Pearlo discovered that it had never been printed in the States. He was determined to share it with as many people as possible. “It hit me like a thunderclap,” he said to Victoria. They often read in bed together, discussing ideas and debating. The physical intimacy was quite secondary. Pearlo was not what she would consider a great lover—he was well over sixty and rather fragile—but she needed his mind to test her own against. He was widely read, with several languages at his disposal including Chinese. “We can publish it in the Weekly in its entirety,” she suggested. “Brilliant! I’ll go over the translation and improve it. The German is more powerful.” She particularly appreciated Pearlo these days because he encouraged her campaign for the presidency. Nobody else around her took it seriously, not even James. But she had been promised by her spirits she would be a great leader, and Pearlo believed in her. They were seeing Vanderbilt less frequently. Victoria had little time to spend these days in the brokerage offices, leaving it mostly to James.
