Chapter 23 of The Tempting of Tavernake is here in full — 169 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XXIII
Chapter 23 of The Tempting of Tavernake is here in full — 169 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Tavernake turned on the light. Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away. Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble. “Get some water and throw over her,” Pritchard ordered. Tavernake obeyed.
Chapter 23 of The Tempting of Tavernake is here in full — 169 sentences across 34 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/33 · 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.
a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
From this reading “Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.”
inflected form of “drag” — pull, as against a resistance
From this reading “Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.”
daughter of George VI who became the Queen of England and Northern Ireland in 1952 on the death of her father (1926-)
From this reading “Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.”
past form of “faint” — pass out from weakness, physical or emotional distress due to a loss of blood supply to the brain
From this reading “Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.”
a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards
From this reading “Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.”
a hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material
From this reading “Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.”
past form of “obey” — be obedient to
From this reading “Tavernake obeyed.”
the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips
From this reading “Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.”
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 Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
surrounding, or on every side of, something
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
a visual attribute of things that results from the light they emit or transmit or reflect
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
inflected form of “drag” — pull, as against a resistance
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
daughter of George VI who became the Queen of England and Northern Ireland in 1952 on the death of her father (1926-)
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
the front of the human head from the forehead to the chin and ear to ear
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
past form of “faint” — pass out from weakness, physical or emotional distress due to a loss of blood supply to the brain
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
the inside lower horizontal surface (as of a room, hallway, tent, or other structure)
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
at or to or toward the front
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
come into the possession of something concrete or abstract
From this reading “Get some water and throw over her,” Pritchard ordered.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
the male already mentioned, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
put into a certain place or abstract location
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
a light, self-propelled movement upwards or forwards
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
of comparatively little physical weight or density
From this reading Tavernake turned on the light.
a hard crystalline metamorphic rock that takes a high polish; used for sculpture and as building material
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
past form of “obey” — be obedient to
From this reading Tavernake obeyed.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading Tavernake turned on the light.
having a systematic arrangement; especially having elements succeeding in order according to rule
From this reading “Get some water and throw over her,” Pritchard ordered.
above and across; more than
From this reading “Get some water and throw over her,” Pritchard ordered.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
accomplished rapidly and without delay
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
past form of “seize” — take hold of; grab
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
(quantifier) used with either mass nouns or plural count nouns to indicate an unspecified number or quantity
From this reading “Get some water and throw over her,” Pritchard ordered.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Tavernake turned on the light.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Tavernake turned on the light.
propel through the air
From this reading “Get some water and throw over her,” Pritchard ordered.
moved around an axis or center
From this reading Tavernake turned on the light.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Elizabeth had fainted; she lay upon the floor, her face the color of marble.
the narrowing of the body between the ribs and hips
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
binary compound that occurs at room temperature as a clear colorless odorless tasteless liquid; freezes into ice below 0 degrees centigrade and boils above 100 degrees centigrade; widely used as a solvent
From this reading “Get some water and throw over her,” Pritchard ordered.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
in the company of; together with
From this reading Pritchard, with a quick leap forward, seized Wenham around the waist and dragged him away.
Chapter 23 of The Tempting of Tavernake by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim holds 169 sentences, grouped into 34 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 23 holds 169 sentences of The Tempting of Tavernake, unabridged, divided into 34 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 23 of The Tempting of Tavernake by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 169 sentences, grouped into 34 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 34 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 34 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 23 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 Tempting of Tavernake by E. Phillips (Edward Phillips) Oppenheim on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 7427 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5091 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5091, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1486 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Tempting of Tavernake section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of The Tempting of Tavernake 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 Tempting of Tavernake, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
