This is a lie on one level, the truth on another. Of course, she did learn what
Monygham wants to know -- that Nostromo has been concealing the silver -- so to
Monygham it is a lie. As a lie, it is the chapter's second protective falsehood,
this one to protect Nostromo's reputation. But it is also the truth, because Mrs
Gould did not learn the location of the silver, and especially because she did
not hear what Nostromo was really trying to tell her.