Chapter 17 of The Mistress of Shenstone is here in full — 66 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Mistress of Shenstone is here in full — 66 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"SURELY YOU KNEW?" Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house. A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day. But the heart within her was dying. Her joy had received a mortal wound.
Chapter 17 of The Mistress of Shenstone is here in full — 66 sentences across 14 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/13 · 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.
not functioning properly
From this reading “A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.”
owed and payable immediately or on demand
From this reading “A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.”
in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
From this reading “But the heart within her was dying.”
characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution
From this reading “A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.”
subject to death
From this reading “Her joy had received a mortal wound.”
not usual or common or ordinary
From this reading “A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.”
the sensation caused by heat energy
From this reading “A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.”
an injury to living tissue (especially an injury involving a cut or break in the skin)
From this reading “Her joy had received a mortal wound.”
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 “Her joy had received a mortal wound.”
In this reading “Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.”
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 A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
not functioning properly
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading But the heart within her was dying.
time for Earth to make a complete rotation on its axis
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
owed and payable immediately or on demand
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
in or associated with the process of passing from life or ceasing to be
From this reading But the heart within her was dying.
characterized by beauty of movement, style, form, or execution
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Her joy had received a mortal wound.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading But the heart within her was dying.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
the emotion of great happiness
From this reading Her joy had received a mortal wound.
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 "SURELY YOU KNEW?"
a formally arranged gathering
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
subject to death
From this reading Her joy had received a mortal wound.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
being perceived or observed
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
unnatural lack of color in the skin (as from bruising or sickness or emotional distress)
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
with considerable certainty; without much doubt
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
conforming to the established language usage of educated native speakers
From this reading Her joy had received a mortal wound.
any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
without speed (“slow” is sometimes used informally for “slowly”)
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
anyone who does not belong in the environment in which they are found
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
definitely or positively (“sure” is sometimes used informally for “surely”)
From this reading "SURELY YOU KNEW?"
great in vertical dimension; high in stature
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
in the direction of
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
not usual or common or ordinary
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
the sensation caused by heat energy
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading But the heart within her was dying.
how something is done or how it happens
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
(often used as a combining form) in a good or proper or satisfactory manner or to a high standard (“good” is a nonstandard dialectal variant for “well”)
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Myra Ingleby rose and wended her way slowly towards the house.
belonging to which person
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
in the company of; together with
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
inside; before a period of time has passed
From this reading But the heart within her was dying.
an adult female person (as opposed to a man)
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
used for something imagined, polite, or habitual in the past
From this reading A stranger meeting her would probably have noticed nothing amiss with the tall graceful woman, whose pallor might well have been due to the unusual warmth of the day.
an injury to living tissue (especially an injury involving a cut or break in the skin)
From this reading Her joy had received a mortal wound.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "SURELY YOU KNEW?"
Chapter 17 of The Mistress of Shenstone by Florence L. (Florence Louisa) Barclay holds 66 sentences, grouped into 14 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 66 sentences of The Mistress of Shenstone, unabridged, divided into 14 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Mistress of Shenstone by Florence L. (Florence Louisa) Barclay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 66 sentences, grouped into 14 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 14 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 14 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.
Common questions about reading The Mistress of Shenstone by Florence L. (Florence Louisa) Barclay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3889 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #26235 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #26235, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 324 minutes of reading across 778 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Mistress of Shenstone section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 26 chapters of The Mistress of Shenstone 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 Mistress of Shenstone, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
