Saturday, November 4:
R. had quite a tolerable night, though the disagreeable episode hangs over us and also comes up for discussion at breakfast. We incline toward tolerance, since a character like that can scarcely be regarded as moral. R. completes his work, and we then ride, unfortunately in fog, to S. Giovanni Crisostomo, where he attentively studies the Bellini as well as the Sebastiano del Piombo. Recently he teased me about my love for saints “caparisoned like bishops”; I spoke in their defense, and today he yields to me and to some extent exonerates me through the interest he shows in these pictures. Over coffee we discuss the little book about Bismarck, and then we move on to America, which R. expects one day to become the dominating world power.
In the evening we visit our friends the Schl.’s in Malipiero, to say goodbye to them. R. is very tired out by this visit, for he finds contact even with the people most dear to him a heavy burden.