Chapter 15 of The Duke's Sweetheart: A Romance is here in full — 117 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XV
Chapter 15 of The Duke's Sweetheart: A Romance is here in full — 117 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AN INVISIBLE FOE. The wind increased. It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning. It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas. The sea had begun to rise.
Chapter 15 of The Duke's Sweetheart: A Romance is here in full — 117 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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 heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or sails or tents)
From this reading “It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.”
possessive form of “captain” — an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading “It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.”
an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading “AN INVISIBLE FOE.”
a strong wind moving 45-90 knots; force 7 to 10 on Beaufort scale
From this reading “It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.”
impossible or nearly impossible to see; imperceptible by the eye
From this reading “AN INVISIBLE FOE.”
easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind
From this reading “It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.”
plural of “prediction” — the act of predicting (as by reasoning about the future)
From this reading “It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.”
proved to be true
From this reading “It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.”
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 “It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.”
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 It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading AN INVISIBLE FOE.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
inflected form of “become” — enter or assume a certain state or condition
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
inflected form of “begin” — take the first step or steps in carrying out an action
From this reading The sea had begun to rise.
exhale hard
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
a heavy, closely woven fabric (used for clothing or chairs or sails or tents)
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
possessive form of “captain” — an officer holding a rank below a major but above a lieutenant
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
an armed adversary (especially a member of an opposing military force)
From this reading AN INVISIBLE FOE.
a strong wind moving 45-90 knots; force 7 to 10 on Beaufort scale
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
in a gradual manner
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
made greater in size or amount or degree
From this reading The wind increased.
impossible or nearly impossible to see; imperceptible by the eye
From this reading AN INVISIBLE FOE.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
12 o'clock at night; the middle of the night
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
easily perceived by the senses or grasped by the mind
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
plural of “prediction” — the act of predicting (as by reasoning about the future)
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
move upward
From this reading The sea had begun to rise.
a division of an ocean or a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land
From this reading The sea had begun to rise.
the act of someone who picks up or takes something
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The wind increased.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading The sea had begun to rise.
proved to be true
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was midnight, and gradually Captain Drew had been taking off canvas.
including all components without exception; being one unit or constituting the full amount or extent or duration; complete
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
air moving (sometimes with considerable force) from an area of high pressure to an area of low pressure
From this reading The wind increased.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading It now became obvious that the captain's predictions would be verified, and that it would blow a whole gale before morning.
Chapter 15 of The Duke's Sweetheart: A Romance by Richard Dowling holds 117 sentences, grouped into 24 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 15 holds 117 sentences of The Duke's Sweetheart: A Romance, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 15 of The Duke's Sweetheart: A Romance by Richard Dowling exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 117 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 15 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.
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Yes. All 5921 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #42599 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #42599, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 493 minutes of reading across 1185 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Duke's Sweetheart: A Romance section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 37 chapters of The Duke's Sweetheart: A Romance 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 Duke's Sweetheart: A Romance, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
