Amaryllis

'No, I suppose not. But it would definitely be unethical.'

'Since when has politics ever been a model of an ethical profession?'

Amaryllis smiled ruefully. 'I know what you mean.' Now that she was actually sitting here with Effie, she was no longer certain quite what to say. She was not sure how to explain the sense of wrongness that she had felt when Lucas had briefly picked up Senator Sheffield's talent. 'What if I told you that I think I witnessed a prism assisting a politician to focus charisma?'

Effie gave an eloquent shrug. 'I'd say there wasn't much anyone could do about it.'

'What if I told you that I'm almost certain that the prism was trained by Professor Landreth?'

Effie eyed her thoughtfully. 'Assuming it can be done at all, a prism would have to be very powerful in order to focus something as vague as a personality trait.'

'This prism was powerful.'

Effie chuckled. 'You know as well as I do that Landreth would never have approved of one of his students focusing for deceitful purposes. He would have made a fuss about it if he had discovered what was happening. But that would have been highly unlikely.'

'Because it wouldn't be easily detected?'

'Exactly. How could anyone distinguish between a real personality characteristic and an augmented one?'

'If psychic energy was involved, a strong detector-talent could pick it up,' Amaryllis said cautiously.

'Perhaps, but again, not likely. It would take a strong one. Class-nine or class-ten detectors are extremely rare.'

'But they do exist.'

Effie tilted her head slightly to one side. 'You're convinced you encountered a prism working with a politician in an unethical manner, aren't you?'

'Yes.'

'My advice is to forget about it. It would be unethical, but not illegal. Only some anal retentive type such as Professor Landreth would make a stink about it.'

Amaryllis managed not to wince, but it wasn't easy. 'Professor Landreth would have been very upset if he thought one of his prisms had violated the Code of Focus Ethics.'

Effie leaned back in her chair. 'Just between you and me and ninety-nine point nine percent of the faculty, Landreth was a brilliant man, but he was a fussy old codger.'

'He had very high standards,' Amaryllis said quietly.

'His standards, as you call them, drove the rest of us nuts. Gifford Osterley left the faculty because of him, you know.'

'No, I didn't realize that.'

'Landreth and Gifford got into a major row over changes in the curriculum.' Effie shook her head. Her beautifully cut hair swung in a perfect wave. 'Gifford never stood a chance, of course. Landreth outranked him. When the smoke cleared, Gifford handed in his resignation.'

'I see.'

'It may have been for the best. Gifford has his own firm, probably making double what he used to make here. He always was ambitious.'

'The pay is definitely better in the commercial world,' Amaryllis agreed. She got to her feet. 'Good-bye, Effie. It was great to see you again. Good luck with the new position.'

'Thanks.' Effie surveyed her office with satisfaction. 'I can tell you one thing, things are going to be a different around here.'

'I believe you.' Amaryllis turned and walked into the outer office.

Irene looked up as she went past the desk. 'Oh, Miss Lark, there's something I wanted to tell you.'

'What was that?'

Irene cleared her throat discretely and lowered her voice. 'Professor Landreth was always so proud of you. He used to tell me that you were the most talented prism he had ever trained.'

Amaryllis took a step closer to the desk, aware of a little twinge of warmth deep inside. 'Did he really say that?'

'Yes.' Irene's eyes abruptly glistened with unshed tears. 'Everyone around here seems to be glad that he's gone. They all talk about how things are going to change now that the old coot, as they call him, is out of the picture. But I miss him, Amaryllis.'

'Oh, Irene.' Amaryllis went behind the desk and put her arms around the older woman. 'I miss him, too.'

Irene turned reverent eyes toward the portrait of Jonathan Landreth that hung on the far wall. 'I went to work for him after my husband died, and I was with him for twenty-five years. He was good to me. Miss Lark. He was a little gruff on the outside, but he contributed so much to this department. And he always told me that I was invaluable to him. Invaluable. That was his exact word. He needed me, Miss Lark.'

Amaryllis hugged the older woman's broad shoulders for a few seconds. She felt tears well in her own eyes. 'I think we may be the only people who miss him.'

Irene stared at the portrait. 'I'm afraid so.'

The phone call came late that afternoon. Byron had already left the office for the day, and Amaryllis was almost out the door. She glanced at the shrilly ringing instrument and debated the wisdom of answering it. It couldn't be Lucas. She was crazy to think that he might call. He had made his opinion of her very clear last night. He wasn't the sort of man who would be attracted to a prissy little prig.

The phone rang again. It was no doubt a business call. Amaryllis's sense of responsibility overcame her odd reluctance to pick up the receiver. She reached for it.

'Psynergy, Inc. Amaryllis Lark speaking.'

There was silence on the other end of the line, but Amaryllis could hear someone breathing.

'Hello? You've reached the offices of Psynergy, Inc. Can I help you?'

'You were a friend of Landreth's.' The words sounded muffled, as though the caller spoke through a thick cloth. It was impossible to tell if the voice belonged to a man or a woman.

'Who is this?' Amaryllis asked sharply.

'If you want to learn the truth about Jonathan Landreth, talk to the woman called Vivien of the Veils.'

Amaryllis gripped the phone very tightly. 'Tell me who you are.'

'She's a syn-sex stripper. Works at a nightclub called SynCity. Ask her about Jonathan Landreth if you want to know the truth.'

'Wait. Please, tell me what this is all about.'

The line went dead. The caller had cut the connection.

Chapter 6

'Good morning, Mr. Trent. Hobart Batt from Synergistic Connections here. Just thought I'd check in to see if you were having any trouble filling out the registration forms. We had rather expected to have it back by now.'

Lucas tightened his fingers around the phone. He told himself not to lose his temper with the syn-psych counselor. It was unfortunate that Batt's chiding tone set his teeth on edge, but it did not take much to do that this morning.

It was Monday, three whole days since the fiasco in Amaryllis's bedroom. Lucas knew that he ought to be glad that Hobart Batt had called. It was definitely time to get moving on the task of finding a suitable wife. But for some reason it was the last subject he wanted to discuss.

'I haven't had a chance to finish the questionnaire,' Lucas tied.

'No problem,' Hobart assured him. 'A lot of clients get bogged down in the middle of the questionnaire. It's somewhat lengthy, but that's only because we here at Synergistic Connections pride ourselves on being thorough.'

'Yeah, sure. Thorough.' Lucas opened a drawer and slowly withdrew the thick questionnaire. He gazed at it