Chapter 4 of The Woman in the Alcove is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter IV
Chapter 4 of The Woman in the Alcove is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
“Very good!” It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life. “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?” “Mrs. Fairbrother handed them to me.” “Handed them to you?”
Chapter 4 of The Woman in the Alcove is here in full — 188 sentences across 38 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/37 · 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.
make an addition (to); join or combine or unite with others; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of
From this reading ““Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?””
plural of “glove” — the handwear used by fielders in playing baseball
From this reading ““Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?””
having or involving the use of hands
From this reading ““Mrs. Fairbrother handed them to me.””
a high ranking police officer
From this reading “It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.”
be obliged to pay or repay
From this reading ““Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?””
the act of having and controlling property
From this reading ““Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?””
except for; apart from
From this reading “It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.”
communicated in words
From this reading “It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.”
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 It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
make an addition (to); join or combine or unite with others; increase the quality, quantity, size or scope of
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
the past of “can”; used for possibility or polite requests
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Mrs. Fairbrother handed them to me.”
undergo an emotional sensation or be in a particular state of mind
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
plural of “glove” — the handwear used by fielders in playing baseball
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
having desirable or positive qualities especially those suitable for a thing specified
From this reading “Very good!”
having or involving the use of hands
From this reading “Mrs. Fairbrother handed them to me.”
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
a high ranking police officer
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
a polite name for any woman
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
a characteristic state or mode of living
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading “Mrs. Fairbrother handed them to me.”
a form of address for a married woman
From this reading “Mrs. Fairbrother handed them to me.”
belonging to the person speaking
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
in the historical present; at this point in the narration of a series of past events
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
be obliged to pay or repay
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
by chance
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
the act of having and controlling property
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
except for; apart from
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
support consisting of a radial member of a wheel joining the hub to the rim
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading “Mrs. Fairbrother handed them to me.”
the plural of “this”: the people or things near, or just mentioned
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
used for a person or thing that is near, or that has just been mentioned
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
communicated in words
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
precisely as stated
From this reading “Very good!”
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
which person or people
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
used to talk about the future, or about willingness
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
a unit of language that native speakers can identify
From this reading It was the inspector who spoke; I could not have uttered a word to save my life.
the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
(used of living things especially persons) in an early period of life or development or growth
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
belonging to the person or people being spoken to
From this reading “Perhaps you will now feel that you owe it to this young lady to add how you came to have these gloves in your possession?”
Chapter 4 of The Woman in the Alcove by Anna Katharine Green holds 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 4 holds 188 sentences of The Woman in the Alcove, unabridged, divided into 38 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 4 of The Woman in the Alcove by Anna Katharine Green exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 188 sentences, grouped into 38 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 38 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 38 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 4 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 Woman in the Alcove by Anna Katharine Green on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 3507 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #1851 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #1851, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 292 minutes of reading across 702 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through The Woman in the Alcove section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 19 chapters of The Woman in the Alcove 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 Woman in the Alcove, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
