Page 14 - A Tale of Two Cities

‘Show Mr Lorry the shoe that you are making,’ said Defarge.
A Tale of Two Cities
There was a pause, and then the old man replied, ‘I forgot what
you said. What did you ask me?’

‘I said, show Mr Lorry the shoe, and tell him about it.’ Mr Lorry
stepped forward.
‘It is a lady’s shoe. A lady’s walking shoe,’ said the old man,
holding the shoe out in his hand.

‘And who is its maker?’ asked Defarge.
‘One hundred and five, North Tower. That is my name.’

Defarge turned to Mr Lorry and Lucie. ‘That is the number of his
cell at the prison,’ he explained.
‘Doctor Manette, do you not remember me at all?’ asked Mr
Lorry.

The shoe dropped to the ground, and the old man looked fi xedly
at Mr Lorry. For just a moment, the black mist that had fallen on him
seemed to clear, then his face clouded again, and he took up his shoe
and started working once more.

Lucie had been standing in the corner of the room, but she moved
forward now to the old man’s bench. Not a word was spoken, not

a sound was made. He did not notice her at first, but then, as he
stopped to take another tool from the box in front of him, his eyes
fell on the skirt of her dress, and he looked up at her.

With tears streaming down her face, Lucie put her hand on his
shoulder. He looked at it once or twice. Then, seeing her golden hair,
he moved his hand very slowly towards it, and looked at it. He put
his hand into his pocket and took from it a small dirty cloth that was
tied together around something. He opened the cloth carefully on
his knee. Inside there were two long golden hairs.

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