Chapter XVII of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story, “Valdo in a New Light,” is here in full — 134 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter XVII of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story, “Valdo in a New Light,” is here in full — 134 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"How did you know my husband was in England?" Maria asked. "I didn't," the Countess confessed. "I looked for him all over the Continent. I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
Chapter XVII of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story, “Valdo in a New Light,” is here in full — 134 sentences across 27 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/26 · 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.
one of a set of small pieces of stiff paper marked in various ways and used for playing games or for telling fortunes
From this reading “I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.”
past form of “confess” — confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
From this reading “"I didn't," the Countess confessed.”
one of the large landmasses of the earth
From this reading “"I looked for him all over the Continent.”
female equivalent of a count or earl
From this reading “"I didn't," the Countess confessed.”
a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading “Maria asked.”
lost temporarily; as especially put in an unaccustomed or forgotten place
From this reading “I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.”
try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of
From this reading “I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.”
set down in writing in any of various ways
From this reading “I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.”
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 a lengthy or prolix manner
In this reading “I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.”
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 I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
later than; following
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
(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 "I looked for him all over the Continent.
past form of “ask” — make a request or demand for something to somebody
From this reading Maria asked.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
one of a set of small pieces of stiff paper marked in various ways and used for playing games or for telling fortunes
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
past form of “confess” — confess to a punishable or reprehensible deed, usually under pressure
From this reading "I didn't," the Countess confessed.
one of the large landmasses of the earth
From this reading "I looked for him all over the Continent.
female equivalent of a count or earl
From this reading "I didn't," the Countess confessed.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "How did you know my husband was in England?"
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "I didn't," the Countess confessed.
a division of the United Kingdom
From this reading "How did you know my husband was in England?"
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading "I looked for him all over the Continent.
set up or found
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading "I looked for him all over the Continent.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "How did you know my husband was in England?"
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading "How did you know my husband was in England?"
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "I didn't," the Countess confessed.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading "How did you know my husband was in England?"
be cognizant or aware of a fact or a specific piece of information; possess knowledge or information about
From this reading "How did you know my husband was in England?"
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
primarily temporal sense; being or indicating a relatively great or greater than average duration or passage of time or a duration as specified
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading "I looked for him all over the Continent.
a dark region of considerable extent on the surface of the moon
From this reading Maria asked.
lost temporarily; as especially put in an unaccustomed or forgotten place
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading "How did you know my husband was in England?"
and nothing more
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
above and across; more than
From this reading "I looked for him all over the Continent.
try to locate or discover, or try to establish the existence of
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
used to say what is right, expected, or advisable
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading "I didn't," the Countess confessed.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading "How did you know my husband was in England?"
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
set down in writing in any of various ways
From this reading I should have written to him, only I had mislaid his card, which I found at length after a long search.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "How did you know my husband was in England?"
Chapter 17 of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White holds 134 sentences, grouped into 27 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 17 holds 134 sentences of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story, unabridged, divided into 27 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story by Fred M. (Fred Merrick) White exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 134 sentences, grouped into 27 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 27 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 27 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 17 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.
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Yes. All 6016 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #56960 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #56960, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 501 minutes of reading across 1204 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 40 chapters of The Midnight Guest: A Detective Story 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 Midnight Guest: A Detective Story, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
