The red cockade

In the twilight of the Ancien Régime, a young vicomte returns to his family estate, where the proud Marquis de St. Alais watches his every move with a mix of contempt and nostalgic affection. Their conversation drips with the formalities of court life, yet beneath the polished veneer lies a simmering rivalry over land, legacy, and the ever‑shifting notions of liberty. The protagonist’s pride is bruised by the Marquis’s sharp remarks, setting the stage for a clash between old‑world honor and the new ideas stirring across France.

Amid this tension, a marriage proposal looms, promising to bind the vicomte to a young lady of the house while the political winds begin to howl. As the red cockade—symbol of revolutionary fervor—starts to appear on the horizon, the characters must navigate personal desire, familial expectations, and the looming threat of upheaval. Listeners will be drawn into a world of elegant intrigue, where each polite exchange may conceal the first stirrings of a storm that could reshape lives forever.