Chapter 12 of The Grey Lady is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XII
Chapter 12 of The Grey Lady is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart. Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone. The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry. The maid was weeping in the workroom. Mrs. Harrington had had a busy afternoon.
Chapter 12 of The Grey Lady is here in full — 157 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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 manservant (usually the head servant of a household) who has charge of wines and the table
From this reading “The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.”
the act of making something clean
From this reading “The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.”
-ing form of “fume” — be mad, angry, or furious
From this reading “The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.”
plural of “garden” — a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading “Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.”
a small storeroom for storing foods or wines
From this reading “The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.”
(baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
From this reading “The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.”
showing sorrow
From this reading “The maid was weeping in the workroom.”
room where work is done
From this reading “The maid was weeping in the workroom.”
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 Mrs. Harrington had had a busy afternoon.
the part of the day between noon and evening
From this reading Mrs. Harrington had had a busy afternoon.
Having no one else present.
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
(comparative of “good”) superior to another (of the same class or set or kind) in excellence or quality or desirability or suitability; more highly skilled than another
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
actively or fully engaged or occupied
From this reading Mrs. Harrington had had a busy afternoon.
a manservant (usually the head servant of a household) who has charge of wines and the table
From this reading The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.
the act of making something clean
From this reading The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
make void or empty of contents
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
to a considerable degree; very much
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
-ing form of “fume” — be mad, angry, or furious
From this reading The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.
plural of “garden” — a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
relatively large in size or number or extent; larger than others of its kind
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Mrs. Harrington had had a busy afternoon.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
a strong positive emotion of regard and affection
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
a female domestic
From this reading The maid was weeping in the workroom.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
a small storeroom for storing foods or wines
From this reading The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.
(baseball) base consisting of a rubber slab where the batter stands; it must be touched by a base runner in order to score
From this reading The butler was fuming and cleaning plate in his pantry.
deserving or inciting pity
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
possessing material wealth
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
plural of “ti” — a light strong grey lustrous corrosion-resistant metallic element used in strong lightweight alloys (as for airplane parts); the main sources are rutile and ilmenite
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Mrs. Harrington was sitting in the great drawing-room in Grosvenor Gardens, alone.
showing sorrow
From this reading The maid was weeping in the workroom.
in the company of; together with
From this reading 'Tis better far to love and be poor, Than be rich with an empty heart.
room where work is done
From this reading The maid was weeping in the workroom.
Chapter 12 of The Grey Lady by Henry Seton Merriman holds 157 sentences, grouped into 32 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 12 holds 157 sentences of The Grey Lady, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 12 of The Grey Lady by Henry Seton Merriman exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 157 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 12 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 Grey Lady by Henry Seton Merriman on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4466 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #6517 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #6517, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 372 minutes of reading across 894 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Grey Lady section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Grey Lady 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 Grey Lady, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
