After reading · Part III · Chapter 4

Part III · Chapter 4Strength amid the Terror

Reading boundary Start: Doctor Manette did not return until the morning of the fourth day of his absence. Stop after: or were a Spirit moving among mortals.

Summary

Doctor Manette tells Lorry that he entered La Force during the September prison massacres. His identity as an eighteen-year Bastille captive won respect from a makeshift tribunal, where Defarge confirmed him. Though he nearly obtained Darnay’s release, an unexplained intervention stopped it; he did secure Darnay’s protection from the mob.

The Doctor’s old imprisonment now supplies confidence and public authority. He becomes an inspecting physician to several prisons and assures Lucie that Darnay is safe. Yet revolutionary decrees repeatedly delay a trial, and the Terror intensifies. After one year and three months Darnay remains confined, while Manette continues humane medical work among victims and killers, widely trusted and certain he can save him.

Who’s who

Doctor Manette — Former Bastille prisoner whose history grants revolutionary influence.
Charles Darnay — Held at La Force without trial.
Defarge — Tribunal member who identifies and supports the Doctor’s claim.
Mr. Lorry — The Doctor’s confidant, keeping dangerous details from Lucie.