Friday, January 26:
R. has calmed down, and at breakfast he tells me he does not know whether to call his future article "The Feminine in Human Life" or "The Eternal in the Feminine." Then he tells me about one of the Arsacidae, to whom a woman given him by Augustus meant more than anything else. He then goes to his work and is satisfied with what he does. But around lunchtime, when I have to inform him of the passage in Herr v. B.'s letter (he did not wish to read the letter yesterday), he gets very upset, even though the prospect of not having to do the performance until the spring of 1884 is a welcome one. We then ride to the Square in nice sunshine, but he feels indisposed, and even after our return home his "heaviness" does not vanish; he comes to our meal late, having abandoned it earlier.
A letter from friend Stein raises the question whether we should not advise him to break with his family and take refuge with us. The question is: Glasenapp or Stein for Siegfried? The evening is spent quietly and cozily in chat about all sorts of things, R. somewhat taciturn but listening with enjoyment. Just now and again he flares up like a half-extinguished fire about what the King is doing to him in ordering this separate performance.