Growing Suspicion
Now that the women were in their new home, Otto realized that he needed to give them a bit of spending money.

Otto was informed of Emmi’s affair many times but he didn’t have any proofs. Just in case, Emmi runs away, Otto transferred the cottage to Hedda’s name. Sadly, this trick wasn’t going to stop Emmi from eloping.

Eloped

In 1913, Otto’s suspicions proved to be correct, Emmi was in love with Mr. Doschle, an American. It was too late by the time Otto even got a whiff of it. Emmi had gone far beyond his reach. She eloped with Mr. Doschle to St. Louis and married him.

Betrayed

Emmi’s action affected otto deeply. Otto suspected Hedda knew of this from the very beginning but due to the lack of proofs, he didn’t blame her for it. Otto’s desperation now made him spend all his money on Hedda. He increased her allowance to $125 and even took her to Germany for vacations.

Proposal Of MarriageNo matter what he did, Otto couldn’t feel better about losing Emmi, so he decided that drastic measures needed to be taken.

In an attempt to get over with Emmi’s betrayal, Otto decided to propose Hedda for marriage. Hedda always declared her love for Otto but knowing that his first wife is still alive and bedridden, she declined his offer of marrying him.

Always A MistressIn 1913, the suspicions that Otto had been harboring about Emmi were proven to be true.

Hedda was ready to be Otto’s mistress throughout her life but marrying him would have been a violation of her own ethics. At any cost, she didn’t want to become the reason for Otto to abandon his first wife when she needed him the most.

“I would not leave Mrs. Koehler behind, sick and helpless as she was. I just gave myself away, because I loved him,” said Hedda.

Egoistic Man

Otto was an egoistic man who wasn’t going to take this rejection casually. He was planning to take his revenge by taking other women out. Hedda hired a private detective to check on Otto and was told that he was going out with another woman. Otto was ignoring Hedda who was completely relied on him for the luxurious lifestyle.