Chapter 2 of The Circular Staircase is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Circular Staircase is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her. Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement. Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her. “Stop it,” I whispered. “It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.
Chapter 2 of The Circular Staircase is here in full — 136 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
the feeling that accompanies something extremely surprising
From this reading “Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.”
make a logical or causal connection
From this reading “A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.”
a female domestic
From this reading ““It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.”
by chance
From this reading ““It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.”
an utterance expressing pain or disapproval
From this reading “Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.”
inflected form of “petrify” — cause to become stonelike or stiff or dazed and stunned from fright
From this reading “Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.”
inflected form of “sink” — fall or descend to a lower place or level
From this reading “Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.”
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
From this reading “Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.”
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 “Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.”
In this reading “Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.”
make a gift of
In this reading “A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.”
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 LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
the feeling that accompanies something extremely surprising
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
the process of taking in and expelling air during breathing
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
the feeling of lively and cheerful joy
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
cause to have, in the abstract sense or physical sense
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “Stop it,” I whispered.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.
plural of “knee” — hinge joint in the human leg connecting the tibia and fibula with the femur and protected in front by the patella
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
the act of departing
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
make a logical or causal connection
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
a female domestic
From this reading “It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.
by chance
From this reading “It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
an utterance expressing pain or disapproval
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.
and nothing more
From this reading “It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.
inflected form of “petrify” — cause to become stonelike or stiff or dazed and stunned from fright
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
past form of “reach” — reach a destination, either real or abstract
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
inflected form of “sink” — fall or descend to a lower place or level
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
past form of “seem” — give a certain impression or have a certain outward aspect
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading Liddy began to moan under her breath, and in my excitement I reached down and shook her.
the particular auditory effect produced by a given cause
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
come to a halt, stop moving
From this reading “Stop it,” I whispered.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading A LINK CUFF-BUTTON Liddy’s knees seemed to give away under her.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading “Stop it,” I whispered.
a framework of wood or metal that contains a glass windowpane and is built into a wall or roof to admit light or air
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading Without a sound she sank down, leaving me staring at the window in petrified amazement.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading “It’s only a woman—maybe a maid of the Armstrongs’.
Chapter 2 of The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart holds 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 2 holds 136 sentences of The Circular Staircase, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 136 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 2 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 Circular Staircase by Mary Roberts Rinehart on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4811 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #434 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #434, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 400 minutes of reading across 963 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Circular Staircase section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of The Circular Staircase 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 Circular Staircase, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
