NCERT Solutions · Class 10 English · NCERT First Flight and Footprints Without Feet Footprints Without Feet · Chapter 4
Chapter 4: A Question of Trust (A Question of Trust)
NCERT solutions for Class 10 English Footprints Without Feet Chapter 4: A Question of Trust (2026-27). Answers to Think about it and Talk about it questions on Horace Danby and the lady at Shotover Grange. All 6 questions are answered, with the key answer highlighted.
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?
Solution
Yes, a careful reader may begin to suspect her when she acts too calmly. She is not frightened at finding a burglar, she does not call the police, and she is "amused at meeting him". She also refuses to be scared of his threats ("You didn't frighten me"). The strongest hint comes when she says she has forgotten the safe numbers and asks the burglar to open the safe for her, and she lets him break it open and take out the jewels, saying that her husband will not be back for a month.
Another hint is that a real lady of the house would simply have phoned the bank or her husband. The truth is fully clear only at the end, when the real owner's wife turns out to be a grey-haired woman of sixty. (Answers may vary.)
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?
Solution
The lady uses several clever tricks. She appears quietly, saying she heard him sneeze "from the top of the house". She knows the house and the dog, and Sherry is friendly to her and rubs against her. She straightens the ornaments as if they were her own, and calls the dog by name. She speaks of her husband, of their trip to London and of a party. She also speaks in a kind and firm voice, shows no fear, and makes Horace believe she has the power to call the police. She gives a reason for opening the safe, saying that she had forgotten the numbers, and promises to mend the safe.
Horace does not suspect because he is busy thinking only of escaping prison and is eager to please her. She is young, pretty and dressed in red, and her manner fits a lady of the house. He is relieved when she seems friendly, and he even takes off his gloves to hand her his cigarette lighter.
She acts like the owner, with the dog, a good reason and a calm manner; Horace is too relieved and eager to escape to doubt her.
"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?
Solution
The description fits Horace because he led a respectable life as a successful lockmaker with a housekeeper and two helpers, and everyone thought him a good, honest citizen. But once a year he robbed a safe to buy the rare books he loved.
He is not a typical thief. He steals only once a year, only from the rich, and only enough for twelve months, and not for greed or a life of crime. He steals to buy books, plans carefully, has served only one prison sentence in fifteen years and hates the thought of prison. He is, in a way, an honest man with one weakness.
Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?
Solution
Horace studied the house for two weeks and chose a time when the servants were out, but he went wrong in several ways. He allowed himself to be distracted by his hay fever, which the flowers made worse, so that he failed to notice the lady coming in. He believed her story without checking it, and, eager to please her, he took off his gloves and opened the safe for her. As a result, his fingerprints were "all over the room". He had been careful to wear gloves earlier but forgot all caution when he wanted to please her and escape. His fear of prison and his trust in a stranger made him go wrong.
He trusted the lady, took off his gloves, left fingerprints on the safe, and was caught; fear and carelessness spoiled his plan.
Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished, or that he deserved what he got?
Solution
Horace was a burglar by choice and had broken the law every year, so he deserved punishment. He had stolen before, and the law does not allow stealing for any reason. However, he was also tricked by a cleverer person, and nobody believed his true account of what happened that day. In that sense, he was treated unfairly. On the whole, he was guilty of breaking into the house, but his story was true.
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?
Solution
No, good intentions do not justify wrong actions. Horace's wish to buy books was harmless, but robbing others to do so was a crime that harmed the owners. If everyone acted wrongly for what they thought a good end, there would be no rule of law. I would not do something wrong for a good aim.
There may be rare situations, such as hiding a person from a murderer or telling a small lie to save a life, where acting less than honestly seems excusable. But these are exceptions, and we should choose honest and lawful means wherever we can.
