Something I wondered as I read this week's chapters, was why Anne didn't tell the Crofts about Louisa and Benwick's engagement? Anne learns about it from Mary, and "She longed to see the Crofts; but when the meeting took place, it was evident that no rumour of the news had yet reached them." (ch 18) Why doesn't she share what she knows?

It is "about a week or ten days after the Crofts' arrival" when she has her walk with the Admiral who tells her of the engagement. I can see that perhaps she didn't have much of an opportunity to talk about it previously, but when the Admiral talked to her about it, why didn't she just say, "Oh yes, we had a hint of in in a letter fom my sister Mary" or some such.