Monday, 30 July 1877

They say many young girls write down their impressions, and that stupid La Vie Parisienne says so in rather a disdainful manner. I sincerely hope I am not that neutral, envious, ignorant creature, absorbing mysteries and depravities through every pore; [Several lines cancelled]
Fauvel is putting a stop to my trips to Enghien and may perhaps send me to Germany — which will once again turn everything topsy-turvy.
That rascal Walitsky is a capable man — he understands all diseases; I had hoped he was wrong in recommending Soden to me, and now Fauvel is going to agree with him. Despite Enghien, shall I then have to end up where I should have begun? Well then!
At times I am tempted to stop treating myself — that is when I lose hope of recovering.
I lay down all evening having Rosalie tell me how she would abduct Alexandrine, be caught and tried at the assizes; how she would be condemned to two years in prison, commuted by a reduction of sentence to a mere fortnight.
The Portuguese fortune-teller told me that I had committed a great imprudence and that I intended to commit a second, more serious one.
- The cards, she told me, have this advantage: they protect one from troubles by announcing them; in this way one can avoid them as best one can. So — do not yet make that rash decision!!
Yes, I am afraid of doing it — but I so want to have that child. It seems to me I would love her so dearly.
I then went to sleep with Maman to attempt a reconciliation. But, deliberately or not, they irritate me in everything, always.

Notes

La Vie Parisienne: a popular Parisian satirical and society weekly, founded in 1863; known for its mockery of bourgeois pretensions and fashionable affectations.
Soden am Taunus: a German spa town in Hesse, known for its saline mineral springs, recommended for throat and bronchial conditions.