After escaping the castle, Pito and Tullia ask Anatole what his experiments were about. He lies to them, saying he was working on a treatment for the Blue Death (p. 253). Why doesn’t he tell them the truth? What would have occurred if he’d been honest with them?
The truth would have shaken Pita and Tullia trust in Anatole. With trust broken, I don’t think they would have as much respect for him and maybe unwilling to follow him out of the castle into the adventures that followed.
I believe that in the moment, the truth may have stopped Pito and Tulia from following Anatole. Honesty may have prevented some of the future mishaps, but that was not really an option.
It would’ve broken their trust in him but also by telling them the truth, he could’ve influenced their minds to work against the magic and it wouldn’t have been as successful as it was. Sometimes the planting of an idea can have great influences over our minds, so we should be careful what we say or suggest to others.
I don’t think Anatole felt he had a choice, he wanted their trust, friendship and even admiration. As a person that thought he was a great magician, he would never want to say anything that would put doubt on his abilities.