Two Cities

Chapter 5 Preparation (2)
"As long as you like, sir." "Miss Manette, I'm a businessman, and I'm on a mission. You may even use me as a message machine--that's my position. You If yes, ma'am, I'll tell you a story about one of my clients." "Story!"

As if deliberately trying to misinterpret the word she had repeated, he added hastily, "Yes, client. Anyone who has done business with us in the banking business is called a client. He is a French gentleman. Scientific and accomplished." , is a doctor."

"Could it be from Bovey?" "Of course it is. It's from Bovey, like your lord Mr. Manette. This man is as well-known in Paris as his lord Manette. I was lucky to be there. I got to know him. Although we have a business relationship, we trust each other very much. At that time, I was still working in the French branch, and that was—ah! 30 years ago.”

"At that time—can you tell me exactly when, sir?" "I mean twenty years ago, miss. He married an English lady, and I was one of those who arranged the wedding for him. Like the French family, they entrust their affairs to Tellson Bank. Similarly, I am, or have been, the manager of dozens of customers. It is just a business relationship, miss. No Friendships involved, no special interests or emotions. I've switched clients a lot in my job — and I keep switching clients in my job now. Simply put, I'm an emotionless machine."

"But what you're going to tell me is about my father. I'm beginning to think—" She observed him with a strange frown—"my father died two years after my mother. Brought here—I'm almost sure." Mr. Lorry took the small hand of the trusting girl who lingered to shake his hand, put it politely to his lips, and returned the young girl to her seat. .Then he supported the back of the chair with his left hand, touched his cheeks with his right hand, adjusted the wig next to his ear, looked down at her, danced and continued - she sat on the chair and looked at him.

"Miss Manette, I brought you back. You will see that what I say is true: I have no feelings, and my relations with other people are only work. You just hinted that there was no visit after sending you here. You! No, you have been under the protection of Tellson's Bank since then, and I have been busy with other jobs at Tellson's Bank. Love! I have no time for love, and I have no chance, miss, all my life I have been like There's a big money machine with no boundaries at work."

After this strange description of his daily work, Mr. Lorry smoothed the flaxen wig (which was unnecessary, since its glossy surface couldn't have been smoother) with both hands, and Reverted to his original posture.

"So far, madam, it has only been the story of your unfortunate father—you have realized that, and now I will tell a different part. If your lordship is not dead—do not be afraid, you must It will be a surprise!"

She was indeed taken aback.She grabbed his wrists with both hands. "Please," said Mr. Lorry reassuringly, placing his left hand on the back of the chair on the fingers that clasped him for help, which were trembling violently, "keep calm and don't get excited—it's just work. I just said—" The girl's look made him very worried, so he had to suspend what he was going to say, walked a few steps, and continued:
"I said just now: if Mr. Manette is not dead, but disappears without a sound. If he has been kidnapped, and then even guessing is only a matter of finding out what terrible place he has been taken to, it will be difficult." Just to find him. If one of his countrymen betrayed him, and that man had a privilege that people don't talk about, like being able to send anyone to jail with a blank arrest warrant, let him be there Forgotten in the time it takes. If his wife pleads with the king, queen, court and church to find out his whereabouts, and there is no news - well, maybe this is the history of your father, and the doctor of Napoville History."

"I beg you to talk to me a little more, sir." "Of course I can. I'll tell you right away. But can you bear it?"

"Except that you don't make me panic now, I can bear anything."

"You do have the self-control to say that, and you--you do have your composure. Good!" (although his attitude is still hesitant) "It's work, let's treat it as work!—a must-do Well, if the doctor's wife is courageous and daring, and weathered the storm before the baby was born—"

"Is the child you speak of a girl, sir?" "It is a girl. That's business—business work—please don't be sorry. Miss, if the poor lady has had a rough time before her baby is born, and But she was determined not to let the child suffer any pain caused by the past, only to let the child believe that her father was dead, and let the child grow up like this-no, don't kneel! God! Why did you do such a thing? ?”

"I want to know the truth. Oh, my dear, kind sir, I want to know the truth."

"That's—it's business. You've got me emotionally messed up. How can I talk about work when my mind's messed up? We've got to keep our heads up. If you could tell me what nine ninepence is now, or twenty A shilling for a guinea, I'll be glad. Then I'll put your mind at ease."

After he gently lifted her up, she sat quietly. Although she didn't give him a reply, the hand holding his wrist was much calmer than before, so Mr. Jarvis Lorry was slightly relieved. .

