A Tale of Two Cities

Understanding fo Chapter 18-19

Chapter 18: Chapter 18 is called Nine Days, and it is linked to the days Dr. Manette would have
to wait before joining the newlyweds after 9 days in Wales and the shoemaking mania he will
start again. So the chapter starts with Charles Darnay and Dr. Manette having a private and
confidential conversation, just before the night of the wedding. Darnay finally reveals that he is
the nephew of the Late Marquis S. Evermonde. Dr. Manette is worried and then he exits the
room, looking deadly pale and flustered. Mr. Lorry and Ms. Pross notice his odd attitude and
decide to keep an eye on him. Charles and Lucie depart for their honeymoon, whereas Dr.
Manette returns to his old shoe-making Mania and keeps this on for the next ‘Nine Days’.
Chapter 19: On the tenth day, Mr. Lorry wakes to find Dr. Manette reading as if nothing has
happened. Discovering that Dr. Manette has no memory of the past nine days, Mr. Lorry
carefully tries to figure out what caused the relapse by asking Dr. Manette's opinion about the
medical case of a "friend" whose daughter Mr. Lorry cares about. Mr. Lorry very discreetly
describes Dr. Manette's situation, never using Manette's name. He asks what might have caused
the relapse and how he might help to prevent another one. Dr. Manette replies that it would be
far too painful for the "patient" to tell anyone his secrets, but surmises that something must have
recently reminded the patient of his past trauma. He then assures Mr. Lorry that the worst should
be over and that only something extraordinary could upset the patient's mind again. Mr.
Lorry then explains that this "friend" has a hobby, "blacksmith work," that may be associated with
the trauma. He wonders if the blacksmith tools should be removed. Looking worried, Dr.
Manette answers that if manual labor helped the man get through the trauma, he should be
allowed to keep the tools. Eventually, Dr. Manette agrees that the tools should be removed, but
only if these tools are removed while the patient is elsewhere at the time. That night,
after Manette has left to join Lucie and Charles, Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross remove the
shoemaker's tools and destroy the bench. Feeling as guilty as murderers, they burn or bury
everything.