Chapter 22 of The Talleyrand Maxim is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXII
Chapter 22 of The Talleyrand Maxim is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram. He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction. "There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed. "There's been no murder! The man left the town.
Chapter 22 of The Talleyrand Maxim is here in full — 149 sentences across 30 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/29 · 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.
eagerly desirous
From this reading “SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.”
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading “SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.”
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading “SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.”
with excitement; in an excited manner
From this reading “He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.”
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading “"There's been no murder!”
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading “He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.”
having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities
From this reading “SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.”
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading “SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.”
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 to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
eagerly desirous
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading "There's been no murder!
a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
that part of the central nervous system that includes all the higher nervous centers; enclosed within the skull; continuous with the spinal cord
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
the past form of “do”, used in questions and negatives
From this reading "There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed.
a line leading to a place or point
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
with excitement; in an excited manner
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
past form of “exclaim” — utter aloud; often with surprise, horror, or joy
From this reading "There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading "There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
with curiosity
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
location near or direction toward the left side; i.e. the side to the north when a person or object faces east
From this reading The man left the town.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading The man left the town.
and nothing more
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
kill intentionally and with premeditation
From this reading "There's been no murder!
not any; not one
From this reading "There's been no murder!
inflected form of “nod” — express or signify by nodding
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
and not; used after a negative to add a second negative
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
above and across; more than
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
have ownership or possession of
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
Complete absence of sound; a state of quietness and stillness.
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
having a surface free from roughness or bumps or ridges or irregularities
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
taken unawares or suddenly and feeling wonder or astonishment
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
a message transmitted by telegraph
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
express in words
From this reading "There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading The man left the town.
in or at that place or location
From this reading "There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading "There's been no murder!
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
an urban area with a fixed boundary that is smaller than a city
From this reading The man left the town.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
past form of “watch” — look attentively
From this reading SMOOTH FACE AND ANXIOUS BRAIN Byner watched Eldrick and Collingwood inquisitively as they bent over Halstead's telegram.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading "There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed.
at the time that
From this reading He was not surprised when Collingwood merely nodded in silence--nor when Eldrick turned excitedly in his own direction.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading "There!--what did I tell you?" he exclaimed.
Chapter 22 of The Talleyrand Maxim by J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher holds 149 sentences, grouped into 30 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 22 holds 149 sentences of The Talleyrand Maxim, unabridged, divided into 30 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 22 of The Talleyrand Maxim by J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 149 sentences, grouped into 30 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 30 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 30 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 22 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 Talleyrand Maxim by J. S. (Joseph Smith) Fletcher on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4606 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #9834 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #9834, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 383 minutes of reading across 922 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Talleyrand Maxim section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 27 chapters of The Talleyrand Maxim 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 Talleyrand Maxim, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