"You're right, you're right. Take courage! It's work! You have your work in front of you, work you can make a difference, Miss Manette, your mother has done it with you. In Before she passed away heartbroken, she kept trying to find your father, despite nothing. She left you when you were two years old. She wanted you to bloom like a flower, beautiful and happy, whether your father died soon after all Retirement, or spending time in prison for a long time and haggard, you will not live in the haze, so you don't have to live in fear."

As he said these words he looked down lovingly at her flowing golden hair, as if imagining it would immediately turn gray.

"You know your parents didn't have a lot of money. Their property was left to your mother and left to you. No other wealth has been found since, but—"

He felt his wrists being clenched tightly, so he stopped talking.The expression on his forehead that he valued so much just now has become heavy and stable, showing pain and fear.

"But we've—we've found him. He's still alive. It's just that he's changed dramatically—it's almost inevitable. He's almost useless—it's inevitable, though we can imagine it better. He's still alive after all. , your father has been taken into the house of one of his former servants, in Paris. We're going there: I'm going to confirm him, if he's not beyond recognition. And you, you're going to continue his life, love, responsibility heart, and give him rest and comfort."

She trembled all over, and the tremor went through his whole body.With a frightened expression on her face, she murmured clearly as if in a dream:

"I must see his ghost! It's only his ghost!—not him."

Mr. Lorry stroked the hand that seized his arm in silence and said, "There, there, there. Listen to me, listen to me, you know everything now. You're about to see this wronged Poor aggrieved man. With a fair journey, you'll be at his side soon."

In almost the same tone, she said, almost in a whisper, "I have been free and carefree, but I have never been haunted by his spirit."

"One more thing," said Mr. Lorry, emphatically, to bring her back to his senses, "we found him under another name; his own had long since been forgotten, or Erased. It seems to be asking for trouble now to pursue his name. It is also asking for trouble to find out what caused him to disappear after all these years. It is asking for trouble to pursue anything now Annoyed, because it is dangerous. Forget about it in future - don't mention it again, anywhere, by any means. Just find a way to get him out of the country. I'm British, I'm safe, Tellson's Bank is also very prestigious in France. But even I and the bank have to avoid mentioning it. I don't have a word about it that is positive. It's a completely secret business. My commission The pass, the pass, and the memorandum are all contained in one sentence: 'The dead are raised.' This statement can be interpreted in any way. But what happened? She didn't listen to a word! Miss Manette!"

Under his hands, she remained motionless, did not speak a word, and did not even lean on the back of the chair, but was completely unconscious.She stared at him, still standing like a statue with that last expression on her face.Her hand was still holding him tightly.He was afraid of hurting her, so he dared not take his hand away, so he stopped there and called for help.

A scowling woman ran into the house before the hotel servants.Although Rory was very excited, he still noticed that her whole body was red.

Red hair, especially the red dress that wraps her body.Incredible millinery, like a large wooden wine dispenser from the grenadiers of the royal guard, or a large block of Stilton cheese.The woman separated him from the frail young lady in an instant—a push against his chest with one strong hand sent him back, crashing against the adjacent wall.

("She looks like a man!" thought Mr. Lorry breathlessly, throwing himself against the wall.) "What are you doing, look at you people!" the woman shouted at the hotel servant, "You What are you doing standing there in a daze? What am I looking for? Hurry up and get something? Hurry up and get smelling salts, cold water and vinegar, and I will show you. Hurry up!"

Everyone act immediately to get the above-mentioned rescue agent.The woman carefully put the patient down on the sofa and began to attend to her deftly, calling her "my darling" and "my little bird" and spreading her fair hair over her shoulders carefully.

"Mr. Brown," she turned to Mr. Lorry, angrily, "why did you frighten her by telling him things she shouldn't know? Look at her, pretty little face." It's all white and your hands are cold. Do you think you're behaving like a banker?"

The question, at a loss as to how to answer it, left Mr. Lorry standing at a distance, and the feeling of sympathy and shame seemed to be lessened by it.After this strong woman drove away the hotel servants with an inexplicable and mysterious threat of "if you keep staring at me, I will show you", she started her own job step by step.She coaxed the girl to rest her limp head on her shoulders.

"Hopefully she's more comfortable now," Mr Lowry said. "It's not your fault even if it's better—my lovely little beauty!"

"I hope," said Mr. Lorry, after a moment's silence of feeble sympathy and shame, "that you will accompany Miss Manette to France?"

"Of course!" said the sturdy woman. "If someone helped me get to the sea, my fate would not be stuck in this place alone."

This is another question I don't know how to answer.Mr. Jarvis Lorry could only step back and think.

(End of this chapter)