THE PROFESSIONAL AUNT

By Mary C. E. Wemyss




Chapter I


A boy's profession is not infrequently chosen for him by his
parents, which perhaps accounts for the curious fact that the
shrewd, business-like member of a family often becomes a painter,
while the artistic, unpractical one becomes a member of the Stock
Exchange, in course of time, naturally.

My profession was forced upon me, to begin with, by my sisters-in-
law, and in the subsequent and natural order of things by their
children -- my nephews and nieces.

Zerlina says it is the duty of one woman in every family to be an
aunt. By that she means of course a professional aunt. She says
she does not understand the longing on the part of unattached
females -- the expression is hers, not mine - for a larger sphere
of usefulness than that which aunt hood offers. She considers that
it affords full scope for the energies of any reasonably
constituted woman; and no doubt, if the professional aunt was all
that Zerlina says she should be, she would have her time fully
occupied in the discharging of her duties.