To be sure the time has gone by when the presence of an elderly lady is indispensable to every gathering of young people.  Young girls for whose sole benefit and protection the chaperon exists (she does not exist for her own pleasure, youthful opinion to the contrary notwithstanding), have infinitely greater freedom from her surveillance than had those of other days, and the typical chaperon is seldom seen with any but very young girls, too young to have married friends.  Otherwise a young married woman, a bride perhaps scarcely out of her teens, is, on all ordinary occasions, a perfectly suitable chaperon, especially if her husband is present.  A very young married woman gadding about without her husband is not a proper chaperon.

There are also many occasions when a chaperon is unnecessary!  It is considered perfectly correct for a young girl to drive a motor by herself, or take a young man with her, if her family know and approve of him, for any short distance in the country.  She may play golf, tennis, go to the Country Club, or Golf Club (if near by), sit on the beach, go canoeing, ride horseback, and take part in the normal sports and occupations of country life.  Young girls always go to private parties of every sort without their own chaperon, but the fact that a lady issues an invitation means that either she or another suitable chaperon will be present.

=THE BEST CHAPERON HERSELF=

Ethically the only chaperon is the young girl’s own sense of dignity and pride; she who has the right attributes of character needs no chaperon—­ever.  If she is wanting in decency and proper pride, not even Argus could watch over her!  But apart from ethics, there are the conventions to think of, and the conventions of propriety demand that very young woman must be protected by a chaperon, because otherwise she will be misjudged.

=THE RESIDENT CHAPERON=

No young girl may live alone.  Even though she has a father, unless he devotes his entire time to her, she must also have a resident chaperon who protects her reputation until she is married or old enough to protect it herself—­which is not until she has reached a fairly advanced age, of perhaps thirty years or over if she is alone, or twenty-six or so if she lives in her father’s house and behaves with such irreproachable circumspection that Mrs. Grundy is given no chance to set tongues wagging.

It goes without saying that a chaperon is always a lady, often one whose social position is better than that of her charge; occasionally she is a social sponsor as well as a moral one.  Her position, if she is not a relative, is very like that of a companion.  Above all, a chaperon must have dignity, and if she is to be of any actual service, she must be kind of heart and have intelligent sympathy and tact.  To have her charge not only care for her, but be happy with her, is the only possible way such a relationship can endure.

Needless to say a chaperon’s own conduct must be irreproachable and her knowledge of the world such as can only be gained by personal experience; but she need not be an old lady!  She can perfectly well be reasonably young, and a spinster.