“Does he bear false witness against his neighbour?”
“No. He scorns a lie as much as any man I ever knew.”
“Which of the commandments is it in particular that he breaks, then?”
“None that I know of; excepting that no one can keep them yet that is only human. He tries to keep every one of them I do believe.”
“Well, I think Tom very fortunate in having such a father. I wish my mother had been as good.”
“That is all true, and yet—”
“And yet, suppose a young man you liked had had a fashionable father who had ruined half a score of trades-people by his extravagance—would you object to him because of his family?”
“Perhaps not.”
“Then, with you, position outweighs honesty—in fathers, at least.”
To this I was not ready with an answer, and my wife went on.