We resolve to move out, great unrest. Paid several visits; saw Ellen, now the Duchess of Meiningen,[1] again after fourteen years; she had tidings of Hans, all sounded so sorrowful, it seemed my heart would burst! … In the evening, Verdi’s “Requiem” [2] — which is best not talked about. — — — All Souls’ Day today; how much I have lost! I pass the evening with Emilie, speaking of Marie, remembering the dead.
[1] Ellen Baroness von Heldburg (1839-1923), engaged as actress Ellen Franz in Gotha, Oldenburg, Mannheim and Meiningen, in 1873 third morganatic wife of Duke Georg II of Meiningen (1826-1914), who reigned from 1866.
[2] 1874, in memory of the poet Alessandro Manzoni, by Giuseppe Verdi (1813-1901).
Revised English translation by Jo Cousins.