Saturday, January 24:
R. slept well, but still feels run down; he continues writing his letter to the King. In the afternoon we go for a walk together in the garden; it is windy and we soon return indoors. At 6 in the evening dinner at Prince Ouroussoff's.
A great variety of new acquaintances; the Prince, the most significant of them, reveals that fact by not talking to R. about music. At table R. causes some surprise by observing that he has no idea why Russia does not grant him a pension, for he has always maintained that Russia should have Constantinople. Instead, the Sultan took out certificates of patronage. "That was to win you over," says the Prince.
The others ask him about Raff, etc., until he says at last that he is no musician. And when they praise the pleasant sound of Italian music, he plays the theme from Norma, with its accompaniment of thirds, to show that here, too, one can be quite happy with terrible ugliness. But R. is unusually lively and friendly, till he tires of the many introductions and calls for our carriage.