This diary was written in 1940. She wrote stuff in shorthand that she didn’t want her mom to know about (lol – didn’t we all?) She’s writing about a married man who’s been sniffing around her, taking her for rides and giving her small gifts. On this date, the man (Mr. Carver) took her to his home to meet his wife and new baby. Then they went for a ride before he took her home. I can’t quite figure out the last sentence. “He told me how much he liked me and that he ____ loved ____ by his wife and me.” Need help filling in the blanks!
"… he hadn't loved anyone else but his wife and me."
Expect my invoice in the mail …
Geesh, once you know what it says, it's embarrassingly obvious … Thanks much. You know, even 80 years later, I can't help but want to slap the letcherous Mr. Carver …
You're welcome.
When I have encountered things that I cannot transcribe right away, I usually put them aside and take a long break for the brain to reset. I can usually come with the transcription on the second try, and if I can't on the second try, I take another break. A fresh look is key.
I decided to try this one myself before looking at Carlos' answer. I got the "anyone else but" easily enough, but was stumped by the "he hadn't", because the nt looks like an r. I knew it couldn't be "he during" or "he doctor", but nt didn't occur to me. Moral: Even when most of the shorthand is well written, sometimes some things can be badly misformed.
Thanks for what you do for the shorthand community, Carlos.
You're welcome! For me the key was the h dot. Since "he" is written without the dot (and she doesn't use the dot anywhere else for "he") and since a dotted e-d means "he had", the only logical option for the curve was nt; for some reason she didn't want to extend the nt curve.
Wow, fascinating! Love seeing these real-life examples. That's quite a secret to have to hide from mom!