Lucie lives a happily tranquil life with her husband and father for many years. Her pregnancy initially gives her feelings of hope and dread. She feared she would die and leave a husband to mourn her.
However, she gives birth to little Lucie. The daughter grows from an infant into a little girl, whose tiny feet and laughter fill the house. Lucie also has a son that dies in childhood. Yet, the sorrow of this lost does not disrupt the harmony of the household.
Sydney Carton pays them occasional visits, though he is never drunk when he does so. Lucie’s children are sympathetic to him. He was the first person little Lucie had opened her arms to, and the son had expressed his fondness for Carton on his deathbed.
Stryver becomes even more successful in his practice, dragging Carton along with him. Stryver marries a widow with property and has three unremarkable sons. His friendship with the Darnays ends when Charles Darnay refuses to educate his boys. He calls Darnay an ungrateful beggar. He tells his wife and friends how he artfully escaped Lucie Manette’s designs to ensnare him into marriage. His friends are well aware that this is a lie, but that by now he believes it to be true.
When little Lucie turns six years old, news of unrest in France reaches their ears. It is 1789. Mr. Lorry comes to visit Lucie and Darnay late in the evening. He complains that the bank has been unnaturally busy because many of their French customers are sending their property to England. He knows there is trouble brewing, but the people won’t reveal the cause of their uneasiness.
In San Antoine, a continent away, people are carrying blades and bayonets. Though the supplier is unknown, muskets and other weapons are being handed out to outstretched hands of the villagers. Those without weapons are removing stones out of the walls so they can throw them.
Defarge is commanding this mob. His wife’s hands hold an axe instead of knitting needles. They march on the Bastille. The mob is made up of both men and women. They attack the fortress, all willing to risk their lives for their cause. The enemy eventually surrenders and lowers the drawbridge.
Defarge orders one of the guards to show him the North Tower. The man agrees, though he says there is no one in there. Defarge asks what does 105 North Tower mean? The turnkey answers that it is a cell number. He takes Defarge and Jacques Three to the cell.
They search the walls and find the initials A.M., in which underneath them is written, “A poor physician.” They search the chimney and bed but find nothing.
They rejoin the mob. The governor of the Bastille is being held prisoner by the victors. The people begin to attack him, and Madame Defarge beheads him. Seven prisoners are released, both frightened by their liberators and amazed at their unexpected freedom. The guards are executed and beheaded. Along with the governor’s head, their heads are put on pikes.