Quicksilver - Amanda Quick [110]
“Bah. You are as ignorant as your housekeeper. This is where you come in. Over time this chamber has absorbed a vast quantity of energy. It only remains to find a way to ignite the power in the mirrors.”
“You think you can do that by murdering me and infusing my energy into the glasses?”
“Indeed. What’s more, if my theory is correct, I will be able to construct other engines like this one.”
“Good grief,” Virginia said.
“Once I learn how to harness and control the energy in the mirrors, there is no limit to what I can achieve. I stand on the brink of creating amazing weapons that will bring down armies yet leave buildings, roads and factories untouched.”
“In other words, you are crafting a very large psychical cannon,” Virginia said.
“Advanced weaponry is only one potential aspect of my work,” Welch said. “Power is power. It can be used for an infinite number of purposes. A psychical scientist with a talent for engineering might find a way to use my glasslight generators to power ships and trains. One day someone might use one of my generators to unlock the secrets of the paranormal spectrum. Who knows what might be accomplished if mankind succeeds in comprehending the workings of the paranormal.”
“And all of it powered by death,” Virginia said. “Something tells me that is not going to generate a lot of enthusiasm in the general public.”
Welch’s face tightened with anger. “The public need never know that my Great Engines require the death energy of an occasional glasslight-talent or two to ignite them.”
“A few glass-readers will disappear here and there, and no one will even notice. Is that the plan?”
“The reflective properties of the mirrors will magnify the results of each subject’s contribution,” Welch assured her.
“How do you plan to control your looking-glass engines? You said yourself that you do not know Mrs. Bridewell’s secret for releasing the energy stored in glass by mechanical means.”
“I am still working on that aspect of the problem,” Welch admitted. “But it is only a matter of time before I reason it out. Meanwhile, igniting the energy in this chamber will have one very immediate and useful effect. It will vastly enhance the power of each of the objects in this room.”
Mrs. Crofton looked disgusted. “You’re turning these artifacts into weapons?”
“Weapons that are far more powerful than Mrs. Bridewell’s toys,” Welch assured her. “One can only imagine what devices I will be able to create in this chamber once I have ignited the mirrors with the energy given off by a high-level glasslight-talent like Miss Dean. And that is just a starting point. Future applications are unlimited.”
“Mirrors break rather easily,” Virginia said.
“If that was intended as an attempt at humor,” Alcina said, “perhaps you don’t understand why you are here today.”
“I’m well aware of why you brought me here,” Virginia said. “Your brother wants to murder me in this room because I’m the strongest glass-reader he has ever come across. There is a lot of energy trapped in these walls. He thinks he can use me to ignite it.”
Alcina looked amused. “You are impressively calm about the situation in which you find yourself, Miss Dean.”
“So are you,” Virginia said. “Why are you allowing Welch to use this fantastic collection and these mirrors for his grand experiment?”
“The more powerful the mirrors in this room become, the more they enhance not only the objects but also my talent.”
“Surely you can see that your brother is mad as a hatter,” Virginia said.
Alcina smiled. “Like father, like son.”
FORTY-ONE
One last question,” Virginia said. She looked at Alcina. “What went wrong that night at the Hollister mansion?”
“Everything went wrong that night,” Alcina said, her face twisting with fury and remembered frustration. “Jasper and I always intended to kill Hollister, but we did not plan for him to die that night. We wanted him to suffer.”
“And, of course, make a contribution to my Great Engine,” Welch added. “Father was a fairly high-level glasslight-talent. Not