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A Question of Trust NCERT Solutions
Read and Find out (Page 20)
Q1. What does Horace Danby like to collect?
Ans. Horace loved rare and expensive books. He needed money to buy them. He loved books so much that he robbed a safe every year. The money he robbed would last one year. He secretly bought the books through an agent.
Q2. Why does he steal every year?
Ans. Horace Danby made locks. He had employed two helpers to assist him. He was successful enough at his business. He was good and respectable but not honest. So he robbed a safe every year. The money lasted for twelve months. He had a passion for books. With that money, he secretly bought the books he loved through an agent.
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Read and Find out (Page 22)
Q1. Who is speaking to Horace Danby?
Ans. A young, pretty lady dressed in red, is speaking to Horace Danby. She is also a thief and a burglar like him.
Q2. Who is the real culprit in the story?
Ans. The real culprit in the story is the young and pretty lady in red. She presents herself as if she were the lady of the house. Actually, she is a burglar like Horace Danby. She makes him open the safe and hand the jewels over to her. Danby comes to know of her true identity only in the end.
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Think About It (Page 25)
Q1. Did you begin to suspect, before the end of the story, that the lady was not the person Horace Danby took her to be? If so, at what point did you realise this, and how?
Ans. Nowhere did we begin to suspect that the young lady was not the person Horace Danby took her to be. She appeared in such a natural way advising him how to cure hay fever that he couldn’t doubt her. She spoke in a kindly but in a firm voice. She was pretty and well dressed. Even the dog was rubbing against her in a friendly manner. She presented herself as if she were the lady of the house. When Horace told her that his first thought was to run away, she threatened to telephone the police and tell them all about him. At no point could Horace doubt her real intention. She made him open the safe and give her the jewels.
Only two days later, when Horace was arrested by the police, we came to realise that Horace was outwitted by a thief like him. The grey-haired woman of sixty, who was the lady of the house told the police that the story told by Horace in his defence was nonsense.
Q2. What are the subtle ways in which the lady manages to deceive Horace Danby into thinking she is the lady of the house? Why doesn’t Horace suspect that something is wrong?
Ans. Truly, Horace Danby was outwitted and deceived by the young lady in red. All her gestures, movements and behaviour made Horace realise that she was the lady of the house. She caught him unaware. She told him how to treat the hay fever he was suffering from. Even the dog was rubbing against her in a friendly manner. She threatened Horace to telephone the police and tell them all if he tried to run away. In a very subtle way, she told Horace that she wanted to wear the jewels in the safe to a party that night. And that she had forgotten the number of the lock. Everything was said so naturally and convincingly. There was no reason for Horace to doubt that she was also a burglar like him. She made him open the safe without gloves. Horace gave her the jewels and went away happily. Her composed and convincing manner betrayed Horace to take her to be the lady of the house.
Q3. “Horace Danby was good and respectable—but not completely honest.” Why do you think this description is apt for Horace? Why can’t he be categorised as a typical thief?
Ans. No doubt, Horace Danby was a good and respectable man. However, he couldn’t be called honest. Everyone thought so. He was fifty years old and unmarried. He lived with a housekeeper who worried over his health. He was well and happy. Only sometimes, he had attacks of hay fever in summer. He made locks and was quite successful in his business. But Horace Danby was not honest. He robbed a safe every year. He stole enough money to last twelve months.
Horace Danby was a thief but couldn’t be categorised as a typical thief. He committed theft for a cause. He loved rare and expensive books. The money he got from robbing a safe once a year was spent on buying books. He secretly bought the books he loved through an agent. He would rob only the rich person. He never hurt anyone and carried no weapon with him. He was not very aggressive and didn’t want to go to prison. So, Horace couldn’t be categorised as a typical thief.
Q4. Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still, he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?
Ans. Definitely, Horace Danby was a meticulous planner. He was not an ordinary thief. He robbed a safe every year. He didn’t rob people for bread and butter. He made locks and was successful in it. With the money he robbed, he bought rare and costly books. He planned every robbery quite meticulously. For his new robbery, he had been studying the location of the house at Shotover Grange. In the magazine, he had read the situation of rooms, electric wires, paths and its gardens. He had seen the place where the housekeeper hung the key. He had even known the name of the dog and how to be friendly with it. Even such a meticulous planner faltered. He didn’t know the lady of the house. Nor had he ever seen her. So the smart and young lady in red could easily deceive him. With her convincing gestures and manners, she was able to convince Horace that she was the lady of the house. The other great mistake that he made was that he opened the safe without his gloves. He left his fingerprints and this lapse led him to prison.
Talk About it (Page 25)
Q1. Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished, or that he deserved what he got?
Ans. It is rather difficult to assess whether Horace Danby was unfairly punished or that he deserved what he got. No doubt, he entered the house with the intention of burglarizing the house. He had made elaborate plans to commit that theft. And theft is after all theft and must be punished. But things don’t end here. What is more important to consider is the fact whether he went away with anything from the house or not. In the end, he helped the young lady in the red and handed over all the jewels to her. He happily left the house without taking anything from there. Doing so, his intention was genuine and honest. He opened the safe genuinely thinking that the lady in the red was the lady of the house. He opened the safe without his gloves which reflected only his honest intention. Hence, his punishment was quite unfortunate and unfair.
Q2. Do intentions justify actions? Would you, like Horace Danby, do something wrong if you thought your ends justified the means? Do you think that there are situations in which it is excusable to act less than honestly?
Ans. Certainly, intentions justify actions. Sometimes, it happens that a wrong is committed while the intention was honest and fair. In such cases, the courts of justice do count the intentions of the doer. In this case, Horace’s intention when he entered the house was to commit a theft. Hence, no court would condone his actions. However, when he opened the safe without his gloves and handed over all the jewels to the young lady in red, his intention was honest and fair. And this can’t be ignored and justice must be done accordingly. However, it is not excusable if one acts less than honestly. At least, Horace Danby should be punished because he made an illegal entry in the absence of the owner of the house.
