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The Liar is a short story by Henry James which first appeared in The Century Magazine in May–June 1888, and in book form the following year (Macmillan and Co., London).
It is the story of a young man's dilemma when he meets a woman he used to love, and finds her married to a man of a vile, dishonest nature. Concerned that her own purity has been spoilt, he tests her to see whether she is only shielding her husband out of love, and is shocked to find that she will go even to the lengths of sacrificing an innocent victim rather than admitting her husband's true character.