Page 10 - A Tale of Two Cities

‘I am pleased to meet you, Mr Lorry,’ she said. ‘Please do sit
A Tale of Two Cities
down. I received a letter yesterday from the bank, informing me
that something had been discovered about my father. My poor
father, who has been dead for so long, and who I never knew. The
letter told me that I needed to go to Paris with a gentleman from the
bank.’

‘That is myself,’ said Mr Lorry.
‘I was told by the bank that the gentleman would explain
everything to me,’ she went on. ‘I was told that I must prepare
myself to be surprised. Of course, I would very much like to know
what has been discovered.’

‘I do not quite know how to tell you this, Miss Manette,’ said
Mr Lorry, after a pause. ‘Many years ago, your father, the French
doctor Manette, was one of my bank’s customers. At that time, I was
working at our bank in Paris, and I knew him.’

‘Was it you, sir?’ asked Miss Manette. ‘Was it you who brought
me to England when my mother died just two years after my
father?’
Mr Lorry looked into her face. ‘Miss Manette, it was me. I have
not seen you since that day, but now you stand here before me,
beautiful and happy.’ He paused again, and then took a deep breath.
‘Your father did not die, Miss Manette. He was sent to prison. Your

mother looked for him everywhere but she could not find him. She
felt it was kinder for you to believe that he had died. He was sent
to prison, and he has been found. He is alive. Greatly changed, but
alive. He has been taken to the house of his old servant in Paris, and,
if you agree, you and I will go there and bring him home.’

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