Quicksilver - Amanda Quick [102]
“That’s enough.” She leaped to her feet. “Leave this office at once.”
“You seem to forget, this office is the property of the Institute, and I own the Institute. As long as you accept the benefits of affiliation with my organization, you will do as I say.”
The door opened. Matt looked straight at Virginia.
“Is there a problem, Miss Dean?” he said.
“Get out of here,” Gilmore ordered.
Matt ignored him. He waited for Virginia to respond.
She moved around the corner of the desk. “There is no problem, Mr. Kern. We are leaving now.”
“Where do you think you’re going?” Gilmore demanded.
“I am hereby severing my affiliation with the Institute. Good-bye, Mr. Leybrook. It will be interesting to see if you can create an organization that rivals Arcane. You have your work cut out for you.”
“You can’t just walk out of here.”
She paused in the doorway.
“Watch me,” she said.
Matt smiled at Gilmore. Virginia had seen Owen smile a very similar smile. The Sweetwater smile, she thought. It promised that bad things would happen.
“That’s enough, Matt,” she said quietly. “We’re leaving now.”
Matt looked disappointed, but he followed her obediently down the hall to the staircase.
Virginia looked down and saw Adriana Walters coming up the stairs.
“Walk out of this Institute and you can say farewell to your career, Virginia Dean,” Gilmore roared from the doorway of the office. “I’ll destroy your reputation in London. You’ll be lucky to get clients from the gutters before I’ve finished with you.”
She glanced back at him over her shoulder. “Why don’t you go search for the blue door, Mr. Gilmore? Or perhaps listen for the hound at midnight? Better yet, try reading what is written on the stone at the bottom of the pond.”
Gilmore’s face suffused with rage.
Virginia continued down the stairs.
“You know, it would be very easy for Gilmore to break his neck on these stairs,” Matt offered with a hopeful air. “Accidents do happen.”
“That won’t be necessary, thank you,” Virginia said.
“Just a leg, perhaps?” Matt wheedled.
“No, Matt. I do not need the aggravation.”
Adriana swept past, glaring.
“He’s all yours,” Virginia said.
“Bitch,” Adriana hissed.
At the foot of the stairs the porter lurched out of his office to open the door. He handed Virginia her still-dripping umbrella and cloak, and shot a grim look at the top of the staircase.
“Is there a problem, Miss Dean?” he asked.
“No, Mr. Fulton, there is no problem. Not anymore.”
“It’s still raining outside, ma’am,” he said anxiously. “I’ll summon a cab for you.”
“Thank you,” Virginia said.
Outside on the front steps, Matt held the large umbrella for her while Fulton took out a whistle. In response to the piercing sound, a cab materialized out of the driving rain.
“Number Seven Garnet Lane,” Matt said to the driver. He handed Virginia up into the cab and got in behind her. The vehicle rolled forward.
Virginia contemplated the rain through the window and pondered the disastrous turn of events. Her career and the secure, prosperous future that she had been attempting to create for herself now lay in smoking ruins. She was surprised to realize that she felt strangely numb. It would no doubt take a while for the shock to set in, she concluded.
Matt watched her from the opposite seat.
“Uncle Owen won’t like it when he finds out that Leybrook threatened your career, Miss Dean.”
Virginia frowned. “Let me make something very clear. I appreciate your sentiments on my behalf, but what just happened between Mr. Leybrook and me is my problem. I will deal with it. Is that understood?”
“Yes, ma’am, I understand. But I’m not sure Uncle Owen will see things that way.”
“To clarify further, if I hear that Gilmore Leybrook has suffered an unfortunate or fatal accident of any kind in the near future, I will be very annoyed.”
“Yes, ma’am. I was merely pointing out that Uncle Owen won’t be happy.”
“I am not particularly thrilled, myself.