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The young man had taken his hand gratefully; their hands were

joined as the Doctor spoke:

"--any fancies, any reasons, any apprehensions, anything

whatsoever, new or old, against the man she really loved--the

direct responsibility thereof not lying on his head--they should

all be obliterated for her sake. She is everything to me; more to

me than suffering, more to me than wrong, more to me--Well! This

is idle talk."

So strange was the way in which he faded into silence, and so

strange his fixed look when he had ceased to speak, that Darnay

felt his own hand turn cold in the hand that slowly released and

dropped it.

"You said something to me," said Doctor Manette, breaking into a

smile. "What was it you said to me?"

He was at a loss how to answer, until he remembered having spoken

of a condition. Relieved as his mind reverted to that, he

answered: