Chapter 19 of The Second Fiddle is here in full — 156 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIX
Chapter 19 of The Second Fiddle is here in full — 156 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Stella found Lady Verny weeding. She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake. It was a hard, shivering March morning. Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge. They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
Chapter 19 of The Second Fiddle is here in full — 156 sentences across 32 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/31 · 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.
be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading “They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.”
in a graceful manner
From this reading “She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.”
any broad thin expanse or surface
From this reading “Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.”
a sensation of cold that often marks the start of an infection and the development of a fever
From this reading “It was a hard, shivering March morning.”
United States minimalist painter (born in 1936)
From this reading “Stella found Lady Verny weeding.”
past form of “tremble” — move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
From this reading “They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.”
-ing form of “weed” — clear of weeds
From this reading “Stella found Lady Verny weeding.”
a black garment (dress) worn by a widow as a sign of mourning
From this reading “She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.”
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 “They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.”
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 She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
a mixture of gases (especially oxygen) required for breathing; the stuff that the wind consists of
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
a piece of furniture that provides a place to sleep
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
absence of light or illumination
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
United States actor (born in Ireland); father of Georgiana Emma Barrymore (1827-1862)
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
be in motion due to some air or water current
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
occurring at or forming an end or termination
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
set up or found
From this reading Stella found Lady Verny weeding.
in a graceful manner
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
not easy; requiring great physical or mental effort to accomplish or comprehend or endure
From this reading It was a hard, shivering March morning.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was a hard, shivering March morning.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading Stella found Lady Verny weeding.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
prefer or wish to do something
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
march in a procession
From this reading It was a hard, shivering March morning.
the time period between dawn and noon
From this reading It was a hard, shivering March morning.
immediately following in time or order
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
move or cause to move back and forth
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
any broad thin expanse or surface
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
a sensation of cold that often marks the start of an infection and the development of a fever
From this reading It was a hard, shivering March morning.
a disassembled barrel; the parts packed for storage or shipment
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
precipitation falling from clouds in the form of ice crystals
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
United States minimalist painter (born in 1936)
From this reading Stella found Lady Verny weeding.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
in an exhaustive manner
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
past form of “tremble” — move or jerk quickly and involuntarily up and down or sideways
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
below or beneath something; less than
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
being or moving higher in position or greater in some value; being above a former position or level
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Stella found Lady Verny weeding.
precisely as stated
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was a hard, shivering March morning.
-ing form of “weed” — clear of weeds
From this reading Stella found Lady Verny weeding.
a black garment (dress) worn by a widow as a sign of mourning
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading They trembled and shook in the light air like a drift of wind-blown snow.
in the company of; together with
From this reading She drew the weeds up very gracefully and thoroughly, with a little final shake.
actively engaged in paid work
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Next to the bed upon which Lady Verny was working was a sheet of snowdrops under a dark yew-hedge.
Chapter 19 of The Second Fiddle by Phyllis Bottome holds 156 sentences, grouped into 32 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 19 holds 156 sentences of The Second Fiddle, unabridged, divided into 32 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 19 of The Second Fiddle by Phyllis Bottome exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 156 sentences, grouped into 32 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 32 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 32 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 19 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 Second Fiddle by Phyllis Bottome on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4282 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #41107 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #41107, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 356 minutes of reading across 857 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Second Fiddle section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 29 chapters of The Second Fiddle 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 Second Fiddle, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
