When the news of the lowering of rents was declared,

Directions: Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.

Vicomte inherited a large house from his uncle. He learned that the large house being rented out to tenants, was fetching big revenues. He thought that his uncle was too hard to rent out the units at high prices. He would lower the rents and his tenants would bless him. So, he notified all the tenants that their rents were being lowered by one-third thereafter. The unheard of word “lower” fell like a brick on the Real of Bernard the caretaker of the building. “Lower the rents!” He stammered. “Never was such a thing known, Truly.”
Vicomte interrupted Bernard and strictly commanded him to follow his orders. Staggering Bernard went out, all his ideas upset, overthrown and confounded. And the next morning, Bernard, buttoning himself into his best coat, made the rounds of the lodges to announce the great news. Ten minutes later, the whole house was in commotion. People clustered together and chatted eagerly. A few of them wrote to the proprietor to warn him that his caretaker had wholly lost his mind. Vicomte responded, confirming what Bernard had said.