# ■ 10 The secret paper

When Charles Darnay was led before the Tribunal the next morning, Dr Manette, Lucie and Mr Lorry were all there. The love in Lucie's eyes as she looked at her husband warmed Darnay's heart. It had the same effect on Sydney Carton, though no one saw him standing at the back of the room.

It was the same Tribunal who had let Darnay go free on the day before. But Revolution Laws were not as powerful as the anger of the people.

The President of the Tribunal asked, 'Who has accused Charles Evrémonde again? '

Three voices, 'he was told. 'He is accused by Ernest Defarge, by Teresa Defarge his wife, and by Alexandre Manette, Doctor. '

There was a great noise in the room when Dr Manette's name was heard. When the shouting stopped, Dr Manette stood, pale and trembling.

President, this cannot be true. You know that the man who is accused, Charles Darnay, is my daughter's husband. My daughter and those who are dear to her are far more important to me than my life. Where is the liar who says that I accuse my daughter's husband? '

Citizen Manette, 'said the President, 'be calm. Nothing can be more important to a good citizen than the freedom of France. '

Defarge came forward to answer questions. He told how he had been at the Bastille at the beginning of the Revolution, when that. hated prison had been taken by the citizens.

I knew that Dr Manette had been kept in a room known as One Hundred and Five, North Tower. It was the only name he had when he came to me in 1775. I went to the room and, hid-den in a hole, I found a written paper. It is in Dr Manette's writing. '

Read it to us, 'said the President, and the crowd fell silent and listened.

I, Alexandre Manette, write this in the Bastille in 1767. I have been here for ten long years and I write this in my secret moments, when I can.

One evening in December, 1757, I was walking by the River Seine and a coach stopped beside me. Two men got out and one asked me if I was Dr Manette. When I replied that I was, they asked me to go with them, and made it clear that I could not refuse.

The coach left Paris and stopped at a lonely house. I could hear cries coming from a room upstairs. When I went in, I saw a young woman lying on a bed. She was young and very beautiful. She was also very ill. She kept crying out, ' My husband, my father, and my brother！'Then she listened for a moment, and began once again, 'My husband, my father, and my brother…'

I gave the girl something to make her calmer, but her feverish screams continued. Then I turned to question the two men. They were clearly brothers, and their clothes and voices suggested that they were noblemen. But they took care to prevent me from learning their name.

Before I could speak, the older brother said carelessly, 'There is another patient. 'In a different room, they showed me a boy of about seventeen. There was a sword wound in his chest and I could see at once that he was dying.

How did this happen? 'I asked.

He's just a crazy young peasant. He came here shouting about revenge, and made my brother fight him. 'The older brother's voice was cold and hard；he seemed to think the boy was less important than a horse or a dog.

The boy's eyes looked at me. 'Have you seen her…my sister? 'It was hard for him to speak.

I have seen her, 'I replied.

These rich nobles are cruel to us, Doctor. They destroy our land, they take our food, they steal our sisters. My sister loved a man in our village；he was sick, but she married him to take care of him But my sister is beautiful, and that nobleman's brother saw her and wanted her. They made her husband work night and day without stopping, until he dropped dead where he stood. Then they took my sister away. When my father heard what had happened, the news was too much for his poor heart and he died suddenly. I took my younger sister to a place where she is safe, and came here to find this man. He threw some money at me, tried to buy me like a dog, but I made him pull his sword and fight me to save his life. '

The boy's life was going fast, but he cried, ' Lift me, Doctor. 'He turned his face towards the older brother. 'Marquis, 'he said loudly, 'I call for you and your brother, and all your family, now and in the future, to pay for what you have done. 'Then he fell back, dead.

The young woman's fever continued, but I could not save her. She lived for several more days, and once the Marquis said to me, 'How long these peasants take to die！'

When she was dead, the brothers warned me to keep silent. They offered me money, but I refused it and was taken back to my home.

The next day I decided to write to the King's officials. I knew that nobles who did unlawful things were usually not punished, and expected that nothing would happen. But I did not realize the danger for myself. Just as I had finished writing my letter, a lady came to see me. She said she was the wife of the Marquis of Evrémonde and she had discovered what her husband and his brother had done. She wanted to help the younger sister of the girl who had died, and asked me where she could find her. Sadly, I did not know and so could not tell her. But that was how I learnt the brothers' name.

