Sunday, February 19:
R. slept well; in the morning he talks about the German princes with a mixture of gaiety and bitterness, observing that one could say of them what the Saxon mail-coach driver with the Prussian jacket said to the people who mocked him: “These . . . also deserve to be Prussians.”
The departure of Herr Türk, whom we are sending home, gives rise to much merriment, since Siegf., in his concern for economy, looks through Baedeker for all the cheaper hotels. In the morning we stroll in the garden, in the afternoon at Camastra; as we are leaving, we are greeted by a boy who, R. says, might just have been spat out by Mount Etna, and a few steps farther on we meet a beggar who is a complete “Carthaginian,” black and wild; at Camastra the Count introduces his theater manager, who is reputed to have murdered someone, but whose open, cheerful, and energetic face pleases R. greatly.
Monday, February 20:
In the evening I am obliged to go to a ball at Prince Gangi’s, R. insists that I go and looks on as I dress. However, on Monday, February 20, I find him still awake at 4 a.m.! On my departure he had gone straight to bed but was unable to sleep, and so he waited up for me! But he then goes off to sleep, and at around 11 o’clock I describe to him all the little happenings, which appear to amuse him.
When, in the evening, I ask whether the girls might go to Princess Butera’s for the final and most glittering ball, since I had been pressed to send them there with the Tascas, and Blandine in particular was very anxious to go, he flies into a great rage and says that he feels nothing but contempt for a girl who wishes to gad about four nights in a row, and if he were head of the family, he would forbid it. This final remark decides us, but also causes great dismay among the children. Many tears are shed; Lusch behaves splendidly, understanding her father’s and my feelings completely, and that we are of the same opinion, but Loldi is beside herself, while Boni sheds a few silent tears for her lost enjoyment (she has both given and received much pleasure here).
For R. and me also the night is much disturbed, but after shedding hot tears myself, I hear him getting into bed. After a few quiet words he gets up again, goes off to read, comes back, and says, “The Duke of Augustenburg is still laying claim to the throne.” — Gladly would I have laughed at the change of subject, but my strength deserted me; some time later he falls into a half-drowsing state: “Here, take my foot,” I hear him say; I lay mine on his. “Oh, you are good!” he says, and after a tender and silent embrace, I take his hand, and he sinks into a deep sleep.