Chapter 81 of The Queen's Necklace is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter LXXXI
Chapter 81 of The Queen's Necklace is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE. The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them. Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat. “Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!” The queen could not speak—she thought she was lost.
Chapter 81 of The Queen's Necklace is here in full — 72 sentences across 15 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/14 · 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.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading “Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.”
of a stringed instrument; sounded by stroking with a bow
From this reading “Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.”
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
From this reading “The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.”
changed for (replaced by) something different
From this reading “The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.”
deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
From this reading ““Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!””
inflected form of “pity” — share the suffering of
From this reading “The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.”
something proposed (such as a plan or assumption)
From this reading “THE PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE.”
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading “The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.”
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 The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!”
(of actions or states) slightly short of or not quite accomplished; all but
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
come out better in a competition, race, or conflict
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
of a stringed instrument; sounded by stroking with a bow
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading The queen could not speak—she thought she was lost.
inflected form of “cry” — utter a sudden loud cry
From this reading “Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!”
(of persons or their actions) able or disposed to inflict pain or suffering
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading “Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!”
an opposing military force
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
changed for (replaced by) something different
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!”
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
deep and harsh sounding as if from shouting or illness or emotion
From this reading “Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!”
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
no longer in your possession or control; unable to be found or recovered
From this reading The queen could not speak—she thought she was lost.
the basic unit of length adopted under the Systeme International d'Unites (approximately 1.094 yards)
From this reading “Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!”
the state of being a married couple voluntarily joined for life (or until divorce)
From this reading THE PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
used to form the superlative
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The queen could not speak—she thought she was lost.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE.
inflected form of “pity” — share the suffering of
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
something proposed (such as a plan or assumption)
From this reading THE PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE.
the only fertile female in a colony of social insects such as bees and ants and termites; its function is to lay eggs
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The queen could not speak—she thought she was lost.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
express in speech
From this reading The queen could not speak—she thought she was lost.
an overwhelming feeling of fear and anxiety
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE PROPOSAL OF MARRIAGE.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading The queen and Charny exchanged a look so full of terror, that their most cruel enemy must have pitied them.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading The queen could not speak—she thought she was lost.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading “Ah!” cried he, in a hoarse voice, “M. de Charny!”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The queen could not speak—she thought she was lost.
belonging to which person
From this reading Charny rose slowly, and bowed to the king, whose heart might almost have been seen to beat.
Chapter 81 of The Queen's Necklace by Maurice Leblanc holds 72 sentences, grouped into 15 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 81 holds 72 sentences of The Queen's Necklace, unabridged, divided into 15 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 81 of The Queen's Necklace by Maurice Leblanc exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 72 sentences, grouped into 15 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 15 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 15 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 81 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 The Queen's Necklace by Maurice Leblanc on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Queen's Necklace section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The Queen's Necklace 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 The Queen's Necklace, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
