Two Cities

Chapter 23 Two Promises
Twelve months come and go quickly.Mr. Charles Darnay has acquired the status of an excellent teacher of French in England.He also knew French literature.If it were today, he might be a professor, but at that time, he could only be a private tutor.He reads with young men he likes, studies a language commonly spoken all over the world, and educates them so that they may acquire its knowledge and important treasures.Moreover, he can write articles on French and French literature in standard English, and can also translate them in pure English.At that time there were not many such masters as he, for many past princes and future kings did not fall among the teachers, nor did the ruined nobles have their names removed from the books of Tellson's bank, and went to work as cooks or carpenter.From the perspective of a private teacher, he has a wide range of knowledge and rich words, which makes students learn very happily and benefits a lot.As a translator, he was elegant in style and included more than just dictionary words in his translations.Mr. Darnay therefore quickly gained fame, and was well received.Besides, he was no stranger to conditions in his own country, and that gradually attracted more interest.Therefore, he succeeded by his own perseverance and unremitting efforts.

In London it never occurred to him to walk on the golden pavement or sleep in a bed of roses.If he had to have these elegant ideas, he would not be able to develop them.He likes to work, and he also participated in the work, and worked harder.His prosperity depends on this.

He spent some time at Cambridge, where he taught French to undergraduates.He was like a forgiving smuggler who, instead of importing Greek and Latin through customs inspections, resold private things in European languages.The rest of the time he spends in London.

From the Garden of Eden, which has always been summer, to today's fallen world, which is mostly winter, the man's world always walks the same path-to win the love of a woman.This is also the way of Charles Darnay.

It was in his distress that he fell in love with Miss Lucy Manette.He had never heard a voice sweeter and lovelier than hers before, never seen a face so gentle and beautiful as she stood face to face with him on the edge of the grave he had dug.But he hadn't talked to her about it.It has been a year since the murder happened in the desolate manor on the other side of the choppy sea and the dusty road. The majestic stone manor has become a vague dream of the past, but he has not told her a single thing about himself. if.

He understood why he didn't speak.One new summer day, he left his university duties for London and turned into the quieter streets of Soho.He wanted to find an opportunity to tell Dr. Manette what was on his mind.It was getting dark that day, and he knew that Lucy had gone out with Miss Pross.

He saw the doctor sitting in an armchair by the window.The physical strength that had supported him in his most difficult times and aggravated his sufferings gradually returned.He's a very energetic guy now.He is determined and dynamic in action.When he is full of energy, he sometimes gets sick and becomes impulsive, just like when he can only train to restore other faculties, but this kind of situation itself is not very many, and it is even rarer now.

He spends more time reading than sleeping. It is very hard, but very relaxed and happy at the same time.At this moment Charles Darnay entered his room, and as soon as he saw him he put down his book gently and held out his hand.

"Charles Darnay! Nice to see you. We've been expecting you for days. Mr. Stryver and Mr. Sidney Carton were just here yesterday, and they expected you to be here long ago!"

"They're interested in me, and I'm grateful," he replied.Although he was usually indifferent to those two people, he was full of enthusiasm for the doctor. "Miss Manette—"

"She's fine," the doctor interrupted. "We're all very happy that you're back. She has some personal matters to attend to. She's out and will be back later."

"Dr. Manette, I know she's not at home. That's what I wanted to talk to you about while she was away."

blank.calm. "Really?" said the doctor, obviously agitated. "Come here, let's talk." The chair was pulled over, but he found it difficult to speak.

"I'm so excited to have such a close relationship with your family, Dr. Manette," he said at last. "It's been a year and a half. I hope I'm not going to speak on the subject of—"

The doctor held out his hand to stop him, and he shut his mouth.Not long after, the doctor returned to the topic just now, saying:

"Are you going to talk about Lucy?" "Yes."

"I am never at ease when speaking of her. I am still more ill at hearing you speak of her in this tone, Charles Darnay."

"This is the voice of ardent reverence, sincere adoration, and earnest love, Doctor Manette!" he said reverently.

Again blank, silent. "I take your word for it. I ought to be fair to you, and I take your word for it." He was evidently hesitant, and his uneasiness was evident in his reluctance to bring up the subject, so Charles Darnay paused. "Shall I continue, sir?" Another blank.

