Chapter 25 of December Love is here in full — 759 sentences across 152 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXV
Chapter 25 of December Love is here in full — 759 sentences across 152 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Come up! Come up, my boy! I’ve something to show you!” She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa. She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
Chapter 25 of December Love is here in full — 759 sentences across 152 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/151 · 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.
without deviation
From this reading “She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.”
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading “She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.”
an event that involves rising to a higher point (as in altitude or temperature or intensity etc.)
From this reading “She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.”
a word picture of a person's appearance and character
From this reading “She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.”
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading “She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.”
having a supporting base
From this reading “She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading “She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
a youthful male person
From this reading Come up, my boy!
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “Come up!
without deviation
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
inflected form of “get” — come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I’ve something to show you!”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
come together
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
the force of workers available
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
an event that involves rising to a higher point (as in altitude or temperature or intensity etc.)
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Come up, my boy!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
on one occasion
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
a word picture of a person's appearance and character
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading I’ve something to show you!”
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
an upholstered seat for more than one person
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
a thing, without saying which
From this reading I’ve something to show you!”
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
having a supporting base
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She heard steps mounting the stairs, and got up from the sofa.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I’ve something to show you!”
moved around an axis or center
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading “Come up!
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading She looked once more at the portrait, then turned round to meet the two men, standing so that she was directly in front of it.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading I’ve something to show you!”
Chapter 25 of December Love by Robert Hichens holds 759 sentences, grouped into 152 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 25 holds 759 sentences of December Love, unabridged, divided into 152 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 25 of December Love by Robert Hichens exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 759 sentences, grouped into 152 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 152 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 152 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 25 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 December Love by Robert Hichens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 15739 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #6616 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #6616, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 3148 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through December Love section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of December Love 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 December Love, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
