Book II, Chapter Twenty-One – Echoing Footsteps

The years pass. Lucie has a baby girl. She’s also named Lucie. She also has a small baby boy who dies when he’s just a few years old. Surprisingly, Sydney Carton has become a much-loved uncle to the children. When Lucie’s son dies, his last words are about Sydney. He asks his mother and sister to give Sydney a kiss for him.

Stryver, our least favorite lawyer, has gotten richer and fatter as the years have passed. He marries a rich, pudgy wife. They have three chubby, annoying children. Stryver wants Charles to tutor his kids. Unsurprisingly, Charles declines to do so. 

Throughout this whole time, Lucie’s been the angel in the Manette house. She manages to be everywhere all the time and helps everybody all the time. By the time little Lucie gets to be six, things in the Manette house have adjusted into smooth, well-ordered happiness. 

Things in France, however, aren’t going so swimmingly. The footsteps which sound in Saint Antoine are fast and furious. They race through the night, gathering weapons and spreading news. Defarge’s wine shop remains the center of all the revolutionary activity. They storm the Bastille.

Defarge grabs a man in the prison and demands to be shown to the North Tower. He heads up the stairs to cell One Hundred and Five. Once in the cell, he asks Jacques Three to run a torch along the wall. Sure enough, he eventually finds the initials "A. M." etched in the wall. A.M. stands for Alexandre Manette. That’s Doctor Manette to us. Defarge suddenly orders the men with him to rip apart the room. He’s looking for something… Eventually, he orders the men to set all the fragments of furniture on fire.