Mr. Lorry saw that they understood one another, and

proceeded.

“My dear Manette, it is the case of an old and prolonged shock,

of great acuteness and severity to the affections, the feelings, the

theas you express itthe mind. The mind. It is the case of a

shock under which the sufferer was borne down, one cannot say

for how long, because I believe he cannot calculate the time

himself, and there are no other means of getting at it. It is the case

of a shock from which the sufferer recovered, by a process that he

cannot trace himselfas I once heard him publicly relate in a

striking manner. It is the case of a shock from which he has

recovered, so completely, as to be a highly intelligent man, capable

of close application of mind, and great exertion of body, and of

constantly making fresh additions to his stock of knowledge,

which was already very large. But, unfortunately, there has been,”

he paused and took a deep breath“a slight relapse.”

The Doctor, in a low voice, asked, “Of how long duration?”

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“Nine days and nights.”

“How did it show itself? I infer,” glancing at his hands again,

“in the resumption of some old pursuit connected with the

shock?”

“That is the fact.”

“Now, did you ever see him,” asked the Doctor, distinctly and

collectedly, though in the same low voice, “engaged in that pursuit

originally?”

“Once.”

“And when the relapse fell on him, was he in most respectsor

in all respectsas he was then?”

“I think in all respects.”

“You spoke of his daughter. Does his daughter know of the

relapse?”

“No. It has been kept from her, and I hope will always be kept

from her. It is known only to myself, and to one other who may be

trusted.”

The Doctor grasped his hand, and murmured, “That was very

kind. That was very thoughtful!” Mr. Lorry grasped his hand in

return, and neither of the two spoke for a little while.

“Now, my dear Manette,” said Mr. Lorry, at length in his most

considerate and most affectionate way. “I am a mere man of

business, and unfit to cope with such intricate and difficult

matters. I do not possess the kind of information necessary; I do

not possess the kind of intelligence; I want guiding. There is no

man in this world on whom I could so rely for right guidance, as

on you. Tell me, how does this relapse come about? Is there

danger of another? Could a repetition of it be prevented? How

should a repetition of it be treated? How does it come about at all?

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What can I do for my friend? No man ever can have been more

desirous in his heart to serve a friend, than I am to serve mine, if I