Two Cities

Chapter 56 The Essence of Shadows (2)
And then the brother got this guy's support, even help, to get my sister here, although she told him one thing - I know she will definitely tell him, if you don't know it now, in a while will also know.His younger brother took my sister away.He made fun of her for a while.I met her passing by on the road and brought the news home, and my father died of a broken heart.He was full of grievances, but he didn't say a word.I took my little sister (I have a sister) where this guy can't find her, where she can at least not be his servant.Then I followed his brother so far, into the yard last night—a mean dog with a sword in his hand.Where are the attic windows?Is it right next to it?

"In his eyes, the whole house went dark, and the world around him shrunk. I looked around and saw a mess of wheat straw and hay, which showed that there had been a struggle here. My sister heard my voice and ran away. Come in. I want her not to come near me until I kill the guy. The guy comes in, first throws me some money, then whips me. I stab him with a sword and make him fight me —Though I am a lowly dog. He draws his sword to defend himself, and he does his best to keep his life. I make him break his sword in pieces, for it is covered with my low blood. "

"I saw a broken-up sword in a haystack just now. It must have been a nobleman's sword. There was an old-fashioned sword in another place, like a soldier's."

Now, help me up, doctor, help me up.where is hehe is not here.I helped the boy up, guessing he was referring to the elder brother.he!Although these nobles are proud, he is afraid to see me.What about that person just now?I turn to him. "I did as I did, and helped the boy's head rest on my knee. But at this moment, the boy possessed incredible strength and stood up completely, prompting me to stand up too, otherwise I wouldn't be able to support him."

The young Marquis turned to him with wide eyes and raised his right hand. When the time comes to settle this blood debt, I want you and your whole family until the last person of your race takes responsibility for all of this.I draw a bloody cross on you to mark my request.When the time comes to settle this blood debt, I want your brother, the worst of your vile race, to take responsibility for it alone.I made the bloody cross on him to signify my request.

"He reached out to the wound on his chest twice, and then made a cross in the air with his index finger. He stood with his hand up for a while, and the moment he dropped his hand, he also fell down. I also put him down who was dead."

"When I returned to the young woman, she was still screaming and screaming. I understood that this situation may continue for many hours, and it will most likely end in the silence of the grave."

"I put her back on the medicine I had just given, and sat beside her until late into the night. Her screams were still high-pitched, her words were still clear, and in the same order. It was always my husband, my father, my father. Brother! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve. Hush!"

"She screamed for 26 hours straight from the first time I saw her. I left her twice during that time. When I sat next to her again, she was getting weaker. I tried to help as much as I could. She, hoped there would be some hope, but in a little while she fell into a coma, and lay dead."

"It seemed as though a terrible long storm had passed at last, and the wind and rain had ceased. I let go of her arms, and called the woman to help me fix her face and her ripped dress. Only then did I know that she had the first signs of pregnancy, and it was at this moment that my little hope for her was instantly shattered."

is she deadasked the Marquis, should I call him brother?The brother had just dismounted and entered the house in his boots.

Not dead, I said, but it looks like he's about to die.

Such vigor in these lowly fellows!He looked down at her and said bitterly.

"There is a very powerful force in pain and despair!" I answered him.

He smiled when he heard this, but then frowned.He pushed a chair with his foot in front of mine, called the maid out, and said in a low voice:

"Doctor, after knowing that my brother was in trouble with these hillbillies, I invited you to help. You are very famous, a young man with a bright future, and you definitely know how to cherish your future. All you hear here is to see , can not spread. I just listen to the patient's breathing, avoid answering. Do you give me face, do you understand my words, doctor? Sir, let me say that people in my profession always keep secrets from patients. I My answer was extremely vigilant, because what I saw and heard made my heart very painful."

"Her breathing was almost inaudible. I took my pulse seriously and touched my chest. She was still alive, but only alive. I returned to my seat and turned around to find that the two brothers were staring at me."

"I wrote very hard, the weather was extremely cold, and I was extremely afraid of being found out and locked in a dark dungeon. Therefore, I had to compress my narrative. My memory was not confused, and there was no mistake. About me and the two Brother's conversation, I can recall every word and every detail."

