Page 17 - A Tale of Two Cities

For the next two days, the group travelled without rest, and when
they at last arrived at Calais to take the boat to England, it was late,
and raining hard. Doctor Manette was exhausted and very weak. Mr
Lorry and Lucie helped him on board the boat and then made a bed
for him in a sheltered area on the deck.

The boat had not yet left the harbour when a young gentleman
came up to Mr Lorry and Lucie, who were sitting beside Lucie’s
father.
‘Excuse me, Miss,’ he said kindly, ‘I can see that this gentleman is
tired and unwell. Forgive me, but may I suggest that we move him
to the other side of the deck? When we leave the harbour, this side
of the boat will be in full wind and rain, while the other side will be
drier and more sheltered.’
‘Thank you, sir.’ Lucie said, getting up from her seat. ‘I wasn’t
sure where was the best place to shelter my father from the rain.’

The stranger was a young, fine-looking gentleman, with dark eyes

and a face that had clearly often been in the sun. With Mr Lorry’s
help, he gently moved Doctor Manette to a place which, when the
boat began to move, was the driest and most sheltered on the deck.

Lucie thanked the gentleman, and asked why he was travelling
from France to England.
‘I would like very much to introduce myself properly to you,’

the gentleman said. ‘But I am doing some difficult business at
the moment, and travelling under a name which is not my own.
I can only say that for some time I will need to travel on business
regularly between France and England.’

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