One of the things that bugs/intrigues me about MILV is why is it so critical that Lady E marry someone who sounds like a complete shithead?! I mean, it’s not as if it’s Victorianly unthinkable for a man to sympathise with her plight - HOLMES can do it, for heaven’s sake, and he isn’t supposed to love her forever. Also, while we’re all here for Holmes and Watson and the resulting male-centric focus is just to be expected, (except in Study in Skirts *cough* *nudge*), I did think it would be nice to go “hey, women also exist!” at some point. Especially as until this point it was all “blokes, blokes, blokes, blokes, Mrs Hudson brings supper and asks if the blokes are okay, blokes, blokes, blokes.”
I do like your Lady Eva - Waid, you're so good at giving people convincing reasons for doing things! And it is nice to have a strong female character - I'm fond of Mrs H but you can only take her so far. But oh, Holmes is making me sad. Although I am for some reason vastly amused by the idea of his having a box of emergency hankies for weepy clients, like a counsellor with the obligatory box of Kleenex.
Hee! But he would have to, wouldn't he? I had him offering his own handkerchief at first but that felt too intimate and made me think No! He must have PROFFESSIONAL HANKIES. Tax deductible.
O-O oooooh! interesting take on the whole milverton storyline. Im horrible with names*
Am loving this story so much. The fact that watson is still suffering seems very realistic to me and angst whore that I am, Im so enjoying his pain...lol.
I, too, like that you have put some meat on the bones of the Lady Eva situation. Extra bonus points for working in Victorian asylums (I work with adults with LD, some of who used to live in institutions like Earlswood). So pleased to see another instalment of this great fic.
Thank you! I know not all Victorian asylums were necessarily as bad as we tend to imagine, but I'm sure even in the best of circumstances being locked away from your family and treated as "insane" when you weren't while your real condition went untreated would be traumatic enough.
Nice to meet you today, worry I had to hurry away and it was brief.
An enduring problem with asylums was the severe understaffing and lack of training given to those staff, so that it often became more like herding than care, and the more able 'patients' ended up in charge of the less able, a bit like school monitors in the same period. And awful abuses did happen fairly often. Things had improved somewhat by the 1960s and 70s, but I've heard some horror stories from/about people still alive now.
You may well know this anyway, but Earlswood was where two of the Queen Mother's close relatives, who had learning disabilities/mental health issues, were secreted away in the 1940s and then abandoned...
Yes, I did know about Nerissa and ...I've forgotten the other one's name; that's why I picked it for Claudia. Much to my surprise, I looked up from my book on the train back from the meet-up and found I was passing through Earslwood -- I didn't even know where it was, before!
Secondly, that it appeared I no longer had a partner. OH. You can feel the hurt in this line so well.
I love this too: I was sick of London and all its hard bargains.
And I really love the way you've written Lady Eva and her dilemma.
The prospect of sending Milverton away merely slightly disappointed in his profits, so this heroic child could sell herself undisturbed, was not very inviting. Yes, THIS.
Heh. I'd switch out the asylum people (it's not their fault! They may be perfectly well-intentioned and kind!) with "the Earl of Dovercourt" and then I'd say that would be fair enough. Seriously, what an unutterable bastard that guy is.
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But oh, Holmes is making me sad. Although I am for some reason vastly amused by the idea of his having a box of emergency hankies for weepy clients, like a counsellor with the obligatory box of Kleenex.
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I'm glad you like Lady E.
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oooooh! interesting take on the whole milverton storyline. Im horrible with names*
Am loving this story so much. The fact that watson is still suffering seems very realistic to me and angst whore that I am, Im so enjoying his pain...lol.
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So pleased to see another instalment of this great fic.
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An enduring problem with asylums was the severe understaffing and lack of training given to those staff, so that it often became more like herding than care, and the more able 'patients' ended up in charge of the less able, a bit like school monitors in the same period. And awful abuses did happen fairly often. Things had improved somewhat by the 1960s and 70s, but I've heard some horror stories from/about people still alive now.
You may well know this anyway, but Earlswood was where two of the Queen Mother's close relatives, who had learning disabilities/mental health issues, were secreted away in the 1940s and then abandoned...
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Yes, I did know about Nerissa and ...I've forgotten the other one's name; that's why I picked it for Claudia. Much to my surprise, I looked up from my book on the train back from the meet-up and found I was passing through Earslwood -- I didn't even know where it was, before!
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I love this too: I was sick of London and all its hard bargains.
And I really love the way you've written Lady Eva and her dilemma.
The prospect of sending Milverton away merely slightly disappointed in his profits, so this heroic child could sell herself undisturbed, was not very inviting. Yes, THIS.
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And I'll see you tomorrow, all being well ! Erm, would you like to switch mobile numbers in case something isn't?
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