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The House of Mirth
The House of Mirth

Chapter II · Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of The House of Mirth is here in full — 130 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Cover illustration for The House of Mirth
Context Illustration Reading 1/26 · 5 lines
English subtitles · tap any word to listen 1 / 5
In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.
Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?
Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?
She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!
This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.
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AI-generated narration by OpenAI · Slow US English
LEARNER DICTIONARY
Archivist
/ˈɑːrkɪvɪst/
Editorial verification pending

A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.

The House of Mirth

Chapter II · Chapter 2

Chapter 2 of The House of Mirth is here in full — 130 sentences across 26 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.

Reading 1/26 · 5 reading units · Lines 1–5

Line 1
In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.
Line 2
Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?
Line 3
Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?
Line 4
She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!
Line 5
This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

All words in this reading · 61

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.

a

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.

afford

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

allow

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

an

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

and

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

any

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

artifice

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

at

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

back

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.

behind

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

cost

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

could

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

dearly

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

do

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

escape

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

for

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

from

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

girl

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

going

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

had

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

hansom

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.

having

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

her

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

herself

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

impulse

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

In

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.

it

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

Lawrence

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

leaned

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.

least

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

luxury

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

more

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

must

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

natural

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

never

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

of

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

one

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

passing

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

pay

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

rate

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

rather

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

rooms

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

routine

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

screen

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

Selden's

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

seldom

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

she

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.

sigh

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.

so

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

structure

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

than

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

that

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

the

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.

thing

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

This

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading This one, at any rate, was going to cost her rather more than she could afford.

to

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

was

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

Why

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why must a girl pay so dearly for her least escape from routine?

with

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading In the hansom she leaned back with a sigh.

without

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading Why could one never do a natural thing without having to screen it behind a structure of artifice?

yielded

Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.

From this reading She had yielded to a passing impulse in going to Lawrence Selden’s rooms, and it was so seldom that she could allow herself the luxury of an impulse!

Chapter 2 of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton holds 130 sentences, grouped into 26 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.

What does chapter 2 of The House of Mirth contain?

Chapter 2 holds 130 sentences of The House of Mirth, unabridged, divided into 26 reading sections.

This page carries chapter 2 of The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 130 sentences, grouped into 26 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.

How do I study chapter 2 of The House of Mirth?

Work through the 26 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.

Each of the 26 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.

Can chapter 2 be read aloud to me?

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.

Questions about reading The House of Mirth

Common questions about reading The House of Mirth by Edith Wharton on this page, its source edition and its audio.

Is this the complete text of The House of Mirth?

Yes. All 5714 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #284 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.

Which edition of The House of Mirth is used?

Project Gutenberg eBook #284, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.

How long does The House of Mirth take to read?

About 476 minutes of reading across 1143 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.

How to read The House of Mirth section by section

How to work through The House of Mirth section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.

  1. Open a chapter

    Choose one of the 29 chapters of The House of Mirth to begin.

  2. Read one section

    Each section holds 5 sentences; read it once through.

  3. Listen and tap

    Play the section aloud, then tap any unfamiliar word for its entry.

Vocabulary met early in The House of Mirth

Words and structures a reader meets early in The House of Mirth, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.

Selden
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The House of Mirth; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Paused
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The House of Mirth; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Surprise
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The House of Mirth; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.
Afternoon
A word that appears in the opening chapter of The House of Mirth; the reader can tap it to hear it and see its dictionary entry.