Sunday, 25 November 1877

On the occasion of the fall of Kars, there was a grand Te Deum at the church. The ambassador and all the Russians of distinction were present.
The prayer for the living victors, followed by the prayer for the souls of the soldiers fallen on the field of battle, produced a gripping effect.
As soon as I am home I make a sketch of the three priests, the deacon, the altar with its candles, the sacred banners, and so forth. I shall show it to Julian.
Blanc to dinner; Madame Doubelt in the evening. She spoke of that society I have... left behind, and I confess it disturbed me a little.
I am no doubt very foolish to imagine a thing that would only bore me... It concerns Blanc, who enjoys my company and speaks of Cassagnac in quite a different manner from eighteen months ago.
It would be very stupid, very tedious — he knows it would be entirely superfluous — in short! It is not so, no doubt, and I hope it is not.
In fact it would be quite indifferent to me — what is annoying is that he keeps Cassagnac away.
I went to see Berthe, because the Boyds see a great many people.
Madame Doubelt has unsettled me.

Notes

The fortress of Kars (in present-day Turkey) fell to Russian forces on 18 November 1877, a decisive event of the Russo-Turkish War.