BETTINA VON ARNIM, German writer was born (d. 1859); No one knows exactly what passed between this willowy creature out of Sturm-und-Drang German romanticism and the poet Karoline von Günderode. Bettina devoted one of her books to this intense friendship, but since the letters she published as being from Goethe to herself have turned out to be largely fictitious, how much can we believe?

Bettina and Karoline had apparently been lovers. When Bettina overheard a handsome young man talking of his love for Karoline, she jealously reprimanded him for daring to speak of the poet as if he had a right to her love. So pronounced was her outrage that all present were aware that she was speaking as if she had a right to Karoline’s love. Shortly thereafter the two women quarreled, and Karoline, selecting a beautiful, romantic spot, unobtrusively blew her brains out. She was 26. Ah, love.