A Question Of Trust
A Question Of Trust
Introductory Question (Page 1)
Question: The introduction presents two sayings: “It is said that you must set a thief to catch a thief” and “But it is also said that there is honour among thieves.” Which saying does this story illustrate?
Answer: This story clearly illustrates the saying, “You must set a thief to catch a thief.” The charming young lady, who is herself a thief in the same profession as Horace, cleverly tricks and “catches” Horace, leading to his arrest.
The story disproves the saying, “There is honour among thieves.” The young lady betrays Horace by letting him open the safe (leaving his fingerprints) and then stealing the jewels herself, causing him to be arrested for the crime. Horace’s anger at the end when anyone talks about “honour among thieves” confirms this.
Read and Find Out (Page 1)
1. What does Horace Danby like to collect?
Ans. Horace Danby loves to collect rare, expensive books.
2. Why does he steal every year?
Ans. He steals a safe every year to get enough money to last for twelve months so he can secretly buy the books he loves through an agent.
Read and Find Out (Page 3)
1. Who is speaking to Horace Danby?
Ans. A young, pretty woman dressed in red is speaking to Horace. She is a clever and confident person who, like Horace, is also a thief. She successfully tricks Horace into believing she is the lady of the house.
2. Who is the real culprit in the story?
Ans. While Horace Danby is a burglar, the real culprit for the jewel robbery at Shotover Grange is the young lady. She deceives Horace into opening the safe for her, takes the jewels, and leaves Horace to be arrested for the crime.
Grammar & Vocabulary (Glossary)
The PDF provides a glossary for one term:
* Hay fever: a disorder affecting the nose and throat, caused by allergy to pollen or dust.
* Context in the story: Horace Danby suffers from attacks of hay fever in the summer. The bowl of flowers in the drawing-room causes his nose to tickle and makes him sneeze, which is how the young lady first hears him.
Think about it (Page 6)
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?
Ans. Yes, there are several clues that she is not the lady of the house:
* Her calmness: She seems “amused” rather than frightened at meeting a burglar.
* Her request: Her story about forgetting the safe’s combination and needing the jewels for a party “tonight” is very convenient.
* Her carelessness: Her willingness to have Horace break the safe and her casual comment that her husband is away for a month and she can just “have the safe mended” are highly suspicious behaviors for a real owner.
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?
Ans. How she deceives him: She acts with complete confidence and firmness. She walks to the fireplace to straighten the ornaments, speaks kindly but firmly to the dog Sherry, and threatens to call the police. She creates a believable story about her husband and the party.
* Why Horace doesn’t suspect: Horace is desperate and “really afraid of going to prison.” He is “eager to please her” as soon as he thinks she “might help him.” He is focused on getting away and is charmed by her youth and personality, which blinds him to the inconsistencies in her story.
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?
Ans. The description is apt because Horace lives a double life. Publicly, he is a “good, honest citizen” who is about fifty, unmarried, and runs a successful lock-making business. This makes him “good and respectable.” However, he is “not completely honest” because he secretly plans and executes one robbery each year.
* Why he’s not a typical thief: He doesn’t steal for a living or to harm society. He steals only from the very wealthy and only for a specific purpose: to fund his passion for collecting rare and expensive books. He also “hate[s] the thought of prison.”
4. Horace Danby was a meticulous planner but still he faltered. Where did he go wrong and why?
Ans. Horace’s planning was meticulous; he studied the house for two weeks, knew the servants’ schedules, and had information about the safe’s location from a magazine.
He went wrong in two major ways:
* He trusted the wrong person: He was tricked by the young lady, letting his fear of prison and his desire to please her override his caution.
* He made a critical error: In his eagerness to help her and secure his freedom, he took off his gloves to give her his cigarette lighter. He then opened the safe without his gloves on, leaving his fingerprints “all over the room,” which led directly to his arrest.
Talk about it (Page 6)
1. Do you think Horace Danby was unfairly punished, or that he deserved what he got?
Ans. Based on the text, Horace deserved what he got. Although he was tricked by another thief, he was not an innocent victim. He had broken into the house with the full intention of committing a robbery. He was arrested based on his own fingerprints, which proved he was at the scene of the crime. His punishment was a direct result of his own criminal actions, even if someone else ultimately benefited from them.
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?
Ans. This is a discussion question about morality. The story itself suggests that intentions do not justify actions.
* Horace justifies his theft by claiming he steals for a “good reason” (buying books) and only from the rich.
* However, the story does not reward him for this. His actions, regardless of his “respectable” motives, still make him a criminal and lead to his downfall.
* The story’s ending, where Horace is in prison and angry about the lack of “honour among thieves,” highlights the irony: he expected honesty from a fellow criminal while being dishonest himself. This suggests that dishonesty, regardless of the justification, breeds betrayal and has negative consequences.
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