Chapter-12
Only Dr. Manette, Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross attended the wedding in the small church. Lucie was a beautiful bride and Charles a handsome groom. Although the doctor appeared happy yet Mr. Lorry could not help remembering the deadly fear that covered his face earlier that morning when he emerged from a private meeting with Charles.
After the newlyweds had left for their honeymoon, Mr. Lorry saw that same fear returned to the doctor’s face. Shortly after the doctor had gone to his room to rest, Miss Pross heard the sound of hammering from his room. She rushed inside, then came out immediately.
“All is lost!” she cried to Mr. Lorry, “He doesn’t know who I am, and he’s gone back to making shoes.”
Mr. Lorry hurried in. The doctor was busy at work and didn’t recognize him either.
Nine days passed, and still the shoemaker sat at his bench. For the first time in his life, Jarvis Lorry took time off from Tellson’s Bank, to help Miss Pross care for the doctor, to talk to him, and to try to bring his mind back. On the tenth day, however, Mr. Lorry found the shoemaker’s bench put aside and the doctor in his reading chair.
Knowing he would have to give a reason for calling
on the doctor so early in the day, Mr. Lorry asked, “My dear Dr. Manette, would you kindly give me some medical advice about the case of a good friend of mine who has been acting strangely? For his sake and the sake of his daughter, I beg your help.”
Mr. Lorry, of course, was referring to Dr. Manette’s own strange behaviour, but by pretending he was talking about someone else, he hoped to awaken the doctor’s mind to what had happened the last nine days.
“Did your friend have some kind of mental shock?” asked the doctor.
“Yes, sir. The shock was due to long years of great suffering. My friend later recovered, but has now experienced a relapse of the shock.”
“How long did this relapse last?”
“Nine days and nine nights.”
“You mentioned a daughter. Does she know about the relapse?”
“No, it has been kept secret from her.”
“That’s very thoughtful of you,” said the doctor, grasping Mr. Lorry’s hand in relief. “I believe your friend expected and feared this relapse,” he continued. “I believe something caused your friend to remember the circumstances that led to the first instance of this strange behaviour. His daughter, or even someone else, might have said or done something to make him remember events that happened before his first period of suffering.”
“Do you think the strange behaviour might recur again in the future, doctor?”
“I offer your friend hope for the future. His quick recovery this time is a good sign.”
“I’am so thankful to hear that, doctor! Now, just one more question. Let us say that during his years of suffering, my friend worked as a blacksmith, making horseshoes and other things out of iron at his forge, and that during the relapse he was found at his forge with his tools again. Should they be taken away?”
“Your friend may have needed to do blacksmith’s work to keep him from thinking about his years of suffering,” said the doctor nervously, “He may therefore want to keep his blacksmith’s tools near by in case he begins thinking again about that painful period.”
“I understand, sir,” said Mr. Lorry, “But doesn’t keeping the forge and tools make him think all the more about that awful past? If they were gone, wouldn’t his fear go too?”
“The forge and tools, however, are like old friends,” the doctor’s voice trailed off.
“I would certainly suggest that my friend gets rid of the forge and tools,” said Mr. Lorry, “I only want your permission to tell him so. Please advise me, for his daughter’s sake!”
“In her name, then, let it be done!” said Dr. Manette with a sigh, “But be sure not to take the things away when he is at home.”
For the next few days, Mr. Lorry took the doctor for rides in the country, and the old man began to look better and better.
On the fourteenth day, when Dr. Manette was strong enough to go out on his own, Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross went into his room, feeling like criminals. They chopped the shoemaker’s bench into little pieces and threw them into the fireplace. Then they buried the tools, shoes, and leather in the garden.
When Lucie and Charles returned to Dr. Manette’s house from their honeymoon, their first visitor was Sidney Carton. He had come to apologize to Charles for being rude and drunk on the night after the trial, and to ask permission to visit the family occasionally and be considered their friend.
To this, Charles and Lucie agreed, with Lucie telling her husband after Sidney had gone, “His heart is bleeding, and we must be kind to him. He is capable of gentle things, good things, even great things!”
Time passed, and Lucie gave birth to a baby-girl. As the child grew and began to walk and talk, she became the favourite with her ‘Uncle’ Sidney, who visited often, bringing little Lucie gifts and playing with her for hours. He never smelled from wine on these visits.
On a hot night in July, 1789, when little Lucie was six years old, Mr. Lorry came to the house to bring the news to Charles and Lucie and Dr. Manette that the Revolution had broken out in France.