I looked it up and discovered there really was a kind of love triangle between Robert Schumann, his wife Clara, and Brahms. Below was from a biography of Johannes Brahms.
"In 1853 Brahms met Schumann and his wife Clara. Schumann's enthusiasm for the young composer knew no bounds. Schumann wrote articles praising Brahms and also arranged for the publication of Brahms's first compositions. During 1854 Brahms wrote the Piano Trio No. 1, the Variations on a Theme of Schumann for piano, and the Ballades for piano. Also that year Brahms was summoned to D?sseldorf, Germany, when Schumann had a breakdown and attempted suicide. For the next few years Brahms stayed close to the Schumanns, assisting Clara even after Schumann's death in 1856."
"When he was about sixty years old, Brahms began to age rapidly, and his production decreased sharply. He often spoke of having arrived at the end of his creative activity. Nonetheless, the works of this last period are awesome in their magnificence and concentration, and the last of his published works, the Vier ernste Ges?nge (Four Serious Songs), are among the high points of his career. Brahms's health took a turn for the worse after he heard the news of the death of Clara Schumann in 1896. On April 3, 1897, he died of cancer of the liver. He was buried next to Beethoven and Franz Schubert (1797?1828) and was honored by Vienna and the entire musical world." http://www.notablebiographies.com/Be-Br/Brahms-Johannes.html
