Oops, I meant to include another sample in my last post. Not sure if it's a help, but:

Smarting as I was, I said: “The story you told me about your mother and the woman in the garden seems to me not in the least remarkable. Not only have I heard many like it and experienced them, but I've even played a part in some of them. It was quite a natural incident. Do you think that if I had been on the balcony I couldn't have said the same thing and got the same answer from the garden? Such a simple affair.”

When I said that, he seemed very delighted. He remarked that I was well dressed and he particularly liked my tie. And what a fine skin I had. And admissions became most clear and unequivocal when one withdrew them.