Wait until you are blamed for something before you offer excuses. Otherwise you will show yourself guilty.
Martin had had a very trying day at the office. Nothing had gone right, and he was still not in the best of tempers when he met Sarah at the café in the evening. After a time Sarah became worried by his moody silence.
‘What’s the matter, Martin?’ she asked.
‘Nothing.’
‘It’s not anything I’ve done, is it?’
‘How do you mean?’
‘Well, you’re not cross because I went to the pictures with Clive Long last night, are you?’
‘I didn’t know you did, but thanks for telling me.’
And that was how the row started.