Chapter Eighteen: Nine Days

Summary

On the morning of the wedding, Lucie, Mr. Lorry, and Miss Pross wait outside Dr. Manette's room. Inside, the Doctor and Charles Darnay are having a private conference. As they wait, Mr. Lorry cannot stop admiring Lucie; he grows sentimental and teary-eyed as he remembers how he brought her across from France when she was baby. Regaining his composure, Mr. Lorry assures Lucie that he will look after the Doctor while she and Darnay are away on their honeymoon. When Dr. Manette and Darnay emerge from the room, the doctor is shaken and looks deathly pale.

Everyone makes their way to the church for the ceremony. After the wedding, they all return to the Manette home. Darnay and Lucie bid farewell to everyone and leave immediately for their two-week honeymoon. It has been pre-arranged that Dr. Manette will join them after two weeks.

When Miss Pross, Mr. Lorry, and Dr. Manette are alone, Mr. Lorry notices that a great change has come over the Doctor. He again appears old, scared, and lost; but Lorry decides to say nothing about it to Dr. Manette. He takes his leave and goes to Tellson's Bank to work for several hours. When he returns to the Manettes, he finds Miss Pross in an extremely agitated state. She tells Lorry that the Doctor has been cobbling shoes.

Nothing that he or Miss Pross says or does helps the Doctor snap out of his spell. In order to watch over and help with Dr. Manette, Mr. Lorry decides to take a leave of absence from Tellson's Bank. He and Miss Pross also decide to keep the doctor's reversion a secret from Lucie and everyone else. Dr. Manette continues his cobbling for nine days.

Notes

Darnay's revelation of his true identity confirms Dr. Manette's worst fears. He can hardly believe that Darnay is a member of the Evremonde family, who is responsible for his imprisonment and torture. The doctor is able to control himself through the marriage, for he has earlier promised never to do anything to jeopardize Lucie's happiness. As a result, the wedding takes place without event. His reaction sets in only after the happy couple leave on their honeymoon. He then retreats into his shell and has a vacant and stupefied look on his face. He occupies himself with cobbling shoes.

A parallel can be drawn between Dr. Manette's cobbling and Madame Defarge's knitting. Both are useful occupations that serve as a distraction. The knitting and the cobbling are also both used as a form of revenge. There is also a difference between the two; Dr. Manette cobbles shoes for imaginary people, while the names on Madame Defarges list are those of real people.

Both Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross are shown to be more human than their business-like manner indicates. Miss Pross is totally upset over Dr. Manette's reversion, and Mr. Lorry takes a leave of absence from the bank in order to help care for him. They both also show their concern for Lucie. Throughout the book, both of them have been present to look after her interests. Now, in order to protect her, they decide to hide the news about her father from Lucie and the outside world as long as is possible.

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