R. went to rehearsal, morning and evening, and returns ever more dejected! “He who wants, must suffer”; were he to leave Vienna now, God knows what consequences might ensue! The most malicious tales are ever circulating in the newspapers — that we are selling our house, and so on and so on. — Princess Hohenlohe visited me; spoke much of her father, and also of her mother. A letter from Father; I meant to answer it in the evening, but was interrupted by Marie Dönhoff’s friendly call. R., much wearied and out of sorts from the rehearsal, gradually recovered himself, so that we retired in a cheerful frame of mind. …
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.