Read Online Darker Still by Leanna Renee Hieber - Free Book Online

strike something. He sighed. “My apologies for such language in the presence of a lady, Miss Stewart,” he said as he came back to himself and turned to stare out at the world beyond.
    “That’s all right. I imagine I’d curse anyone who put me in such straits.”
    The frame of the painting looked like a doorway as I turned to follow Denbury’s gaze. I vaguely recognized the area beyond the frame as Mrs. Northe’s landing, but as if it were seen through a faraway lens, a pool of water between these two distinct places, shimmering and obscured.
    And that was when I saw myself.
    As if through a darkened glass, I stood with fingertips outstretched, my face blank. My goodness, I was in two. Part of me was here; part of me was there. “Oh my…” I breathed.
    I was still so taken by being in Denbury’s presence, by how it felt to be clutched in his arms, by the sound of his voice, and still reeling from the overwhelming shock of hearing my own voice that I couldn’t be troubled that there were two of me. But it was yet another blow atop the many I’d already received. I’d never been so assaulted.
    “Yes.” Denbury gestured to my body outside. “Just as you see yourself, I also seem to be two, mind split from body. I shudder to think what the devil’s making of me. Where am I, then? I’ve seen a tall woman. There’s a light about her—”
    “Surely that’s Mrs. Evelyn Northe, Lord Denbury. You’re in her home. She’s a magnificent woman and an excellent hostess. She owns your portrait but plans to move it to the Metropolitan. Your canvas is truly an unparalleled work of art, but as it stands—”
    “Oh, there’s nothing else like it, I’m quite sure,” Denbury muttered.
    “And she knows it,” I assured eagerly. “She’s kept it out of evil hands. You have a friend in Mrs. Northe. She knew there was something about you from the very first. I wish you were truly with us in New York to appreciate her hospitality under better circumstances.”
    “I like New Yorkers,” he offered.
    “I like the English,” I blurted. Then blushed. That was a stupid thing to say. Surely Maggie would have said something more clever. Or perhaps she’d have simply gaped at him. I couldn’t be sure. I had to give myself credit for forming words at all, considering that speaking was entirely foreign.
    But Denbury smiled and my blush persisted.
    I debated whether to tell him of the robbery attempt, but if his curtain had been closed, he’d likely have no idea. For his sake, I hoped he was ignorant of what was happening around him. Being trapped while a fate befalls you that you cannot control would be most maddening. But the question remained, was I trapped here too? I looked through the glassy, waterlike barrier to where the rest of me stood.
    “I’m sorry, Miss Stewart,” he murmured, “to have quite truly dragged you into all this. Such things as I’ve been through should not be spoken to a lady, yet I’m so grateful to see you—I…” He turned away, clenching his fists. If he had further fears, he did not share them.
    “I cannot fault your manners, Lord Denbury, as the situation is far from normal—”
    “I’d just begun to live!” He pounded his fist against the desk again, the small room boxing his energy. He was a beautiful animal confined in a most unusual cage. “I had a calling. I was about to do great things. I would’ve been someone whom my parents could have been proud of, if we had all just been given the chance.” He stared darkly out at that murky beyond, the true world, and said through clenched teeth, “Perhaps the Devil knows when a man could do great things and stops him from them. Wreaking havoc in his path instead.”
    “Perhaps.”
    He looked around him, pacing the perimeter he’d no doubt paced thousands of times before. “So now I’ve only this room and no sense of time. Surely you didn’t hear me calling for you—”
    “No, but I dreamed of it,” I replied and