Chapter 4 of The Inner House is here in full — 582 sentences across 117 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Inner House is here in full — 582 sentences across 117 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
CHRISTINE AT HOME. When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes. "Strange!" said a woman. "She laughed! She laughed!"
Chapter 4 of The Inner House is here in full — 582 sentences across 117 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/116 · 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.
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading “When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.”
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading “When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.”
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading “"She laughed!”
-ing form of “loiter” — be about
From this reading “When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.”
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading “When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.”
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading “"Strange!" said a woman.”
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading “When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.”
showing curiosity
From this reading “When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.”
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.
a reception held in your own home
In this reading “CHRISTINE AT HOME.”
In this reading “When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.”
In this reading “When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.”
keep under careful scrutiny
In this reading “When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.”
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 "Strange!" said a woman.
later than; following
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading CHRISTINE AT HOME.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading CHRISTINE AT HOME.
cause to herd, drive, or crowd together
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
opinion or judgment
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
a young female
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
where you live at a particular time
From this reading CHRISTINE AT HOME.
past form of “laugh” — produce laughter
From this reading "She laughed!
-ing form of “loiter” — be about
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
relating to or being on or near the outer side or limit
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
(plural) any group of human beings (men or women or children) collectively
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading "Strange!" said a woman.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading "She laughed!
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
being definitely out of the ordinary and unexpected; slightly odd or even a bit weird
From this reading "Strange!" said a woman.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
from one end or side of something to the other
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
past form of “walk” — use one's feet to advance; advance by steps
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
at the time that
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
in the company of; together with
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading "Strange!" said a woman.
showing curiosity
From this reading When the girl Christine walked through the loitering crowd outside the Hall, some of the people looked after her with wondering eyes.
Chapter 4 of The Inner House by Walter Besant holds 582 sentences, grouped into 117 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 4 holds 582 sentences of The Inner House, unabridged, divided into 117 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Inner House by Walter Besant exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 582 sentences, grouped into 117 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 117 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 117 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 4 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 Inner House by Walter Besant on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3766 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #52169 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #52169, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 313 minutes of reading across 754 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Inner House section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 17 chapters of The Inner 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 Inner House, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
