Monday, February 20:
Prussia has rejected the Orleans claim in favor of a republic; there could be no greater triumph in the face of all the absurd things that have been said about Bismarck. R. works on his march and plays me his sketch; I believe it will be very fine.
Splendid weather; I let the children play out in the garden all day. With R. to town, where I find a letter from Baron Rothschild, sending me the 2,000 francs, though under the name Baroness von Bulow. This rightly annoys R., and he requests me to demand from my father a rectification. I am reluctant to demand this of my father, but after an inner struggle I decide to do so.
R., who had been watching my face, says, "Your eyes are shining, as if you had decided to do me a favor," and indeed the thought that I was making a little sacrifice in his behalf had uplifted me. Bitter feelings about my father.
R. has given me the score of Siegfried, bound, as a present. A new treasure for my room!
In the evening began Carlyle's Frederick the Great. R. says Carlyle is not a writer, but he has an original mind.