ssible to comprehend him without

overstepping those delicate and gradual approaches which Lorry

felt to be the only safe advance, he at first supposed that his

daughter’s marriage had taken place yesterday. An incidental

allusion, purposely thrown out, to the day of the week, and the day

of the month, set him thinking and counting, and evidently made

him uneasy. In all other respects, however, he was so composedly

himself, that Mr. Lorry determined to have the aid he sought. And

that aid was his own.

Therefore, when the breakfast was done and cleared away, and

he and the Doctor were left together, Mr. Lorry said, feelingly:

“My dear Manette, I am anxious to have your opinion, in

confidence, on a very curious case in which I am deeply

interested; that is to say, it is very curious to me; perhaps, to your

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better information it may be less so.”

Glancing at his hands, which were discoloured by his late work,

the Doctor looked troubled, and listened attentively. He had

already glanced at his hands more than once.

“Dr. Manette,” said Mr. Lorry, touching him affectionately on

the arm, “the case is the case of a particularly dear friend of mine.

Pray give your mind to it, and advise me well for his sakeand

above all, for his daughter’s, my dear Manette.”

“If I understand,” said the Doctor, in