Monday, February 8:
I start the morning with a little walk. R. and the children greet me from various windows. At breakfast R. tells me of an enthusiastic letter from Mme Viardot about Die Meistersinger. Also one from Dr. Nohl in Munich; he says all the signs point to the fact that the King has no sympathy for R. and his cause! I am alarmed when R. admits to me that he had written to this Herr Nohl, telling him that he was expecting a break with the King any moment.
Besides these two letters there is an anonymous one containing nothing but abuse and the news that Die Meistersinger was a failure in Karlsruhe. This pitiful scrap of paper arrives at the same time as the M.A.Z., which reports an unprecedented success in Karlsruhe.
Today has belonged almost exclusively to the children, since the household is somewhat reduced. I share with them meals, games, walk, and R. calls me the good mother hen. He also said during the morning that we had already found happiness; it was just that nobody wanted us to enjoy it.
In the evening, dictation.