The Professional Aunt

“One woman in every family” must be an aunt, declares Zerlina—and not just any aunt, but a professional one, ready with birthday presents, patience, and a boy’s knife full of mysterious tools.

In a world of hansom cabs, omnibuses, Zoo outings, and children whose tastes change from woolly rabbits to steam engines, the narrator’s career has been chosen for her by her sisters-in-law and their offspring. Zerlina’s rules are exacting: remember every birthday, keep the toys intact, know when a child is ready for paint—or a Bible—and never tire of being trusted with the children. The aunt takes her duties with comic good sense, though she knows that behind the errands and etiquette lies the one qualification Zerlina forgot to name: love. And when another family’s call interrupts her plans, what will her profession ask of her next?

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