Screen: HBO
Dear Nucky
Kessler may have written in his native German, but that doesn't mean you don't deserve to know what he was trying to convey, so we have a translation.
From The Very Orderly Desk
Of Edward Kessler
Dear Nucky,
Ever since I came to this country under circumstances you never really asked about -- not that you should have -- I have always striven to be less a person to you than an uncommonly useful tool. My goal was to anticipate your needs in such a way that you never, or at least rarely, ever had to ask me for anything. I took great pride in handing you a new drink as soon as your last ran dry, and I sincerely hope that, due to my intercession, none of your temporary lady companions spent a minute longer in your vicinity than you wished them to.
When I tell your business associates that you are "the sky and sea," "in the dreams of children at night," and "all that there is, forever," it is not mere talk, but an accurate description of my true feelings about you. Seeing to your every need, big and small, and helping to ensure that you lead your very best life, are my only concerns in this world. As you may or may not know, my sons have grown up into fine men, pillars of their community. (As you may or may not know, I have sons.) They do not need me. You need me.
The deep respect I have for you makes it all the more painful when the occasion arises -- seldom, I think, over the course of our acquaintanceship -- to accept responsibility when I have failed in my duty to you. And that is why I am writing this letter to you. I have let you down, and I must offer you my most abject apologies.
Your socks were mismatched today. For that, I am profoundly sorry.
I never have made excuses for my transgressions, and I never would, but I hope someday you can understand that mitigating circumstances interfered and kept me from protecting you as I should.
I will never forgive myself, but perhaps, in time, you will forgive me.
I Remain,
Your Obedient Servant,
Edward Kessler
PS The Feds were going to deport me back to Germany, which I had to flee as an embezzler and where my children live under assumed names to escape my disgrace, so I gave you up to save myself, but then it turned out that facing you was worse than going back to Germany would have been, which is why I have decided to end my life.
PPS I rolled your socks.