“Tut! Nonsense, sir!⁠—And, my dear Charles,” said Mr. Lorry, glancing at the House again, “you are to remember, that getting things out of Paris at this present time, no matter what things, is next to an impossibility. Papers and precious matters were this very day brought to us here (I speak in strict confidence; it is not businesslike to whisper it, even to you), by the strangest bearers you can imagine, every one of whom had his head hanging on by a single hair as he passed the Barriers. At another time, our parcels would come and go, as easily as in businesslike Old England; but now, everything is stopped.”

“And do you really go tonight?”

“I really go tonight, for the case has become too pressing to admit of delay.”

“And do you take no one with you?”