# The Professor — Short Fiction character guide

> The Professor in Short Fiction by Catherine Louisa Pirkis.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** Professor Thurstane

**First appearance:** 0001-i

## Snapshot

A philosopher who preaches mastery of the emotions from behind a bolted study door, forever interrupted by the nieces and nephews fate dumped on him.

## Who they are

Professor Thurstane meant to be a bookworm but inherited the family acres, an orphan nephew Piers, and an heiress niece Nellie, so he lives two lives in snatches and barricades himself against both. His treatise on controlling passion is mocked by his own thunderous rages whenever a timid rap sounds at his door. When Beatrix returns after fifteen years and insists on making her presence felt, his carefully bolted world becomes the comic and moral center of the household's unraveling.

## Relationships

### [Helen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/characters/helen)

_professional_

A student-mentor relationship, with the Professor guiding Helen academically, though there is an emotional undercurrent.

### [Beatrix Harley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/characters/beatrix_harley)

_professional_

A colleague-like relationship, with Beatrix and the Professor working together in an academic setting.

### [Helen](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/characters/helen)

_professional_

A student-mentor relationship, with the Professor guiding Helen academically, though there is an emotional undercurrent.

### [Beatrix Harley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/characters/beatrix_harley)

_professional_

A colleague-like relationship, with Beatrix and the Professor working together in an academic setting.

### [Beatrix Harley](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/characters/beatrix_harley)

_professional_

A colleague-like relationship, with Beatrix and the Professor working together in an academic setting.

## In the story

### [I](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/chapters/i)

Professor Thurstane is frustrated by constant interruptions, torn between his scholarly pursuits and duties as head of the family.

### [II](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/chapters/ii)

Struggles to concentrate on his work but is ultimately won over by Beatrix's persistence and charm.

### [III](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/chapters/iii)

Receives a note and mistakenly believes it is from Beatrix, leading him to dress in a ragged cap for the midnight meeting.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/characters/the_professor
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/short_fiction_61_se/characters