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Just before the outbreak of the French Revolution, Lucie Manette, a French girl reared in England, is shocked to learn from the banker Barsad that her father, Dr. Manette, is alive, but has been imprisoned for eighteen years in the infamous Parisian prison the Bastille.  She accompanies Barsad to Paris and finds her father, now a broken man, staying with tavern owners named De Farge who are secretly working towards the revolution.

On their return to England, Lucie meets Charles Darnay, the idealistic nephew of the vicious Marquis St. Evremonde, and the two fall in love.  Charles is arrested for treason on his arrival in England, a charge perpetrated by his uncle.  He is found not guilty through the cunning of Sydney Carton, a cynical, alcoholic lawyer.  Sydney secretly loves Lucie, and although she only regards him as a close friend, he briefly gives up drinking to please her.  Sydney is deeply hurt when Lucie marries Darnay, but he remains devoted to her as well as her daughter Lucie who is born a few years later.

The Reign of Terror has now begun in Paris, and Darnay is tricked into returning to France for trial as an enemy of the Revolution, when his old tutor Gabelle innocently writes to him asking for help.  Although the marquis has already been murdered for his crimes, the citizen's committee seeks revenge.  Despite his emotional pleas, Dr. Manette cannot persuade the citizens to find Darnay not guilty after an impassioned speech by Madame De Farge, whose brother and sister were victim's of the marquis' cruelty.  Darnay is then sentenced to death on the guillotine for his only crime, that of being the last surviving Evremonde.

As Lucie despondently awaits her husband's death, Sydney realizes that the child Lucie's relationship to the Evremondes endangers even her, so he arranges for them to leave Paris.  He also realizes that he can save Darnay by going to the Bastille and switching places with him.  Because Darnay and Sydney physically resemble each other, the trick is successful, and Darnay is able to escape with his family to England. A s Sydney faces his execution, he befriends a frightened seamstress who seems to gain strength from his presence.  As he approaches the guillotine the next morning, Sydney holds the seamstress close to him and knows that he has done the right thing."