"Okay, I can say it." "You should guess what I'm going to say, although you can't imagine how serious I am when I say this, how sincere my feelings are, because you don't understand the desire in your heart and the The long-term embarrassment and anxiety of wishing on me. Dear Dr. Manette, I love your daughter obsessively, persistently, and earnestly. As long as there is love in the world, I will always love her. You have also been in love , Thinking about your previous love, you should be fine too!" The doctor turned his face away and sat, looking at the ground.Hearing the last sentence, he hastily stretched out his hand again, and shouted: "Don't talk about that, sir! Don't talk about that, I beg you, don't remind me of the past!" He cried out in pain. , so that the words still rang in Charles Darnay's ears when he had finished speaking them.He made a gesture with his hand, as if to beg Darnay to stop talking.Darnay understood what he meant, so he didn't make another sound.

"Forgive me," said the doctor in a low voice after a while, "that I do not doubt that you love Lucy. I can satisfy you."

He turned towards him in the chair, without looking at him or raising his eyes.He rested his chin on his hands, his white hair covering his face.

"Have you talked to Lucy?" "Not yet." "Have you written to her?" "Not at all."

"It's hard to pretend you didn't know that your self-denial was based on thinking about his father. Her father thanked you."

He held out his hand, but his eyes didn't quite cooperate. "I know," said Darnay earnestly, "how could I not know, Doctor Manette. I see you both together every day, and these unusual and touching feelings between you and Miss Manette are Cultivated under such special circumstances. Even among fathers and daughters, there are not many feelings comparable to yours. I know, Dr. Manette, how could I not know, except for a slow In addition to the affection and filial piety of my daughter who is slowly growing up, there is also all the love and dependence of her baby period. I know that because she lost her parents when she was young, she has now dedicated all her adult loyalty, enthusiasm and character To you, plus the trust and attachment to the father I never had in the early years. I know all of this, even if you come back to her from another place in this life, you will hardly be comparable to her in her eyes. You have a more respectable character that she has been with for a long time. I know that when she is close to you, the hand around your neck is three in one: it is a baby's, a girl's, and a woman's. I also know , when she loves you, she sees a mother who is about the same age as her, and loves her too. When she sees you, who is about the same age as me, she also loves me. She loves the mother who is not around, and she loves the mother who has experienced severe Your trials and successful recovery. That is what I have often seen since I came to your house and made your acquaintance."

Her father sat with his head bowed, only his breathing was obviously quicker than before, and all other signs of agitation were well controlled.

"Dear Dr. Manette, I have always known this. I have often seen you shrouded in a divine halo. I endured, I endured as much as man can endure. I have always felt (even now) Feel) to put my love (even my love) into you is to touch it with something that can't lead you to the past. But I love her. God can prove it for me, I am love her!"

"I believe it," replied her father sadly, "I guessed it long ago, I believe it."

"But," said Darnay, who heard the tone of reproach in the doctor's sad tone, "if I had the chance of marrying her, I might one day go against my present word and take You two break up. Besides, I know that's impossible and mean. If I keep the possibility in my mind, even if it's far in the future, I'll keep it in my mind, If I had such thoughts and thoughts, I would not be qualified to touch these glorious hands at this moment."

As he spoke, he put his hand on the doctor's. "No, dear Doctor Manette, I was willing to go into exile and leave France just like you. I couldn't get used to the bad practices of France, so I left. Like you, I lived abroad by my own hard work. life, and I firmly believe that the future will be happier, I just hope that I can share the joys and sorrows with you, share your life and family. I want to be loyal to you and never change. I will not affect Lucy as your daughter and partner The right to be friends. I'm going to help her get closer to you, if possible."

His hand was still with her father's.Her father didn't take his touch coldly.Not long after, Geng put his hands on the armrests of his chair.Lifted his head up for the first time since talking.The expression on his face showed signs of inner struggle.He was suppressing the doubts and fears that showed up from time to time.

"Your words are very affectionate and manly, Charles Darnay, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I will reveal my heart to you--or nearly. Are you sure that Lucy loves you? "

"No. Not so far." "Is the immediate purpose of expressing your feelings to me like this is to get my immediate approval?" "Not all of them. I may have a long time with little hope." , and maybe hope will come tomorrow, no matter whether I understand it wrong or not." "Do you want me to give you advice?"

