Chapter 2 of The History of the Lady Betty Stair is here in full — 479 sentences across 96 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The History of the Lady Betty Stair is here in full — 479 sentences across 96 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Do you want to know why? Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands. Your lover, Mademoiselle, killed your brother.” At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.” Bastien shrugged his shoulders.
Chapter 2 of The History of the Lady Betty Stair is here in full — 479 sentences across 96 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/95 · 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.
possessive form of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading “Your lover, Mademoiselle, killed your brother.””
a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading “Your lover, Mademoiselle, killed your brother.””
small silvery drumfish often mistaken for white perch; found along coasts of United States from New York to Mexico
From this reading “Your lover, Mademoiselle, killed your brother.””
used as a French courtesy title; equivalent to English “Mr”
From this reading “At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.””
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading “Bastien shrugged his shoulders.”
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading “Bastien shrugged his shoulders.”
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading “At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.””
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 “At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.””
In this reading ““Do you want to know why?”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
for the reason that
From this reading Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands.
accept as true; take to be true
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
The red fluid that circulates in the heart and blood vessels.
From this reading Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands.
a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading Your lover, Mademoiselle, killed your brother.”
possessive form of “brother” — a male with the same parents as someone else
From this reading Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands.
at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands.
used to form questions and negatives, and to give emphasis
From this reading “Do you want to know why?
the organ of sight
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
containing as much or as many as is possible or normal
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
(with “in”) guardianship over; in divorce cases it is the right to house and care for and discipline a child
From this reading Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Bastien shrugged his shoulders.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands.
past form of “kill” — cause to die; put to death, usually intentionally or knowingly
From this reading Your lover, Mademoiselle, killed your brother.”
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading “Do you want to know why?
a polite name for any woman
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
the act of directing the eyes toward something and perceiving it visually
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
a person who loves someone or is loved by someone
From this reading Your lover, Mademoiselle, killed your brother.”
small silvery drumfish often mistaken for white perch; found along coasts of United States from New York to Mexico
From this reading Your lover, Mademoiselle, killed your brother.”
used as a French courtesy title; equivalent to English “Mr”
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands.
with low volume
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
to a degree (not used with a negative)
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
plural of “shoulder” — the part of the body between the neck and the upper arm
From this reading Bastien shrugged his shoulders.
inflected form of “shrug” — raise one's shoulders to indicate indifference or resignation
From this reading Bastien shrugged his shoulders.
inflected form of “step” — shift or move by taking a step
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading “Do you want to know why?
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading At this Lady Betty stepped up quite close to Bastien, and looking him full in the eye, said quietly:-- “I do not believe you, Monsieur Bastien.”
feel or have a desire for; want strongly
From this reading “Do you want to know why?
the cause or intention underlying an action or situation, especially in the phrase “the whys and wherefores”
From this reading “Do you want to know why?
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Do you want to know why?
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading Because your brother’s blood is on De Bourmont’s hands.
Chapter 2 of The History of the Lady Betty Stair by Molly Elliot Seawell holds 479 sentences, grouped into 96 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 479 sentences of The History of the Lady Betty Stair, unabridged, divided into 96 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The History of the Lady Betty Stair by Molly Elliot Seawell exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 479 sentences, grouped into 96 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 96 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 96 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 History of the Lady Betty Stair by Molly Elliot Seawell on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 954 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #67280 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #67280, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 79 minutes of reading across 191 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The History of the Lady Betty Stair section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 2 chapters of The History of the Lady Betty Stair 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 History of the Lady Betty Stair, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
