"[236]
[Footnote 235: Biedermann, _op. cit._ i. p. 60.]
[Footnote 236: Max Morris, _op. cit._ v. 470.]
On October 12th, 1775, happened an event which was to be the decisive
turning-point in Goethe's life. On that day the young Duke of Weimar
and his bride arrived in Frankfort on their way home from Carlsruhe,
where they had just celebrated their marriage, and again both warmly
urged him to visit them at Weimar.[237] We have it on Goethe's own
word that he had decided on a second flight from Frankfort as the only
escape from his unendurable situation, but the invitation of the ducal
pair brought his decision to a point. He accepted the invitation,
announced his resolve to all his friends, and made the necessary
preparations for his journey. The arrangement was that a gentleman of
the Duke's suite, then at Carlsruhe, was to call for him on an
appointed day and convey him to Weimar. The appointed day came, but no
representative of the Duke appeared. To avoid the embarrassment of
meeting friends of whom he had formally taken leave, he kept within
doors, working off his impatience in the composition of a play which
the world was afterwards to know as _Egmont_.
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