The wife of the Marquis was a good, kind woman, deeply unhappy in her marriage. She had brought her son with her, a boy about three years old. 'If I cannot find this poor girl, 'she said, 'I shall tell my son to continue the search after my death. You will remember that, little Charles, won't you? '

The child answered, 'yes！'

Later that day I sent my letter to the King's officials and that night there was a knock at my door. My servant, a boy called Ernest Defarge, brought in a stranger, who asked me to come at once to visit a sick man in the next street.

As soon as I was outside the house, several men took hold of me violently The Evrémonde brothers came out of the darkness and the Marquis took my letter out of his pocket, showed it to me, and burned it. Not a word was spoken. Then I was brought here to this prison, my living grave.

I have been here for ten long years. I do not know if my dear wife is alive or dead；these brothers have sent me no news of my family. There is no goodness in their cruel hearts. I, Alexandre Manette, in my pain and sadness, I condemn them in the face of God.

When Defarge had finished reading, a terrible sound rose from the crowd, a long wild cry of anger and revenge. Death for the hated Marquis of Evrémonde, enemy of the people！The trial was over, and in less than twenty-four hours Charles Darnay would go to the Guillotine.

■ 10 祕密紙條

在第二天早晨查爾斯·代爾那被帶到審判團面前時，馬內特醫生、路茜和勞裡先生都在那兒。路茜看著她丈夫，眼中充滿了愛，這使代爾那心中充滿了溫暖。它對西得尼·卡登產生了同樣的影響，雖然沒有人看見他站在屋子的後面。

這就是前一天釋放代爾那的那同一個審判團，但是革命的法律的威力畢竟沒有人民的憤怒那樣強大。

審判團首席法官問：“是誰又一次指控查爾斯·埃弗蒙? ”

“有3個人指控，”他被人告知說。“他被恩斯特·得法熱、他的妻子特麗莎·得法熱以及醫生亞歷山大·馬內特所指控。”

當馬內特醫生的名字被提到後，屋子裡響起了一陣巨大的鬨鬧聲。當這些聲音停下來時，馬內特醫生站起身來，臉色煞白渾身發抖。

“首席法官，這不可能是真的。你知道被指控的人查爾斯·代爾那是我女兒的丈夫。而我的女兒以及那些愛她的人對我來說遠比我的生命都重要。那個說我指控我女兒丈夫的騙子在哪兒? ”

“馬內特公民，”首席法官說，“冷靜點。對一個好公民來說沒有什麼比法蘭西的自由更重要的。”

得法熱走上前來回答問題。他告訴人們在革命開始時當那令人憎惡的巴士底監獄被公民們攻佔時，他是如何到裡面去的。

“我那時知道馬內特醫生曾被關在北塔105號牢房，這是他在1775年見到我時的唯一的名字。我去了那個牢房，並在一個隱蔽的小洞裡找到了一張寫著字的紙，那是馬內特醫生的手跡。

“給我們念念。”首席法官說完，人們便坐下來靜聽。

我，亞歷山大·馬內特，在1767年巴士底獄中寫下這篇記錄。我已經在這兒待了漫長的10年了，我是在我能夠寫作的祕密時刻寫這封信的。

在1757年12月的一個晚上，我正沿著塞納河散步，一輛馬車停在了我身邊。車上走下兩個男人，其中一個問我是不是馬內特醫生。當我回答說是後，他們便要我跟他們一起走，而且明確告訴我，不能拒絕。

馬車離開巴黎，在一座孤零零的房子前停了下來。我聽到從樓上房間裡傳來了哭喊聲。在我走進去時，我看見一個年輕女子躺在一張床上。她年輕而且很漂亮。她病得也很厲害，一直在哭喊著：“我丈夫、我父親，還有我弟弟！”然後她傾聽了一會兒，又開始哭喊起來，“我丈夫、我父親，還有我弟弟……。”

