Berlin, 26 November 1917

On his ex-wife, Mileva: 'the sum (she + I) didn't work out'.

Einstein expresses his gratitude to Anna Besso for her care for his estranged family in Zurich, and for sending friendly news. On his own side, he can report an improvement in his finances, 'so that there would be no sense in timorous miserliness': but if his younger son Eduard returns home from his sanatorium before New Year, that will help matters. He would love to have more news of his sons as his elder son Hans Albert is with the best will in the world no letter-writer. He is happy to hear that Anna found Mileva Einstein in good humour: 'I will never again express anything about her, other than that the sum (she + I) didn't work out'. Their lives will be happier for their separation. Einstein asks for more details of Mileva's health: his own is much improved, although the pain persists, and he suffers for every lapse from his strict diet, or any kind of excitement. He thinks with pleasure of his friends the Bessos and of their harmonious married life (a comment which Anna Besso has annotated sarcastically 'He knows nothing of it'). In a postscript, he asks Anna to ensure that their friend Heinrich Zangger has no further sight of the family finances: she should also find out how much he has expended on Einstein's behalf, so that he can pay him back. The annotations by Anna Besso and Heinrich Zangger indicate that she forwarded the letter to him in spite of Einstein's remark.