When the Lady Francesca di Rossi was widowed, she fled Venice to the only safe place she knew - across the Adriatic to her summer villa by the sea, defiant in the face of the threat of the Turkish army. But trouble follows money, and Francesca is rich. Many powerful gentlemen seek her hand in marriage - and control of the glass bead factory on the island of Murano, the source of her wealth. Escaping kidnap, Francesca runs for her life. And the only man who can help her is a mysterious stranger, bound for Venice with a ship full of precious glass beads that will destroy the market forever. She must choose between loyalty to the Republic, or control of her own destiny. The enemy is at the border. Assassins lie around every corner. And love is in the air... THE BEAD MERCHANT: A spirited novella of adventure and romance from the author of SHADOWBOX and THE LAST RHINEMAIDEN.