Thursday, October 29:
R. again has a restless night; he dreamed at first that his first wife mocked him, that he then struck her and she poisoned herself, and that some drops of the poison fell on him; then that he was jealous of Lenbach on my account, and Mimi Schl. tried to console him!
I write to Peter Cornelius’s poor widow. R. works, says he is preparing his plan as if for a battle, advancing now with these forces, now with those. If the gods grant him tranquillity, he will need another month to finish it. “Completed the wondrous work!” Tears fill my eyes at the thought.
In the evening the children play us an improvised comedy, in which Boni, usually somewhat noncommittal, distinguishes herself with her ideas and her liveliness. We then read The Battle of Spichern, after I received yet another sad impression of Daniella’s roughness and ungracious manner toward her sisters. Hans has received my letter.