I read A Tale of Two Cities...i loved it and cried at the ending. It was so beautiful and so passionate and to change it is something that we do...those of us unsatisfied...is because it is so unbareable to comprehend that a man died because he loved someone who did not love him back...but we never really learn what she felt waiting for "Sydney" to come aka her husband...did she have some sort of realization?? and once she found out the truth of her feelings?? what do you think she did?? by the way i obviously do not own A Tale of Two Cities...if i did it wouldnt have been as good nor would i have killed him in the end...please read review and enjoy

I See Myself in Your Smile

Lucie Manette sat in the coach with her daughter on one side and Mr. Lorry on the other side. Her father sat across from her still shaken and a victim of lost memory. They were all silently waiting for, as Mr. Lorry said, 'Mr. Carton's seat to be occupied.' Lucie leaned her head back against the coach and closed her eyes. She had attempted to accept the inevitable though her eyes remained stained of watery tears. Lucie focused her remaining strength on the living souls rather than the dead she would be leaving in France.

Her mind's eyes fluttered lovingly around her father, little Lucie, and dear Miss Pross. A tiny smile almost came to her sunken face at the laughter of her daughter. But then her thoughts made a sharp turn to Sydney Carton. How odd that she should be thinking of him at a time like this? Granted, it was he who caused this period of waiting and musing. It was he who had saved her dear Charles Darnay from a seemingly doomed fate in England. It was the very same man who had showed her each man had his own sympathetic side.

It surprised her how alike Sydney and Charles were in features. Yet the men were opposites in mannerisms and behaviors. Charles, Lucie reasoned, was the very model of a gentleman. He carried himself with grace that rivaled no other man alive. He knew of no disparaging word in his extensive vocabulary. Charles was all of these and more. And Sydney? What was Sydney?

Sydney, thought Lucie sitting silently in the coach, was everything Charles was not. Charles was a man blessed with kindness and beauty while Sydney glided through life in foggy shadows and a rugged grin. Lucie found herself perplexedly comforted in the memory of Sydney's smile. It was a smile blessed with simplicity as if the wearer of that beautiful grin barely understood his affect on others around him. And Mr. Carton certainly did not comprehend his affect on one Lucie Manette.

Lucie behind her mind's eye conjured and studied Sydney's smile. It seemed that what little happiness that remained in her being was due to a certain man's grin. Therefore Lucie was determined to discover why her eyes lit just imagining his beaming face. Firstly, she responded so passionately to it because of its rarity to appear on a face such as Mr. Carton's face. He was a man almost completely unknown and unobserved, only given a second look because of his blunt wit. A cynic from his very first breath of life some believed. Never any hope for greatness, nor any hope for worth issuing from him others concurred. Yet Lucie could not agree with these remarks and still claim friendship to Sydney because she had been sole witness to Mr. Carton's passionate confession years ago.

The second reason such happiness came over her upon seeing his smile was because in one gesture it brightened Sydney's entire form. Once his smile was alight his eyes began to take on a glow of their own. If his eyes were shining you could almost glimpse a man untouched by sadness and washed clean of earthy sorrow. You were gifted at these precious moments of time to peer upon a man who arose from an ash filled childhood and sought to begin anew.

Finally, concluded Lucie thoughtfully, she adored his smile because it meant he was thoroughly contented with bliss and joy. Though Sydney's smiles were not a common occurrence they were often spotted when he was playing with little Lucie and laughing with little Lucie's mother. Sydney had such a natural gift with children, they seemed to be able to look through the abrupt exterior and look upon the true man that was Sydney Carton.

It was at this moment, whilst she sat in the coach waiting to leave France, when she realized how she, Lucie Manette loved Sydney Carton with the entirety of her heart and the extent of her soul. How did she not realize this love years ago? How could she have just walked past him again and again without spilling her entire heart upon his shoulders? How could she bear another second on this earth without him by her weary side?

In desperation and anxiety she furiously bit her little lip wishing he would arrive soon. Lucie, now in a more blissful state than in years, looked upon the future that she and Sydney and little Lucie would embark in England. They would revive her abused and battered father in the security and the shelter that was London. They would raise little Lucie together in harmony and they would be happy.

But then fear clouded our heroine's eyes. Would Sydney still have her? It was no secret that he had once admired her. But she had shown her indifference and chose Charles. You silly foolish girl. Maybe Sydney would forgive her.

Her thoughts came to an abrupt halt at the sound of the coach door opening. Lucie opened her eyes in a flash to see the man she loved. But how surprised she was when she saw an unconscious looking Sydney Carton being carried by Mr. Barsad. Mr. Barsad nodded at Mr. Lorry and they exchanged a knowing look, which Lucie could not interpret. Mr. Barsad carefully placed the unconscious man next to Doctor Manette who did not realize the arrival of the newcomer. Then Mr. Barsad winked at Mr. Lorry and quickly left. Mr. Lorry motioned for the driver to start and the coach with the anxious passengers set off in a furry for England.