"She struggled for a week, and when she was about to die, I put my ear to her lips and heard some of the syllables she said to me. She asked me where she was, and I answered. She asked me Who, I answered the same. I asked her surname, but she didn't answer. She shook her head slowly on the pillow, keeping the secret like her brother."

I told the two brothers that her condition was rapidly deteriorating and she would definitely not live for a day.That's how I created the opportunity to ask her questions.Before that, she had never felt the presence of a third person other than the woman and me.And whenever I was present, one of the two brothers was definitely sitting vigilantly behind the curtain at the head of the bed.But after that it seemed to them both of little importance what I might say to her.A thought crossed my mind: "I might be dying too. I always thought both brothers felt that the younger brother had dueled a farmer (and a boy at that) with contempt. The only thing they seemed to care about was that it was very scandalous, Ridiculous. As long as I saw the younger brother's eyes, I felt that he hated me very much, because I heard the young man's words and knew a lot of inside information. He was more tactful and polite to me than his elder brother, but I still saw this. A little. I also think I'm a piece of that brother's heart."

My patient died two hours before midnight--according to my watch, not even a fraction of a second away from the moment I first saw her.When her young sad head slowly tilted to the side, ending her injustice and grief in the world, I was the only one beside her.

The two brothers waited anxiously in a room downstairs, hurrying to leave.I could hear them whipping their boots and pacing up and down as I sat by my bed alone.

"Is she dead at last? My brother said as soon as I entered the house." Dead, I said. "Congratulations, brother, he turned around and said these words." In the past, when he offered me money, I refused to accept it.Now he handed me another paper tube of gold coins, I took it and put it on the table.I've thought about it and made up my mind not to accept it.

"Excuse me," I said, and I couldn't take it at the moment. "The two brothers exchanged glances, but acquiesced, because I nodded to them at that time. We parted and never spoke again." "I am terribly tired, tired, tired—the pain has worn me down."

I can't read what my bony hand writes. "Early in the morning, the tube of gold coins appeared at my door again in a small box with my name on it. I was anxious about what to do from the beginning to the end. That day I took the idea to write a private letter to the minister. , and informed him of the nature and location of the two patients I was treating. In the end I told him all I knew. I understood the meaning of court power, and I also knew the so-called immunity of nobles, and I also thought about it No one will know, but I just want to clear my conscience. I keep this a secret, not even my wife. I decided to write this in the letter. I don't know the real danger I am in. , but I know that if others get involved, they are extremely likely to be in danger."

"I was so busy that day that I didn't have time to finish the letter in the evening. The next day I got up quite a bit earlier than usual and finished it. It was the last day of the year. I finished the letter and hadn't had time to put it away , I heard that there is a lady waiting to see me."

I am more and more powerless to complete the tasks I have set.It was too cold, and the cell was dark, my senses were numb, and the cloud that hung over me was extremely terrifying.

The lady was young, pretty, and charming, but she seemed to be dying.She was very excited and told me that she was the Marchioness of Saint-Evremonde.I matched the boy's address to his elder brother with the letter E on the scarf, and it was easy to understand: the person I saw recently was definitely that nobleman.

My memory is still accurate, but I cannot write down all the conversations I had with the Marchioness.I worry that I'm under increased surveillance and don't know when I'm being watched.The Marchioness, half by discovery, half by conjecture, straightened out the main course of the atrocious incident, and also knew the part played by her husband and the matter of asking me to treat him.She did not know that the girl was dead.She said it bitterly, wishing to express a woman's sympathy to the girl in private.For a long time, this family has suffered the hatred of many wronged sufferers, and she hopes that this will not lead to the wrath of heaven.

"She has reason to assume that there is still a little sister alive in the family. Her greatest wish is to be able to help that little sister. I can't say anything other than to tell her that there is definitely such a sister, because I don't know anything either. .She came to me with the hope that I would trust her and tell her the name and location of the little sister. But until this tragic moment I still had no idea."

These scraps of paper are not enough.Yesterday they took one from me and warned me.I am absolutely finishing my record today.

