title: A Knight in Shining Armor
author: Deveraux, Jude
description: Dougless Montgomery couldn't believe it. She had tried to be the very essence of the modern American woman -- competent yet sexy, financially independent yet ready to love and be loved. She had planned this holiday tour with special care, wanting everything to be perfect for Robert, the man she hoped one day to marry. Yet here she was, after a stupid quarrel, abandoned in a church in the midst of rural England. Abandoned, with no luggage, no money, no credit cards, while Robert drove off without so much as a backward glance. As Dougless lay upon a cold tombstone, crying in fury and frustration, she longed for a knight in shining armor to save her from this abysmal mess. Suddenly, as if in answer to her prayers, the most extraordinary man stood before her.... He was Nicholas Stafford, Earl of Thornwyck, who accodring to his tombstone had died in 1564. Tall, broad-shouldered, attired in gleaming silver and gold, he was magnificent. He stood in the dim light of the church, thunderstruck, drinking her in: her strange costume, the uncased hair that flowed to her shoulders, her long, lovely, BARE legs. He could scarce keep his wits about him, but of one thing he was certain -- she was the most beautiful creature he had ever seen. Drawn to his side by a bond so sudden and compelling it overshadowed reason, Dougless knew that Nicholas was nothing less than a miracle: a man who would not seek to change her, who found her perfect, fascinating, just as she was. Yet she could not imagine how strong were the chains that tied them to the past... or the grand adventure that lay before them....