Palace Huston, Her Father's Daughter

Who would name their one and only daughter "Palace?" Colson Huston did, alone, and why? Because, in his newborn daughter he saw a palace. She was delicately placed into his hands by Mrs. Bannister, and Colson was gently told that his wife had died in childbirth. He just stood there with the complete range of a man's emotions at odds, one the joy of the birth of his first child, and the other, the deep grief of losing his wife and friend.
Colson was from England and was well-placed and influential even though he was residing in Philadelphia. He was an adventurer of sorts. It would only be a short time before a call came from England for him to serve a higher purpose, that of becoming involved in the clandestine aspects of the conflict in France. But he was killed, not by combat, but mysteriously by murder, and the murderer was still among them.
Palace became the ward of Eveland Gant, the Most Honorable the Marquis of Rinsmere, a fellow member of the King's agency operating in the shadows between England and France and a man who was honored as a person "who had provided extraordinary service to the Crown." Eveland, handsome and wealthy, accepted the responsibility of taking the young Palace "under his wing," as a result of a honoring a death request before Palace's father died in Eveland's arms.
Love comes in many forms, and the love Palace had for her protector, Eveland, included respect. The respect she had for him forced her to submerge the other love she felt and she was forced to remain quiet and reserved, bury her feelings, operate also "in the shadows," but not between England and France. That would come later. Palace would call on her intelligence and knowledge that would be necessary for her to save the man she loved.
Who would think of her as a "palace" again? Eveland Gant would, much, much later, but not too late.