Constanze, at Wolfgang's instigation, sought to gain his sister's affection by many little acts of attention; she sent her caps made by herself after the latest Vienna fashion, and on another occasion a little cross of no great value, but of a kind very much worn in Vienna; and again, a heart with an arrow that Wolfgang thought particularly appropriate to his sister (March 23, 1782). She "took courage at last" in a letter (April 20,1782), "to petition for her friendship as sister of her very worthy brother;" she felt that "she half deserved it already, and would try to deserve it altogether," as well as to gain the good opinion of the father of them both. Both the lovers were delighted at the favourable reception of these overtures, although the father's views were not thereby anywise altered. He was especially against any idea of marriage before Wolfgang had some secure means of livelihood, and in spite of many attempts and tedious negotiations there did not seem much likelihood of this at present. "If I could only have it in writing from 'der liebe Gott," he writes to his father (January 23, 1782), "that I should continue in good health and never be ill, oh, would I not marry my dear, faithful sweetheart this very day!" His three pupils brought him eighteen ducats a month; if he could only get one more it would make 102 florins 24 kreutzers, on which he and his wife could maintain themselves "quietly and plainly, as we wish to live." In case of sickness, indeed, his income would cease altogether; but he could write an opera once a year, give a concert, publish some compositions, or raise subscriptions for them; accidents could not always be taken into account. "But," he concludes, "if we cannot succeed we must just fail, and I would rather we did so together than wait any longer. I cannot be worse off--things must improve with me. My reasons for not waiting any longer are not so much on my own account, as on hers. I must release her as soon as possible." The father did not grant the urgent necessity, and seeing in Wolfgang's calculations on the possibilities of an uncertain future a sure proof that he had not yet learnt what the foundation of a well-ordered household should be, he persisted in his refusal to consent to an immediate marriage. {COURTSHIP.} (260)