Page 49 - A Tale of Two Cities

‘My dear child helped me when I was in need,’ he told Mr Lorry,
‘and now at last I can help her.’
Believing this made him strong and calm, and he worked
tirelessly with the sick – imprisoned and free, good and bad,
rich and poor. He soon became the main doctor at three prisons,
including La Force, and there he was able to visit Charles once a
week.

The mood of the time was hard and troubled, and although he
never stopped trying, the doctor was not able to get Charles freed
or brought to trial. These were terrible times: the king was executed,
the prisons were full of innocent people, and many were killed.
Lucie tried to keep herself busy, teaching little Lucie and
arranging their home. Sometimes, when she was with her father in
the evening, the sadness and worry that she had kept locked inside
herself during the day overcame her. At these times, her father was
always able to tell her, ‘Nothing will happen to him unless I know of
it, Lucie. I am sure that I can save him.’
One evening, when Charles had already been in prison for some
time, the doctor came home with an idea. There was a window in
the prison, he told Lucie, which Charles could sometimes go near in
the afternoon.
‘If you stand in a particular place in the street, which I can show
you, he might see you when he can get to the window,’ the doctor
told her.
‘Please, show me the place, father,’ cried Lucie excitedly, ‘and I
will go every day!’

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