Chapter 30 of The Crooked House is here in full — 134 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXX
Chapter 30 of The Crooked House is here in full — 134 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
WHAT THEY HEARD They crept round the house. At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them. No light was visible. They listened. A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.
Chapter 30 of The Crooked House is here in full — 134 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
expressing extreme contempt
From this reading “A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.”
inflected form of “creep” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading “WHAT THEY HEARD They crept round the house.”
plural of “curtain” — hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
From this reading “At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.”
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading “At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.”
a set of two similar things considered as a unit
From this reading “At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.”
capable of being seen; or open to easy view
From this reading “No light was visible.”
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading “A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.”
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading “At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.”
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 At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
higher than, or over, something
From this reading A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.
from one side of something to the other
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
expressing extreme contempt
From this reading A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.
inflected form of “creep” — move slowly; in the case of people or animals with the body near the ground
From this reading WHAT THEY HEARD They crept round the house.
plural of “curtain” — hanging cloth used as a blind (especially for a window)
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
the Romance language spoken in France and in countries colonized by France
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading WHAT THEY HEARD They crept round the house.
of comparatively great physical weight or density
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading WHAT THEY HEARD They crept round the house.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading No light was visible.
past form of “listen” — hear with intention
From this reading They listened.
not any; not one
From this reading No light was visible.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
To move from a closed position.
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
a set of two similar things considered as a unit
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
a feeling of self-respect and personal worth
From this reading A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.
a charge of ammunition for a single shot
From this reading WHAT THEY HEARD They crept round the house.
only a very short time before
From this reading A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.
the utterance of intelligible speech
From this reading A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading WHAT THEY HEARD They crept round the house.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading WHAT THEY HEARD They crept round the house.
capable of being seen; or open to easy view
From this reading No light was visible.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading No light was visible.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading WHAT THEY HEARD They crept round the house.
speaking softly without vibration of the vocal cords
From this reading A voice was speaking--slowly, scarcely above a whisper, but a whisper of contemptuous pride.
(trademark) an operating system with a graphical user interface
From this reading At the back a pair of French windows were open, but heavy curtains were drawn across them.
Chapter 30 of The Crooked House by Brandon Fleming holds 134 sentences, grouped into 27 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 30 holds 134 sentences of The Crooked House, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 30 of The Crooked House by Brandon Fleming exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 134 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 30 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 Crooked House by Brandon Fleming on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4272 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #22820 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #22820, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 356 minutes of reading across 855 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Crooked House section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 33 chapters of The Crooked House 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 Crooked House, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
