Climbing the Stairs Read Online Free PDF Page B

almost felt sorry for the courier when he said to
me, ‘You know, it doesn’t matter what party you go with, you always get people who moan and groan the entire time. You’d think that they were on a luxury tour the way they go
on.’ Though incidentally I noticed that at mealtimes the courier always sat at a separate table on his own and he never had the same kind of food as we did. He did far better. He was on a
luxury tour by comparison.
    The next day we went out shopping in the morning. Albert was going to buy me some perfume – something he’d never bought me in his life – and he asked the courier whether he had
an arrangement. He had – and he directed us. Albert bought me a little tiny bottle of scent. Two guineas it cost. And when we got back to England I found we could have bought it here for
forty-five shillings. Three bob we saved – on the carriage I suppose. I don’t see where the arrangement came in. Let’s face it, the only thing was, never in this world would
Albert ordinarily have spent two guineas on perfume for me. So at least I got it, and it was marvellous. I used to use it very sparingly, a spot at a time. I hadn’t used half the bottle
before the scent went out of it. It doesn’t always pay to be too careful.
    Of course we wanted to go to a nightclub. Some people that I was doing for at home had said that we should go to the Folies Bergère.
    ‘Don’t pay for a seat,’ they said, ‘you can stand at the back for the equivalent of ten shillings and it’s just as good because not only are you near the bar but
you can see everything that’s going on.’
    So I told this to the courier.
    ‘Oh, no,’ he said ‘you’ll never get in the Folies Bergère, you have to book months ahead to get in there.’
    We should really have gone and found out for ourselves, but we didn’t. We thought, he must know doing these trips every year.
    Then this courier said, ‘I’ve got a better idea. I’ve got an arrangement with a nightclub called Eve’ (and the way he said Eve made it sound ever so salacious) ‘and
for two pounds ten each you can sit at a proper table and share a bottle of champagne between four of you.’
    We hesitated. Five pounds for two of us seemed an awful lot of money. But then to go to Paris and not be able to say you’ve been to a nightclub? After all, to us they seemed the main
feature of Paris life. So I said, ‘Oh let’s do it. That’ll be our last big expenditure. Let’s go.’
    Albert was keener than I was. Naturally it would be more interesting for a man than a woman. I couldn’t see what there was going to be in it for me. If there were any turns on I
wouldn’t understand the language. But Albert wanted to go back and say that he’d seen a bit of nudity, so we decided to go and we gave the courier our money. When I look back and think
of the money that man made I could pass out. I must admit we had taxis there – though we had to make our own way back. I’m certain he wanted to make sure we got there.
    When we got inside the place it was so small. There were only two rows of tables and a bar at the back, but by the time we’d paid two pounds ten each we couldn’t afford to buy any
more drink anyway. Four of us sat at a table with a tepid bottle of champagne in the middle. I’d had champagne when I was in domestic service and I knew what it should taste like. This stuff
was absolute rubbish. We sat there sipping it and then the first turn, if you could call it a turn, came on.
    It was twelve girls nude from the waist up with very fancy dresses below the waist. There were gasps from most of the men. One man belonging to our party went as red as a beetroot. Albert sat
there all nonchalant looking as though he saw such things every day. He didn’t. You’ve never seen such a collection in all your life. Talk about twelve raving beauties – they must
have gone out on the highways and byways and scoured the lot in. They were short and fat and tall