The red cockade

"The Red Cockade" by Stanley John Weyman is a historical adventure set in France right before the Revolution, where the fancy nobles and the regular folks are about to clash big time. The story follows Vicomte Adrien de Saux, a nobleman who's starting to think maybe the commoners have a point, even though he's supposed to be on the side of the rich and powerful. Early on, Adrien has an intense talk with the super-stuck-up Marquis de St. Alais, who wants Adrien to stick with the old ways. But Adrien is torn because he believes in fairness for everyone. Things get really serious when something unexpected happens, showing just how angry the people are, and then they hear that the Bastille prison has fallen. Now, Adrien has to figure out who he really is and where he belongs as the whole country is about to explode in revolution.