Chapter 23 of A Dangerous Flirtation is here in full — 90 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of A Dangerous Flirtation is here in full — 90 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room. He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps. She went up to him timidly. Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her. She had never seen him look so cross before.
Chapter 23 of A Dangerous Flirtation is here in full — 90 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/18 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5
These definitions explain words found in the current reading and keep every example grounded in its original sentence.
Oxford-style entry order: headword, part of speech, US IPA, concise definition, contextual example, and audio.
travel across or pass over
From this reading “She had never seen him look so cross before.”
Austrian general in the service of the Holy Roman Empire during the War of the Spanish Succession (1663-1736)
From this reading “Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.”
plural of “footstep” — the sound of a step of someone walking
From this reading “He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.”
-ing form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading “He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.”
wild dabbling duck from which domestic ducks are descended; widely distributed
From this reading “Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.”
excited by sudden surprise or alarm and making a quick involuntary movement
From this reading “Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.”
at a steady rate or pace
From this reading “He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.”
in a shy or timid or bashful manner
From this reading “She went up to him timidly.”
English keeps certain words together, and knowing the pair is worth more than knowing each word alone. Every partnership below was counted across our whole published library, and earns its place by appearing far more often than two unrelated words of the same frequency would.
Shown as this reading writes them, with the form the library counts, what kind of pairing it is, and how often it occurs.
In this reading “Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.”
become less in amount or intensity
In this reading “Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.”
In this reading “He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.”
seek information from
In this reading “Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.”
In this reading “Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.”
move upward
In this reading “She went up to him timidly.”
Every word in these five lines is listed here, and every one of them can be played on its own.
Dictionary details are shown only when verified; these are not licensed Oxford entries.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading She had never seen him look so cross before.
travel across or pass over
From this reading She had never seen him look so cross before.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
past form of “die” — pass from physical life and lose all bodily attributes and functions necessary to sustain life
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
Austrian general in the service of the Holy Roman Empire during the War of the Spanish Succession (1663-1736)
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
divisible by two
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
the feelings expressed on a person's face
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
plural of “footstep” — the sound of a step of someone walking
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
-ing form of “gaze” — look at with fixed eyes
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading She had never seen him look so cross before.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
perceive (sound) via the auditory sense
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading She went up to him timidly.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
plural of “lip” — either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
wild dabbling duck from which domestic ducks are descended; widely distributed
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading She had never seen him look so cross before.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
express in words
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading She had never seen him look so cross before.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She went up to him timidly.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
excited by sudden surprise or alarm and making a quick involuntary movement
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
at a steady rate or pace
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
in a shy or timid or bashful manner
From this reading She went up to him timidly.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She went up to him timidly.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading She went up to him timidly.
any or all of a kind, it does not matter which
From this reading Whatever she was about to say died away on her lips, for the expression on his face startled her.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading He was gazing so steadily out of the window that he did not even hear her light footsteps.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading Eugene Mallard did not look up as his young wife entered the room.
Chapter 23 of A Dangerous Flirtation by Laura Jean Libbey holds 90 sentences, grouped into 18 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the source edition, unabridged, and the chapter records which sentences cover which part of the work so that nothing is dropped. Every word can be tapped for its pronunciation and dictionary entry.
Chapter 23 holds 90 sentences of A Dangerous Flirtation, unabridged, divided into 18 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of A Dangerous Flirtation by Laura Jean Libbey exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 90 sentences, grouped into 18 sections of at most 5 sentences so that a reader can take the chapter in steady, finishable pieces. The chapter also stores a coverage record mapping every one of its sentences to a part of the work, which is how the edition demonstrates that no line was dropped.
Work through the 18 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 18 sections in this chapter is short enough to read once, hear once, and then re-read with the vocabulary in view. Tapping a word plays it alone and opens its dictionary entry with IPA, part of speech and meaning, so the reader is never forced to guess a pronunciation from spelling. Working section by section keeps a long chapter from becoming an undifferentiated wall of text, which is the usual reason a reader abandons a work of this period.
Yes — every sentence and every individual word in chapter 23 can be played aloud in United States English.
Audio covers the whole chapter: any sentence can be played, and any single word within it can be played on its own. The voice uses United States English. For a work of this period that matters, because spelling is an unreliable guide to pronunciation for vocabulary that has fallen out of daily use, and a learner who guesses wrong tends to keep the error. Hearing the word in its own sentence, and then alone, settles it.
Common questions about reading A Dangerous Flirtation by Laura Jean Libbey on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4960 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #53676 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #53676, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 413 minutes of reading across 992 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Dangerous Flirtation section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of A Dangerous Flirtation to begin.
Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.
Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.
Words and structures a reader meets early in A Dangerous Flirtation, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
