title: A Chance Encounter
author: Hoy, Wayne M.
description: Lord Nicholas Charenton is a master of disguise, a man of many faces. Constable and secret agent to the queen, he slips inconspicuously through the ballrooms and gaming halls of England's peerage as well as the dark sinister alleys and hovels of St Giles at will, always working to ensure the evil in the world does not touch those he loves. Attending the theater one evening, Nicholas overhears a pair of gentlemen discussing Lady Marianne Hansford, the dazzling beauty in a nearby box. Their questionable comments pique his interest and he decides to keep a watchful eye on one of them in particular and eavesdrops on the man's conversation with Lady Marianne's father. Lady Marianne notices him snooping on her father's private conversation with Lord Robert Moser. And when he realizes she has become aware of him listening, Nicholas boldly winks at her. This not only shocks but scandalizes her and she immediately takes an avid dislike to him. Walking home from his club a few nights later Nicholas chances to encounter a young man in a fight for his very life against three vicious thugs. Never hesitating, he jumps into the fray, saving the man from a deadly beating. Nicholas escorts the gentleman home only to discover he is Lord Jacob Hansford, brother to the stunning Lady Marianne. Nicholas soon learns that not only is Jacob a target, but also Lady Marianne and her entire family as well, as the attempts to harm them continue to multiply. Nicholas vows to do everything in his power to keep them safe until he can learn the source of this threat and put a stop to it in spite of Lady Marianne's clear animosity...even if it means hopelessly losing his heart and soul to her.