Chapter 2 of What a Man Wills is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter II
Chapter 2 of What a Man Wills is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
"Perhaps not; but it can gild them! If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_. A million or two can make anything picturesque. All the difference between sables and bombazine. Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
Chapter 2 of What a Man Wills is here in full — 402 sentences across 81 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/80 · 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 hat tied under the chin
From this reading “Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?”
decorate with, or as if with, gold leaf or liquid gold
From this reading “"Perhaps not; but it can gild them!”
the number that is represented as a one followed by 6 zeros
From this reading “A million or two can make anything picturesque.”
suggesting or suitable for a picture; pretty as a picture
From this reading “A million or two can make anything picturesque.”
having incalculable monetary, intellectual, or spiritual worth
From this reading “Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?”
plural of “sable” — an artist's brush made of sable hairs
From this reading “All the difference between sables and bombazine.”
United States painter best known for his portraits of George Washington (1755-1828)
From this reading “Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?”
plural of “trouble” — a source of difficulty
From this reading “If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.”
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.
used before a singular noun to mean one of a group, when it is not a particular one
From this reading A million or two can make anything picturesque.
(quantifier) used with either mass or count nouns to indicate the whole number or amount of or every one of a class
From this reading All the difference between sables and bombazine.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading All the difference between sables and bombazine.
any thing at all
From this reading A million or two can make anything picturesque.
at the same time that; because; in the way that
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
in the space, time, or range separating two things
From this reading All the difference between sables and bombazine.
a twilled fabric used for dresses; the warp is silk and the weft is worsted
From this reading All the difference between sables and bombazine.
a hat tied under the chin
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
confined by bonds
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading "Perhaps not; but it can gild them!
to be able to, or to be allowed to
From this reading "Perhaps not; but it can gild them!
anything that covers or conceals
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
a Mid-Atlantic state; one of the original 13 colonies
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
the quality of being unlike or dissimilar
From this reading All the difference between sables and bombazine.
decorate with, or as if with, gold leaf or liquid gold
From this reading "Perhaps not; but it can gild them!
used with a past participle to form the perfect tenses
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
the person speaking or writing, as the subject of the verb
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
on condition that; in the event that
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
a thing, animal, or idea already mentioned
From this reading "Perhaps not; but it can gild them!
used to make a suggestion or a command including the speaker
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
perceive with attention; direct one's gaze towards
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
elegant and sumptuous
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
engage in
From this reading A million or two can make anything picturesque.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
the person speaking, as the object of a verb or preposition
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
the number that is represented as a one followed by 6 zeros
From this reading A million or two can make anything picturesque.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading "Perhaps not; but it can gild them!
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
used to join alternatives or possibilities
From this reading A million or two can make anything picturesque.
by chance
From this reading "Perhaps not; but it can gild them!
suggesting or suitable for a picture; pretty as a picture
From this reading A million or two can make anything picturesque.
having incalculable monetary, intellectual, or spiritual worth
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
plural of “sable” — an artist's brush made of sable hairs
From this reading All the difference between sables and bombazine.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
United States painter best known for his portraits of George Washington (1755-1828)
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
having or denoting the characteristic taste of sugar
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading All the difference between sables and bombazine.
the people or things already mentioned, as the object
From this reading "Perhaps not; but it can gild them!
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
plural of “trouble” — a source of difficulty
From this reading If I'm bound to have troubles, let me have them _de luxe_.
the cardinal number that is the sum of one and one or a numeral representing this number
From this reading A million or two can make anything picturesque.
a woman whose husband is dead especially one who has not remarried
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
in the company of; together with
From this reading Shouldn't I look sweet, Meriel, as a widow, with a Marie Stuart bonnet and a cloak of priceless sables?
Chapter 2 of What a Man Wills by George de Horne, Mrs. Vaizey holds 402 sentences, grouped into 81 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 2 holds 402 sentences of What a Man Wills, unabridged, divided into 81 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 2 of What a Man Wills by George de Horne, Mrs. Vaizey exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 402 sentences, grouped into 81 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 81 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 81 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 2 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 What a Man Wills by George de Horne, Mrs. Vaizey on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 4832 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #32935 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #32935, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 402 minutes of reading across 967 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through What a Man Wills section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 12 chapters of What a Man Wills 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 What a Man Wills, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
