Scaramouche

Andre-Louis Moreau is a young lawyer with few strong convictions until his closest friend is cut down in a rigged duel by an arrogant nobleman. Vowing revenge as France slides toward revolution, he goes on the run and remakes himself again and again, first as a masked player in a traveling commedia troupe, then as a fiery political orator, and finally as a swordsman skilled enough to confront the aristocrat who wronged him. Rafael Sabatini sets this personal vendetta against the larger upheaval of 1789 and opens with one of the most quoted first lines in fiction. Available as a free PDF and EPUB edition.