Page 103 - down-and-out-in-paris-and-london

should have to spend my twelve sous on a candle.
‘I called Maria back. ‘It’s no use,’ I said; ‘there is Sainte
Eloise —I have promised her a candle. The twelve sous will
have to go on that. Silly, isn’t it? I can’t have my cigarettes
after all.’
‘’Sainte Eloise?’ said Maria. ‘What about Sainte Eloise?’
‘’I prayed to her for money and promised her a candle,’
I said. ‘She answered the prayer—at any rate, the money
turned up. I shall have to buy that candle. It’s a nuisance,
but it seems to me I must keep my promise.’
‘’But what put Sainte Eloise into your head?’ said Maria.
‘’It was her picture,’ I said, and I explained the whole
thing. ‘There she is, you see,’ I said, and I pointed to the pic-
ture on the wall.
‘Maria looked at the picture, and then to my surprise
she burst into shouts of laughter. She laughed more and
more, stamping about the room and holding her fat sides
as though they would burst. I thought she had gone mad. It
was two minutes before she could speak.
‘’Idiot!’ she cried at last. ‘T’ES FOU! T’ES FOU! Do you
mean to tell me you really knelt down and prayed to that
picture? Who told you it was Sainte Eloise?’
‘’But I made sure it was Sainte Eloise!’ I said.
‘’Imbecile! It isn’t Sainte Eloise at all. Who do you think
it is?’
‘’Who?’ I said.
‘’It is Suzanne May, the woman this hotel is called after.’
‘I had been praying to Suzanne May, the famous prosti-
tute of the Empire …

10 Down and Out in Paris and London