Sunday, August 11:
R. is still very weak; we enjoin silence and keep strictly to ourselves. R. reads: he has taken up the Ducs de Bourgogne again, with Charles the Bold. He has had another look at his clarinet solo, he tells me, and is pleased with it. I pay some calls, during which I hear news of the general situation. The Emperor is said to be looking very downcast, in a way that has never been observed before; the elections have turned out badly, and the government has little idea what to do about the black-red-gold International.
We spend the evening in quiet and gentle conversation and go off to bed at 10 o’clock. Talking about the Ducs de Bourgogne, R. remarks how differently one gets to know the characters in Shakespeare, and we read the scene in Richard III, which always seems new to us, where the King comes to Lady Grey [Queen Elizabeth] and her relatives in the palace; the energy and wit, the power of the language make a direct impact, as if it were all happening before one’s eyes.