Page 37 - A Tale of Two Cities

One windy, rainy night, a light began to shine out from the empty
castle which the new Marquis of Evrémonde had left behind. The

light moved higher and higher, and soon huge flames burst from the
great windows.

Gabelle, the man who had been made responsible for the castle by
the new marquis, was woken, and he called for help in the village.
But none came. His men rode up to the prison, and asked the
officers to come and save things from the burning castle. But they

looked up at the castle and said, ‘It must burn.’
From the centre of the village, the people watched. And then,

light-headed with fire and hunger, they went to Gabelle’s house,
and, forgetting that the marquis had told him to charge no rent,
and to take only the smallest taxes possible, they shouted for him
to come out. Gabelle locked himself away that night, and at last the
people went home.

In other parts of France, the keepers of castles were not so lucky,
and the next morning many of them were found hanged in the
streets while the smoke still rose from the burned remains of the
aristocrats’ homes.

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