Through a Darkening Glass: A Novel

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, organizations, places, events, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Text copyright © 2023 by R. S. Maxwell All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without express written permission of the publisher. Published by Lake Union Publishing, Seattle www.apub.com Amazon, the Amazon logo, and Lake Union Publishing are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc., or its affiliates. ISBN-13: 9781662501067 ISBN-10: 1662501064 Cover design by Faceout Studio, Amanda Hudson For Dorothy, Isabelle, and Juliet CONTENTS START READING SUMMER 1940 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 AUTUMN 1940 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 WINTER 1940–41 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 SPRING 1941 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 SUMMER 1945 34 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS AND AUTHOR’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR Winter 1910 Phineas pulled the cowl around his skinny neck, then started the long walk back to Martynsborough. It was not an ideal night for travel, lashed as it was by December rain, which seemed wilful in its want for warm blood. And while sullen about the business he had just concluded, he was at least grateful for the brandywine in his guts, without which, he was sure, pneumonia would strike before he could cross his threshold. The grounds of Wolstenholme Park were SUMMER 1940 -1- Ruth Gladstone heard it before anyone else. Propped on one elbow and reading by the light of a low-wattage bulb, she became aware of a strange, distant muttering. Both frightened and mildly annoyed, she set her book on the coverlet and listened carefully. It was the droning of a plane propeller. She glanced at the window to confirm the blackouts were fully drawn, then marked her place in the book and stepped from the bed into the hall. She rapped