60 for 60 II: 4: The Adventure of the Speckled Band: Graveside Condemnation

[sabrinaphynn.livejournal.com]

Canon Story: SPEC

Title: Graveside Condemnation

Author:  sabrinaphynn

Rating: PG
Warnings: Mention of verbal and physical abuse

Author's Notes: I pondered and pondered over this one.  I finally considered the line of dialogue of the Granada series where Helen Stoner states that Dr. Rylott was " ...the only father"  she had ever known and went from there.  I imagine that verbal abuse as well as isolation would be highly effective in keeping the girls away from suitors.

I shall not mourn this man. His physical violence was nothing to the years of casual verbal cruelty, belittling us for what hopes we had for life outside of his protection.  Without Julia's fighting spirit, I should have cowered, withered.  Only her presence, our shared bond, kept me from despair.  These last years have indeed been lonely, my dearest Percy. 

Comments

[love-bug-54.livejournal.com]

Whenever I am tempted to think about how "romantic" it must have been to have lived in the 19th Century, I recall stories like this one and remember that it wasn't so long ago women had no rights and were completely at the mercy of the males in their family.

Had Sherlock Holmes not helped her, what recourse would she have had, even if she had broken things off with her fiance?