“The Horror of Studley Grange” was one of a series from Stories From the Diary of a Doctor by L. T. Meade and Clifford Halifax. These tales appeared in The Strand Magazine, in this case, January 1894. All the stories in this early series have logical explanations. As such they are “false monster” tales so familiar to us through Scooby-Doo cartoons. Though I am more fond of true supernatural episodes, these false terrors can be fun too.
Rival to a Master
This tale is one of “The Rivals of Sherlock Holmes”, a group of detective series meant to appease Conan Doyle readers after the death of Sherlock and Moriarty at the Reichenbach Falls. Because of this, the structure is quite familiar to Holmes fans. Like the best of Doyle’s Sherlock ghostbreaking tales, “The Horror of Studley Grange” is both an occult detective tale and a Mystery story. The illustrations were done by Alfred Pearse or A. P. and are pretty standard Strand illos, having a similarity to Sidney Paget.
The Authors
Elizabeth Thomasina Meade Smith wrote for girls but when she collaborated with male doctors, she produced some most entertaining Mystery fiction. She is better known for the work she did with Robert Eustace such as “The Sorceress of the Strand”, The Master of Mysteries and The Brotherhood of Seven Kings. Clifford Halifax, a pseudonym based on the character who is supposedly telling of real cases, was really Edgar Beaumont, an actual doctor.
Enter Lady Studley
Dr. Halifax is approached by a very young bride, a Lady Studley, to come spend a week at her home. She wants him to observe her husband, Lord Studley, because she fears he is losing his mind. She has a premonition that death is not far from her husband. Halifax is not to explain why he is there or to say he is doctor. Lord Studley despises doctors.
A Week in the Country
Halifax agrees to come but he doesn’t withhold his profession or his duty. Examining the patient, he finds Studley quite healthy though twenty years older than his wife. He is a man who carries a fear, like one who has seen a ghost. The lord is more concerned about his wife who is very ill with consumption. Pressing Studley, Halifax learns that he has been seeing a phantom eye coming from his wardrobe most nights. Studley confesses he feels he is either on the verge of insanity or death.
A Wardrobe and a Secret
The doctor asks him to allow him to sleep in his room one night. Halifax experiences the eye as well, a probing, luminous thing. When he approaches the wardrobe, he makes a noise and the eye disappears. The next day, he gets the key from Studley and examines the wardrobe, discovering a secret panel that opens into Lady Studley’s adjoining room.
The Doctor Reports
Halifax goes to Lady Studley to report his findings. He tells her that her husband is healthy and sane. This news seems to disappoint her. Halifax asks to be allowed to examine her. He finds her very ill from tuberculosis, with very few days remaining to her. Lady Studley says she wishes her husband would accompany her in death.
The Beckoning Hand
The doctor repeats the night time outing. Before sleeping he goes into the wardrobe and breaks off the secret button that allows a person to exit again. This time the eye appears again as well as a beckoning finger. (Meade takes her time describing all the creepiness which she did not do last time, recounting the experience after the fact. Pearse does a great job of drawing it.) Halifax feels real fear but approaches the wardrobe. He hears a person moving around inside, trapped.
A Scooby-Doo Ending
To no one’s surprise, the culprit proves to be Lady Studley. The fright of being trapped has caused a hemorrhage. She is dying. Halifax calls Lord Studley to her. When he steps away, Lady Studley begs Halifax to reveal nothing. He promises, already having decided the same. Lady Studley admits he was trying to drive her husband to death. Lord Studley had told her that before their marriage he was in love with another woman. She married another but has recently become widowed. Lady Studley fears her husband will quickly marry that woman, forgetting her.
A Solution and a Decision
Lady Studley dies in her husband’s arms. Halifax returns to his practice. He takes the black cloak, mirror and light that Lady Studley used for the trick. She admitted she got the idea from her brother who had had a prank of this sort played on him. When she found the secret door in the wardrobe, she had everything she needed. Halifax doesn’t tell Lord Studley the facts, letting him believe the ghost was a portent of his wife’s approaching death. Halifax hears Studley has gone abroad, but the doctor feels he will some day remarry.
Holmes and Murder
The story that “The Horror of Studley Grange” closest resembles is the Conan Doyle masterpiece, “The Speckled Band” (The Strand, February 1892). In that story a greedy uncle tries to kill off the heirs to a fortune by placing a poisonous snake in a sealed bedroom. This time around the motive is a kind of romantic jealousy, a fake ghost, and a very Victorian belief in spirits. In later stories of this type, such as “Wireless” by Agatha Christie (Mystery Magazine, March 1, 1926), the person being haunted is usually elderly and susceptible to death by shock. It was appropriately re-titled “Where There Is a Will”.
Conclusion
“Studley Grange” is the seventh entry in Stories from a Diary of a Doctor. The different adventures were written in two batches, similar to how Conan Doyle gave us Sherlock Holmes. Another popular story in the first set is the more traditional “The Ponsonby Diamonds”. We will save the rest of the stories, particularly those in the second batch for another time as some are ghostbreaking adventures as well and deserve their own post.
