Quicksilver

FOURTEEN

Owen opened his eyes when Virginia started to extricate herself from the chair and his arms. He watched her get to her feet, aware of a deep sense of satisfaction that went beyond the physical. She had no notion of how deliciously disheveled and erotic she looked dressed only in her rumpled chemise and stockings. Tendrils of her sunset-bright hair had come free of the pins and tumbled around her shoulders.

She looked down at her stained chemise with dismay.

“Oh, dear,” she said. “It was new.”

“I will replace it.”

“There is no need for that,” she said, quite sharply. “I’m sure it will all wash out.”

Flushed, she hurried across the room, stepped into the pile of clothing and hastily drew first her petticoats and then her gown up around herself.

As if she were putting on a suit of armor, he thought.

He crumpled the handkerchief he had used to clean both of them a short time earlier and put it into a pocket. Reluctantly he pushed himself up out of the chair, closed the front of his trousers and fastened his shirt.

“Virginia,” he said. He stopped. Not certain what to say next.

“Yes?” She concentrated hard on the last hooks of her gown.

He went toward her. “Are you certain that you are all right?”

She raised her chin. “Of course I’m all right. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“This was your first experience of this sort of thing.”

“Well, yes,” she said. “But that is hardly my fault. Really, society makes it very difficult for a single woman to take a lover.”

“Difficult but not impossible. Many single women find a way around the problem. Why did you wait so long?”

She sighed. “One has to reach the point where one realizes one has nothing left to lose and that there is no reason to save oneself for marriage because it is unlikely that the man of one’s dreams will ever appear.”

“I see.” That certainly crushed any romantic notions he might have entertained concerning the nature of their relationship. She had given herself to him tonight because she had concluded that nothing better was likely to happen along.

“Actually, I did reach that conclusion a few months ago on my twenty-sixth birthday,” Virginia continued. “But unfortunately, the situation did not become any less complicated.”

“Why was that?”

“There remained the problem of employing the right man for the position, as it were.”

“You intended to hire someone?” He had never envisioned himself as a man who was easily shocked, but Virginia had just succeeded in stunning him.

She reddened. “Perhaps that was not the best way to put it. One wants this sort of thing to be accompanied by strong passions, of course.”

“One would certainly hope so.”

“Really, it is not at all like hiring a gardener.”

“I’m relieved to hear that. I think.”

Her brows snapped together. “It is not as if there is a wide selection of suitable gentlemen just lolling about, waiting to be picked up like ripe tomatoes in a market. There are so many requirements to be met. And as it turns out, the older a woman gets, the more requirements she accumulates.”

“I see.”

“By the time one reaches my age, the list is very long and one knows that it will be impossible to find the right man. So one must be prepared to compromise.”

He caught her chin on the heel of his hand. “What were your requirements, Virginia?”

“I had cut my list back to include only strong passions,” she said.

“But I failed to meet even that minimal requirement?”

She blinked. Her eyes widened. “Not at all. Whatever gave you that notion, sir?”

“As I recall, somewhere in the middle of the exercise you mentioned that you had been hoping for a transcendent metaphysical experience.”

“But it was transcendent,” she said earnestly. “Exceedingly so.” She waved the issue aside. “Well, perhaps not in the middle, but certainly at the beginning and most assuredly at the end, it was quite transcendent.”

He smiled and brushed his mouth across hers. “I cannot tell you how pleased I am to hear that. Because it was transcendent for me, as well.”

She smiled, radiant and relieved. “Oh, good. I was concerned about that aspect of the matter, what with my limited experience and all. But I am a quick learner, I assure you. I expect it will all get more efficient with practice.”

“Efficiency is not a priority for me.” He whispered another kiss across her mouth and then released her. Turning away, he scooped up his coat and shrugged into it. “I must be off. It is late. You need rest, and so do I.”

“Do you want me to examine the scene of the other glass-reader murder?”

“In due time.” He went to the door and opened it. “After what we learned tonight, my intuition tells me that it is more important to take another look at the mirrored chamber where Hollister died.”

“How do you intend for us to do that?”

“We will go in the same way we got out the other night.”

In the front hall he collected his hat and gloves and overcoat. She opened the door. He went out onto the steps and stopped, aware that he did not want to leave.

“Good night, Owen,” she said softly.

“Good night, my sweet. Lock the door.”

“I will.”

He went down one step and paused. “You’re sure it was transcendent?”

“Absolutely. And very stimulating. I vow, I don’t feel the least bit exhausted anymore. Do you know I was seriously considering taking one of Dr. Spinner’s treatments for female hysteria in order to experience the hysterical paroxysm that his patients rave about? But I very much doubt that his therapy can compare with the sort of transcendence we experienced tonight.”

“Who the devil is Dr. Spinner? And what is this therapy for female hysteria? I have never heard of it.”

“I’m not precisely certain of the details, but evidently it involves an electromechanical machine called a vibrator. It’s a very modern medical instrument.”

“Good Lord. How long has he been offering this treatment?”

“Quite a while, from what I understand. It is a very common treatment, of course.”

“It is?”

“Oh, yes, it has been for years. There are any number of doctors who offer a similar therapy for hysteria, but not all of them use such a modern device to induce the therapeutic paroxysm. Many still do it manually, which, I understand, can take a great deal of time. Dr. Spinner’s machine is said to be extremely efficient.”

“Damnation. You say these treatments are widely available to the women of London?”

“Yes, of course. I understand they are quite popular in America, as well. Good night, Owen.”

“Hang on.” He started back up the steps. “I want to ask you a few more questions about this Dr. Spinner.”

“Some other time. I’m really not in the mood to discuss the latest medical practices. Good night, Owen. Be careful on the way home. London streets can be dangerous at night.”

She closed the door gently but firmly in his face.