Chapter 2 of Notwithstanding is here in full — 77 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of Notwithstanding is here in full — 77 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Et partout le spectre de l'amour, Et nullepart l'amour." The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau. Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going. How well she knew it! How often she had gone down to Fontainebleau.
Chapter 2 of Notwithstanding is here in full — 77 sentences across 16 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/15 · 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.
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading “Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.”
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading “Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.”
a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body
From this reading “The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau.”
many times at short intervals
From this reading “How often she had gone down to Fontainebleau.”
being directly across from each other; facing
From this reading “Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.”
a ghostly appearing figure
From this reading “"Et partout le spectre de l'amour, Et nullepart l'amour."”
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading “Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.”
create by training and teaching
From this reading “The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau.”
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 “Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
a friend who is frequently in the company of another
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
a politically organized body of people under a single government
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
a slow mode of locomotion on hands and knees or dragging the body
From this reading The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau.
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading "Et partout le spectre de l'amour, Et nullepart l'amour."
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Et partout le spectre de l'amour, Et nullepart l'amour."
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau.
the act of departing
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
destroyed or killed
From this reading How often she had gone down to Fontainebleau.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading How often she had gone down to Fontainebleau.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading How well she knew it!
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading How well she knew it!
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading How well she knew it!
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Et partout le spectre de l'amour, Et nullepart l'amour."
a chronic inflammatory collagen disease affecting connective tissue (skin or joints)
From this reading "Et partout le spectre de l'amour, Et nullepart l'amour."
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Et partout le spectre de l'amour, Et nullepart l'amour."
many times at short intervals
From this reading How often she had gone down to Fontainebleau.
being directly across from each other; facing
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Et partout le spectre de l'amour, Et nullepart l'amour."
the seventh and last day of the week; observed as the Sabbath by Jews and some Christians
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading How well she knew it!
a ghostly appearing figure
From this reading "Et partout le spectre de l'amour, Et nullepart l'amour."
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau.
create by training and teaching
From this reading The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The train was crawling down to Fontainebleau.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading How well she knew it!
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Annette sat opposite her companion, looking not at him but at the strange country through which they were going.
Chapter 2 of Notwithstanding by Mary Cholmondeley holds 77 sentences, grouped into 16 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 2 holds 77 sentences of Notwithstanding, unabridged, divided into 16 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of Notwithstanding by Mary Cholmondeley exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 77 sentences, grouped into 16 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 16 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 16 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 2 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 Notwithstanding by Mary Cholmondeley on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5817 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #37781 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #37781, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 484 minutes of reading across 1164 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Notwithstanding section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 39 chapters of Notwithstanding 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 Notwithstanding, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
