Tuesday, April 29:
Departed at 6 o’clock in the morning in severe cold, in a melancholy mood. Once more we are appalled by people’s malice, as shown in the rumors we heard from my father.
We banish our evil thoughts and talk about our friends in the Kassel gallery. “It is strange,” says R. “In spite of distances in time and differences in costume, these people all look at me in such a friendly way, as if I knew them through and through; it is the direct reflection of the thing-in-itself, conveyed through the appearance, which gives one this impression.” We recall Rembrandt’s wonderful women, the Dürer heads, van Dyck’s married couple. For Rubens, R. has no sympathy, though his Greek man remains pleasantly in the memory.
Arrive at the Dammallee at 1 o’clock, the children well and good. I come across a letter to Daniella from Hans, which completely belies all the foolish rumors; he is now in London and was happy with the proceeds of his concert tour. In the evening read the novel Minen und Gegenminen.