Chapter – 4

A Question of Trust

In this post, we have given the Important Questions of chapter 4 “A Question of Trust”. It is the 4th chapter of the Class 10th English.

Board	CBSE Board, UP Board, JAC Board, HBSE Board, UBSE Board, PSEB Board, RBSE Board
Textbook	NCERT
Class	Class 10
Subject	English Footprints without Feet
Chapter no.	Chapter 4
Chapter Name	A Question of Trust
Category	Class 10 English Important Questions
Medium	English

Chapter 4 A Question of Trust

Question 1. What does Horace Danby like to collect?

Answer: Horace Danby likes to collect rare and expensive books.

Question 2. Why does he steal every year?

Answer: He stole every year so that he could buy the rare and expensive books that he loved to collect. Each year he planned carefully so as to steal enough to last twelve months.

Question 3. Who is speaking to Horace Danby?

Answer: A lady standing in the doorway is speaking to Horace Danby. She was young and pretty and was dressed in red. She said she had come just in time, or else her family would have been robbed by Horace. Thus she pretended to be one of the members of the family living at Shotover Grange.

Question 4. Who is the real culprit in the story?

Answer: The real culprit in the story is the woman who pretended to be a member of the family living at Shotover Grange. She tricked Horace Danby into believing her, and cleverly took away all the jewels that were kept in the safe.

Answer the following Questions

Question 1. ‘Horace Danby was good and respectable but not completely honest.’ Is this an apt description of Horace? If yes, why?

Answer. Yes, Horace was good but not completely honest. He loved expensive books. So, he stole once a year. He was not aggressive by nature but only submissive as seen in the case of the lady thief in red.

Question 2. What was Horace Danby’s hobby? How did he manage to fulfil it?

Answer. Horace Danby was not an ordinary thief. He loved rare and expensive books. So, he robbed a safe every year and through an agent secretly bought the books he loved. Each year, he planned carefully just what he would do.

Question 3. How did Danby prepare for the robbery at Shotover Grange?

Answer. Danby studied the complete situation of the house, i.e., electric wiring, paths and garden. He collected information about the family. He knew all the movements of the servants. He always kept his tools ready.

Question 4. Who robbed Shotover Grange? Whom did the police arrest and why?

Answer. Actually it was the lady-in-red who robbed the Shotover Grange. The police arrested Horace Danby because his finger prints were found all over the room and on the safe. Nobody believed him when he said that the owner lady asked him to do so.

Question 5. Horace Danby was interested in the books, not in the painting. Why?

Answer. Horace Danby was fond of reading the rare type of books. For a moment, he thought to collect paintings from the small house but he could not, as the books were better in that small house.

Question 6. Horace sneezed. Why did he do it?

Answer. Horace did not sneeze deliberately, rather he suffered from an attack of hay fever. There was a big bowl of flowers kept in the drawing room that caused him to sneeze. He buried his face in his handkerchief.

Question 7. What went wrong when Horace Danby robbed at Shotover Grange?

Answer. While Horace Danby was inside the house, the lady in red came and announced that she was the owner of the house. Her appearance was such that he was fooled. She asked him to open the safe for her. Horace left his finger prints all over there. Hence, he was arrested.

Question 8. Describe the lady in red.

Answer. She was a young and smart thief. She was very graceful, resourceful and impressive. She spoke to Horace in an authoritative voice as if she was the mistress of the house. She was very intelligent. She was able to outsmart Danby easily. She not only robbed at Shotover Grange but also Danby Horace

Question 9. Why was Horace arrested when he had not stolen anything?

Answer. Horace was arrested because his finger prints were all around the safe since he had opened the safe bare-handed. He told that the landlady had asked him to open the safe. No one believed his story. The real lady of the house was an old lady of sixty. The young lady was another thief.

Question 10. How does the ‘lady in red’ outsmarts Horace Danby at Shotover Grange?

Answer. Horace Danby as usual had planned the robbery at shotover Grange meticulously. At the place of the robber, unexpectedly, he confronts a lady dressed in red attire. She carries herself with an air of authority giving the impression as if she is the lady of the house. She threatens horace to call police. Horace keep pleading to be let off and admits that he steals only rich people for a good reason to which the lady laughs. She finally agrees to let go Horace only if he opens the safe for her as she needed the jewels for the night party. The lady besides being smart is cool and composed, takes advantage of Horace’s mental state. She takes out a cigarette and instantly Horace in his eagerness to please her takes of his gloves before offering her his lighter. While breaking the safe Horace forgets to wear his gloves. He hands over the jewels to the lady before walking out of the house. But Horace’s freedom is short lived as he is caught by the police on the basis of the fingerprints found at Shotover Grange. No doubt the lady in red had totally outwitted Horace hands down.

Think About It

Question 1. 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?

Answer: Yes, we begin to suspect before the end of the story that the lady was not the person Horace Danby took her to be. She was unusually calm on seeing Horace. This seemed strange. When she did not call the police, and instead asked Horace to take out all the jewels from the safe, even if it meant breaking it open, it seems suspicious. Moreover, it seemed highly unlikely that she would forget the number combination to open the safe. Therefore it was evident, before the story ended, that the lady was not the person Horace had taken her to be.

Question 2. 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?

Answer: Her confident walk, her familiarity with the dog Sherry, her act of touching up her make-up and the ease with which she picks a cigarette from the right place are enough to deceive anybody. Horace was too frightened to think properly, so he didn’t suspect anything.

Question 3. “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?

Answer: Horace’s habits were not typical of a thief. He was fond of books. He used to steal only once in a year so he was never stealing more than his needs. However, an act of theft is still a crime, no matter how well a thief behaves, so this description is apt for Horace. He can’t be categorised as a typical thief because he is not a regular offender like other thieves.

Question 4. Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?

Answer: Horace Danby failed to get enough information about the real occupants of the house. He seems to be too occupied with collecting information about the house map, wiring and location of valuable items. Although he was smart enough to know the dog’s actual name, he overlooked getting information about the occupants of the house. When he landed in trouble with the appearance of the young lady, his clever mind gave way to carelessness, leading him to open the safe without wearing gloves.

Talk About It

Question 1. Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished, or that he deserved what he got?

Answer: Horace Danby deserved what he got. A crime is a crime, no matter if it is committed for your own benefit or for somebody else’s benefit.

Question 2. 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?

Answer: “Ends do not justify means”, is a very old and time-tested saying. For their own benefit nobody should harm others. But this world doesn’t function on idealism. There are many examples of people tricking people for quick gains. These acts should be deplored and dealt with severely.

We hope that Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 4 A Question of Trust Important Questions helped you. If you have any queries about Class 10 English (Footprints without Feet) Chapter 4 A Question of Trust Important Questions or about any other notes of Class 10 English, so you can comment below. We will reach you as soon as possible…