Sunday, 24 February 1884

The Claire contingent and the Villevieille contingent and the Kesslers and the Bonapartes pestered me so thoroughly with their admirations and observations about Dina's portrait that I wipe out the head — it was ruined; one had to destroy.
I went to church, then to the Gavinis', then for a moment to the Bois.
They are killing me.
Meanwhile I immerse myself in the writings of M. Renan and the Bible — imagine, I had never read it... It is a world unto itself...