Who is Bassett in "The Rocking-Horse Winner" and why does he keep Paul's secret?

Bassett is the "young gardener" who works for Paul's family. He is "a shortish fellow with a little brown mustache, and sharp little brown eyes." Basset had been "wounded in the left foot in the war," and is an afficionado of horse racing. He keeps Paul's secret because of the relationship of mutual respect which he has developed with the boy, and also because of his keen awareness of his place as a servant in Paul's family.

Bassett is the only adult in the story who treats Paul with respect. He takes what Paul says seriously, follows his instructions on how to bet on the horses, and keeps the boy's winnings safely hidden away for him. Bassett is trustworthy, and he keeps the transactions between himself and Paul a secret because he believes the boy would want him to. He shares the secret with no one, until asked about it specifically by Paul's Uncle, Oscar Cresswell. In Basset's eyes, Cresswell is his employer and authority, and so someone who also must be respected and obeyed.

Bassett's awareness of his station in life, coupled with his respect for authority, is another reason why he keeps Paul's secret as far as he can, but it is also the reason why Cresswell eventually finds out about the success the two of them are having with the horses. Because Paul is a member of his employer's family, Bassett undoubtedly feels a sense of obligation to keep his secret, but by the same token, he also feels that he has to reveal something of the secret to Paul's Uncle when he inquires about it, because Paul's Uncle is his actual employer. Bassett tries, out of duty but mostly out of respect, to remain faithful to his perceived belief that Paul would want knowledge of his almost magical intuition with the horses to remain secret by telling Cresswell diplomatically,

"I don't want to give him away - he's a young sport, a fine sport, sir. Would you mind asking him yourself? He sort of takes a pleasure in it, and perhaps he'd feel I was giving him away, sir, if you don't mind."

Why does Bassett keep Paul's secret in "The Rocking-Horse Winner"?

Bassett keeps Paul's secret probably for a number of reasons. First, he loans Paul money to gamble at first, and when Paul loses that money in his first bet, Bassett helps Paul place more and more bets as time goes on. Paul is just a little boy and really ought not to be gambling in the first place, and his mother even speaks later about how people gambling in her family has cost them dearly. Bassett, a grown man, should really not encourage or help a child to bet on horseraces. This is perhaps one reason why he keeps Paul's secret: he doesn't want the family to be angry at him for helping Paul to gamble.

Second, Bassett himself has made a great deal of money by betting on Paul's advice. It might be considered a somewhat inappropriate arrangement for a man who works for the family to be profiting from the hunches of the family's son. There's something about their arrangement that just does not seem completely honest, especially since it has been hidden from Paul's parents.

Third, Bassett is holding all of Paul's earnings for him and is keeping those earnings a secret from Paul's family. Once could make the argument that Bassett is involving Paul in unseemly behaviors, exploiting Paul for his own gain, and hiding information from Paul's parents.