The Adventure of Hecate House

Chapter 2: The sweet young creature

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"My name is Meredith Rangaford, and, as you have surmised, I am the daughter of General Sir Wilberforce Rangaford and sister to Colonel George Rangaford. You have read in the papers of the disappearance of my dear sister in law Emily. I would have sought your advice sooner, but I feel hedged around and am in the sorry position of having to mislead my father.

"Emily is married to my younger brother George. They are a most devoted couple, and they were married when Emily was just eighteen. For the most part, it has been a happy union. Emily is a particularly sweet and biddable creature, which suits my brother very well, as he does have a tendency to be autocratic. Their happiness has been marred by only two flaws.

"Firstly, my brother sometimes has most unrealistic expectations of the poor child, who really is rather a simple little soul. She has only to err in a foolish manner, which I am afraid she frequently does, being rather a pea-goose, and he is appalling stern, chastising and bombasting her for mistakes she cannot help. Only last month, he read her a rollicking lecture for neglecting to take into account the considerable expense of a new walking dress and bonnet. I could not abide to be dressed down in such a fashion, but Emily meekly accepts his strictures, and indeed appears to view him as a father figure. She wept until her whole face was swollen and red, and felt terribly decadent, although indeed, she is a wealthy woman in her own right, and can easily afford the odd extravagance. They made it up soon, her begging his pardon, and him forgiving her."

Here my client's upper lip curled slightly, and I smiled to myself in amusement as I appreciated the truth in her words that she would not relish being so dictated to. "The other sadness which has afflicted her marriage is her childlessness. It has been three years and four months since they married, and no heir to grace our family tree has been forthcoming. It really is quite affecting to see how she feels it. I have spoken to her on the matter before, but she colours up, and will speak of it only in the most vague terms. I feel if they were to relax, and to share their marriage bed more frequently, they would do better, but my brother feels it is more seemly to have separate chambers." She broke off for a moment to glare rather defiantly at me; "I daresay you think no unmarried young lady should know of such things, but I am afraid I have little patience with the extolling of ignorance as a virtue. Emily certainly is most ignorant in these particulars, I believe. I think she may still believe in storks and cabbage patches."

I glanced towards Watson, whose moustache was twitching, mirroring my own amusement. I was relieved to see his prudish side was in abeyance today. "Myself," continued our arresting client "I have been brought up largely in the countryside, and it is no astonishing feat to understand first-hand how the animals propagate. Townsfolk can be so squeamish. However, I digress, and I can see this stirs your impatience Mr. Holmes. I will get to the point of my story.

"Emily has recently been in contact with a gentleman called Dr Raddison. Ah, I see the name is not unfamiliar to you, Dr Watson." I turned in surprise to my colleague, who had indeed given a start of recognition.

"Yes, I have heard the name, but only in the broadest of terms. I understand he has been gaining a name for himself in rather exclusive circles as assisting married couples with...well, those who have difficulties with propagation, as you yourself termed it earlier, Miss Rangaford. I am afraid none of my clients would be in a position to afford his services, but my friend Johnstone has a more elevated clientele, and he has mentioned Raddison to me."

"You appear dubious, Dr Watson"

"Well, yes. Johnstone is a good sort of fellow, and he feels this Raddison may be something of a charlatan. There is no doubt women in your sister in law's position are vulnerable. They have a good deal of pressure brought to bear on them to bring forth issue, and a good deal of stigma may be cast upon them if they are unable to oblige. And again, as you yourself stated, it is considered virtuous for women to know next to nothing of the mechanics of this situation – a circumstance I personally consider abhorrent. It always seems to reflect worst on the female counterpart in a marriage as well, which is monstrously unjust, but sadly true."

My good friend was working himself up into one of his moods of slightly pompous outrage to which his well-meaning nature was predisposed. I felt it best to curtail this, and turn the conversation back to the case in hand. He detected my interference, and a slightly rueful, sheepish smile fleetingly crossed his face.

"Please continue with your most interesting account, Miss Rangaford."

"Of course, Mr Holmes. Dr Watson is correct in stating that Raddison is both exclusive, and involved with these delicate matters. He is the soul of discretion, as I understand it. His card is sent round to all of the more upmarket medical practitioners, and you may find delicately worded advertisements in the classified sections of the quality newspapers – I have brought you a selection I have cut out, Mr Holmes – but I understand most of his publicity is via word of mouth. Apparently he achieves astonishing success in the treatment of childless couples – a circumstance which makes me suspicious, because I do not believe one man so capable of altering the course of nature. Emily confided in me that she has heard from three separate people that they owe the existence of their bouncing babies to Dr Raddison. It took her three months to screw up the courage to consult him, but she was most favourably impressed by him.

"He operates from Hecate House, a clinic situated in the countryside around Dorset. It is apparently a beautiful manor house set in extensive grounds whose parkland stretches down to the coast – a most secluded and romantic getaway. She was too diffident to share many details with me of what she underwent there, but I understand Dr Raddison runs a 'programme' whereby his clients go through a stepwise assessment of their difficulties. It starts by a most thorough question and answer session, run separately for each partner. Emily said she felt as if she was asked to place her soul on display, so intimate and exhaustive were the questions. It is doubtful she would have braved answering were it not for the soothing demeanour of Dr Raddison himself. He seems to have placed her totally at her ease, and cajoled and flattered her until she felt ready to cooperate entirely. Some of the questions were about her own personality, some about her...habits in this area, and some I think to test her knowledge. She was most reticent about discussing this session, and I think would have confided in no-one but myself – we have long been bosom-bows, and she looks up to me and often asks my advice. However, on the subject of Dr Raddison, she was far less confiding than usual – apparently he recommends this diffidence as being better for conception.

"The second stage of the programme is tailored to the individual couples. In Emily and George's case, this was residential. They were invited to stay at Hecate House, in a most luxurious suite of apartments. I believe their sojourns were related to the stages of Emily's monthly cycle, as they visited twice, twenty-eight days apart. Emily blushed furiously and disclaimed when I tried to discuss what went on, by which I believe I can guess what it was.

"In the meantime, my father has been introduced to Dr Raddison at his club. He has been very favourably impressed, and I think flattered, by the attention bestowed on him. One should not criticise one's parents, but I must state that my father's most over-riding fault is vanity, and Dr. Raddison's company is highly sought out. He has invited Dr Raddison to pay us a visit, and was accepted last week. I think poor Emily was very embarrassed by his presence in our house after her personal involvement, but my father is sufficiently insensitive to not consider this important."

Here Miss Rangaford broke off her story, and chewed her lip, her brow furrowed, apparently lost in her own thoughts for a moment, an expression of indecisiveness, which I expect was fairly alien to her, crossing her countenance. I allowed her an interval, then softly cleared my throat. She started, then visibly appeared to come to a decision and continued briskly with her narrative.

"Forgive me, gentlemen. I fear I am about to stray into the realms of feminine intuition, which is rather repugnant to me, as I prefer to deal in hard fact. However, so strong is my response to Dr Raddison's presence I cannot discount it – I am generally held to be a good judge of character. Dr Raddison is a smiling, open faced gentleman with a caressing countenance and an appealing sense of humour. And yet..." and for a moment, a wide-eyed look of fear crossed her strong features "and yet he appals me. He frightens me. I feel a creeping, repulsed sensation crawling up my spine, as if I beheld a venomous cobra."