Chapter 12 of I Will Maintain is here in full — 350 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of I Will Maintain is here in full — 350 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan. “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said. William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark. “Madame Van Decken is quite the plainest lady in the room.” “Is she?”
Chapter 12 of I Will Maintain is here in full — 350 sentences across 70 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/70 · 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.
farther along in physical or mental development
From this reading “William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.”
past form of “beckon” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading “THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.”
make larger
From this reading “William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.”
strike out (a batter), (of a pitcher)
From this reading “THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.”
a male grandchild
From this reading “THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.”
a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information
From this reading “William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.”
catch sight of
From this reading “THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.”
any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts)
From this reading ““You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.”
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 “William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.”
In this reading ““You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.”
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.
farther along in physical or mental development
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
one or some or every or all without specification
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
past form of “beckon” — signal with the hands or nod
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
next to; at the side of
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
make larger
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
the latter part of the day (the period of decreasing daylight from late afternoon until nightfall)
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
strike out (a batter), (of a pitcher)
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
a republic in western Europe; the largest country wholly in Europe
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
coins made of gold
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
a male grandchild
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
the -ing form of “have”
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “Madame Van Decken is quite the plainest lady in the room.”
a sense of concern with and curiosity about someone or something
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading “Madame Van Decken is quite the plainest lady in the room.”
a polite name for any woman
From this reading “Madame Van Decken is quite the plainest lady in the room.”
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
title used for a married Frenchwoman
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Madame Van Decken is quite the plainest lady in the room.”
The daughter of a monarch; a female member of a royal family.
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading “Madame Van Decken is quite the plainest lady in the room.”
a statement that expresses a personal opinion or belief or adds information
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading “Madame Van Decken is quite the plainest lady in the room.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
give an exhibition of to an interested audience
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
catch sight of
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
any creative group active in the innovation and application of new concepts and techniques in a given field (especially in the arts)
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
past form of “wait” — stay in one place and anticipate or expect something
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
in the company of; together with
From this reading THE SPY OF FRANCE The Princess beckoned her grandson with her long gold fan.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading William, having advanced beside her chair, waited, without any show of interest, for the Princess to enlarge on her remark.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You have been talking to Madame Van Decken the whole evening,” she said.
Chapter 12 of I Will Maintain by Marjorie Bowen holds 350 sentences, grouped into 70 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 12 holds 350 sentences of I Will Maintain, unabridged, divided into 70 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of I Will Maintain by Marjorie Bowen exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 350 sentences, grouped into 70 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 70 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 70 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 12 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 I Will Maintain by Marjorie Bowen on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9501 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #53549 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #53549, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1901 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through I Will Maintain section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of I Will Maintain 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 I Will Maintain, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
