Post by TheMidgetMoose on Feb 6, 2019 20:43:08 GMT
though this would mean her husband, who would likely be either Gideon or Scrooge's twin, would likely be deceased by the time of her death, since she didn't leave her fortune with them.
Anyway, I propose that Evelyn was in fact Scrooge's sister but Donald didn't know that at the time. The letter seems to mention "your aunt Evelyn" without a last name; if she's an older sibling who left the McDuck home pretty early on, it's plausible that Donald wouldn't really know of her existence. After all, Scrooge is hardly inclined to tell stories about his sisters, as we well know. And if she was even born by the time Evelyn left, Hortense wouldn't really have any memories of her.
Considering how crazy his family tree is, it's not surprising at all that Donald would take news of having a rich, dead Aunt Evelyn in stride without worrying overmuch about the particulars. Compare (and I know some people want to decanonize Don Rosa's tree on this point, but compare) the fact that it took Donald making a conscious efforts to explore the distant reaches of his family tree for him to learn of his first cousin Whitewater's existence.