I've read all the Lucia books numerous times and so I was very tickled when I attended an official opening ceremony yesterday to find we had 2 mayoresses (the place is on the border between 2 boroughs) as guests! To make it even better, they were very different physical types and had different styles of dress that just fitted in perfectly with a modern idea of Lucia and Elizabeth. The only jarring note was that the more Mapp-like mayoress had a far more ornate chain, which is something I'm sure Lucia would never allow to happen.
Anyway, none of my colleagues had read the books, so I had no one to share my glee or offer further comparisons. So I decided to tell you lot, knowing that there will be people here who will understand :D