Chapter 4 of A Double Knot is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of A Double Knot is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Yes, dear, what?" "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark." "I'm afraid so." "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'." There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
Chapter 4 of A Double Knot is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
disposed to please
From this reading “"And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."”
past form of “kiss” — touch with the lips or press the lips (against someone's mouth or other body part) as an expression of love, greeting, etc.
From this reading “There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.”
with fondness; with love
From this reading “There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.”
informal terms for a mother
From this reading “"I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."”
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading “There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.”
an act of formulating a program for a definite course of action
From this reading “"I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."”
third-person singular of “propose” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading “"And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."”
possessive form of “sister” — a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading “There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.”
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 “There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.”
a man who is very old
In this reading “"And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."”
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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
filled with fear or apprehension
From this reading "I'm afraid so."
disposed to please
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
one more of the same kind, or a different one
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
dearly loved
From this reading "Yes, dear, what?"
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
pleasing in appearance especially by reason of conformity to ideals of form and proportion
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
a unit of inductance in which an induced electromotive force of one volt is produced when the current is varied at the rate of one ampere per second
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
past form of “kiss” — touch with the lips or press the lips (against someone's mouth or other body part) as an expression of love, greeting, etc.
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
with fondness; with love
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
informal terms for a mother
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
take in marriage
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
pleasant or pleasing or agreeable in nature or appearance
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
a time interval during which there is a temporary cessation of something
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
an act of formulating a program for a definite course of action
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
third-person singular of “propose” — make a proposal, declare a plan for something
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
express in words
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
possessive form of “sister” — a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading "I'm afraid so."
having or feeling no doubt or uncertainty; confident and assured
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "I'm sure mamma is planning for me to marry Lord Henry Moorpark."
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading There was another pause, and then Renee smiled, passed her arm round her handsome sister's neck, and kissed her lovingly.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "Yes, dear, what?"
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "And I'm sure, Ren dear, he's a dear, amiable, nice old man; but if he proposes I never will say `Yes'."
an affirmative
From this reading "Yes, dear, what?"
Chapter 4 of A Double Knot by George Manville Fenn holds 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 4 holds 420 sentences of A Double Knot, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of A Double Knot by George Manville Fenn exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 420 sentences, grouped into 84 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 84 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 84 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 4 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 Double Knot by George Manville Fenn on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7835 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #34140 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #34140, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1567 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A Double Knot section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of A Double Knot 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 Double Knot, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
