[ It feels like a tall task, though in no short part from the limitations he'd placed on himself, rather than the actual letter of the instruction. Again he considers lying, making something up, but again he considers that it might backfire on him (or both of them) if the proprietress has a way to tell. What does he say, then? What can he recount that would neither reveal himself nor be "utterly mundane"? ]
1/2
let me think about it.