A Tale of Two Cities

Mr. Lorry, Doctor Manette, Lucie, and Mr. Stryver gather around Darnay to congratulate him, and Darnay in turn thanks Stryver for saving his life. Although Doctor Manette is by now largely recovered from his imprisonment, he is prone to moments of “abstraction that [overcloud] him fitfully, without any apparent reason” (82), and one of these moments occurs when he looks at Darnay. Lucie pulls him out of his daze, and both the Manettes and Stryver depart.

At this point, Carton appears, joking that Lorry can now safely talk to Darnay without fearing for his reputation. Lorry grows annoyed and, before leaving, scolds Carton for his laziness and disrespect. Carton, “smel[ling] of port wine” (86), then turns to Darnay and invites him to dine with him. As they settle down at a tavern, Carton asks in “his fully half-insolent manner” whether Darnay feels that he “belong[s] to this terrestrial scheme again” (87) and remarks bitterly that he himself takes little pleasure in being alive. He then presses Darnay to propose a toast to Lucie and—drinking more and more—declines to accept Darnay’s thanks for saving his life; in fact, he tells Darnay outright that he doesn’t like him.

Darnay—increasingly “disconcerted” (88) by Carton’s behavior—prepares to leave.