This might sound stupid but may you explain more in comments will get back to you if you comment I will answer
As well as being useful, our possessions represent our extended selves. They provide a sense of past and tell us “who we are, where we have come from and perhaps where we are going”, says Russell Belk, who studies consumerism at York University in Toronto, Canada
I believe the word means being cautious in this context.
Chapter 9 tells us that Mrs. Johansen has brought Annemarie, Kirsti and Ellen to stay at her brother's (Henrik) house for a few days. In previous chapters, we find out that Ellen comes to stay with the Johansen's for her own safety. She is to act as the third daughter of the house. When the German soldiers demand evidence that Ellen is actually a Johansen,...
