I snorted.

"Mesmerism, sir! Really!" I said. "This sounds to me like the makings of a hoax."

His eyes widened and he smiled. He shook his head.

"You have no trouble with alternate realities, yet you balk at the notion of subtle influences? Between people, between people and nature? Indeed, you are an amazing man."

"I have seen something of alternate realities," I explained, "yet I have never seen this so-called animal magnetism in operation."

"I have reason to believe it operates in all affairs to some degree, mainly beneath the level of our attention—though I do believe its effects to be much more potent in this world than in your own.

Anything which affects the psychic faculty seems particularly strong here. Were I to consume as much alcohol as you have this evening I should be ill for days. This, I believe, is why her captors desired your Annie's presence here. Wherever she was, her abilities were considerable. Here, they will become even greater. If you truly do not believe, you need but wait. I will show you evidence before too long."

I wiped my palms again.

"Enough," I said. "I spoke hastily. I accept it, arguendo, as I want to know where this takes us. Who are these people who have Annie? What are they doing to her? What is it they want her powers for?"

He rose, and clasping his hands behind his back, paced a few paces.

"You've heard of the famous inventor, Von Kempelen?" he said at last.

"Yes," I answered. "Of course. I believe he even had something to do with the creation of the famous mechanical chessplayer I saw in Charleston a while back."

"Possibly so," Ellison replied. "Have you heard it said that he has gone more deeply than most into the writings of Sir Isaac Newton, Father of Alchemy?"

"No," I said.

"There are stories," he continued, "rumors that he'd transmuted lead into gold and grown homunculi."