Summary
Book 3, Chapter 10 of A Tale of Two Cities is the climactic revelation that seals Charles Darnay's fate. Titled "The Substance of the Shadow," the chapter consists almost entirely of a letter written by Doctor Alexandre Manette during his imprisonment in the Bastille. The letter, hidden in his cell chimney and later recovered by the Defarges, is read aloud at Darnay's second trial before the Revolutionary Tribunal, where it serves as the decisive evidence against him.
Dr. Manette's Account
Writing in 1767, ten years into his captivity, Dr. Manette recounts the events of December 1757. He describes being summoned by two aristocratic twin brothers—later identified as the Marquis St. Evrémonde and his brother—to attend to patients at a secluded country house. The first patient is a beautiful young peasant woman in a delirious fever, bound to the bed, ceaselessly crying "My husband, my father, and my brother!" and counting to twelve before whispering "Hush!"
The second patient is her younger brother, a peasant boy dying of a sword wound. Before dying, the boy tells Dr. Manette the full story of his family's suffering: the Evrémonde brothers had systematically exploited their tenants, taxing them mercilessly and stripping them of all dignity. The younger Evrémonde had abducted the boy's married sister. Her husband was worked to death—harnessed like a dog and driven until he collapsed—sobbing twelve times for the twelve strokes of the bell before dying. Their father's heart burst upon hearing the news. The boy tracked the younger Evrémonde and fought him with a sword, but was fatally wounded.
The Denunciation
With his dying breath, the boy curses the Evrémonde family "to the last of their race," drawing a cross of blood in the air. The young woman dies a week later, never revealing her family name. Dr. Manette discovers she was pregnant. Afterward, the Marquis's wife visits the doctor, hoping to make amends and find the surviving younger sister. She brings her young son, "little Charles," whom she begs to carry out this mission of atonement.
Dr. Manette writes a letter to the Minister reporting the crimes, but the Evrémondes intercept it. That night, he is kidnapped, shown his burning letter, and imprisoned in the Bastille. In his final lines, Manette denounces the entire Evrémonde family "to the last of their race" before Heaven and earth.
The Verdict
When the letter's reading concludes, the courtroom erupts. The jury unanimously condemns Darnay—Charles Evrémonde by birth—to death within twenty-four hours. Madame Defarge gloats, and notes the bitter irony: the denouncer is Darnay's own father-in-law, and the crowd celebrates Dr. Manette for "rooting out an obnoxious family of Aristocrats" and making his own daughter a widow.