She was a very sympathetic, good wife, and a very unhappy marriage.It is impossible for her to be happy!My brother-in-law doesn't believe her and doesn't love her.Under his influence, everyone is against her.She was afraid of him, and at the same time afraid of her husband.When I walked her down to the door, she had a child in her carriage, a beautiful child, I must have been two or three years old.

For the sake of the child, doctor, she said through tears, I will do everything in my power to make amends.Otherwise, what he inherited would not do him any good.I have a hunch that if I can't make up for this incident innocently, the child will definitely take responsibility one day.The only thing I have that can be called personal property is some jewelry.If the little sister can be found, my first mission to the child is to present this bit of jewelry, along with the sympathy and condolences of her late mother, to this devastated family.

She kissed the child and said caressingly, it was for your own good.Can you keep your word, little Charles?The child replied firmly and confidently, I can!I kissed the lady's hand, and she took the child up and caressed him and went away.We haven't seen each other since.

Since she was convinced that I knew her husband's name, it was referred to, which I did not mention in my letter.I sealed the letter and didn't want to give it to anyone else, so I went to post it myself that day.

That night, that is, at nine o'clock in the evening on New Year's Eve of that year, a man in black rang the doorbell of my house and said to see me.He followed my servant Ernest Defarge cautiously upstairs.My servant came into the house, and my wife and I—oh, my wife, my favorite!My beautiful young English wife! ——Sitting in the room at the moment, she saw the man standing quietly behind him, and he was supposed to stay outside the gate.

He said that someone in the Rue Saint-Honoré had a sudden illness which would take up little of my time, and that he had a carriage.

So the carriage brought me here, into my grave.As soon as I went out, a black scarf strangled my mouth from behind, and my hands were cut back.The two brothers came out of a dark corner and made a gesture to show that it was really them.The Marquis took out my letter from his pocket, showed it to me, burned it on the raised lantern without saying a word, and stamped out the ashes with his foot.I was brought here, into my grave.

"If God had been pleased, one of those hard-hearted brothers in those dreadful days had been able to give me a word, even a word, about my dearest wife—whether she was dead or alive—I could have I think God has not completely abandoned them. But now, I have no doubt that the blood cross has sealed their fate, and God's mercy has absolutely no place for them. I, Alexander Manette, the unfortunate prisoner, in a On the last night of [-], in pain that I could bear no longer, I utter my indictment against them, and their posterity, and to the last of their families. I utter my indictment to the day when all sins can be put to rest. I accuse them to heaven and earth."

No sooner had the manuscript been read than an appalling uproar broke out.It is the clamor of longing and urgency, and in the clamor except for the word "blood", all other words are very vague.The narrative unleashed some of the most ferocious vengeful sentiments of the era.There is no head that will not fall under the sharp edge of this emotion.

All the souvenirs seized in the Bastille were carried in parade, but the Defarges hid the manuscript, kept it secret, and waited for the opportunity.Why?But such courts and audiences don't want to get to the bottom of it.The name of this hated family has long been cursed by St. Antoine and has been put on the death list, which is also known to all.There is no one in the world whose virtue and merit can withstand the impact of such accusations in that place on that day.

To the great misfortune of the doomed man, his accuser was a citizen of the highest esteem, a dear friend of himself, and the father of his wife.One of the crazy ideals of the masses is to imitate a very questionable ancient morality, and to make sacrifices on the altar of the people through self-sacrifice.On this account the President said (if he had not been so, his head would never have been kept on his shoulders) that the good doctor would be all the more honored by the republic by having thoroughly punished a hateful noble family.He must have experienced the divine glory and joy of making his daughter a widow and his grandson an orphan.The words unleashed a wild excitement and a patriotic frenzy in which human sympathy was at a loss.

"Isn't the doctor very influential on his surroundings?" Madame Defarge smiled at Furies, "Now go and save him, doctor, go and save him!"

Every time a jury member casts a vote, there is an uproar.One vote, another vote.Noisy, and noisy.

Unanimous vote.Aristocrats of heart and blood, enemies of the republic, and notorious oppressors of the people, brought back to the attached prison to be executed within twenty-four hours.

(End of this chapter)