2 - “Deprived of incipient motherhood”: Riga, London, Paris, 1836–42

Summary

Richard had followed Minna to Königsberg, but now spent weeks on end without any source of income. Not until April 1, 1837, did he finally get a job. Yet he paid no regard to his past creditors in Magdeburg, nor to the imperative to restrict his spending in the present. Minna soon had to come to terms with his penchant for costly furnishings, and the resultant frustrations often led to fierce quarrels occasioned by his need for special comforts. He required a luxurious ambience around him in order both to feel at home and to be inspired in his creative work. Minna, by contrast, preferred to purchase only what was actually affordable. Over the course of 1836 and 1837, Richard’s purchases included 24 meters of silk and satin, 18 meters of damask, 35 meters of muslin, four pairs of kid gloves, silk scarves, and green Florentine (a type of smooth, shiny silk). He spent so much beyond his means that legal proceedings were instituted against him.

Worst of all for Minna were his absurd accusations of her supposed infidelity. Richard’s jealousy remained excessive even after their marriage, and in 1836 the then 10-year-old Natalie—who had joined them in Königsberg— witnessed something that she remembered even into old age. Minna was due to play the role of the mute Fenella in Auber’s La muette de Portici (the same she had played in the benefit performance before their marriage), but it was cancelled. On the way home, she led the way in a fashionable red and black plaid coat. Richard followed her, with Natalie pattering along behind them. Natalie later recalled the incident thus:

A soldier said: “There goes a pretty girl: she could be my sweetheart.” Now Richard pounced on Minna and she had to drag him home, still raging. I said: “Minna, your Richard is naughty, you must unmarry him.” I was a little girl and didn’t yet know the word “divorce.” At that point, he gave me some sweets to pacify me.

It is also to Natalie that we owe an account of the extremely cold winter of 1836–37, when Minna used to get up very early in the morning to do the household chores before hurrying off to rehearsal.