which he usually needed. The activity he developed was great. Colonists and craftsmen were consulted and weaving and straw-weaving were done by diligent hands. At the same time and with fondness he adopted the silk industry. Gardens and paths were planted with mulberry trees (as many as 8,000 by 1747), and the following year he had for the first time a net yield of the reeled silk. No sooner did he find a piece of good clay soil on his field-mark than a brick-work was already built, so that in 1746 he was able to build the still existing house from self-made stones. In the same year he introduced, as well as in Spandau and Köpenick, large brewery buildings in which the so-called "Fredersdorffer beer" named after him was brewed. In everything, he proved to be the eager disciple of his royal master, and in the whole manner in which he set things in motion, it became clear that he was to follow the king's organizational plans with understanding, and to use them as a model. Many tried, though he found it easier than most, especially with regard to the means of execution, since a king who could write to him: "If there was a means in the world to help you in two minutes, I wanted to buy it, be it as expensive as it may, " was probably prepared to help with gifts and advances of all kinds. It seems, however, that these aids always remained within a limited range, and that the improvements did not take until 1750 on a larger scale, where Fredersdorff had married Karoline Marie Elisabeth Daum, the wealthy heiress of Banquier Daum, who had died in 1743. At least starting from there from those purchases of goods, which I have already mentioned above. Fredersdorff lived with his young wife in a very happy but childless marriage. It is not to be supposed that he was in Zernikow all the time, but it seems that from 1750 onwards (ie after his marriage) he was at least as often as possible on his estate and liked to spend the summer months there. Whether he had practiced his alchemical arts and gold-making experiments even in rural seclusion, has not been determined. He died at Potsdam in the same year (1758), which brought so many heavy casualties to his royal master, and his body was transferred to Zernikow. Michael Gabriel Fredersdorff died on January 12, 1758.

Re: Fredersdorf's marriage, the internet tells me otherwise it was 1753, not 1750, and Fontane couldn't look it up?

Re: Fredersdorf

[mildred_of_midgard]

Fritz/Fredersdorf curtain fic. <33 Also hurt/comfort.

Re: Fredersdorf's marriage, the internet tells me otherwise it was 1753, not 1750, and Fontane couldn't look it up?

The internet tells me the same thing, but the internet also tells me Katte's birthday is several days later than Fontane says, and Fontane gives documentary evidence he personally inspected, while the internet doesn't cite any source at all, so I'm suspending judgment. However, a letter from Fritz concerning the upcoming marriage is cited, so once I have the volume containing their correspondence, I will look and see if I can find it.

Re: Fredersdorf

[cahn]

lol, you guys are amazing :D I feel like the two of you should write a book, you're chasing down all the evidence like you are!

Re: Fredersdorf

[mildred_of_midgard]

Heeee. :DD Tbh, I'll be happy if one of us writes that curtain fic. (But seriously, is that not high on the list of sweetest things Fritz has ever come up with??)

Also, I refuse to write a book on Fritz until I can read both French and German, and that might take a while. :P

If we did convert these posts into a book, though, I think we could model it on 1066 and All That. 1740 and All That?

Re: Fredersdorf

[cahn]

Also, I refuse to write a book on Fritz until I can read both French and German, and that might take a while. :P

Heh. There is that. (My French background is sufficiently strong that, as long as I don't have to pronounce anything, I could probably be pretty good at reading fairly quickly, but my German is nonexistent, and more to the point my history and everything else is nonexistent, although as a result of being in this fandom for... four months?? ... I feel like I now know more about it than the average person, at least :P Possibly more than some biographers :PP)

Re: Fredersdorf

[mildred_of_midgard]

Well, you definitely know a lot of things that biographers don't! And I think it's safe to say you've left the average person in the dust. You were the average person four months ago.

I feel like I could get my French reading proficiency up to speed if I were sufficiently motivated and in better health, but German would take ages, and also they're just not high enough on my list that they're likely to happen, alas.

Re: Fredersdorf

[cahn]

Awwww. He sounds pretty great, actually! <3

(and, okay, I am now a sucker whenever anyone says that anyone was in a happy marriage! Regardless of whether it actually makes sense to believe them!)

Re: Fredersdorf

[mildred_of_midgard]

Yeah, I wish Fritz had been more supportive of Fredersdorf's decision to get married, but I guess when you were forced into a loveless marriage and then your boyfriend leaves you, at least partly, for a happy marriage, being rational and mature about said marriage may not be your knee-jerk reaction. Even beyond your normal resentful attitude toward other people's marriages.

Also, if it was 1753, what else happened that year? Well, the big Voltaire implosion, and Algarotti scuttling away to Italy never to return. Once again, I feel like Fritz's mood and interpersonal relationships are having a chicken-egg effect here.

Re: Fredersdorf

[mildred_of_midgard]

"I'm planning on riding out today around noon. Come to the window, I want to see you; but keep the window shut and make sure there's a strong fire in your room."

Typo: "tomorrow," not "today." Today would be a little short notice.