LE GRANDE'S DIARY.
"October 3.
"I HAVE been in such a maze of suspense and bewilderment for a
month, dear Journal, that I have neglected you; to-night I'll
recall, if I can, some of my lost days. No, I can't. It makes no
diference; they were only days of trouble. I am perplexed to death
to know the result of the baron's letter. He wrote, of course, and
urged that Mr. Mordecai send Leah at once to him. And the
preparations are going rapidly forward for her departure. Every day
I say, 'Darling, stay with me,' and her father says, 'Daughter, you
must go.' 'We shall see, in the end, what the end will be.'
"October 15.-To-night, dear Journal, I make the most triumphant
record of my life. Tell it not, breathe it not, to a mortal soul!
Leah, my darling, has promised to marry me, and not go to Europe, as
her father had determined. She told me last night, when I met her in
the park, that her mind was made up. She would not go. She did not
wish to go, and to marry me was her only alternative. She loves me,
though, and we shall be happy, I am sure. My parents are bitterly
opposed, and hers will be, to such a union, but we will be married,
for all that. Helen alone is in my confidence; she has none of that
pride that revolts at Leah's being a Jewess. To-morrow I leave for
Havana, where I go with papers from our banking house to a branch
house in that city. If I am successful in making my business
arrangements, as I feel assured I shall be, then all will be well. I
can only remain two days, as the day for Leah's embarkation is not a
fortnight off. My mother and father know nothing of the business
that takes me away, yet I have not deceived them. But, Journal, good
night.
"October 28.-Home again from Havana-home with bounding heart and
glowing hopes. I admire that fine City of the Antilles almost as
much as I do my beloved, native Queen City. I shall enjoy my new
home, I know. How could I do else than enjoy it? With a satisfactory
salary in our branch house, and a lovely young wife, a heathen might
well be happy. Now, old Mordecai can keep his gold, if he likes, and
ny father can do the same. The opposition has driven me to rely more
implicitly upon myself, thank the fates. I shall be able to 'paddle
my own canoe.' Leah looks something like those Spanish beauties,
only she's a trifle sadder in expression. I trust she'll be happy in
her new home, amid Cuban bloom and under azure skies. Heaven grant
her an unclouded life. I am delirious with joy; and for fear of
committing too much to your keeping, Journal, I'll stop writing.
Adieu."