Amanda Quick - Quicksilver

She opened the door of the office. Matt followed her into the small space.

“Leave the door open,” she said in a low voice. “Our goal is to try to gain some information from my colleagues. The easiest way to do that is with casual conversation, and the quickest route to that end is an open door.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said.

“There is no reason for you to stand around. Take one of the client chairs. I have a copy of the most recent edition of the Institute’s Journal that you might like to examine.”

“Thanks.”

She sat behind the tidy little desk and plucked the copy of the Leybrook Journal off a nearby bookshelf. Matt took it from her and studied the cover with great interest.

“It looks very much like a copy of Arcane’s Journal of Paranormal and Psychical Research, ” he said.

Virginia smiled wryly. “I believe Mr. Leybrook deliberately patterned it after the Society’s publication. I told you, he is intent on establishing the credibility of the Institute.”

Matt opened the journal and glanced at the table of contents. He grinned and read aloud, “An Investigation of Automatic Writing as a Method for Relaying Messages from the Other Side.” He looked up. “The Leybrook Journal may look like an Arcane publication, but I can assure you that no self-respecting member of the Society believes that spirits communicate through mediums who transmit their messages with automatic writing.”

“I’m aware of that,” she said. “Leybrook doesn’t believe in visitations from the Other Side, either, but he says that is the sort of paranormal investigation that intrigues the public.”

“And sells a great many copies of his Journal. ”

“Yes.” She reached for her appointment book.

She heard Gilmore Leybrook’s confident footsteps in the hall outside her door just as she opened the book. He paused in the doorway. Matt got to his feet.

“Good morning, Virginia,” Gilmore said. “Welch told me that you had arrived.” He gave Matt a speculative survey. “He also mentioned that you have acquired a new assistant.”

“I decided to follow your example, Mr. Leybrook,” she said smoothly. “You have told me on more than one occasion that clients are always impressed by a practitioner who employs an assistant. Mr. Kern has accepted a position with me.”

“I see.” Gilmore did not look pleased. He ignored Matt and glanced at the open appointment book. “Busy day?” he said to Virginia.

“Not especially,” she said. She was careful, as she always was with Leybrook, to use her most exquisitely professional tones. “I have an appointment for a consultation later this afternoon but no readings tonight.”

“Welch tells me that you have attracted a very important new client, Lady Mansfield.” Gilmore sauntered, uninvited, into the office. “Congratulations.”

The small room was suddenly quite crowded, Virginia thought. The two men seemed to take up a great deal of the available space.

“Lady Mansfield has requested only a consultation,” she said. “I doubt that she will become a regular client.”

Gilmore lowered himself into one of the two wooden chairs arranged in front of the desk and hitched up his expensive trousers. “Let us hope that you can convince her otherwise.”

Virginia smiled and prepared to lie through her teeth. “I will certainly do my best. Was there anything else, Mr. Leybrook? If not, I would like to prepare for my appointment.”

“Yes, Virginia, there is something else.” Leybrook cocked a dark brow at Matt. “Be so good as to step out into the hall, Mr. Kern. I wish to speak to Miss Dean privately.”

Matt made no move to leave. He looked at Virginia for direction. She had known this confrontation was coming, she reminded herself. Best to get it over with as quickly and as privately as possible.

“It’s all right, Matt,” she said quietly. “Please wait in the hall. Mr. Leybrook won’t be long. Take the Journal with you to read.”

Matt did not look happy, but he did not argue. “I’ll be just outside if you need me, ma’am.”

“Thank you,” Virginia said.

Matt walked out of the office. He did not close the door behind him. Leybrook got up and closed it quite firmly.

“Your new employee appears to be quite devoted to you,” he remarked, returning to the chair.

Virginia readied herself for the skirmish. If she did not handle things very carefully, today could prove to be her last at the Institute.

“I believe Mr. Kern has a flair for the business,” she said. “What was it you wanted to speak to me about?”

“Unfortunately it has become clear that Miss Walters is not suited to the position for which I employed her.”

“I’m surprised to hear that. She appears to meet all your requirements in an assistant.”

“I have changed some of my requirements.”

“I see.”

“As it happens, Miss Dean, I have concluded that you will suit the position very nicely. I have decided to offer you the post.”

Virginia smiled with what she hoped was just the right degree of regret.

“I am certainly flattered, Mr. Leybrook, but I am afraid that I will not be able to take the position,” she said. “As you can see, I have, in fact, just hired my own assistant.”

Displeasure flashed across Leybrook’s handsome face. It vanished in the next instant.

“It is hardly the same sort of position that I am offering to you,” he said. “May I ask why you are not interested?”

“Do not mistake me, I am very aware of the singular honor you are offering. But I am determined to pursue my career as a glass-reader.”

“I never meant to imply that I would expect you to give up your readings if you became my assistant,” Gilmore said quickly. “The opposite, in fact. I have given the matter a great deal of thought, and I am convinced that working together as a team we could establish ourselves as the most fashionable glass-reading consultants in London.”

She picked up her pen. “But you do not read mirrors.”

“No,” he agreed. He smiled. “My talents lie in other directions. But that does not mean we cannot conduct consultations as a team. You would perform the actual reading of the mirrors, of course.”

“I see.”

“But we would inform clients that while you can summon the spirits in the glass, I am the one who can actually communicate with them.”

She tightened her grip on the pen. “You know that I don’t summon spirits.”

“Yes, but the majority of the clients believe that is exactly what you do. They think that you are a kind of medium, that you contact the Other Side through mirrors. It’s a very good act, Virginia, but it lacks a crucial element.”

“What is that?”

“The problem is that you do not give voice to the ghosts in the mirror. People want to communicate with the departed. In short, your act lacks the element of high drama. That is what clients seek when they pay a fee to a medium or a glass-reader.”

She put the pen aside very deliberately and clasped her hands on top of the appointment book. “I told you when I applied to become affiliated with the Institute that what I do is not an act. The reason that the afterimages don’t speak through me is because they are not spirits. I have explained that what I perceive are psychical photographs, not ghosts.”

“I understand. But that is precisely why you have not become the most successful psychical consultant at the Institute. It is why Pamela Egan channeling her ancient Egyptian princess and that old biddy Mrs. Harkins still pull in more clients than you do. People expect action at a séance or a reading. They want theatrics. They want to feel that there is active communication with the departed. I can provide that missing element in your readings.”