[FROM KÖNIGSMARCK TO SOPHIA DOROTHEA.]
The 3_rd_
——————
23_rd_[202] [1692?]
My Mistresses are supposed to have prevented me from thinking of you?
God, is it possible that you should believe this; and, even had I not
written to you about everything (though this is letter No. 4) you ought
never to have harboured such a thought. Is it possible that you should
believe that I love anyone but yourself? No, I protest to you that after
you I shall never love again. It will not be very difficult to keep my
promise, for after one has adored you is it possible to think any other
woman pretty? You wrong yourself by believing such a thing; and how
could you draw a comparison between yourself and the others; and is it
possible that after having loved a Goddess, one could bestow a look upon
Mortals? No, in truth, I have too good taste for that, and I am not one
of those people who wish to make themselves common. I adore you,
charming brunette, and I shall die with this feeling. If you do not
forget me, I swear to you that I shall love you all my life. I expect no
more letters from you, because I intend to be soon in your company, and
my sole occupation will then be to prove to you, that I love you to
distraction, and that nothing is so dear to me as your person. Adieu!
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Footnote 202:
The above dating is incomprehensible; ‘the 3rd’ may possibly be a slip
of the pen for ‘the 13th.’ There is nothing in the letter to give any
satisfactory clue to the time of writing.
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