Chapter 5 of Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 422 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter V
Chapter 5 of Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 422 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
(_In a fierce undertone._) The blackguard! CLARE. What do you mean? BILL. If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
Chapter 5 of Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts is here in full — 422 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
in the past
From this reading “If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.”
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading “BILL.”
people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading “If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.”
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading “(_In a fierce undertone._) The blackguard!”
a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading “If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.”
the state of being friends (or friendly)
From this reading “If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.”
characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for
From this reading “If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.”
a quiet or hushed tone of voice
From this reading “(_In a fierce undertone._) The blackguard!”
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 “If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.”
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 (_In a fierce undertone._) The blackguard!
in the past
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
a statute in draft before it becomes law
From this reading BILL.
subject to laughter or ridicule
From this reading (_In a fierce undertone._) The blackguard!
people who have severe visual impairments, considered as a group
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CLARE.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading What do you mean?
marked by extreme and violent energy
From this reading (_In a fierce undertone._) The blackguard!
a person who lacks good judgment
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
the state of being friends (or friendly)
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading (_In a fierce undertone._) The blackguard!
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 If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading What do you mean?
characterized by feeling or showing fond affection for
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading (_In a fierce undertone._) The blackguard!
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
a quiet or hushed tone of voice
From this reading (_In a fierce undertone._) The blackguard!
used to ask for information about something
From this reading What do you mean?
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading If I hadn’t been a blind fool, I would have seen through this precious friendship for you long ago.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading What do you mean?
Chapter 5 of Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts by Rudolf Besier holds 422 sentences, grouped into 85 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 5 holds 422 sentences of Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 5 of Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts by Rudolf Besier exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 422 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 5 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 Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts by Rudolf Besier on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2909 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #60465 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #60465, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 242 minutes of reading across 582 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 7 chapters of Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts 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 Lady Patricia: A Comedy in Three Acts, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
