...You guys, while Fritz forbidding that trip just because he can and because NO ONE GETS TO GO TO LONDON WITH HIS LOVER (tm), I'm very tentatively eyeing the theory he's possibly being of the opinion that Lehndorff going from "Heinrich, love of my life!" to "Hotham, love my life!" within a few months and wanting to emigrate does not show the best judgment, and the guy should just cool down a bit and wait to find out whether this attraction holds?
Or not. Maybe he's just being mean.
You know. Between trying to rescue Schmeling from Mara, trying to rescue Sweden from Ulrika, and possibly trying to rescue Heinrich from Marwitz (to whom he himself is almost certainly attracted and resentful of), now that you've told me the chronology (see, chronology is everything! chronology is not just plot but characterization!)...
I think Fritz's instinctive, knee-jerk reaction to everything in life is "I want to feel in control," and then he rationalizes it with "for their own good." See also his political writings on the importance of personal, individual liberty...in an absolute monarchy where there's some kind of social contract whereby everyone in the beginning of society gave the monarch power to make their decisions for their own good. Riiiight, Fritz.
So, "I want a biddable spy in Sweden, and I promise you you don't want your queen staging coups," and "No, you can't leave me and go to England--what if you mess it up?!" all makes perfect sense from Fritz. The rationalization is strong in this one.
Fritz' incognito trip to the Netherlands (the one where he aquired Henri de Catt), where Lehndorff says that HE would have loved to travel with the King on such a trip
Oh, man, so context here: one of the only two (I believe) people Fritz *did* take along was Glosow. The one who ended up betraying him (somehow) and getting imprisoned. The one Lehndorff said Fredersdorf was jealous of. I don't know about Fredersdorf, Lehndorff, but it sure seems like *you* were jealous of this guy.
Poor Lehndorff. To quote selenak, "Meanwhile, Lehndorff is going: 'I'm right here! Would totally go for a more permanent thing! Dammit! What does he see in Krackow/Kaphengst/Tauentzien/50 others so far that he doesn't see in me?" Seems like both the brothers left him feeling totally overlooked.
"I cannot help but marvel at the strange stroke of fate that the Queen of Hungary must send an army to Berlin in order for the Queen of Prussia to be allowed to see her husband's residence."
Remembered this quote, had forgotten who it was by. Makes sense that it was EC's chamberlain of the 3-volume diary.
(where he was supposed to arrive in procession but arrived discreetly before hand, so no waving at the populace,
Oh, interesting. My unreliable memories of unreliable secondary sources had it that he let the Berliners wait around all day for him to ride by, then once almost everyone had gone home in disgust, snuck in at 9 pm or something. And that the Berliners never forgave him for this. (Though apparently they did like the way Old Fritz would ride down the street and doff his hat politely at everyone he met--Fritz knew how to play to a crowd when he wanted to. It just has to be *his* idea; you can't force it on him.)
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Re: Lehndorff: The Bitter Years
Date: 2019-12-07 12:03 am (UTC)Or not. Maybe he's just being mean.
You know. Between trying to rescue Schmeling from Mara, trying to rescue Sweden from Ulrika, and possibly trying to rescue Heinrich from Marwitz (to whom he himself is almost certainly attracted and resentful of), now that you've told me the chronology (see, chronology is everything! chronology is not just plot but characterization!)...
I think Fritz's instinctive, knee-jerk reaction to everything in life is "I want to feel in control," and then he rationalizes it with "for their own good." See also his political writings on the importance of personal, individual liberty...in an absolute monarchy where there's some kind of social contract whereby everyone in the beginning of society gave the monarch power to make their decisions for their own good. Riiiight, Fritz.
So, "I want a biddable spy in Sweden, and I promise you you don't want your queen staging coups," and "No, you can't leave me and go to England--what if you mess it up?!" all makes perfect sense from Fritz. The rationalization is strong in this one.
Fritz' incognito trip to the Netherlands (the one where he aquired Henri de Catt), where Lehndorff says that HE would have loved to travel with the King on such a trip
Oh, man, so context here: one of the only two (I believe) people Fritz *did* take along was Glosow. The one who ended up betraying him (somehow) and getting imprisoned. The one Lehndorff said Fredersdorf was jealous of. I don't know about Fredersdorf, Lehndorff, but it sure seems like *you* were jealous of this guy.
Poor Lehndorff. To quote
"I cannot help but marvel at the strange stroke of fate that the Queen of Hungary must send an army to Berlin in order for the Queen of Prussia to be allowed to see her husband's residence."
Remembered this quote, had forgotten who it was by. Makes sense that it was EC's chamberlain of the 3-volume diary.
(where he was supposed to arrive in procession but arrived discreetly before hand, so no waving at the populace,
Oh, interesting. My unreliable memories of unreliable secondary sources had it that he let the Berliners wait around all day for him to ride by, then once almost everyone had gone home in disgust, snuck in at 9 pm or something. And that the Berliners never forgave him for this. (Though apparently they did like the way Old Fritz would ride down the street and doff his hat politely at everyone he met--Fritz knew how to play to a crowd when he wanted to. It just has to be *his* idea; you can't force it on him.)