Chapter 26 of Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3 is here in full — 85 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
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Chapter XXVI
Chapter 26 of Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3 is here in full — 85 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
AN HONEST SPY. No one answered Helen's knock. She repeated it, and still no answer came. Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold? At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
Chapter 26 of Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3 is here in full — 85 sentences across 17 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/17 · 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.
past form of “fail” — fail to do something; leave something undone
From this reading “Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?”
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading “No one answered Helen's knock.”
not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
From this reading “AN HONEST SPY.”
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading “No one answered Helen's knock.”
the sound of knocking (as on a door or in an engine or bearing)
From this reading “At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.”
catch sight of
From this reading “AN HONEST SPY.”
support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway
From this reading “At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.”
plural of “voice” — the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading “Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?”
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 At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
on the subject of; concerning
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
later than; following
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
the form of “a” used before a word that begins with a vowel sound
From this reading AN HONEST SPY.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading She repeated it, and still no answer came.
react verbally
From this reading She repeated it, and still no answer came.
past form of “answer” — react verbally
From this reading No one answered Helen's knock.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
in or near a particular place or position
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
inflected form of “come” — move toward, travel toward something or somebody or approach something or somebody
From this reading She repeated it, and still no answer came.
a young person of either sex
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
the act of drawing spatially closer to something
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
a swinging or sliding barrier that will close the entrance to a room or building or vehicle
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
being or moving lower in position or less in some value
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
past form of “fail” — fail to do something; leave something undone
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
the cardinal number that is the sum of four and one
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
the cardinal number that is the sum of three and one
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
detected or perceived by the sense of hearing
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
the locus of feelings and intuitions
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
possessive form of “helen” — (Greek mythology) the beautiful daughter of Zeus and Leda who was abducted by Paris; the Greek army sailed to Troy to get her back which resulted in the Trojan War
From this reading No one answered Helen's knock.
belonging to a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
not disposed to cheat or defraud; not deceptive or fraudulent
From this reading AN HONEST SPY.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading She repeated it, and still no answer came.
deliver a sharp blow or push
From this reading No one answered Helen's knock.
the sound of knocking (as on a door or in an engine or bearing)
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
the linear extent in space from one end to the other; the longest dimension of something that is fixed in place
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
used to say something is possible but not certain
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
not any; not one
From this reading No one answered Helen's knock.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
used to mean any person in general, including the speaker
From this reading No one answered Helen's knock.
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
past form of “pass” — go across or through
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
recurring again and again
From this reading She repeated it, and still no answer came.
a woman, girl, or female animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading She repeated it, and still no answer came.
catch sight of
From this reading AN HONEST SPY.
support consisting of a place to rest the foot while ascending or descending a stairway
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
any maneuver made as part of progress toward a goal
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
not in physical motion
From this reading She repeated it, and still no answer came.
an exchange of ideas via conversation
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
used to introduce what somebody said, thought, or felt
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
the people, animals, or things already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
a more or less definite period of time now or previously present
From this reading At length, after knocking four or five times, she heard the step as of a child coming down a stair; but it passed the door.
plural of “voice” — the distinctive quality or pitch or condition of a person's speech
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
the past form of “be” used with you, we, they, or a plural noun
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
used to ask for information about something
From this reading Her heart might have failed her, but that she heard voices: what if they were talking about Leopold?
Chapter 26 of Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3 by George MacDonald holds 85 sentences, grouped into 17 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 26 holds 85 sentences of Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3, unabridged, divided into 17 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 26 of Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3 by George MacDonald exactly as it stands in the public-domain source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 85 sentences, grouped into 17 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 17 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 17 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 26 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 Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3 by George MacDonald on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 2445 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #5975 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #5975, a public-domain edition. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 203 minutes of reading across 489 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3 section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 31 chapters of Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3 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 Thomas Wingfold, Curate V3, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
