Book II, Chapter Nineteen – An Opinion

It’s the tenth day after Lucie’s wedding. Mr. Lorry enters the doctor’s bedroom and finds the doctor sitting by his window, reading. He’s a bit pale,  but otherwise he seems to be completely back to normal. 

 Mr. Lorry tells Dr. Manette that he needs an expert’s opinion in a hypothetical case. Asking the doctor how good friends should deal with the case of a man who relapsed for nine days. The doctor doesn’t remember anything. He quickly catches on to Mr. Lorry’s ruse; finally, he asks if the daughter of this hypothetical man has been told of his illness. When Mr. Lorry says that the daughter hasn’t been told of her father’s condition, Dr. Manette breathes a huge sigh of relief.

He finally says that the man had probably been anticipating some dreadful information. When it finally came, his mind crumbled entirely. Surprised, Mr. Lorry asks what the information was. The doctor, of course, can’t say. After all, it’s a hypothetical case. He does reassure Mr. Lorry that another relapse seems highly unlikely.

Mr. Lorry and Miss Pross have come up with a plan. Mr. Lorry gently tells the doctor that the case they’d been discussing also involved some tools. Lorry asks if it wouldn’t be best for friends of the man to take the tools away. After all, couldn’t the very presence of the bench in the man’s room help to incite another relapse? Finally, the doctor agrees that if the bench could be taken away while the man was out of the house, it might be OK.

A few days later the doctor heads out to the country to meet up with Darnay and Lucie. As soon as he leaves, Miss Pross and Mr. Lorry dismantle his workbench and bury the tools in the yard.