‘You see,’ cried Catherine triumphantly. She lowered her voice again. ‘It’s really his wife that’s keeping them apart. She’s a Catholic, and they don’t believe in divorce.’
Daisy was not a Catholic, and I was a little shocked at the elaborateness of the lie.
– F. Scott Fitzgerald
The Great Gatsby. Chapter 2, Tom has invented this elaborate lie to to cover over the real reason he won’t divorce Daisy to marry Myrtle – class difference. Myrtle is not of his social class so he strings her along with lies.