“The dedication was thus unqualifiedly accepted, but now—in what words should I put it? I had got accustomed to the form in which I had meant to write it myself into the copy I wished to present to the Princess. I intended saying that I had written lectures for the Princess, and that she had allowed me to read them aloud to her. Would not this make the Princess, so to speak, an accomplice of this objectionable book? Could I state this publicly? I felt myself bound to leave to the Princess the choice between this dedication and a more formal one, in which these allusions were omitted. Upon this the Princess sent me the following answer:
“‘I should not like any change made in what you have written on the first page, and am greatly touched at your kind dedication.
Alice.’
“When I was at last able to send her my book in its complete form with the dedication printed, I received the following note from her, written from Kranichstein, on the 27th of June, 1870:
“‘I have not been able till to-day to thank you for your “Voltaire” received yesterday. The book itself is the cause of the delay, as I devoted my spare time to reading over what you had yourself read to me so beautifully last winter. I seemed to hear your voice and all your observations again. I must thank you once more for that great enjoyment, and for the kind terms of your dedication.
“‘Alice.’
“Seldom have the negotiations about the dedication of a book been carried on in a way like this, and seldom has a Royal Princess shown herself so courageous and amiable.”
All must agree in this opinion, from whatever point of view they look at the subject. It was like the Princess’ straightforward nature boldly to acknowledge to the world her friendship for Strauss, even at the risk of incurring the most unfavorable criticisms.
Strauss says, further, in his “Memoirs”:
“The memory of the Princess Alice will be inseparably connected, as long as I live, with one of the most gratifying episodes of my life—the writing of my work on Voltaire.”