Chapter 31 of Secret History is here in full — 17 sentences across 4 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXXI
Chapter 31 of Secret History is here in full — 17 sentences across 4 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
TO CLARA. _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible. I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you. You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice. Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.
Chapter 31 of Secret History is here in full — 17 sentences across 4 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/3 · 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 living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading “Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.”
a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
From this reading “Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.”
give a description of
From this reading “I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.”
a Spanish gentleman or nobleman
From this reading “I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.”
expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
From this reading “You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.”
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading “Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.”
a town on the Hudson River in New York
plural of “surround” — the area in which something exists or lives
From this reading “Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.”
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 “You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.”
In this reading “_Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.”
In this reading “Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.”
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 Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading TO CLARA.
a living organism characterized by voluntary movement
From this reading Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.
the condition of being susceptible to harm or injury
From this reading Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.
the time during which someone's life continues
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
dearly loved
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
a beloved person; used as terms of endearment
From this reading Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.
give a description of
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
a Spanish gentleman or nobleman
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
expressing yourself readily, clearly, effectively
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
ask for or request earnestly
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
opinion or judgment
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
travel through the air; be airborne
From this reading Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
a period of time assigned for work
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
a town on the Hudson River in New York
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
go away from a place
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
near in time or place or relationship
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
a symptom of some physical hurt or disorder
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
go across or through
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
capable of happening or existing
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
a female person who has the same parents as another person
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
in the near future
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
plural of “surround” — the area in which something exists or lives
From this reading Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
exchange thoughts; talk with
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Ah! fly, dearest creature, fly from the danger that surrounds you.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading TO CLARA.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading You pass hours, days with him; you talk of his eloquent eyes, his sweet voice.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
in the company of; together with
From this reading I cannot describe the pain with which I heard of Don Alonzo being near you.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading _Kingston._ Let me entreat you, my dear sister, to leave Bayam as soon as possible.
Chapter 31 of Secret History by Leonora Sansay holds 17 sentences, grouped into 4 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 31 holds 17 sentences of Secret History, unabridged, divided into 4 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 31 of Secret History by Leonora Sansay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 17 sentences, grouped into 4 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 4 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 4 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 31 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 Secret History by Leonora Sansay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 1471 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #59533 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #59533, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 122 minutes of reading across 295 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Secret History section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of Secret History 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 Secret History, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
