“Mr. Darnay, let me ask you a question.”
A. A. Dixon
1905
Watercolour as lithograph
4 ¾ inches high by 5 inches wide (12.1 cm by 8 cm)
Fourth illustration for Collins edition, facing p. 196.
Book II, “The Golden Thread,” Ch. 4, “Congratulatory,” Penguin edition p. 115. Oxford World's Classics edition p. 98. Carton and Darnay share a drink after the Old Bailey trial.
Scanned image and text by Philip V. Allingham.
Passage Realised: Sydney Carton and Charles Darnay develop a mutual understanding
“I neither want any thanks, nor merit any,” was the careless rejoinder. “It was nothing to do, in the first place; and I don’t know why I did it, in the second. Mr. Darnay, let me ask you a question.”
“Willingly, and a small return for your good offices.”
“Do you think I particularly like you?”
“Really, Mr. Carton,” returned the other, oddly disconcerted, “I have not asked myself the question.”
“But ask yourself the question now.”
“You have acted as if you do; but I don’t think you do.”
“I don’t think I do,” said Carton. “I begin to have a very good opinion of your understanding.”
“Nevertheless,” pursued Darnay, rising to ring the bell, “there is nothing in that, I hope, to prevent my calling the reckoning, and our parting without ill-blood on either side.”
Carton rejoining, “Nothing in life!” Darnay rang. “Do you call the whole reckoning?” said Carton. On his answering in the affirmative, “Then bring me another pint of this same wine, drawer, and come and wake me at ten.”
The bill being paid, Charles Darnay rose and wished him good night. Without returning the wish, Carton rose, too, with something of a threat of defiance in his manner, and said, “A last word, Mr. Darnay: you think I am drunk?” [Book II, “The Golden Thread,” Ch. 4, “Congratulatory,” pp. 103-104]
Commentary: The Doubles Dine Together after Charles Darnay's Acquittal
The cynicism and hopelessness of Sydney Carton contrast with Charles Darnay's essential optimism and moral rigour. Here, the pair dine together after their uncanny resemblance to one another has spared the emigré a dread sentence on the charges of espionage and treason at the Old Bailey.
Relevant Illustrations from Other Editions: 1859 and 1874
Left: Phiz's representation of the dramatic aftermath of Darnay's trial in the July 1859 serial instalment for the same chapter, with Stryver, Carton, and Lucie Manette supporting the main figure of Charles Darnay (centre) in Congratulations. Right: A less flattering realisation of the two attorneys' preparing for trial: The Lion and the Jackal in Book Two, "The Golden Thread," Chapter V, "The Jackal" (Vol. VIII, 1874).
Other Illustrated Editions (1859-1910)
- Hablot K. Brown or 'Phiz' (16 monthly steel-engravings)
- John McLenan (64 wood-engravings, 1859)
- Sol Eytinge, Junior (8 wood-engravings, 1867)
- Fred Barnard (25 wood-engravings, 1874)
- Harry Furniss (32 lithographs, 1910)
Related Material
- A Tale of Two Cities 1859 — the last Dickens's novel "Phiz" Illustrated
- How did Victorian critics define the historical novel?
- A Tale of Two Cities (1859): A Model of the Integration of History and Literature
- Costume Notes on A Tale of Two Cities
- List of Phiz's Plates (21 November 1859) from the first volume edition.
- McLenan's 27 August 1859 illustration in Harper's Weekly Magazine
- 25 Illustrations for Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities by Fred Barnard (from the Household Edition, 1874)
- Darnay Arrested by Harry Furniss from Volume 13 in The Charles Dickens Library Edition (1910).
Bibliography
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Ilustrated by Hablot Knight Browne. London: Chapman and Hall, 1859.
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. Diamond Edition. Illustrated by Sol Eytinge, Junior. Boston: Ticknor and Fields, 1867.
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Illustrated by Fred Barnard. The Household Edition, 22 vols. London: Chapman and Hall, 1874. Vol. VIII.
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities. Illustrated by A. A. Dixon with an engraved title by Harry Furniss. London: Collins, 1905. (From the personal collection of George Gorniak, Editor of The Dickens Magazine.)
Dickens, Charles. A Tale of Two Cities, American Notes, and Pictures from Italy. Illustrated by Harry Furniss. Charles Dickens Library Edition. 18 vols. London: Educational Book Company, 1910. Vol. XIII.
Created 2 November 2013
Last updated 31 August 2026