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Good evening and welcome to the sleepy bookshelf,

where we put down our worries from the day and pick up a good book.

I'm your host, Elizabeth.

It's wonderful to be with you tonight.

This evening we are continuing with a tale of two cities.

But before we do, let's give ourselves some time to be present.

Lie or sit still, uncrossing your legs and keeping your arms by your sides.

Close your eyes and breathe,

evenly and naturally.

Without changing your breath, move your focus to the air, coming into your body and leaving it.

What is happening to your body while you breathe?

Say quietly to yourself,

I'm breathing in,

I'm breathing out. I'm breathing out and use this to stay present. If any thoughts creep in, just acknowledge them and let them slide away, keeping your focus on your breath and remaining

still and calm. Mr Cruncher lived with his wife and 12-year-old son in two rooms in Whitechapel

and was the odd job man at Talson's Bank in Temple Bar, off Fleet Street, London.

Telson's was an old-fashioned, dingy place, staffed by the oldest clerks you had ever seen. Mr. Cruncher worked often alongside his son,

named Jerry after his father. On this windy March morning, they arrived at Telson's at 845, and Mr. Cruncher was called in for a job soon thereafter.

An elderly clerk instructed him to go to the old Bailey and to make himself known to Mr. Lorry, who required a messenger on hand.

He was admitted on arrival through a side door into the courthouse at the beginning of a

proceeding for treason against a man named Charles Darnay. The punishment was quartering,

...