It is being separated, which is the saddest part of the matter for me at least, because it sets me in hourly uncertainty about you and your health.
Liszt's last letter has proved to me how active he is on my behalf, and in it he also notifies me that he has sent 100 thalers to you. He wrote that this money was from an admirer of my Tannhäuser, for the pleasure this work had given him, but who wished to remain anonymous. At the same time he asked me to make a supplementary dedication of the pianoforte arrangement of Tannhäuser to the Heir-Apparent to the Grand Duchy of Weimar, which I did at once, adding a few verses which will produce the right effect, yet without compromising my free-thinking opinions in any way. There is no doubt that Liszt will soon get together the modest yearly income I want for my works.
Bring Natalie with you, of course! I have thought that over too. What is all this about a post for her? She ought to come to be with you and help you in every way, so that, as you very rightly remark, you may have someone about you if I have to go travelling. In short, she is indispensable to you and costs next to nothing, too. Would our worry about her be any the less if she stayed behind? If she wants to earn anything extra she can do it better here than in Dresden, for work here is better paid. Well then, anyhow, bring her with you! As to our stay in Switzerland, you have nothing to worry about. The refugees are nothing to me; in fact I do not count as a refugee, for I have my full Swiss passport perfectly in order and a permit for a year's residence.
Richard Wagner
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner, Volume 1, ed. Altmann/Hull (London: Dent, 1927), No. 159