"I know this messenger, guard"

In this atmospheric chapter, we are introduced to Mr Jarvis Lorry, travelling to Dover from London. Mr Lorry tells us he is from Tellson's Bank in London, en route to Paris on business. Tellson's Bank is based on Child & Co of Fleet Street, now part of the Royal Bank of Scotland and one of the oldest banks in Britain, having been bankers to William and Mary who ruled from 1689. He is greeted by a messenger on a cold Friday night in November close to Shooter's Hill and gives him the message "Recalled to Life" - the eponymous theme of book one.