Chapter 20 of Laurel Vane is here in full — 164 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of Laurel Vane is here in full — 164 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour. The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart. The "coming events cast their shadows before." A subtle change came over her. Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
Chapter 20 of Laurel Vane is here in full — 164 sentences across 33 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/32 · 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.
possessive form of “bride” — a woman who has recently been married
From this reading “All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.”
past form of “droop” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading “Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.”
plural of “lash” — any of the short curved hairs that grow from the edges of the eyelids
From this reading “Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.”
-ing form of “near” — move towards
From this reading “The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.”
a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow)
From this reading “Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.”
quiet, dark, or concealed
From this reading “Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.”
difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
From this reading “A subtle change came over her.”
grow smaller
From this reading “All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.”
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 “Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.”
In this reading “All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.”
find unexpectedly
In this reading “The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.”
In this reading “The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.”
In this reading “The "coming events cast their shadows before."”
communicate the intended meaning or impression
In this reading “A subtle change came over her.”
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 A subtle change came over her.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading The "coming events cast their shadows before."
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
Directly under; in or to a lower position than.
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
possessive form of “bride” — a woman who has recently been married
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
emitting or reflecting light readily or in large amounts
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading A subtle change came over her.
put or send forth
From this reading The "coming events cast their shadows before."
cause to change; make different; cause a transformation
From this reading A subtle change came over her.
either side of the face below the eyes
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading The "coming events cast their shadows before."
absence of light or illumination
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
past form of “droop” — droop, sink, or settle from or as if from pressure or loss of tautness
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
plural of “event” — something that happens at a given place and time
From this reading The "coming events cast their shadows before."
opinion or judgment
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
yet to be or coming
From this reading The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
state of well-being characterized by emotions ranging from contentment to intense joy
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.
a period of time equal to 1/24th of a day
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
plural of “lash” — any of the short curved hairs that grow from the edges of the eyelids
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
used to form the comparative of some adjectives and adverbs
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
-ing form of “near” — move towards
From this reading The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
above and across; more than
From this reading A subtle change came over her.
a quality that arouses emotions (especially pity or sorrow)
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
relative darkness caused by light rays being intercepted by an opaque body
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
A dark area or shape produced by a body coming between rays of light and a surface.
From this reading The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.
plural of “shadow” — shade within clear boundaries
From this reading The "coming events cast their shadows before."
quiet, dark, or concealed
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
difficult to detect or grasp by the mind or analyze
From this reading A subtle change came over her.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
belonging to the people or things already mentioned
From this reading The "coming events cast their shadows before."
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
the quality of a person's voice
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
not conscious; lacking awareness and the capacity for sensory perception as if asleep or dead
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading The shadow of the nearing future began to fall upon her heart.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
grow smaller
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Her cheek was a shade less bright, her voice had an unconscious tone of pathos, the dark eyes drooped beneath their shady lashes.
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading All of the young bride's happiness began to wane from that hour.
Chapter 20 of Laurel Vane by Alex. McVeigh, Mrs. Miller holds 164 sentences, grouped into 33 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 20 holds 164 sentences of Laurel Vane, unabridged, divided into 33 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of Laurel Vane by Alex. McVeigh, Mrs. Miller exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 164 sentences, grouped into 33 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 33 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 33 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 20 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 Laurel Vane by Alex. McVeigh, Mrs. Miller on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5121 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #49111 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #49111, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 426 minutes of reading across 1025 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Laurel Vane section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Laurel Vane 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 Laurel Vane, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
