(i) What is being talked about in the extract? who has been marked and followed? What does Winsor say about the method of theft?

Question

Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow :

Winsor : You must have been marked down and followed here.

De Levis : How would they know my room ?

 Winsor : Might have got it somehow. [A knock from the corridor.] Come in.

[Treasure, the Butler, appears, a silent; grave man of almost supernatural conformity. De Levis gives him a quick, hard look, noted and resented by Winsor.]

(i)   What is being talked about  in the extract ? who has been marked and followed? What does Winsor say about the method of theft ?  

(ii)   Who is Treisure and why has he been called? What information did Winsor get from Treisure ?

(iii)  What is meant by ‘supernatural conromity’? What is Winsor’s attitude to this man ?

(iv) Why does De Levis give him a hard look and why does Winsor resent it ?

(v) Has Treisure been able to serve the purpose for which he was called ?

Answer 1

(i)  The loss of money from De Levis’s room at Meldon Court is being talked about in the extract. Winsor is suspecting that somebody must have seen De Levis getting money from Kent man and must have followed him to his room. Winsor thinks that someone must have entered the room through the open window or must have had a skeleton key to the room.

(ii)  Treisure is Winsor’s butler who has been with him for a long time. Winsor wants to make some enquiry regarding the where abouts of the servants in the house from Treisure and that’s why he has been called. Winsor asked the name of De Levis’s valet and at what time had he gone to bed. He was also asked about the character of the valet, Robert.

(iii)  Treisure is a silent, grave man who appears like a supernatural being. Winsor Trusts Treisure as he has been working for him for years. He also seems to value his opinion as proved in the questions regarding the valet.

(iv)  De Levis doesn’t trust anybody in the house. He views Treisure also with suspicion and this is the reason why he gives him a hard look. Winsor trusts Treisure and doesn’t like De Levis’s suspicious look at the butler, moreover, De Levis is a Jew and he suspecting the English butler is resented by Winsor.

(v)  Treisure was called to get information regarding the valet of De Levis. Winsor was making enquiry about the loss of money from De Levis’s room. Treisure, being an old servant at Meldon Court, knows a lot about the people working there. He gives the information that Robert has been the valet and he was dismissed at eleven in the night. He is also asked whether he had seen any stranger loitering about. One can say that he has been able to serve the purpose for which he has been called.