Chapter 2 of Bessy Rane: A Novel is here in full — 552 sentences across 111 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Bessy Rane: A Novel is here in full — 552 sentences across 111 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
ELLEN ADAIR. The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one. The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright. Summer seemed to have come in before its time. Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
Chapter 2 of Bessy Rane: A Novel is here in full — 552 sentences across 111 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/110 · 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.
a grouping of a number of similar things
From this reading “Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.”
characteristic of the style of type commonly used for printing German
From this reading “Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.”
meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)
From this reading “Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.”
plural of “mist” — a thin fog with condensation near the ground
From this reading “The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.”
existing or coming before
From this reading “The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.”
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading “The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.”
plural of “shrub” — a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
From this reading “Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.”
plural of “villa” — Mexican revolutionary leader (1877-1923)
From this reading “Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.”
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 “Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.”
In this reading “Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.”
to come or go into
In this reading “Summer seemed to have come in before its time.”
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 Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ELLEN ADAIR.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Summer seemed to have come in before its time.
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
a grouping of a number of similar things
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Summer seemed to have come in before its time.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ELLEN ADAIR.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “a”; a small but indefinite number
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
destroyed or killed
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
characteristic of the style of type commonly used for printing German
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
meat cut from the thigh of a hog (usually smoked)
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Summer seemed to have come in before its time.
used of physical heat; having a high or higher than desirable temperature or giving off heat or feeling or causing a sensation of heat or burning
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Summer seemed to have come in before its time.
belonging to the thing or animal already mentioned
From this reading Summer seemed to have come in before its time.
and nothing more
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
plural of “mist” — a thin fog with condensation near the ground
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
the part of an organism (human or animal) that connects the head to the rest of the body
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
the time after sunset and before sunrise while it is dark outside
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.
existing or coming before
From this reading The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.
past form of “promise” — make a promise or commitment
From this reading The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading Summer seemed to have come in before its time.
inflected form of “shine” — be bright by reflecting or casting light
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
plural of “shrub” — a low woody perennial plant usually having several major stems
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
a place within a region identified relative to a center or reference location
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
the warmest season of the year; in the northern hemisphere it extends from the summer solstice to the autumnal equinox
From this reading Summer seemed to have come in before its time.
the star that is the source of light and heat for the planets in the solar system
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading Summer seemed to have come in before its time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
plural of “villa” — Mexican revolutionary leader (1877-1923)
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
having or producing a comfortable and agreeable degree of heat or imparting or maintaining heat
From this reading The day promised to be as warm as the preceding one.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The night and morning mists were gone; the sun shone hot and bright.
a Caucasian
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
plural of “yard” — a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading Two white gothic villas stood side by side just within the neck of Dallory Ham, a few yards of garden and some clustering shrubs between them.
Chapter 2 of Bessy Rane: A Novel by Henry, Mrs. Wood holds 552 sentences, grouped into 111 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 2 holds 552 sentences of Bessy Rane: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 111 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Bessy Rane: A Novel by Henry, Mrs. Wood exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 552 sentences, grouped into 111 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 111 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 111 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 2 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 Bessy Rane: A Novel by Henry, Mrs. Wood on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 11951 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #58288 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #58288, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2391 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Bessy Rane: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Bessy Rane: 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 Bessy Rane: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
