“No,” answered the girl, with a little flush; “but only not to blurt it out unnecessarily.”
“My dear,” he said, “take my word for it that I always speak the truth.”
“O! I only meant to say——” she began; but he stopped her.
“What would you do if a question were put to you which, for some reason of expediency, or good-feeling, you did not wish to answer?”
“I am afraid I should fib.”
“Try my plan, and answer it with another question. It saves a world of responsibility. That is a secret I confide to you. An answer may often be interpreted into an innuendo which is as false to the speaker’s meaning as it is unjust to its subject. I love truth so much that I would not expose it to that misunderstanding. In this instance, to have left the truth for some one else to discover might have cast suspicion on us both, thereby darkening the case against Louis. But, in general, not to answer is surely not to lie?”
“No, I suppose not, Baron”—she thought a little—“I wonder if you would answer me just one question?”
“What is that?”
“Do you put any faith in that talk about there having been another man on the hill besides Cleghorn?”
He did not reply for awhile, but went softly patting the hand on his arm. Presently he looked up.