Dear Steiner!
There is a Polish Countess here who is quite infatuated with my compositions, far more than they deserve. /She would like to be able to play the pianoforte arrangement of the symphony in A [Opus 92] exactly as I think it should be played; and since she will be in Vienna only today and tomorrow, she would like to play it at my rooms –
I earnestly request you, therefore, to lend it to me today or tomorrow just for a few hours, even if the copy has been made by the Diabolus Diabelli. I give you my word of honour that no use will be made of it to your detriment.
Your most devoted
L. v. Beethoven