the boy, and said, caressing him, ‘It is for thine own dear sake.

Thou wilt be faithful, little Charles?’ The child answered her

bravely, ‘Yes!’ I kissed her hand, and she took him in her arms,

Charles Dickens ElecBook Classics

and went away caressing him. I never saw her more.

“As she had mentioned her husband’s name in the faith that I

knew it, I added no mention of it to my letter. I sealed my letter,

and, not trusting it out of my own hands, delivered it myself that

day.

“That night, the last night of the year, towards nine o’clock, a

man in a black dress rang at my gate, demanded to see me, and

softly followed my servant, Ernest Defarge, a youth, up-stairs.

When my servant came into the room where I sat with my wifeO

my wife, beloved of my heart! My fair young English wife!we

saw the man, who was supposed to be at the gate. standing silent

behind him.

“An urgent case in the Rue St. Honore, he said. It would not

detain me, he had a coach in waiting.

“It brought me here, it brought me to my grave. When I was

clear of the house, a black muffler was drawn tightly over my

mouth from behind, and my arms were pinioned. The two

brothers crossed the road from a dark corner, and identified me

with a single gesture. The Marquis took from his pocket the letter

I had written, showed it to me, burnt it in the light of a la