In The Age Of Hysteria by Thomas Briar

“Thank you.” Ms. Mary Pyre accepted Dr. Brenner’s proffered hand to exit the carriage

after him. Though she believed neither her hands nor face betrayed her potent nervousness, she

was certain without the corset constraining her waist the butterflies wafting around inside her

stomach would have already evolved into soaring eagles. She wondered if Susan’s nerves faired

any better. Especially after they had purposely stressed Dr. Brenner out to see how he would

react under pressure. Thankfully, he’d shown strength and resolve, so had passed the test with

flying colors. Now she wanted him to join their clinic more than ever.

Without Dr. Brenner’s participation they would be relegated to the poor house alongside

him within six months due to their handing their money over to the same financial advisor as he.

It was a good thing he could no longer afford to promenade in high society, else he’d probably

know of their dire financial straits, and instead of seeming magnanimous in offering a full-
fledged partnership, she and Susan would appear desperate, which in all truthfulness, they were.

“So what do you think?” Mary asked once Dr. Brenner had assisted Susan in stepping

from the carriage and turned to appraise the office.

“It looks very nice,” he replied.

Mary smiled, her eyes running up the lily-lined gravel path to take in the bright yellow

and white color scheme of the early Victorian home. She thought Dr. Brenner would be

impressed once he realized how much thought they’d put into the practice. He’d also then know

exactly how high their ambitions soared.

In a statement: it was their intention to regain every bit of societal standing they had lost

by getting the young doctor to provide patients with the maximum sexual fulfillment possible in

a setting not soon forgotten, and one definitely not to be confused with an austere doctor’s office.

Within a month the practice should be earning over a hundred and fifty dollars a day, providing

Dr. Brenner signed on and proved to be as talented as he and the rumors surrounding his natural

gift for pleasing women touted him to be.

“Where did you study psychology?” Dr. Brenner asked.

The question startled Mary. She hadn’t expected it so soon. “Bravo, Dr. Brenner. I

attended Boston Women’s College, class of ’72. Susan roomed with me. We both earned teaching

degrees, but much to our chagrin, we found teaching dull and tiresome. Please, what gave us

away?”

“The color scheme of the house; usually only a person having studied the emotional

mechanics of the human mind can grasp the importance of color when trying to make women

more susceptible to entering any unfamiliar establishment. I applaud you.”

“Just wait until you see the inside.” A shiver of excitement raced up Mary’s spine to

tickle the skin on the back of her neck. This was going better than she’d hoped. The young doctor

respected them as being intelligent women. Most men didn’t, especially the venerated doctors

of Boston who believed medicine would always be ruled by men, with no feminine opinions

requested or required. Indeed, she knew a thing or two about the haughtiness of the male-
dominated medical community and Dr. Brenner seemed like a breath of fresh air on a hot, muggy

For a second time today she noticed how handsome his physical features were,

particularly, how his dark blue eyes perfectly complemented the contours of his smooth, angular

face and abundance of curly black hair atop his head. She also liked the way his body cut a fine

figure in his tailored suit; his stomach appeared washboard flat and in proportion to his slim hips

and larger chest and shoulders. Though he wasn’t an overly large man, he was certainly a striking

image of masculinity.