Chapter 26 of Old Kensington is here in full — 82 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of Old Kensington is here in full — 82 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE SLOW SAD HOURS. And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there. --Byron. Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once. The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
Chapter 26 of Old Kensington is here in full — 82 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/16 · 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.
English romantic poet notorious for his rebellious and unconventional lifestyle (1788-1824)
From this reading “--Byron.”
conveyance consisting of a wheeled support on which a camera can be mounted
From this reading “Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.”
a two-wheeled horse-drawn covered carriage with the driver's seat above and behind the passengers
From this reading “Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.”
a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading “Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.”
United States anthropologist who studied the Seneca (1818-1881)
From this reading “Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.”
the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture
From this reading “The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.”
not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
From this reading “THE SLOW SAD HOURS.”
an old form of “were”, used with “thou”
From this reading “And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.”
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.
without delay or hesitation; with no time intervening
In this reading “Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.”
In this reading “The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.”
In this reading “The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.”
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 Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
take something or somebody with oneself somewhere
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
English romantic poet notorious for his rebellious and unconventional lifestyle (1788-1824)
From this reading --Byron.
conveyance consisting of a wheeled support on which a camera can be mounted
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
a group of animals (a herd or flock) moving together
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
destroyed or killed
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
a two-wheeled horse-drawn covered carriage with the driver's seat above and behind the passengers
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading THE SLOW SAD HOURS.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
a room or building equipped with one or more toilets
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
and nothing more
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
United States anthropologist who studied the Seneca (1818-1881)
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
a woman who has given birth to a child (also used as a term of address to your mother)
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
on one occasion
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
and nothing more
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
the act of pursuing in an effort to overtake or capture
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
experiencing or showing sorrow or unhappiness
From this reading THE SLOW SAD HOURS.
a person working in the service of another (especially in the household)
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
affected by an impairment of normal physical or mental function
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
not moving quickly; taking a comparatively long time
From this reading THE SLOW SAD HOURS.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE SLOW SAD HOURS.
an old word for “you”, as the object, speaking to one person
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
in or at that place or location
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
an old word for “you”, as the subject, speaking to one person
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
inflected form of “tell” — express in words
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading The servant told him that they were only just gone, and he drove off in pursuit.
an old form of “were”, used with “thou”
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
at the time that
From this reading Dolly and her mother had left the Middletons' when John Morgan drove up in a hansom, with a message from his mother to bring them back at once.
in the company of; together with
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
but in spite of that
From this reading And thou wert sad, yet I was not with thee; And thou wert sick, and yet I was not there.
Chapter 26 of Old Kensington by Anne Thackeray Ritchie holds 82 sentences, grouped into 17 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 26 holds 82 sentences of Old Kensington, unabridged, divided into 17 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of Old Kensington by Anne Thackeray Ritchie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 82 sentences, grouped into 17 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 17 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 17 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 26 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 Old Kensington by Anne Thackeray Ritchie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 8731 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #36235 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #36235, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1747 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Old Kensington section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of Old Kensington 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 Old Kensington, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
