Chapter 2 of The Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of The Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily. He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child. He shrank with horror whenever he saw him. Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship. Thus his only child was a living torture to him.
Chapter 2 of The Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels is here in full — 138 sentences across 28 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/27 · 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.
a person who is loathsome or disgusting
From this reading “Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.”
an affliction in which some part of the body is misshapen or malformed
From this reading “Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.”
past form of “loathe” — find repugnant
From this reading “He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.”
involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit
From this reading “Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.”
inflected form of “shrink” — wither, as with a loss of moisture
From this reading “He shrank with horror whenever he saw him.”
torment emotionally or mentally
From this reading “Thus his only child was a living torture to him.”
at any time that; every time that
From this reading “He shrank with horror whenever he saw him.”
love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; venerate as an idol
From this reading “Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.”
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.
look on as or consider
In this reading “He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.”
In this reading “He shrank with horror whenever he saw him.”
In this reading “Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.”
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 Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
a person who is loathsome or disgusting
From this reading Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
anew
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
the qualities that give pleasure to the senses
From this reading Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
a young person of either sex
From this reading He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
an affliction in which some part of the body is misshapen or malformed
From this reading Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
opinion or judgment
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.
in a hurried or hasty manner
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.
a rug spread out in front of a fireplace
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He shrank with horror whenever he saw him.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.
intense and profound fear
From this reading He shrank with horror whenever he saw him.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
the experience of being alive; the course of human events and activities
From this reading Thus his only child was a living torture to him.
past form of “loathe” — find repugnant
From this reading He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.
and nothing more
From this reading He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.
involving the body as distinguished from the mind or spirit
From this reading Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
cut with a saw
From this reading He shrank with horror whenever he saw him.
inflected form of “shrink” — wither, as with a loss of moisture
From this reading He shrank with horror whenever he saw him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
subsequently or soon afterward (often used as sentence connectors)
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
a special situation
From this reading Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.
(used to introduce a logical conclusion) from that fact or reason or as a result
From this reading Thus his only child was a living torture to him.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
torment emotionally or mentally
From this reading Thus his only child was a living torture to him.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Dr. Darkham's eyes turned to the hearthrug, and then turned away again hastily.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading He loathed to look upon this, his first-born and only child.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
at any time that; every time that
From this reading He shrank with horror whenever he saw him.
in the company of; together with
From this reading He shrank with horror whenever he saw him.
love unquestioningly and uncritically or to excess; venerate as an idol
From this reading Physical deformity was an abomination in his eyes, beauty a thing to worship.
Chapter 2 of The Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels by Duchess holds 138 sentences, grouped into 28 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 2 holds 138 sentences of The Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels, unabridged, divided into 28 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of The Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels by Duchess exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 138 sentences, grouped into 28 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 28 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 28 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 2 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 Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels by Duchess on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4439 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #54847 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #54847, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 369 minutes of reading across 888 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 35 chapters of The Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels 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 Red House Mystery: The Piccadilly Novels, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
