She could not stop it. The sneeze came – a long, hard one. ‘This is the end of me’, Miss Bracegirdle thought. ‘Now this Frenchman is going to jump out of bed and turn on the light. Then he is going to look under the bed and pull me out. And then… And then? What can I do then? I can scream if he puts his hands on me. Perhaps it is better to scream first, before that happens. If not, he can put his hands over my mouth and stop me from screaming.’
But no scream came out of her mouth. Her fear was much too strong. She stayed very quite and listened. Was he going to hit her – with one of those heavy shoes, perhaps? But nothing happened. Miss Bracegirdle suddenly knew that she could not stay under that bed a minute longer. It was better to come out, wake up the man and tell him everything. With difficulty she got out from out of the bed and stood up. She went over to the door and put on the light. She turned to the bed and said, as strongly as she could, ‘Monsieur!’
