Monsieur Beaucaire (Barnes & Noble Digital Library)

Tarkington’s second novel (1900), set in 18th-century England, spawned two movies, a play, and an operetta. Beaucaire, barber to the French Ambassador, blackmails his way into high society and the interest of Lady Mary Carlisle, and is soon over his head in a whirlwind of duels, highwaymen, card-cheats, masquerades, and intrigue.