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A Question of Trust Summary

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In this post, I am sharing A Question of Trust Summary Class 10 English with Quick revision Notes. This is beneficial for those who are going to appear at board exam 2023-24.

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Summary of Chapter 4 A Question of Trust Summary – Footprints without Feet Class 10th

Horace Danby was a decent man who was fifty years old but had never married. He made a living as a locksmith and ran a successful business with two assistants. While he was a good and respected person, he wasn’t entirely honest.

He had a passion for rare and costly books, and he would steal from a safe once a year to buy them. He did this secretly through an agent. Before each theft, he carefully planned everything.

This time, he had spent two weeks observing Shotover Grange, studying even the smallest details about the house.

The family was in London at that time. The two caretaker servants who looked after the house had gone to the movies. Horace Danby, the thief, climbed over the garden wall and entered the house. He had taken a key he found on the kitchen door. He put on gloves to avoid leaving any fingerprints.

He carefully opened the door. Inside, there was a vase of flowers on the table, and their scent made him sneeze repeatedly. Then, he heard the voice of a young lady who pretended to be the owner’s wife. She claimed she had come unexpectedly to get her jewelry for a party that night.

Danby asked the lady if he could leave. She needed the jewels from the safe but couldn’t remember the combination. Danby agreed to help and opened the safe without wearing gloves. The lady took the jewels, and Danby left feeling relieved that he hadn’t been caught.

However, on the third day, a police officer arrested him for the jewel robbery at Shotover Grange.

His fingerprints were discovered at the scene of the robbery. He admitted that he had opened the safe for the young wife of the house owner. However, in truth, the owner’s wife was around sixty years old. She denied his story, and nobody trusted Danby’s words. As a result, the police arrested him.

While he was in prison, working as an assistant librarian, he couldn’t stop thinking about the charming young lady who was in the same profession as he was. This experience made him lose faith in the idea of ‘honor among thieves.’

Conclusion of A Question of trust

The lesson from this story is that we should always be cautious and get to know someone before placing our trust in them.

Quick Revision Notes of A Question of Trust

1. Horace Danby, a locksmith with a good reputation, had a dishonest side.

2. He loved collecting rare and expensive books, so he stole from a safe each year to afford his expensive hobby.

3. Horace targeted Shotover Grange, a country house where the owner lived in London. He aimed to steal jewelry worth £15,000 from the house’s safe.

4. When the servants were away, Horace entered the house but started sneezing due to hay fever caused by flowers.

5. A young lady heard him sneezing and offered to help him. She appeared in the doorway.

6. Horace thought about running away when she threatened to call the police. He asked her to let him go and forget about him.

7. She agreed but had one condition: Horace had to open the safe for her. She needed the jewels for a party that night but couldn’t remember the combination.

8. So, Horace opened the safe, gave her the jewels, and hoped to go free.

9. Two days later, Horace got arrested for robbing the jewelry at Shotover Grange. His fingerprints were found because he hadn’t worn gloves.

10. When he told the police that the lady of the house had asked him to open the safe, he discovered that the actual lady was a 60-year-old woman. He realized the young woman had tricked him.

11. Horace is now in prison, understanding that the charming young lady was a clever jewel thief who used him.