Chapter 23 of The Black Robe is here in full — 86 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Black Robe is here in full — 86 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE BREACH IS WIDENED. A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study. “Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired. “Yes. He will be here to-morrow.”
Chapter 23 of The Black Robe is here in full — 86 sentences across 18 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/17 · 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.
act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises
From this reading “THE BREACH IS WIDENED.”
the act of discovering something
From this reading “A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.”
a period of fourteen consecutive days
From this reading “A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.”
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading “A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.”
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading ““Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired.”
United States minimalist painter (born in 1936)
From this reading “A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.”
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading “A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.”
past form of “widen” — become broader or wider or more extensive
From this reading “THE BREACH IS WIDENED.”
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 A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
later than; following
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading He will be here to-morrow.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
act in disregard of laws, rules, contracts, or promises
From this reading THE BREACH IS WIDENED.
the act of discovering something
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
a male parent (also used as a term of address to your father)
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
a period of fourteen consecutive days
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading “Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading “Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He will be here to-morrow.”
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading “Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
in or at this place; where the speaker or writer is
From this reading He will be here to-morrow.”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
past form of “inquire” — address a question to and expect an answer from
From this reading “Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading THE BREACH IS WIDENED.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
a form of address for a man
From this reading “Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading “Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired.
United States minimalist painter (born in 1936)
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
a detailed critical inspection
From this reading A FORTNIGHT after Father Benwell’s discovery, Stella followed her husband one morning into his study.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE BREACH IS WIDENED.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He will be here to-morrow.”
past form of “widen” — become broader or wider or more extensive
From this reading THE BREACH IS WIDENED.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading He will be here to-morrow.”
an affirmative
From this reading “Yes.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Have you heard from Mr. Penrose?” she inquired.
Chapter 23 of The Black Robe by Wilkie Collins holds 86 sentences, grouped into 18 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 23 holds 86 sentences of The Black Robe, unabridged, divided into 18 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Black Robe by Wilkie Collins exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 86 sentences, grouped into 18 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 18 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 18 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 23 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 The Black Robe by Wilkie Collins on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6846 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1587 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1587, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 570 minutes of reading across 1370 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Black Robe section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of The Black Robe 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 The Black Robe, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
