Chapter 9 of Checkmate is here in full — 288 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of Checkmate is here in full — 288 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
IN MRS. TANSEY'S ROOM. There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door. The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea. "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
Chapter 9 of Checkmate is here in full — 288 sentences across 58 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/57 · 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.
any property detected by the olfactory system
From this reading “The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.”
a particular environment or surrounding influence
From this reading “The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.”
heard or perceptible by the ear
From this reading “There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.”
of surpassing excellence
From this reading “The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.”
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading “There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.”
pleasant-smelling
From this reading “The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.”
make a break in
From this reading “"Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.”
plural of “sound” — the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading “There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.”
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.
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.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
any property detected by the olfactory system
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
a particular environment or surrounding influence
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
heard or perceptible by the ear
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
of surpassing excellence
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
past form of “cease” — put an end to a state or an activity
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
pleasant-smelling
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
plural of “gentleman” — a man of refinement
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading IN MRS.
make a break in
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
the sound of laughing
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
a form of address for a man
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading IN MRS.
an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
affording pleasure; being in harmony with your taste or likings
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
address a deity, a prophet, a saint or an object of worship; say a prayer
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading TANSEY'S ROOM.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
plural of “sound” — the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TANSEY'S ROOM.
a beverage made by steeping tea leaves in water
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
in or at that place or location
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
the speaker and others, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading There were sounds of music and laughter faintly audible through the drawing-room door.
in the company of; together with
From this reading The music ceased as the door opened, and the gentlemen entered an atmosphere of brilliant light, and fragrant with the pleasant aroma of tea.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "Pray, Miss Arden, don't let us interrupt you," said Mr. Longcluse.
Chapter 9 of Checkmate by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu holds 288 sentences, grouped into 58 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 9 holds 288 sentences of Checkmate, unabridged, divided into 58 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of Checkmate by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 288 sentences, grouped into 58 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 58 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 58 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 9 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 Checkmate by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9388 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #38460 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #38460, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1878 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Checkmate section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Checkmate 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 Checkmate, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
