Chapter 8 of A House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of A House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram. "How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain. "What can you see to care about? He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!" "George!"
Chapter 8 of A House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June is here in full — 213 sentences across 43 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/42 · 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.
look down on with disdain
From this reading “"How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain.”
arouse or elicit a feeling
From this reading “"How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain.”
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading “"George!"”
pretentious or silly talk or writing
From this reading “He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"”
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading “"Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.”
making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction
From this reading “He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"”
socially incorrect in behavior
From this reading “"How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain.”
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading “"Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.”
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 “"Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.”
In this reading “"Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.”
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 "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading "What can you see to care about?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "What can you see to care about?
the work of providing treatment for or attending to someone or something
From this reading "What can you see to care about?
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
look down on with disdain
From this reading "How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
at any time
From this reading He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"
arouse or elicit a feeling
From this reading "How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
Christian martyr; patron saint of England; hero of the legend of Saint George and the Dragon in which he slew a dragon and saved a princess (?-303)
From this reading "George!"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain.
pretentious or silly talk or writing
From this reading He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
happening at a time subsequent to a reference time
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
terms referring to the Judeo-Christian God
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"
a fundamental feeling that is hard to define but that people desire to experience
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
making claim to or creating an appearance of (often undeserved) importance or distinction
From this reading He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"
in accordance with truth or fact or reality
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
socially incorrect in behavior
From this reading "How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain.
plural of “say” — the chance to speak
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading "What can you see to care about?
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
in or at that place or location
From this reading He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He is a pretentious humbug, if ever there was one!"
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "What can you see to care about?
in the company of; together with
From this reading "Alan is really coming to day!" says Dorothy Usk to her lord, with pleasure, a few days later, looking up from a telegram.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain.
used when the person spoken to is also the object of the action
From this reading "How you excite yourself!" says Usk, with rude disdain.
Chapter 8 of A House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June by Ouida holds 213 sentences, grouped into 43 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 8 holds 213 sentences of A House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June, unabridged, divided into 43 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of A House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June by Ouida exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 213 sentences, grouped into 43 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 43 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 43 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 8 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 House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June by Ouida on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4157 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32199 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32199, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 346 minutes of reading across 832 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through A House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of A House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June 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 House-Party, Don Gesualdo, and A Rainy June, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
