Vienna, Hôtel Imperial, August 17, 1885.
The visit at Harmannsdorf was nevertheless paid. In the year 1887 we had
seen Nobel again in Paris, and the following letter shows that we were
urging him to visit us in our own home:
Dear Baroness:
The proof that there is no justice in this world is that you take me,
I am sure, for an ill-bred man and an ingrate. And yet there is no
truth in it, for ever since I had the pleasure of seeing you at my
house I have been anxiously watching for the moment of leisure that
should permit me to go and shake hands with two friends. But if you
could see, only for a day or two, the life I am leading, you would
realize how impossible it is to make the two ends meet. For a week
past, with my trunk packed, I have not been able to get away; and yet
my visit to Manchester is urgent. But at this moment all the
_dynamiteurs_ in the world—the _dynamiteurs_ are the directors and
managers of the dynamite companies—have conspired to come here and
bother me with their affairs,—conventions, plans, deceptions, etc.,
and I am ardently wishing that a new Mephisto would come to enrich
hell with these evil-doers.
A thousand friendly things—never friendly enough for you—and the
assurance of my good will.