Chapter 14 of The Way of Ambition is here in full — 323 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter XIV
Chapter 14 of The Way of Ambition is here in full — 323 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months. The honeymoon was over. The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them. Life had been disorganized. Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
Chapter 14 of The Way of Ambition is here in full — 323 sentences across 65 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/64 · 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 small cosmetics case with a mirror; to be carried in a woman's purse
From this reading “Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.”
lacking order or methodical arrangement or function
From this reading “Life had been disorganized.”
a low evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae; has small bell-shaped pink or purple flowers
From this reading “It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.”
a holiday taken by a newly married couple
From this reading “The honeymoon was over.”
the first month of the year; begins 10 days after the winter solstice
From this reading “It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.”
past form of “rearrange” — put into a new order or arrangement
From this reading “Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.”
unusualness as a consequence of not being well known
From this reading “The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.”
having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome
From this reading “Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.”
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 The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
from a particular thing or place or position (“forth” is obsolete)
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
delighting the senses or exciting intellectual or emotional admiration
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
the past participle of “be”
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
the -ing form of “be”
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
the two together, not just one
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
a small cosmetics case with a mirror; to be carried in a woman's purse
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
lacking order or methodical arrangement or function
From this reading Life had been disorganized.
either extremity of something that has length
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
about to be mentioned or specified
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
intended to be given to, or used by, somebody
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
showing where something starts, or who sent it
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
a low evergreen shrub of the family Ericaceae; has small bell-shaped pink or purple flowers
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
a holiday taken by a newly married couple
From this reading The honeymoon was over.
a married man; a woman's partner in marriage
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
the first month of the year; begins 10 days after the winter solstice
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading Life had been disorganized.
limited or below average in number or quantity or magnitude or extent
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
produced by a manufacturing process
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
joined in matrimony
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
plural of “month” — one of the twelve divisions of the calendar year
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
not of long duration; having just (or relatively recently) come into being or been made or acquired or discovered
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
above and across; more than
From this reading The honeymoon was over.
capable of happening or existing
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
past form of “rearrange” — put into a new order or arrangement
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
unusualness as a consequence of not being well known
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
having succeeded or being marked by a favorable outcome
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one and one
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Now it had to be rearranged, if possible, be made compact, successful, beautiful.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
a married woman; a man's partner in marriage
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
Damaged or thinned by continuous use.
From this reading The new strangeness of being husband and wife had worn away a little from both of them.
a period of time containing 365 (or 366) days
From this reading It was the end of January in the following year, and Charmian and Claude Heath had been married for three months.
Chapter 14 of The Way of Ambition by Robert Hichens holds 323 sentences, grouped into 65 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 14 holds 323 sentences of The Way of Ambition, unabridged, divided into 65 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 14 of The Way of Ambition by Robert Hichens exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 323 sentences, grouped into 65 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 65 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 65 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 14 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 Way of Ambition by Robert Hichens on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 13645 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #19491 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #19491, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 2729 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Way of Ambition section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 38 chapters of The Way of Ambition 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 Way of Ambition, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
