“It _may_ be the London air,” I said, “or it may be the hard work—or my rather lonely life: anyhow, I’ve _not_ been feeling very well, lately. But Elveston will soon set me up again. Arthur’s prescription—he’s my doctor, you know, and I heard from him this morning—is ‘plenty of ozone, and new milk, and _pleasant society_’!” “Pleasant society?” said Lady Muriel, with a pretty make-believe of considering the question. “Well, really I don’t know where we can find _that_ for you! We have so few neighbours. But new milk we _can_ manage. Do get it of my old friend Mrs. Hunter, up there, on the hill-side. You may rely upon the _quality_. And her little Bessie comes to school every day, and passes your lodgings. So it would be very easy to send it.” “I’ll follow your advice, with pleasure,” I said; “and I’ll go and arrange about it tomorrow. I know Arthur will want a walk.” “You’ll find it quite an easy walk—under three miles, I think.” “Well, now that we’ve settled that point, let me retort your own remark upon yourself. I don’t think _you’re_ looking quite your best!” “I daresay not,” she replied in a low voice; and a sudden shadow seemed to overspread her face. “I’ve had some troubles lately. It’s a matter about which I’ve been long wishing to consult you, but I couldn’t easily write about it. I’m _so_ glad to have this opportunity!” “Do you think,” she began again, after a minute’s silence, and with a visible embarrassment of manner most unusual in her, “that a promise, deliberately and solemnly given, is _always_ binding—except, of course, where its fulfilment would involve some actual _sin_?” “I ca’n’t think of any other exception at this moment,” I said. “That branch of casuistry is usually, I believe, treated as a question of truth and untruth——” “Surely that _is_ the principle?” she eagerly interrupted. “I always thought the Bible-teaching about it consisted of such texts as ‘_lie not one to another_’?” “I have thought about that point,” I replied; “and it seems to me that the essence of _lying_ is the intention of _deceiving_. If you give a promise, fully _intending_ to fulfil it, you are certainly acting truthfully _then_; and, if you afterwards break it, that does not involve any _deception_. I cannot call it _untruthful_.” Another pause of silence ensued. Lady Muriel’s face was hard to read: she looked pleased, I thought, but also puzzled; and I felt curious to know whether her question had, as I began to suspect, some bearing on the breaking off of her engagement with Captain (now Major) Lindon. “You have relieved me from a great fear,” she said; “but the thing is of course _wrong_, somehow. What texts would _you_ quote, to prove it wrong?” “Any that enforce the payment of _debts_. If _A_ promises something to _B_, _B_ has a claim upon _A_. And _A_’s sin, if he breaks his promise, seems to me more analogous to _stealing_ than to _lying_.”