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Extracts
from Diary number 4 - page 2
23/2/17
I was well aware of course that this type of woman (enjoleuse) merely
want money and nothing else and I was determined to give them neither.
I noticed that the wine was indeed strong even possibly drugged.
A thimbleful was in fact sufficient to mount quickly into the regions
of my brain. It was time to be looking for the place of meeting,
so paid my bill at the rate of one franc per thimbleful of Benedictine,
and departed much to the disgust of the females. I was lucky in
passing three British nurses who by their remarks I gathered that
they too were bound for the same place as myself. I heard one say
"Thank goodness there is a lecture on tonight", which
gave me the impression that the nurse was very fed up like the rest
of us. I decided to follow them as otherwise it would have been
a difficult matter for me to find my whereabouts owing to the darkened
streets. Nearly everyone carries a flashlight, especially the women
who wish to sell their favours. They flash their torches continually
into ones eyes. I did nearly come to grief against a lamppost in
the middle of the road. Entering the cinema I found that only a
few had arrived, but later the building became quite full. The audience
was composed mostly of French officers some with their wives and
families, a number of British officers also attended, but I was
the only "Tommy" present. A score or more French nurses
came to listen and I thought that on the whole, the gathering was
a good sample of French society. Monsieur Germain Bapist wore plain
clothes. He is of slight stature, with a comparatively wide but
receding forehead. He uttered each word clearly and distinctly and
I was able to fol-low a good deal of his speech in spite of an abundance
of coughing, which very fre-quently drowned his remarks to my ears.
He spoke upon a large number of subjects, most of which are already
familiar to Englishmen, a few others I might mention such as that
every British regiment has a Drapean, which is the emblem of honour,
he enumerated in their order the names of the battles, which one
regiment bore upon its banner, and which passed in review before
the late field marshal Lord Roberts during his visit to the troops
in France. He solemnly declared that it was the duty of the officers
of the Republican army to salute the standards of British valour.

 
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