1, ch. 2). Because the reader has already learned of Mr. Dashwood's recommendation to his son (no begging took place) and that John had considered giving only three thousand pounds to his sisters (not half his fortune), this is our first indication from Austen that we are not to trust Fanny Dashwood. After the clever use of overstatement, Fanny resorts to understatement: "Five hundred a year! I am sure I cannot imagine how they will spend half of it, and as to your giving them more, it is quite absurd to think of it. They will be much more able to giveyou something" (28; vol. 1, ch. 2). By the end of this rather short conversation, John is convinced of a plan completely opposite from the one with which he began: "I clearly understand it now, and I will strictly fulfil my engagement by such acts of assistance and kindness to them as you have described" (29; vol. 1, ch. 2). Austen intends this display to reflect negatively on both the manipulator and the manipulated.
Austen provides another example of a manipulative female in Lucy Steele. As with Fanny Dashwood, Austen gives the reader clues as to Lucy's credibility through her dialogue. In Volume I, Chapter 19, we learn from the narrator of Edward's feelings toward the ladies of Barton Cottage: "He valued their kindness beyond anything, and his greatest happiness was in being with them" (97). Lucy, however, describes Edward's mental state quite differently. Speaking of his trip to Barton Cottage, Lucy tells Elinor, "Did not you think him dreadful low-spirited when he was at Barton? He was so miserable when he left us at Longstaple, that I was afraid you might think him quite ill" (123; vol. 1, ch. 22). This discrepancy between Lucy's words and actual events characterizes the type of cunning that she will exercise throughout the novel. Although Lucy is disingenuous with everyone, her manipulation of Robert Ferrars is the most striking example of her shrewdness.
