My best guess would be, "B", "Grammatical conventions were much different then."
To me security means safety and protection and the measures taken to be safe or protected.
Excitement
Herbert's victory at chess against his father
sinister
The chess game is very tense. Father and son duel and the Father even tries tactic to distract his son from noticing his error. After the son check mates his father, the Father becomes grumpy.
It is a figurative way of describing gaining control
