Chapter 13 of The Old House: A Novel is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIII
Chapter 13 of The Old House: A Novel is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
The old house was in flower. Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden. Anne wanted it so. She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room. She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
Chapter 13 of The Old House: A Novel is here in full — 421 sentences across 85 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/84 · 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.
Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)
From this reading “Anne wanted it so.”
past form of “blossom” — produce or yield flowers
From this reading “Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.”
in a manner differing from the usual or expected
From this reading “She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.”
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading “She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.”
a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading “The old house was in flower.”
a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow
From this reading “She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.”
plural of “rose” — any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading “Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.”
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading “She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.”
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 “She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.”
take into consideration for exemplifying purposes
In this reading “She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.”
In this reading “She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.”
In this reading “The old house was in flower.”
In this reading “Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
Queen of England and Scotland and Ireland; daughter if James II and the last of the Stuart monarchs; in 1707 she was the last English ruler to exercise the royal veto over parliament (1665-1714)
From this reading Anne wanted it so.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
earlier than; in front of
From this reading Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.
past form of “blossom” — produce or yield flowers
From this reading Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.
inflected form of “carry” — move while supporting, either in a vehicle or in one's hands or on one's body
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
in a manner differing from the usual or expected
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
to a faint degree or weakly perceived
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading The old house was in flower.
plural of “flower” — a plant cultivated for its blooms or blossoms
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
a plot of ground where plants are cultivated
From this reading Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.
a dwelling that serves as living quarters for one or more families
From this reading The old house was in flower.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The old house was in flower.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading Anne wanted it so.
past form of “look” — perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
a quantifier that can be used with count nouns and is often preceded by “as” or “too” or “so” or “that”; amounting to a large but indefinite number
From this reading Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.
a tangible and visible entity; an entity that can cast a shadow
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
(used especially of persons) having lived for a relatively long time or attained a specific age
From this reading The old house was in flower.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
plural of “rose” — any of many shrubs of the genus Rosa that bear roses
From this reading Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.
perception by means of the eyes
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
a facial expression characterized by turning up the corners of the mouth; usually shows pleasure or amusement
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Never before had so many roses blossomed in the garden.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The old house was in flower.
an instance or single occasion for some event
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading Anne wanted it so.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The old house was in flower.
inflected form of “go” — change location; move, travel, or proceed, also metaphorically
From this reading She carried the flowers into the house and went, faintly smiling, from room to room.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading She looked at every object curiously as if she were seeing it for the first time.
Chapter 13 of The Old House: A Novel by Cécile Tormay holds 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 13 holds 421 sentences of The Old House: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 85 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 13 of The Old House: A Novel by Cécile Tormay exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 421 sentences, grouped into 85 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 85 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 85 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 13 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 Old House: A Novel by Cécile Tormay on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5724 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #66344 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #66344, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 477 minutes of reading across 1145 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Old House: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Old House: 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 Old House: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
