Chapter 3 of Bella Donna: A Novel 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 III
Chapter 3 of Bella Donna: A Novel is here in full — 420 sentences across 84 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other. Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down. "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor. "I will take the blame. But surely you don't have to follow all your prescriptions?"
Chapter 3 of Bella Donna: A Novel 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.
put or pin the blame on
From this reading “"I will take the blame.”
a white sparkling wine either produced in Champagne or resembling that produced there
From this reading “Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.”
a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading “"If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.”
past form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading “They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.”
below the surround or below the normal position
From this reading “They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.”
plural of “patient” — a person who requires medical care
From this reading “"If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.”
plural of “prescription” — directions prescribed beforehand; the action of prescribing authoritative rules or directions
From this reading “But surely you don't have to follow all your prescriptions?"”
inflected form of “sip” — drink in sips
From this reading “Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.”
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.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
put or pin the blame on
From this reading "I will take the blame.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But surely you don't have to follow all your prescriptions?"
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
a white sparkling wine either produced in Champagne or resembling that produced there
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
a licensed medical practitioner
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading But surely you don't have to follow all your prescriptions?"
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
every one of two or more people or things, taken separately
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
make plain and comprehensible
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading But surely you don't have to follow all your prescriptions?"
a brittle transparent solid with irregular atomic structure
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading But surely you don't have to follow all your prescriptions?"
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I will take the blame.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
past form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
held up in the air
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
plural of “lip” — either of two fleshy folds of tissue that surround the mouth and play a role in speaking
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
below the surround or below the normal position
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
(comparative of “near” or “close”) within a shorter distance
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
not the same one or ones already mentioned or implied
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
plural of “patient” — a person who requires medical care
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
plural of “prescription” — directions prescribed beforehand; the action of prescribing authoritative rules or directions
From this reading But surely you don't have to follow all your prescriptions?"
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
inflected form of “sip” — drink in sips
From this reading Armine lifted his glass of champagne to his lips, sipped it, and put it down.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading But surely you don't have to follow all your prescriptions?"
carry out
From this reading "I will take the blame.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
plural of “voice” — the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading They lowered their voices and leaned nearer to each other.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading "I will take the blame.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "If you do see any patients, you can explain it's all my fault," he said to the Doctor.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading But surely you don't have to follow all your prescriptions?"
Chapter 3 of Bella Donna: A Novel by Robert Hichens 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 3 holds 420 sentences of Bella Donna: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 84 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of Bella Donna: A Novel by Robert Hichens 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 3 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 Bella Donna: A Novel by Robert Hichens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 13461 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #17698 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #17698, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2693 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Bella Donna: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of Bella Donna: A Novel 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 Bella Donna: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
