Don't go and ask
a woman if she's a cook, or had an appointment to meet a gentleman
here. _That_ won't do. I'll tell you! You might introduce the
business by asking if she had happened to see a lady coming in or
going out; and then describe Agnes, and say you had expected to meet
her here. And she'll say she hadn't seen her here, but such a lady had
just engaged her as a cook. And then you'll say you're the lady's
husband, and you're sure she'll be in in a moment. And there you are!
That's the way you ought to have worked it with Mrs. McIlheny. Then it
would have come out all right."
Roberts, pessimistically: "I don't see how it would have made her the
cook."
Campbell: "It couldn't have done that, of course; but it would have
done everything short of that. But we're well enough out of it,
anyway. It was mighty lucky I came in with my little amendment just
when I did. There's all the difference in the world between asking a
lady whether she _is_ a cook and whether she's _seen_ a cook. That
difference just saved the self-respect of the McIlhenys, and saved
your life. It gave the truth a slight twist in the right direction.
You can't be too careful about the truth, Roberts. You can't offer it
to people in the crude state; it's got to be prepared.
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