Yet something was not right. Lucie started dumbfounded at the man sitting across from her. He wore Sydney's clothes. She knew that was definitely his hat and his coat wrapped around him like a blanket. But his face, a face that she had studied in her mind so well, was not the face of this gentleman. In a swift motion she removed the stranger's hat and gasped at the sight of her unconscious husband Charles Darnay!

"Charles!" she whispered fervently.

"Father!" screamed little Lucie beaming brightly from ear to ear.

Lucie began to touch his face to make sure it was indeed real and that he indeed sat across from her. In shock she looked up at Mr. Lorry. "Tell me what has happened!"

Mr. Lorry, believing her to be pleased smiled lovingly at her. However he knew that silence was the key to get them swiftly out of Paris and out of danger. He withdrew from Lucie's shaking fingers Mr. Carton's hat and placed it strategically on Mr. Darnay's head. "Can you not," began Mr. Lorry, "just enjoy and find bliss in that your husband lives?"

Lucie was not so readily to end this interrogation. She cared for her husband greatly. She loved her husband, as he was the father of her little Lucie. But it seemed that she truly loved another. And that man, her smiling fool, was not present. He was not present and they were leaving without him!

Tears threatened to escape at any moment yet she hurriedly asked, "Where is Sydney?"

Mr. Lorry turned away from her, but that was not about to halt Lucie. She grabbed the hands of her old friend and looked up into his eyes pleadingly. "Mr. Lorry you have not once directly lied to me in all the years we have been friends. Now I ask you for the truth, knowing that as you are a gentleman you shall not keep it from me. Where is Sydney Carton?"

Mr. Lorry turned slowly to face his young friend. She looked at him pleadingly with innocent eyes that might have rivaled that of a child's. So he did not withhold the truth from her and started to explain everything. He told her with a heavy heart and sadness glazing his eyelids of how Sydney had thought of a plan for Charles. It was impossible for anyone to escape from La Force. Escape, obviously would involve everyone and bring forth more death and simply Charles'. But Sydney believed there was a way to secure Charles' freedom.

Mr. Lorry recounted how Sydney, in the middle of the night had convinced Mr. Barasd to let him have one interview with Mr. Darnay. While in the prison Mr. Carton had made Charles unconscious and switched clothing with him. Now, as Mr. Lorry concluded, Sydney was prepared to die so Charles Darnay could live. He would die so Lucie would be happy.

And what tears did that bring to Lucie's kind blue eyes. Fountains could not contain the woman's sorrow and torture. Guilt, of an unrivaled nature like that of which this world does not know, swept blindly over her small feature. Love for the man willing to sacrifice his life for a woman he believed did not love him, threatened to consume her entire being.

Mr. Lorry did not know what to do as he watched Lucie cry. Little Lucie, startled by her mother's tears, tried to stroke her hand. Doctor Manette realizing something was amiss inspected the unconscious man who sat beside him. He discreetly looked the man up and down and to his amazement saw a piece of white paper sticking out from Mr. Darnay's pocket.

"Something…letter…in…there," moaned the good doctor.

Lucie dove across the swiftly moving coach to fetch it. She recognized the handwriting. It was half written by her husband and half by Sydney Carton. The letter read, "If you remember the words that passed between us, long ago, you will readily comprehend this when you see it. You do remember them, I know. It is not in your nature to forget them…I am thankful that the time has come, when I can prove them." Lucie understood then what she had to do. Perhaps most certainly it was not the most practical idea of hers. Nor, she concluded was it wise to pursue rash decisions. But she knew, above all, that she could not remain idle in this accursed coach while the love of her life was a short time away from his death.

Quickly she kissed her daughter's forehead and whispered that she would be back soon. She thanked Mr. Lorry for all of his kindness and help he had shown to her and her family. She kissed her father and waved goodbye to her husband. Then she yelled, "Stop the coach!"

All eyes turned, those eyes that were conscious, to watch as Lucie almost flew out of the coach and started running passionately in the opposite direction from that of which she was trying to escape to. Lucie knew the place of her destination. She knew from looking up at the harsh rays of the sun that she only had a short time before Sydney's death.

Mr. Lorry, the doctor, and little Lucie looked after her. Mr. Lorry unable to understand what had come over his young friend attempted to call after her. But it was the child who shook her head and put a hand to her lips. "Mother will be back," she assured him the way only a child can do, "Mother will be back soon."

this is only part one...i think of part two or maybe three depending on what happens....so what do you think?? worthwhile to see what happens??