“My sister and I require a special diet. I tell you this only because I wish it to be made aware to the household that we do not eat apart from haughtiness or spite, but out of concern for the wellbeing of others. When we were younger we contracted a rare illness, which has left us with a dependency on special herbs for our strength. These herbs are the most unpleasant poison to those who have never had the illness, and we would hate for anyone to come to harm because they ever-so-innocently took a mouthful of our stew. They are not deadly, but they might make a person wish for death until they pass from the system. I do, of course, keep our private herbs locked away separately from what gets used in the kitchen.”
Mrs. White was silent for a moment, nostrils flaring in that way I would come to learn meant she was thinking of how to most tactfully phrase something. Finally she said,
“Your illness… you say you had it when you were very young? It does not now affect you, beyond the need for special herbs?” I understood immediately what she was getting at, and quickly changed my story to one closer to the truth.
“I may have misspoke when I called it an illness, ma’am. The truth is that my sister and I were bitten by a venomous animal, and it is the lingering effects of that animals’ poison which cause the weakness. It is not, to the best of my knowledge, communicable. You may ask the sisters, if you feel uneasy- we spent two years living in close quarters with the other children, and none were ever affected by our condition.” None of the living, at any rate.
Mrs. White nodded her acceptance of my explanation, and I noticed her whole posture become slightly less rigid. By the end of our interview she was quite warm towards me, and I could see in her a natural sympathy for young women with practical minds (I reminded myself to keep my sister out of her way as much as possible). The whole episode convinced me that it really is for the best if one can stick as close to the truth as one may in any given situation. God favors the honest in spirit.
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