Chapter 20 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel is here in full — 332 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XX
Chapter 20 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel is here in full — 332 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew. One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice. And he entered the hall. Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair. He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.
Chapter 20 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel is here in full — 332 sentences across 67 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/66 · 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.
bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
From this reading “He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.”
in mental comfort; without stress
From this reading “Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.”
on a floor below
From this reading “GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.”
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading “GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.”
-ing form of “recite” — recite in elocution
From this reading “GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.”
having a quality that thrusts itself into attention
From this reading “One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.”
pour as if from a sluice
From this reading “One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.”
not permitting the passage of water
From this reading “Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.”
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 “And he entered the hall.”
seek information from
In this reading “He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.”
In this reading “GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.”
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 Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading And he entered the hall.
physically and forcibly separated into pieces or cracked or split
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
a seat for one person, with a support for the back
From this reading Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.
bright and pleasant; promoting a feeling of cheer
From this reading He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.
in mental comfort; without stress
From this reading Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.
on a floor below
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
past form of “enter” — to come or go into
From this reading And he entered the hall.
indicating exactness or preciseness
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
an interior passage or corridor onto which rooms open
From this reading And he entered the hall.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.
inflected form of “know” — be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
plural of “leaf” — the main organ of photosynthesis and transpiration in higher plants
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.
a form of address for a man
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
a geometric element that has position but no extension
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
-ing form of “recite” — recite in elocution
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
having a quality that thrusts itself into attention
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
inflected form of “see” — perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
(photography) the act of assuming a certain position (as for a photograph or portrait)
From this reading Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
pour as if from a sluice
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading One point was salient: Mr. Francis had certainly seen the broken sluice.
not permitting the passage of water
From this reading Mr. Francis had taken off his waterproof, and was sitting comfortably in a chair.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading GEOFFREY LEAVES VAIL Geoffrey went slowly downstairs, reciting to himself exactly all he knew.
at the time that
From this reading He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He looked up with his cheery smile when Geoffrey came in.
Chapter 20 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson holds 332 sentences, grouped into 67 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 20 holds 332 sentences of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 67 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 20 of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 332 sentences, grouped into 67 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 67 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 67 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 20 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 Luck of the Vails: A Novel by E. F. (Edward Frederic) Benson on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 6563 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #57690 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #57690, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 546 minutes of reading across 1313 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Luck of the Vails: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Luck of the Vails: A Novel 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 Luck of the Vails: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
