Chapter 18 of The trail of the serpent is here in full — 203 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XVIII
Chapter 18 of The trail of the serpent is here in full — 203 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
THE KING OF SPADES. WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough. Little matter now what new degradation she endures. Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen. Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
Chapter 18 of The trail of the serpent is here in full — 203 sentences across 41 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/40 · 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.
changing to a lower state (a less respected state)
From this reading “Little matter now what new degradation she endures.”
treated with dislike or contempt
From this reading “Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.”
third-person singular of “endure” — put up with something or somebody unpleasant
From this reading “Little matter now what new degradation she endures.”
plural of “offer” — the verbal act of offering
From this reading “WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.”
in a passive manner
From this reading “WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.”
plural of “spade” — a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
From this reading “THE KING OF SPADES.”
with tenderness; in a tender manner
From this reading “Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.”
possessive form of “world” — everything that exists anywhere
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.
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.
generally approved or compelling recognition
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
a human limb; technically the part of the superior limb between the shoulder and the elbow but commonly used to refer to the whole superior limb
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
in or to or toward a former location
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
showing who or what does the action
From this reading Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
teach and supervise (someone); act as a trainer or coach (to), as in sports
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
From this reading Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
changing to a lower state (a less respected state)
From this reading Little matter now what new degradation she endures.
treated with dislike or contempt
From this reading Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
third-person singular of “endure” — put up with something or somebody unpleasant
From this reading Little matter now what new degradation she endures.
an adequate quantity; a quantity that is large enough to achieve a purpose
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
descend in free fall under the influence of gravity
From this reading Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen.
having dropped by the force of gravity
From this reading Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen.
the form of “have” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
the form of “be” used with he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
a male sovereign; ruler of a kingdom
From this reading THE KING OF SPADES.
take somebody somewhere
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading Little matter now what new degradation she endures.
held dear
From this reading Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
move something or somebody to a lower position
From this reading Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen.
an adult person who is male (as opposed to a woman)
From this reading Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
a vaguely specified concern
From this reading Little matter now what new degradation she endures.
used as a French courtesy title; equivalent to English “Mr”
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
not ever; at no time in the past or future
From this reading Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading Little matter now what new degradation she endures.
not one thing; not anything
From this reading Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Little matter now what new degradation she endures.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading THE KING OF SPADES.
plural of “offer” — the verbal act of offering
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
in a passive manner
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
a feeling of self-respect and personal worth
From this reading Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Little matter now what new degradation she endures.
for that reason; with the result that
From this reading Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
plural of “spade” — a playing card in the major suit that has one or more black figures on it
From this reading THE KING OF SPADES.
with tenderness; in a tender manner
From this reading Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
used to introduce the second part of a comparison
From this reading Her pride can never fall lower than it has fallen.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading THE KING OF SPADES.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Little matter now what new degradation she endures.
at the time that
From this reading WHEN Monsieur Marolles offers his arm to lead Valerie de Cevennes back to the coach, it is accepted passively enough.
possessive form of “world” — everything that exists anywhere
From this reading Despised by the man she loved so tenderly, the world’s contempt is nothing to her.
Chapter 18 of The trail of the serpent by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon holds 203 sentences, grouped into 41 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 18 holds 203 sentences of The trail of the serpent, unabridged, divided into 41 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 18 of The trail of the serpent by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 203 sentences, grouped into 41 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 41 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 41 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 18 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.
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Words and structures a reader meets early in The trail of the serpent, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
