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died,—and their kindness was, if possible, greater than ever.
Additional instances of it occurred in
as an old friend of the family.
I cannot get back before Sunday evening, 6 o'clock. It is impossible.
I have worked till twelve o'clock every night, and, though I am sixty-five years old, I have accomplished as much in the last five days, including
Leipzig, as I ever did in any five days of my life.
Wednesday I passed all day at the Library, and in the booksellers' shops with
Dr. Brandes, and wrote all the evening, except that I called twenty minutes at Varnhagen's. But the booksellers are very clumsy and slow; and kind
Dr. Brandes scolds them in vain, and gets more out of patience with them than I do.
Yesterday I first arranged with
Professor Dehn, of the Library,— where there are 95,000 works
in music and
on music,—to buy £ 100 worth to begin our Library with.
Then I came home, and had a visit from Varnhagen and his niece, desperately agreeable, and I promised to take coffee with them this P. M. at five.
Then I worked on books; then at two o'clock was off to
Potsdam, to dine with the
King, who sent his verbal commands by his Hofmarschal, about eleven o'clock, to that effect.
Went out in the cars, and slept nearly the whole way, from sheer fatigue.
Dinner was very brilliant; the whole Court . . . . Had a jolly good time at table with forty odd people, but chiefly with an old general, who went to
England when the affiancing took place there,
1 and is now just back from the
Russian coronation;
the Prince of
Prussia;
2 and one of the
dames d'honneur, of which I will give you an account.
After dinner we were in the
salon about an hour, and the
King talked with me more than half the time; was truly agreeable, and sometimes scholar-like, urged me very much to stay to the
fetes of the marriage next week, and took leave of me with a hearty shake