Yes, I can see why you quit, and I'm pressed for time, I'll go straight to the personal stuff with translating:
His Royal Majesty is, God be thanked, healthy and well. I'm crossing my fingers so the good effect you felt after the cure by the Silesian doctor may continue. I'll chide my wife for her lack of attention, and will demonstrate through all the proofs of friendship you could possibly demand of me that I am, most sincerely,
Monsieur et tres chere compere, etc.
You wrote:
My reading is that his fiancee/secret wife/future wife is living in Berlin/Potsdam and neglecting to pay Fredersdorf and Mrs. Treasurer social visits, and Fredersdorf mentioned this in his last letter (which we of course don't have :( ), and Leining is promising to reproach her, but you tell me
That would be my interpretation as well. At first I wondered whether he's using "meine Frau" in the sense of "my woman", i.e. she's living with him, but they're not (yet) married), but then I thought, nah, he's neither a high noble nor a worker, he doesn't have a common law wife, civil cervants tend to be bourgois and respectable, so my second guess is that he may have already been married and keeping it secret because of Fritz' well known marriage phobia, and once Fritz said it would be cool for Leining to marry, he was thrilled and either is planning to come out as already married or pretending to get married. Also, for this to make sense, Fredersdorf has to be in the know about Leining's actual state of marriage/singlehood even before Fritz gives his permission. It has to be either a fiancee or a wife to pay social respects to Mrs. and Mrs. Treasurer, a common law partner wouldn't.
Furtherly, I guess Mrs. Leining might have been shy because Fredersdorf is regarded as top dog of civil servants, still, and that's why she didn't call immediately, but after Leining "admonished" her via letter she did, and either the Fredersdorfs wined and dined her, or they're sending food and wine packages for the new home, or something like that.
Of course we're all guessing, but it occurs to me that Manger might have somehing on Leining in his book. I mean, he did on Fredersdorf and Glasow (separately), and if Leining has taken over the royal purse, Manger would have had to deal with him in subsequent years (unless Leining doesn't survive the war).
Anyway: considering Leining got the job unexpectedly and Fritz is busy fighting a four front war, it makes sense that he might have needed help beyond clearing up the Glasow aftermath. As he talks about Fredersdorf having given him helpful instructions in the non-personal part of the letter, I'm assuming Fredersdorf put him through a crash course of "how to be Fritz' treasurer 101" via letter. Again, not something I see happening if Fredersdorf had been dismissed in disgrace/retired to save face but really because of disgrace - there's no way Fritz then would have told Leining to let Fredersdorf show him the ropes via letter.
Fredersdorf also seems to have asked how Fritz is doing, aw, and generally I have the impression that he and Leining have known each other for a while (especially if Fredersdorf knew about Leining's secret marriage/engagement) and there's some genuine sympathy, not just work politeness.
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Re: Leining to Fredersdorf: Letter 5
Date: 2023-04-18 11:43 am (UTC)His Royal Majesty is, God be thanked, healthy and well. I'm crossing my fingers so the good effect you felt after the cure by the Silesian doctor may continue. I'll chide my wife for her lack of attention, and will demonstrate through all the proofs of friendship you could possibly demand of me that I am, most sincerely,
Monsieur et tres chere compere, etc.
You wrote:
My reading is that his fiancee/secret wife/future wife is living in Berlin/Potsdam and neglecting to pay Fredersdorf and Mrs. Treasurer social visits, and Fredersdorf mentioned this in his last letter (which we of course don't have :( ), and Leining is promising to reproach her, but you tell me
That would be my interpretation as well. At first I wondered whether he's using "meine Frau" in the sense of "my woman", i.e. she's living with him, but they're not (yet) married), but then I thought, nah, he's neither a high noble nor a worker, he doesn't have a common law wife, civil cervants tend to be bourgois and respectable, so my second guess is that he may have already been married and keeping it secret because of Fritz' well known marriage phobia, and once Fritz said it would be cool for Leining to marry, he was thrilled and either is planning to come out as already married or pretending to get married. Also, for this to make sense, Fredersdorf has to be in the know about Leining's actual state of marriage/singlehood even before Fritz gives his permission. It has to be either a fiancee or a wife to pay social respects to Mrs. and Mrs. Treasurer, a common law partner wouldn't.
Furtherly, I guess Mrs. Leining might have been shy because Fredersdorf is regarded as top dog of civil servants, still, and that's why she didn't call immediately, but after Leining "admonished" her via letter she did, and either the Fredersdorfs wined and dined her, or they're sending food and wine packages for the new home, or something like that.
Of course we're all guessing, but it occurs to me that Manger might have somehing on Leining in his book. I mean, he did on Fredersdorf and Glasow (separately), and if Leining has taken over the royal purse, Manger would have had to deal with him in subsequent years (unless Leining doesn't survive the war).
Anyway: considering Leining got the job unexpectedly and Fritz is busy fighting a four front war, it makes sense that he might have needed help beyond clearing up the Glasow aftermath. As he talks about Fredersdorf having given him helpful instructions in the non-personal part of the letter, I'm assuming Fredersdorf put him through a crash course of "how to be Fritz' treasurer 101" via letter. Again, not something I see happening if Fredersdorf had been dismissed in disgrace/retired to save face but really because of disgrace - there's no way Fritz then would have told Leining to let Fredersdorf show him the ropes via letter.
Fredersdorf also seems to have asked how Fritz is doing, aw, and generally I have the impression that he and Leining have known each other for a while (especially if Fredersdorf knew about Leining's secret marriage/engagement) and there's some genuine sympathy, not just work politeness.