Trouble is a-brewin’ in the French countryside. Sure, it’s the middle of the French Revolution, but the Manettes and Darnay are in the clear. from your Reading List will also remove any Without telling his wife or his father-in-law anything about what’s been going on, he secretly sets off for France.Unfortunately for Darnay, he picked a bad time for a summer vacation. Apparently, a young man named Charles Darnay is accused of providing classified information to the French government. Lucie comforts him, and that night Mr. Lorry and Lucie take him to England. Who'd have guessed it, eh? English trials at the time resembled smoke-and-mirror tricks, and Dickens takes great delight in mocking the "esteemed" members of the court. Thin and pale, Doctor Manette sits at a shoemaker's bench intently making shoes. Finally, the steward of the Evrémonde estate sends a desperate letter to the new Marquis: because folks hated the old Marquis so much, they’re now throwing the steward into prison.A bunch of fluke accidents conspire to make sure that Charles Darnay gets the letter. The Queen soon follows suit. Doctor Manette has fully recovered and has formed a close bond with his daughter. Trouble is a-brewin’ in the French countryside. Within the space of five years (that’s 1780, for those of you who are counting), Dr. Manette is a new man. Gasp! He’s been locked up in the worst prison of all prisons, the Bastille. Who'd have guessed it, eh? After all, wallowing sounds like so much fun, doesn’t it? What happened to the other city?Okay, you got us. Are you sure you want to remove #bookConfirmation# As our novel starts, a very businessman-like British gentleman makes his way into the heart of Paris. After all, wallowing sounds like so much fun, doesn’t it? Fortunately, Dr. Manette hears about his fate. With Lucie in tow, he rushes to Paris. Book Summary "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," Charles Dickens writes in the opening lines of A Tale of Two Cities as he paints a picture of life in England and France. The doctor shows up at Darnay's trial and wows the judges with his heroic plea to save his son-in-law.Everything seems happy again. Carton, however, doesn’t fare so well. © 2020 Shmoop University Inc | All Rights Reserved | Privacy | Legal. A Tale of Two Cities Summary. Even though he’s thrown off his old title and his old lands entirely, he can’t help but feel responsible for the fate of this steward. After almost two decades, he was released—again without any explanation—and he’s currently staying with an old servant of his, Ernst Defarge. He spends most of his time cobbling shoes and pacing up and down in his dark room. And she’ll need every ounce of that perfection to restore her father back to health.Of course, she does manage to bring Dr. Manette back into the everyday world. And we have to say, we agree. Today, Mr. Lorry (he’s our British businessman) is on a mission to take the French doctor back to England, where he can live in peace with his daughter.Dr. As our novel starts, a very businessman-like British gentleman makes his way into the heart of Paris. He’s on a very unsettling mission. He also likes to beat himself up a lot. The year is late 1775, and Jarvis Lorry travels from London to Paris on a secret mission for his employer, Tellson's Bank. By the time he arrives on the shores of France, the revolutionaries have overturned the country. Because everything in a Dickens novel has to fit into a neat pattern, it’s no real surprise that the Evrémondes were the evil brothers who locked Dr. Manette up in the first place. See a complete list of the characters in Defarge now runs a wine-shop with his wife in the poverty-stricken quarter of Saint Antoine. Find the quotes you need to support your essay, or refresh your memory of the book by reading these key quotes. Charles Darnay and Lucie Manette, Madame Defarge, New laws dictate that he’s going to be executed by La Guillotine. The King is about to be beheaded. We only wish we were kidding. This time, the Defarges have accused him of being a member of the nobility and a stain on the country’s name.Frantic, Dr. Manette tries to intervene. If found guilty of treason, Darnay will suffer a gruesome death, and the testimony of an acquaintance, John Barsad, and a former servant, Roger Cly, seems sure to result in a guilty verdict. The court case for Darnay’s second trial goes very differently from the first one, though. Darnay moves in with the Manettes, he makes a decent wage as a tutor, and Dr. Manette seems to be as happy as ever. bookmarked pages associated with this title. And they’ve adopted Mr. Lorry as a sort of drop-in uncle.As we pick up the story in 1780, Dr. Manette and Lucie have been called as witnesses in a treason case. Surprise, surprise: she agrees. But wait, wasn’t this a tale of two cities? A Tale of Two Cities Summary and Study Guide. A short summary of Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities This free synopsis covers all the crucial plot points of A Tale of Two Cities.