"I don't ask, sir. But I think you're in a position to give me some advice if you think so."

"Do you want my promise?" "Yes."

"What promise?" "I know very well that without you I would not stand much chance. I know very well that even if Miss Manette had me in her pure heart at this moment--don't think I really have that Extravagant hope - my position in her heart cannot replace her love for her father at all."

"And if that's the case, what do you think else could matter?" "I also understand that a favorable word from her father for any suitor will carry more weight than herself and the world. Therefore, Dr. Manette " Darnay said respectfully but firmly, "I don't want to beg you to say those words, even if it can change my fate."

"I firmly believe, Charles Darnay, that mystery arises from love too great or from too great a distance. If it is the former, the mystery is delicate and subtle and elusive. My daughter Lucy is to me this mysterious Feeling. So I can't guess her state of mind."

"May I ask a question, sir? Do you think she—" He was still considering whether to say, her father had added to him:

"Has anyone else proposed?" "That's exactly what I wanted to say." Her father thought about it, and replied:
"You saw Mr. Carton here yourself. Mr. Stryver comes sometimes. There was only one, if any such thing."

"Probably two," Darnay said. "I don't think there'll be two. I don't think there's one. Don't bother getting my promise, or just tell me, what do you want me to promise?"

"If Miss Manette dares to do the same thing I did today, and one day expresses my inner thoughts to you, I hope you can confirm what I said to you today, and also show that you believe in me. I think Letting you have such a good opinion of me will not have any adverse effects on me. As for how important this matter is to me, I don’t want to explain it again. This is my request. The reason why I put forward this condition-you undoubtedly Right to demand this condition - I will execute it immediately."

"I promise," said the doctor, "unconditionally. I believe that what you say is exactly what you want. I believe that your intention is to preserve my relationship with my precious alter ego, not to minimize it. relationship. If she told me that you were her perfect happiness, I would entrust her to you. If there was more—Charles Darnay—if there was more—”

The young man grabbed his hand excitedly, and the two held hands inseparably.The doctor said:
"If there's even a little fantasy or reason or fear that's not in the favor of the man she really loves, if it's not his fault, then, for her sake, I'll delete it, whatever it is. She's mine Everything, she's more important to me than anything, more than the injustice I've suffered—hey! That's bullshit."

He exhausted all his strength, stopped his mouth, with a strange attitude, stared at him with another strange look, let go of the hand he was holding, and let it go again.Darnay felt the hand go cold.

"You just said something to me," said Dr. Manette, with a smile. "what is that?"

He didn't know how to answer, and then he remembered the conditions he just said, and then he replied with peace of mind:
"I should thank you for your trust in me with [-]% trust. Although I am using my mother's surname now, it is not my real surname, as you know. I plan to use my real surname with me when I go to England. reason for coming."

"Stop it!" said Povey's doctor. "I hope I can gain more trust from you, and I don't have any secrets from you." "Stop it!"

The doctor covered his ears, and then put his hands on Darnay's lips.

"Tell me when I want to know, don't tell me now. If your proposal is successful, if Lucy loves you, tell me on the morning of the wedding! Do you agree?"

"I agree." "Shake hands. She'll be back soon, and it's best not to let her know that we're together tonight. You go! God bless you!" It was dusk when Charles Darnay left.It was getting darker an hour later, and Lucy just came back from the outside.She hurried into the room alone—Miss Pross went straight to the bedroom—and was surprised to find the study chair empty.

"Daddy!" she yelled. "Dear Papa!" No one answered, but she heard a very low voice coming from his bedroom.She walked slowly through the middle room, looked in the door, and came back in a panic.The blood all over her body was condensed, and she shouted, "What should I do! What should I do!"

She was only frightened for a moment, then hurried back, knocked at his door, and cried softly.As soon as she cried, the knocking stopped, and the doctor came to her at once.The two came and went together for a long time.That night she went to his bedside to watch him sleep.He slept soundly, his cobbler's toolbox and his old unfinished work in their former places.

(End of this chapter)