Thursday, December 27:
Herr [Josef] R[ubinstein] sends his piano arrangement of the Idyll, and R. is pleased with the wonderful, cherished work!
R. works on the “Holy Grail March” and says he must go to Marienbad or Ems next year to hear it - it is the proper march for a spa!
I file away the letters of 1877. In the afternoon, a walk with R. in the palace gardens. When we separate in the evening and he speaks to me the sacred and solemn words of love, I feel transported and ask myself what I have done to deserve such happiness. I should like to be silent forever, to disappear, to know nothing, hear nothing, do nothing except serve him - him alone! I am filled with dread when I think of the world and reflect that masks and grimaces can still disturb this harmony, this life of ours - performances, concerts, travels, all of this is torture; all I want is to help him, here in this sheltering house, to make things bearable for him, and then together with him to take leave of this world!