May 4. Mr. Santley dined with us. Played Besique in the evening. I beat.
5. Louise and I went to St. James Hall rehearsal. After went to Theatre. Learned Nilsson did not have as good a house 2nd night as Louise's first one in La Gazza Ladra. Mr. Arditi came to rehearse the waltz.
6th. La Gazza Ladra. Full house—enthusiasm—Duke of Newcastle came in.
7. Arditi's rehearsal for his concert at his house at 5 P.M.—went—house full—hot and funny. Mr. S—— came in the evening—played one game Besique.
8. Intended to go to Haymarket Theatre but Miss J—— had headache. Santley came in the afternoon to practise Susanna.
9. Santley called. McHenry and Stebbins, with another Budget of disagreeables from Mapleson who, not satisfied with cheating her [Louise] out of $500., deliberately asked her to give him 3 nights more! Shall have his money if we have to go to law about it.
Monday. [Louise] Sang at Old Philharmonic flute song from The Star. Mr. Stebbins went to Jarrett and told him Miss Kellogg would sing no longer than the 15th—her engagement closes then—but that Mapleson must pay her what he owed her—that he would have the checks that day or sue him.
Tuesday. Just got the second check of £150, showing that a little hell fire and brimstone administered in large doses is a good thing. The Englishman has not outwitted the Yankee yet!
12. Louise sang Don Giovanni—Titjiens "Donna Anna," Santley "Don Giovanni," Nilsson "Elvira." Crowded house—seats sold at a premium—Louise received all the honours—everything encored—4 bouquets. Nilsson and Titjiens were encored only for the grand trio. The applause on Batti Batti was something unequalled.
13. Went to photographers. Miss Jarrett, Santley and ourselves dined at Mr. Stebbins'—went to hear Lucca in Fra Diavolo—was delighted—she was not pretty but intelligent—sang well—not remarkable, but showed great cleverness—full of talent—acted it well—filled out the scenes—kept the thing going. The Tenor was good. I remained through the second act. Dropped my fan onto a bald head. Went over to Drury Lane—heard one act of The Hugenots.