"RICHMOND, June 9 -- The already shaky support for House Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr. (R) collapsed further today when key allies abandoned him after new allegations of improper sexual advances by Virginia's most powerful lawmaker.

Fellow Republicans took steps on several fronts to move past the Wilkins era of House of Delegates leadership, bracing for an emergency meeting of the 64-member GOP caucus Monday night that an increasing number of politicians say should oust Wilkins from the speakership if he does not resign.

Del. Richard H. Black (R-Loudoun), a vital Wilkins ally, called on the speaker to step down, saying he learned of a separate incident of unwelcome contact between Wilkins and a woman that "supports the credibility" of Jennifer L. Thompson, who sources said received a $100,000 settlement from Wilkins, after he allegedly harassed her several times last year.

'There may be a pattern here," said Black, who refused to provide details of the separate matter, which he said he was told occurred some years earlier.

Meanwhile, the race to succeed Wilkins as speaker accelerated, as Del. Vincent F. Callahan Jr. (R-Fairfax), Wilkins's handpicked chairman of the Appropriations Committee, announced he was willing to serve as the new speaker if drafted. Several other candidates are now jockeying for the top post.

"Vance is in a precarious position," said Callahan, who has served in the House for 34 years, longer than any other Republican. "Unless he gives an Academy Award performance Monday night, he's probably out of it."

A Washington Post report Friday about the $100,000 settlement paid to Thompson touched off a crisis of confidence in Wilkins's ability to lead the House, where he has been a member for 24 years, the last two as speaker presiding over a robust GOP majority that he had a major hand in building.

The Post reported that Thompson, 26, a former clerical worker at Wilkins Construction Co. in Amherst, complained to her employer that Wilkins--whose legislative office was nearby--repeatedly made unwelcome, sexually aggressive advances on her last summer.

When Thompson threatened legal action, Wilkins paid her at least $100,000 late in the year, and the two signed an agreement to keep the matter confidential, according to sources familiar with the settlement.

Willkins, 65, has publicly denied Thompson's allegations of sexual misconduct and has launched an energetic campaign to retain the speakership. Through the weekend, Wilkins and his chief of staff, Claudia D. Tucker, telephoned delegates to shore up what appeared to be his dwindling base of support.

Black, who vowed Friday to stand by Wilkins with "100 percent" support, said today he learned of the separate incident of unwelcome contact from someone "very close to me."

"Information I've received has given allegations about the speaker more credence," Black said in a prepared statement. Later, Black said that the information "was not inconsistent" with Thompson's account of Wilkins's actions toward her, adding that the other matter "supports the credibility" of Thompson.

"It's a very sad time. There are so many of us who are really heartbroken," Black said of Wilkins, a like-minded conservative on many social issues. "We'll close the book on it in the very near future."

In a telephone interview tonight, Wilkins disputed the accuracy of Black's information, saying he was supposedly drunk when the incident occurred 14 years ago.

"That one was pretty suspicious because I don't drink," Wilkins said.

Del. Robert G. Marshall (R-Prince William), another leading House conservative, said Wilkins has few prospects for political survival.

"It's like an airplane taking off straight up--it's just harder and harder," Marshall said. "I still want to hear from him, but I don't have blinders on my eyes or a cap on my mind. I don't know how he can get out of it."

Legislative sources said various blocs within the GOP caucus--its eight female members and 19 first-term Republicans--were coalescing against Wilkins, bolstered in part by a Lynchburg TV news report about another Amherst County woman who recounted an incident involving Wilkins she said occurred at a Dec. 15 Christmas party in the community.

Elizabeth P. Massie, 45, appeared in a WSET-TV report Saturday and told reporters today that Wilkins caressed her upper leg while the two of them sat on a sofa at the party in a private home and that she quickly left the gathering.

I was appalled. I was humiliated," Massie said in a telephone interview, adding that she came forward with her story "to see a wrong made right," following the report of the Thompson settlement Friday.

"I have a conscience," said Massie, a flight attendant who ran as a write-in candidate for Amherst mayor in 1998. "It's not about money or politics."

Susan Porter, 59, a Lynchburg substitute teacher who accompanied Massie to the party and witnessed the incident, said what Wilkins did was "improper. I was feeling very, very uncomfortable."

Wilkins told the Associated Press that he had no recollection of the incident, saying: "I don't have any idea. I don't remember 'if' or 'what.' I know I was at a party." He said in the telephone interview that "there wasn't anything that went on" at the Christmas party, adding that he will issue a formal statement on that matter Monday.

The GOP organization has several options Monday, including demanding Wilkins's resignation as speaker, taking steps to remove him from public office altogether or doing nothing. GOP House members said Wilkins's explanations and the news reports over the weekend did little to ease their concerns about the Amherst County matter or the possibility of new allegations surfacing.

Freshman Del. Robert Hurt (R-Pittsylvania) said Massie's account was yet another blow to Wilkins's standing within the GOP caucus. "The allegations are bewildering and very troubling," said Hurt, who co-hosted a GOP fundraiser in Danville tonight that Wilkins and his wife attended. "That report certainly makes it more complicated and more troubling."" (R.H. Melton, The Washington Post, June 10, 2002).