我給那女孩服了一些可以使她平靜下來的藥。但她狂躁的叫聲還是繼續著。後來我轉身去詢問那兩個男人，他們顯然是兄弟倆，並且他們的穿著和說話腔調錶明他們是貴族，可他們提防著不讓我知道他們的名字。

我還沒來得及說話，那個哥哥便不在乎地說：“這兒還有一個病人。”在另一個房間裡，他們指給我看一個17歲左右的男孩。他的前胸有一道劍傷，我一眼就看出他快要死了。

“這是怎麼回事? ”我問道。

“他只是一個發了瘋的小農民，他來這兒大喊大叫著報仇。於是迫使我弟弟和他打了起來。”那位哥哥的聲音冷酷而生硬；他似乎覺得這個男孩還不如一匹馬或一條狗。

那個男孩的眼睛看著我。“您見到她了嗎……我姐姐? ”他說話很吃力。

“我已經見到她了。”我答道。

“這些有錢的貴族們對我們很殘忍，醫生。他們毀壞我們的土地，拿走我們的食物，他們搶走了我的姐姐。我姐姐愛上了我們村子裡的一個人；他生了病，但是她還是嫁給了他以便照料他。可因為我姐姐長得漂亮，那個貴族的弟弟見到了她便想佔有她。他們強迫她的丈夫日夜工作，不得休息，直到在他站著的地方倒下去死了，然後他們就把我姐姐搶走了。在我父親聽到所發生的這些事後，他虛弱的心臟承受不住這一打擊，也猝然死去了。我把我的小妹妹帶到了一個安全的地方，然後來這兒找這個人。他扔給我一些錢，企圖像買一隻狗那樣收買我，可我迫使他抽出了他的劍，他要活命，就要同我決鬥。”

這個男孩的生命很快就要完結了，但他卻喊道：“扶我起來，醫生。”他把臉轉向那個哥哥：“侯爵，”他大聲說，“我詛咒你和你的弟弟以及你所有的家人，無論現在還是將來，都得為你們的所做所為受到懲罰。”然後他便倒地而死。

那個年輕女子還持續地發著燒，但我救不了她。她又活了幾天，於是有一次侯爵對我說：“這些農民真難死啊！”

在她死後，這兄弟倆警告我要保持緘默。他們給了我錢但我沒有要，於是我被送回了家。

第二天我決定給國王的官員們寫信。我知道貴族們做了違法的事情常常得不到懲罰，而且我料到不會有什麼結果的。但我沒意識到自身的危險。就在我寫完信後，一位女士來見我，她說她是埃弗蒙侯爵的妻子，並且已經發現了她丈夫和他弟弟所幹的事情。她想要幫助那個已死的女孩子的小妹妹，於是問我她在哪兒能找到她。不幸的是，我不知道，因而也無法告訴她。但我卻因此知道了那兩個兄弟的名字。

侯爵的妻子是一個好心善良的女人，她對婚姻深感不幸。她還帶來了她的兒子，一個大約3歲的男孩。“如果我找不到這個可憐的女孩兒，”她說，“我會告訴我的兒子在我死後繼續找她。你要記住，小查爾斯，好嗎? ”

那個小孩回答說：“好的！”

那天的晚些時候我把我的信寄給了國王的官員們；當晚就有人敲我家的門。我的僕人，一個叫恩斯特·得法熱的男子帶進來一個陌生人，叫我立刻去鄰街看一個病人。

我剛走出房子，便有好幾個人猛地抓住了我，埃弗蒙兄弟從黑暗中走出來，侯爵從他兜裡拿出了我寫的信，給我看了一眼便燒了。什麼話也沒說，然後我就被帶到了這個監獄，我的活墳墓。

我已經在這裡待了漫長的10年了。我不知道我心愛的妻子是死是活。這對兄弟沒有給過我任何有關我家裡的消息。他們殘酷的心中沒有一點仁慈。我，亞歷山大·馬內特在痛苦和悲傷之中，在上帝面前譴責他們。

當得法熱唸完之後，一陣可怕的聲音從人群中響起，那是憤怒和復仇的狂呼。人民痛恨的敵人埃弗蒙侯爵該死！審判結束了，在不到24小時之後，查爾斯·代爾那就要走上斷頭臺了。