Chapter 17 of The Secret of Chimneys is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVII
Chapter 17 of The Secret of Chimneys is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“You advise it?” Anthony leant forward and whispered to him. The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him. “You actually mean——” “Come and see,” said Anthony. The 13th of October (contd.)
Chapter 17 of The Secret of Chimneys is here in full — 405 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/81 · 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.
in actual fact
From this reading ““You actually mean——” “Come and see,” said Anthony.”
give advice to
From this reading ““You advise it?””
the feeling that accompanies something extremely surprising
From this reading “The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.”
Roman general under Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars; repudiated his wife for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra; they were defeated by Octavian at Actium (83-30 BC)
From this reading “Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.”
a person skilled in large scale financial transactions
From this reading “The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.”
inflected form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading “Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.”
the month following September and preceding November
From this reading “The 13th of October (contd.)”
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
From this reading “The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.”
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 “Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.”
In this reading “The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.”
In this reading “The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.”
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.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The 13th of October (contd.)
in actual fact
From this reading “You actually mean——” “Come and see,” said Anthony.
give advice to
From this reading “You advise it?”
the feeling that accompanies something extremely surprising
From this reading The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.
Roman general under Julius Caesar in the Gallic wars; repudiated his wife for the Egyptian queen Cleopatra; they were defeated by Octavian at Actium (83-30 BC)
From this reading Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “You actually mean——” “Come and see,” said Anthony.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading The 13th of October (contd.)
cause to fall by or as if by delivering a blow
From this reading The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.
a person skilled in large scale financial transactions
From this reading The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “You advise it?”
inflected form of “lean” — to incline or bend from a vertical position
From this reading Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.
mean or intend to express or convey
From this reading “You actually mean——” “Come and see,” said Anthony.
the month following September and preceding November
From this reading The 13th of October (contd.)
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading The 13th of October (contd.)
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “You actually mean——” “Come and see,” said Anthony.
perceive by sight or have the power to perceive by sight
From this reading “You actually mean——” “Come and see,” said Anthony.
(used of eyes) open and fixed as if in fear or wonder
From this reading The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The financier fell back in amazement, staring at him.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.
spoken in soft hushed tones without vibrations of the vocal cords
From this reading Anthony leant forward and whispered to him.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You advise it?”
Chapter 17 of The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie holds 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 405 sentences of The Secret of Chimneys, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 17 of The Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 405 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 Secret of Chimneys by Agatha Christie on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7349 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #65238 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #65238, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1470 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Secret of Chimneys section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 18 chapters of The Secret of Chimneys 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 Secret of Chimneys, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
