77. To the Countess Mercy-Argeneau

Very Admirable and Admired One [Tres admirable et admiree],

Your most amiable letter did not reach me without some delay, for
I took about ten days to make the journey from Rome to Budapest.

Madame Falk writes to me also of the concert at Liege, but I fear I shall only have excuses to offer. On the 20th March I shall be in Paris, where the "Gran Mass," too much criticised, and even hissed by some low fellows (at the Pasdeloup concert in '66), is to make its reappearance at St. Eustache on the 25th March. This time M. Colonne will conduct it, and I am assured that it will be better understood now…

Invariable homage,

F. Liszt

Budapest, February 17th, 1886

Very affectionate thanks for the invitation of Argenteau. Whether I can avail myself of it must remain in abeyance for your very humble servant, old and enfeebled.

378. To Sophie Menter

Dear and Respected Diplomatist,