London

"I...killed a woman." Ms. Pross looked as if she were in a daze.

"You didn't commit murder," Lucie told her. "What you did was nothing more than simply self defense. She was trying to kill you." Lucie sat on the sofa beside Charles, who had his head in her lap. He was only just now beginning to come out of his drug-induced stupor.

"I can't believe that I actually did it," Ms. Pross repeated.

"What you did was a very brave thing." Lucie tried her best to comfort the older woman. "She was trying to hurt me and Little Lucie, and you were defending us. You risked your own life to do so, and we are very grateful to you."

Ms. Pross looked immensely relieved.

Charles opened his eyes for the first time since his escape from La Force.

"Where am I? Is this heaven?"

"You're safe at home in London, my darling," Lucie told him. "Everything's going to be all right now."

"Where's Sydney? He was just here, talking to me..."

"Sydney...Sydney's gone, Charles. He switched places with you and tricked the executioners into thinking that he was you. You were smuggled out of La Force and Sydney...went to the guillotine."

"No...no! It can't be!" Charles' face twisted in anguish. "Please tell me it isn't true! Please tell me I'm not the cause of an innocent man's death!"

"You're not the cause of his death, sweetheart." Lucie rubbed her husband's back in an attempt to sooth him.

"He freely chose to die in your place, Charles, out of his love for me...for us."

"Sydney! Oh, Sydney, my dear, dear, friend..." Charles buried his face in his hands and cried unconsolably. Lucie held him and cried with him. Ms. Pross, unused to such a display of emotion, looked on awkwardly.

Dover

"The white sands of your country are lovely," Gabrielle said to Sydney as they disembarked from the boat.

Sydney laughed. "This is just the seashore. Inland it rains almost constantly, and because of that, the grass on the hills is a vibrant green. It's breathtakingly beautiful."

"I can't wait to see it."

"You shall, very soon," Sydney assured her. "So, tell me about yourself. You know quite a bit about me now, but I know very little about you."

"I'm afraid there isn't much to tell. My parents have been gone for a number of years now. I had one sister, Sophie, who was much older than me. She sickened and died a few months ago. I miss her terribly." Gabrielle looked as if she might cry.

"I'm so sorry, Gabrielle," Sydney said softly.

"Sophie was almost more like a mother to me than a sister," Gabrielle continued. "When we were younger, she used to tell me every day that she loved me and that I was the only good thing that ever happened to her. In many ways, I was closer to her than I was to our mother, even. I can't begin to tell you how all alone I felt after she died."

"Well, you're not all alone anymore," Sydney said tenderly.

London

Charles and Lucie had regained their composure and sat quietly discussing the recent events with Ms. Pross and Dr. Manette while Little Lucie took a nap in the bedroom. After all the excitement of the day, the child was quite exhausted.

"As she was dying, she said the oddest thing," Ms. Pross told the others. "Her exact words were: 'I must be there today, for today is the day Charles and Gabrielle St. Evermonde die.'"

Charles was puzzled. "But I have no relative named Gabrielle," he said. "After my parents died, only Uncle Phillippe and myself were left."

"That does seem odd," Lucie agreed.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.