7 1/4 x 9- 2-sided letter to wife Constanze, written from Frankfurt am Main
30 September 1790
Dearest little Wife of my Heart!
If only I had a letter from you, all would be well. I hope that you have received mine from Efferding and Frankfurt. In my last one I told you to speak to Redcurrant Face. For safety’s sake I should very much like to raise 2000 gulden on Hoffmeister’s draft. But you will have to give some other reason; you may say, for example, that I am making some speculation about which you know nothing. My love, there is no doubt whatever that I shall make something in this place, but certainly not as much as you and some of my friends expect. That I am both known and respected here is undeniable. Well, we shall see. But as in every case I prefer to play for safety. I should like to make that deal with H— [probably Hoffmeister] as I shall thus obtain some money and not have to pay anything; all I shall have to do is to work and that I shall willingly do for the sake of my dear little wife. When you write to me, always address your letters Poste Restante. Where do you think I am living? In the same house as Böhm, and Hofer is with me too. We pay thirty gulden a month, which is wonderfully cheap, and we also take our meals there. And whom do you think I have come across? The girl who so often played hide-and-seek with us in the Auge Gottes. I think her name was Buchner. She is now Madame Porsch and this is her second marriage. She asks me to send you all sorts of kind messages. As I do not know whether you are at Baden or Vienna, I am addressing this letter again to Madame Hofer. I am as excited as a child at the thought of seeing you again. If people could see into my heart, I should almost feel ashamed. To me everything is cold – cold as ice. Perhaps if you were with me I might possibly take more pleasure in the kindness of those I meet here. But, as it is, everything seems so empty. Adieu, my love. I am ever your husband, who loves you with all his soul
Mozart
Frankfurt am Main, 30 September 1790