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My Years with Ludwig von Mises.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

My Years with Ludwig von Mises.pdf - The Ludwig von Mises Institute

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International Studies) in Geneva, Switzerland, that this meant a<br />

great opportunity for him, and that he therefore had accepted the<br />

appointment.<br />

When I heard him say that, it seemed as if the sun had suddenly<br />

gone down. <strong>My</strong> hands dropped, I could not speak. This was a blow<br />

that hit me harder than any chilling wind. I never thought he could<br />

go away like this. He took me in his arms, held me firmly, and went<br />

on: "I'll see you often ... give me time ... trust me, I love you, I<br />

love you so much ... stay as you are ... I need you." It took a long<br />

time before I could pull myself together; I felt the tears rushing to<br />

my eyes. I did not want to cry; I knew how unhappy it made him to<br />

see me crying.<br />

For Lu this had been an unusually quick decision. Lu was<br />

usually so slow in deciding important matters that I once jokingly<br />

called him Fabius Cunctator. In taking leave of absence from the<br />

Chamber of Commerce, the university-and of me-he found the<br />

courage to tell me about it only after he had decided. But I believed<br />

and trusted him, as I always did. He had never lied to me.<br />

We were never more in love than we were that summer.<br />

From Ferleiten we went to Hallein to see the Salzbergwerke,<br />

and before returning to Vienna we spent one week in Salzburg,<br />

attending the Festspiele. Every day was a special day, and I tried<br />

to forget what I knew would be coming.<br />

In Vienna we met every day until the very day he left for Geneva<br />

-October 3, 1934. He wrote often, telling me about the new apartment<br />

he had taken, the friends he had met, and his work at the<br />

institute. He returned to Vienna at Christmas, and as always, we<br />

spent much time together.<br />

<strong>The</strong> years went by. He came very often, sometimes in the middle<br />

of the week, for only a day or two. It was a blessing for me that I<br />

had so much work to do. Curt Bois, a well-known Austrian actor,<br />

had acquired the rights for a play by Massingham, <strong>The</strong> Lake. He<br />

planned to produce the play himself and play the lead, and he<br />

asked me to do an adaptation for him. He was very happy about my<br />

work. Marton was also happy <strong>with</strong> another play that I had adapted<br />

from the French. It was done from Sardou's play Dora, and I<br />

called it Diplomacy and Love. It was accepted by the Akademietheater<br />

in Vienna and came out in a very good production <strong>with</strong><br />

excellent reviews and-most pleasing for me, of course-commendations<br />

for the translator.<br />

On April 18, 1937, Lu's mother died. Lu came for the funeral<br />

and left soon afterward. That summer we spent again in the Austrian<br />

mountains. Everywhere we felt change. When we were<br />

climbing a mountain near the German border, the villagers, who<br />

33

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