Chapter 3 of The Return is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter III
Chapter 3 of The Return is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
‘No, sir, it’s me,’ came the answer. ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress. It’s all right.’ ‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice. ‘Gone out?’
Chapter 3 of The Return is here in full — 191 sentences across 39 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/38 · 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.
react verbally
From this reading “‘No, sir, it’s me,’ came the answer.”
destroyed or killed
From this reading “‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.”
an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man
From this reading “‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.”
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading “‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.”
express in speech
From this reading “‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.”
a source of difficulty
From this reading “‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.”
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading “‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.”
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading “‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.”
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.
(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 It’s all right.’
react verbally
From this reading ‘No, sir, it’s me,’ came the answer.
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading ‘No, sir, it’s me,’ came the answer.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
destroyed or killed
From this reading ‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading ‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘No, sir, it’s me,’ came the answer.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading ‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading ‘No, sir, it’s me,’ came the answer.
an adulterous woman; a woman who has an ongoing extramarital sexual relationship with a man
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading ‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.
not any; not one
From this reading ‘No, sir, it’s me,’ came the answer.
a midwestern state in north central United States in the Great Lakes region
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
and nothing more
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
not allowed to continue to bat or run
From this reading ‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.
inflected form of “reply” — react verbally
From this reading ‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.
precisely, exactly
From this reading It’s all right.’
term of address for a man
From this reading ‘No, sir, it’s me,’ came the answer.
express in speech
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading ‘No, sir, it’s me,’ came the answer.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
a source of difficulty
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading ‘Mrs. Lawford has gone out, sir,’ replied the voice.
desired or wished for or sought
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading ‘Oh, don’t trouble; I only wanted to speak to your mistress.
Chapter 3 of The Return by Walter De la Mare holds 191 sentences, grouped into 39 reading sections of at most 5 sentences. The text is the public-domain source, 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 3 holds 191 sentences of The Return, unabridged, divided into 39 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 3 of The Return by Walter De la Mare exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 191 sentences, grouped into 39 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 39 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 39 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 3 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 Return by Walter De la Mare on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 5551 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #3075 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #3075, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 462 minutes of reading across 1111 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Return section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 28 chapters of The Return 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 Return, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
