Madam Sibyl's First Client — M. Louisa Locke

This short story, a prequel to Maids of Misfortune, the first book in the Victorian San Francisco Mystery series, finds the young widow, Annie Fuller, meeting her first client as the pretend clairvoyant, Madam Sibyl. If she can't convince this client that she can make money for him with her financial advice, she doesn't know how she will be able to hold onto her boarding house and her precious independence.