Woman's perspective..
There is no such thing as "protecting someone with a lie"..if you can easily lie when someone asks you an honest question, what else are you lying about? How easily it was for her to hide that, well its crap in my opinion.
My ex and I dated for 3 months before he told me he was still legally married-divorce had not been finalized yet...I would not have cared if he would have been up front with me and said hey look im still technically married I hope that doesnt ruin my chances with you. But he blatently hid the truth which creates a whole slew of trust issues and problems because he was "protecting me" bullcrap. Thats a whole other issue too...not lying but not telling the whole truth..that is the SAME as lying in my eyes.
I would rather have someone mad at me that I told them the truth(and have a clear conscience) than someone be mad that I lied straight to their face and they found out days, months, or even years later.