Chapter 12 of Proud Lady is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of Proud Lady is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall. The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking. But she liked it--it was home. She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper. "Oh, Mrs. Hansen, isn't Father home yet?" she asked.
Chapter 12 of Proud Lady is here in full — 426 sentences across 86 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/85 · 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 feeling of being intimate and belonging together
From this reading “The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.”
the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat
From this reading “The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.”
a squeaking sound
From this reading “She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.”
furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy
From this reading “The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.”
a servant who is employed to perform domestic task in a household
From this reading “She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.”
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading “The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.”
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading “The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.”
a decorative paper for the walls of rooms
From this reading “The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.”
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.
exterior door (at the entrance) at the front of a building
In this reading “She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.”
In this reading “She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.”
In this reading “The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.”
to come or go into
In this reading “She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.”
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 The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading "Oh, Mrs. Hansen, isn't Father home yet?" she asked.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But she liked it--it was home.
a feeling of being intimate and belonging together
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
a squeaking sound
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
deficient in magnitude; barely perceptible; lacking clarity or brightness or loudness etc
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
well known or easily recognized
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading "Oh, Mrs. Hansen, isn't Father home yet?" she asked.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
the side that is forward or prominent
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
furnishings that make a room or other area ready for occupancy
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, Mrs. Hansen, isn't Father home yet?" she asked.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading But she liked it--it was home.
a servant who is employed to perform domestic task in a household
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "Oh, Mrs. Hansen, isn't Father home yet?" she asked.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading But she liked it--it was home.
found pleasant or attractive; often used as a combining form
From this reading But she liked it--it was home.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
inflected form of “meet” — come together
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading "Oh, Mrs. Hansen, isn't Father home yet?" she asked.
make or become more narrow or restricted
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading "Oh, Mrs. Hansen, isn't Father home yet?" she asked.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
used of mouth or eyes
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
the context and environment in which something is set
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
a deliberate discourteous act (usually as an expression of anger or disapproval)
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
the sensation that results when olfactory receptors in the nose are stimulated by particular chemicals in gaseous form
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
a light evening meal; served in early evening if dinner is at midday or served late in the evening at bedtime
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
a set of data arranged in rows and columns
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She opened the creaking front door and entered the narrow hall.
a decorative paper for the walls of rooms
From this reading The familiar odour met her--old wallpaper, old furniture, a slight closeness, a faint smell of cooking.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading But she liked it--it was home.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
in or at the place that
From this reading She went into the sitting-room, where the housekeeper was setting the table for Dr. Lowell's supper.
but in spite of that
From this reading "Oh, Mrs. Hansen, isn't Father home yet?" she asked.
Chapter 12 of Proud Lady by Neith Boyce holds 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 426 sentences of Proud Lady, unabridged, divided into 86 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of Proud Lady by Neith Boyce exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 426 sentences, grouped into 86 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 86 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 86 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 Proud Lady by Neith Boyce on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5923 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #62478 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #62478, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 493 minutes of reading across 1185 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Proud Lady section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 14 chapters of Proud Lady 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 Proud Lady, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
