lead on a merry chase
tergiversate
verb
-
To evade, to equivocate using subterfuge; to obfuscate in a deliberate manner.
-
To flee by turning one's back.
-
To change sides or affiliation; to apostatize.
How often have the words lead on a merry chase and tergiversate occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )