Ludwig van Beethoven, Billet an Ignaz von Gleichenstein, Wien, gegen Ende Mai/Anfang Juni 1810, Autograph

Beethoven is disappointed that his friend Gleichenstein is not looking after him despite his anguish. He wishes to see him the next day at breakfast, but alone, without his friend Carl Anton Dorner. Beethoven suspects that Gleichenstein is trying to hide something from him to protect him.

In spring 1810 Beethoven was head over heels in love with Therese Malfatti and proposed to her in May 1810. Gleichenstein was engaged to Therese's sister and so had access to the family's innermost circle. Beethoven kept pushing his friend to tell him inside news of the Malfatti family. He might possibly already have sensed and expected that Therese would turn him down. She did in fact do so.