Rather than seeing this as lying, Mildred saw omitting details as courtesy, tact: a consideration she extended to others and expected them to extend to her. “Lie to me, I’m weak,” Susan imagined her saying. She was, she insisted, too fragile for the truth, and believed that “honesty equaled cruelty.” Once, when Susan attacked Judith for speaking honestly to her mother, Mildred seconded the reproach: “Exactly,” she said.
