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My Dearest Lucy

"Please forgive the long delay since I last wrote. I have been simply overwhelmed with work. The life of an assistant school-teacher is sometimes difficult. I am longing to be with you. When we are by the sea we can talk together and build our castles in the air. I have been working very hard lately, because I want to keep up with Jonathan's studies, and I have constantly been practising shorthand. When we are married this will be be useful to Jonathan, and if I can do it well enough I can take down what he wants to say in shorthand and write it out on the typewriter. I am also practising very hard with the typewriter.

He and I sometimes write letters to each other in shorthand. He is keeping a journal of his travels abroad. When I am with you I shall do that too. I don't mean one of those two-pages-in-a-week-with-Sunday-squeezed-in-a-corner diaries. It will be a journal which I can write in whenever I feel inclined. I do not suppose there will be much to interest other people; but it is not intended for them. Some day I may show it to Jonathan if there is in it anything worth sharing, but it is really an exercise book. I shall try to do what I see lady journalists do. They interview people and write descriptions and remember conversations.

I am told that, with a little practise, it is possible to remember everything that happened or was said during a day. However, we shall see. I will tell you of my little plans when we meet. I have just had a few quick lines from Jonathan from Transylvania. He is well, and will be returning in about a week. I am longing to hear all his news. It must be so nice to see strange countries. I wonder if we — I mean Jonathan and I — shall ever see these countries together. Now I hear the ten o'clock bell. Good-bye.

Your loving

Mina

Tell me all the news when you write. You have not written for a long time. I hear rumours, and especially of a tall, handsome, curly-haired man?"

Vocabulary:

Delay: The time to wait before something happens
Overwhelmed: Having more thna one can deal with
Castles in the air: Fantasies
Constant: All the time, without change
Shorthand: A way of writing very quickly
Journal: A personal record of things experienced
Inclined: In the mood
Longing: Wanting somethng very much
Rumour: Something that happened which might not be true
Curly-haired: Hair that is not straight or wavy

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