Chapter 27 of That Affair at Elizabeth is here in full — 209 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXVII
Chapter 27 of That Affair at Elizabeth is here in full — 209 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated. Was it best to tell him? But a glance at his drawn face decided me. "The search is over," I said. "Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.
Chapter 27 of That Affair at Elizabeth is here in full — 209 sentences across 42 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/41 · 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.
hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
From this reading “The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.”
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading “But a glance at his drawn face decided me.”
having or involving the use of hands
From this reading “"Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.”
past form of “hesitate” — pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
From this reading “The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.”
Roman martyr; supposedly Lawrence was ordered by the police to give up the church's treasure and when he responded by presenting the poor people of Rome he was roasted to death on a gridiron (died in 258)
From this reading “"Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.”
plural of “lift” — the act of giving temporary assistance
From this reading “The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.”
a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading “"Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.”
try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of
From this reading “"The search is over," I said.”
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 “But a glance at his drawn face decided me.”
temporarily
In this reading “The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.”
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 Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.
anew
From this reading "Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading "Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading But a glance at his drawn face decided me.
the supreme effort one can make
From this reading Was it best to tell him?
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But a glance at his drawn face decided me.
hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
From this reading The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.
recognizable; marked
From this reading But a glance at his drawn face decided me.
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading But a glance at his drawn face decided me.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading But a glance at his drawn face decided me.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.
throw a glance at; take a brief look at
From this reading But a glance at his drawn face decided me.
having or involving the use of hands
From this reading "Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.
past form of “hesitate” — pause or hold back in uncertainty or unwillingness
From this reading The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Was it best to tell him?
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading But a glance at his drawn face decided me.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading "Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "The search is over," I said.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Was it best to tell him?
Roman martyr; supposedly Lawrence was ordered by the police to give up the church's treasure and when he responded by presenting the poor people of Rome he was roasted to death on a gridiron (died in 258)
From this reading "Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.
plural of “lift” — the act of giving temporary assistance
From this reading The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading But a glance at his drawn face decided me.
a communication (usually brief) that is written or spoken or signaled
From this reading "Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.
fail to perceive or to catch with the senses or the mind
From this reading "Miss Lawrence is home again," and I handed him the message.
a particular point in time
From this reading The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.
above and across; more than
From this reading "The search is over," I said.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "The search is over," I said.
try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of
From this reading "The search is over," I said.
express in words
From this reading Was it best to tell him?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The Curtain Lifts For a moment I hesitated.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Was it best to tell him?
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Was it best to tell him?
Chapter 27 of That Affair at Elizabeth by Burton Egbert Stevenson holds 209 sentences, grouped into 42 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 27 holds 209 sentences of That Affair at Elizabeth, unabridged, divided into 42 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 27 of That Affair at Elizabeth by Burton Egbert Stevenson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 209 sentences, grouped into 42 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 42 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 42 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 27 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 That Affair at Elizabeth by Burton Egbert Stevenson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4528 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #35247 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #35247, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 377 minutes of reading across 906 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through That Affair at Elizabeth section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of That Affair at Elizabeth 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 That Affair at Elizabeth, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
