was intelligently convinced, and they skilfully effected the breaking of their engagement—on a pretext from her side.
Historic cases of these 'escapes' are to he met. One of them involved the unlucky Ludwig II of Bavaria. We have noted such a situation as a tragedy, when speaking of the ruptured betrothal of Lenau, the distinguished poet.
Nevertheless, we continually find the homosexual entering on his engagement, after positive medical advice toward such a step.—as his "cure." But anon—perhaps at once—he finds his error. His disillusionment is pitiable. Such a well-meaning but evil counsellor is depicted in the interview with a medical specialist, included in a little psychiatric romance already cited in these pages—"Imre a Memorandum:
"The physician who had written that book happened to be in England at the time. I had never thought it possible that I could feel courage to go to any man .. save to that one vague sympathizer, my dream-friend, he who some day would understand all!… and confess myself; lay bare my mysterious nature. But if it were a mere disease, oh, that made a difference! So I visited the distinguished specialist at once. He helped me urbanely through my embarrassing story of my 'malady' … "Oh, there was nothing extraordinary, not at all extraordinary in it, from the beginning to the end," the doctor assured me, smiling—in fact, it was "exceedingly common … All confidential specialists in nervous diseases know of hundreds of just such cases; nay, of much worse ones; and treat and cure them … A morbid state of certain sexual-sensory nerve-centers" … and so on, in his glibly professional diagnosis."
— 537 —