Aunt Ruth Dutton lives in Shrewsbury and has the reputation of being a remarkable housekeeper. She is well-off, with an elegant house covered in gingerbread on the edge of Shrewsbury, and is the town's largest subscriber to the church. She has "cold, grey eyes, prim, dull brown hair, short, stout figure, [and a] thin, pinched, merciless mouth." Emily and Aunt Ruth seldom get along, as Aunt Ruth finds Emily "sly" upon first meeting. Aunt Ruth had been caught in a delicate situation in her youth with Fred Blair.