Chapter 9 of The strange countess is here in full — 439 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IX
Chapter 9 of The strange countess is here in full — 439 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard. “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt. He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room. “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined? Come!”
Chapter 9 of The strange countess is here in full — 439 sentences across 88 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/87 · 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.
deserving of the highest esteem or admiration
From this reading ““You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.”
open to or abounding in fresh air
From this reading ““Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?”
a state of being confined (usually for a short time)
From this reading ““You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.”
past form of “imagine” — form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
From this reading ““Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?”
(Old Testament) the guardian archangel of the Jews
From this reading “He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.”
come to pass
From this reading ““Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?”
under the level of the ground
From this reading “He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.”
lacking kindness
From this reading ““You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.”
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 “He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.”
In this reading “He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.”
In this reading “He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.”
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 “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
deserving of the highest esteem or admiration
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
the property of something spacious and abounding in fresh air
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
open to or abounding in fresh air
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading Come!”
a state of being confined (usually for a short time)
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
past form of “follow” — to travel behind, go after, come after
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
past form of “imagine” — form a mental image of something that is not present or that is not the case
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
moving to the inside of something
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
and nothing more
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
diode such that light emitted at a p-n junction is proportional to the bias current; color depends on the material used
From this reading He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
(Old Testament) the guardian archangel of the Jews
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
(comparative of “much” used with mass nouns) a quantifier meaning greater in size or amount or extent or degree
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
come to pass
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
the act of passing from one state or place to the next
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
a point located with respect to surface features of some region
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
on the contrary
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
an area within a building enclosed by walls and floor and ceiling
From this reading He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.
being the one previously mentioned or spoken of
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
past form of “smile” — change one's facial expression by spreading the lips, often to signal pleasure
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
a flight of stairs or a flight of steps
From this reading He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.
Maintained an upright posture.
From this reading He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Did it occur to you that it might be just a little more airy than you had imagined?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.
the upper part of anything
From this reading He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.
under the level of the ground
From this reading He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.
lacking kindness
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading He stood on the top of the steps which led to the underground room.
a unit of length equal to 3 feet; defined as 91.44 centimeters; originally taken to be the average length of a stride
From this reading He smiled in the other’s face, and Michael followed him down the passage into the yard.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “You were rather unkind about the airiness of this admirable place of detention,” said Tappatt.
Chapter 9 of The strange countess by Edgar Wallace holds 439 sentences, grouped into 88 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 9 holds 439 sentences of The strange countess, unabridged, divided into 88 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 9 of The strange countess by Edgar Wallace exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 439 sentences, grouped into 88 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 88 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 88 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 9 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 strange countess by Edgar Wallace on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 0 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #? are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #?, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 5 minutes of reading across 0 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The strange countess section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 0 chapters of The strange countess 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 strange countess, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
