Couldn't resist Robin. :-)

Lucy is the liar this time but before that, in Chapter 38 amongst all the further details we get concerning Edward and Lucy there is a great deal of amusement to be had.

Mrs. Jennings and Elinor are out walking in the Gardens when they meet up with Miss Steele. Mrs. Jennings wants the scoop but must attend to her friend so tells Elinor to "get it all out of her my dear. She will tell you anything if you ask." Of course Elinor is spared the task of getting it out of her because Anne spills everything without being asked. No wonder Austen made Anne such a goof; she never thinks before considering what she is saying or doing.

It turns out all her information was gotten by eavesdropping on Lucy and Edward. Elinor is appalled but Lucy’s attitude is ‘annnh-so what’, Lucy would have done the same thing to her since she (Lucy) had done in the past. I can easily picture Lucy hiding in the closet but I am still trying to get a picture of her hiding behind the fire-board. Even if the fireplace had been swept out for the summer, it seems to me it would still be fairly dirty. What a hoot!