Chapter 8 of Wyllard's Weird: A Novel is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A keeper or guardian of historical records and memories.
Chapter VIII
Chapter 8 of Wyllard's Weird: A Novel is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
A VALUABLE ALLY. Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself. His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl. The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue. First, there was the name and address of the baker on the biscuit-bag.
Chapter 8 of Wyllard's Weird: A Novel is here in full — 116 sentences across 24 reading sections, with audio for every sentence and word.
Reading 1/23 · 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 friendly nation
From this reading “A VALUABLE ALLY.”
someone who bakes commercially
From this reading “First, there was the name and address of the baker on the biscuit-bag.”
a slight indication
From this reading “The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.”
zealous in devotion or affection
From this reading “Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.”
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading “His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.”
killed unlawfully
From this reading “His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.”
superlative of “slight” — (quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or degree; not much or almost none or (with “a”) at least some
From this reading “The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.”
having great material or monetary value especially for use or exchange
From this reading “A VALUABLE ALLY.”
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 VALUABLE ALLY.
speak to
From this reading First, there was the name and address of the baker on the biscuit-bag.
a friendly nation
From this reading A VALUABLE ALLY.
used to join words or parts of a sentence that go together
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
someone who bakes commercially
From this reading First, there was the name and address of the baker on the biscuit-bag.
used with a past participle to form the passive, or with -ing for continuous tenses
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading First, there was the name and address of the baker on the biscuit-bag.
a commercial or industrial enterprise and the people who constitute it
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
used to introduce something that contrasts with what came before
From this reading The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.
a slight indication
From this reading The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.
zealous in devotion or affection
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
discover or determine the existence, presence, or fact of
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
King of England and Ireland in 1936; his marriage to Wallis Warfield Simpson created a constitutional crisis leading to his abdication (1894-1972)
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
all the members of a group, with none left out
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
preceding all others in time or space or degree
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
a young female
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
the past form of “have”, used to form the past perfect
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned, as the subject
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
Dictionary entry pending editorial verification. Tap Listen to hear the word.
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
used when the man or boy doing the action is also its object
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
belonging to a man, boy, or male animal already mentioned
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
the aggregate of past events
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
inside something, or within a place, period, or state
From this reading The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.
killed unlawfully
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
used to say something is necessary, or almost certainly true
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
assign a specified (usually proper) proper name to
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
used to make a word, phrase, or sentence negative
From this reading The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.
belonging to, or connected with, somebody or something
From this reading His first business must be to discover the name and history of the murdered girl.
touching and supported by a surface
From this reading First, there was the name and address of the baker on the biscuit-bag.
the act of having and controlling property
From this reading The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.
superlative of “slight” — (quantifier used with mass nouns) small in quantity or degree; not much or almost none or (with “a”) at least some
From this reading The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.
understood in a certain way; made sense of
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
any piece of work that is undertaken or attempted
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
used before a noun that is already known, already mentioned, or the only one of its kind
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
in or at that place or location
From this reading First, there was the name and address of the baker on the biscuit-bag.
the content of cognition; the main thing you are thinking about
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
used before the base form of a verb to make the infinitive
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
a formal word for “on”
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
having great material or monetary value especially for use or exchange
From this reading A VALUABLE ALLY.
the past form of “be” used with I, he, she, it, or a singular noun
From this reading The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.
used to introduce a clause giving more about a thing just mentioned
From this reading Edward Heathcote devoted his every thought to the task which he had taken upon himself.
not having, not using, or not accompanied by
From this reading The clue in his possession was of the slightest; but he was not without a clue.
Chapter 8 of Wyllard's Weird: A Novel by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon holds 116 sentences, grouped into 24 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 8 holds 116 sentences of Wyllard's Weird: A Novel, unabridged, divided into 24 reading sections.
This page carries chapter 8 of Wyllard's Weird: A Novel by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon exactly as it stands in the source edition, without abridgement. It runs to 116 sentences, grouped into 24 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 24 sections in order, replaying any sentence and tapping unfamiliar words for their entries.
Each of the 24 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 8 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 Wyllard's Weird: A Novel by M. E. (Mary Elizabeth) Braddon on this page, its source edition and its audio.
Yes. All 9127 sentences of Project Gutenberg eBook #50037 are kept, with a record of which sentences cover which part.
Project Gutenberg eBook #50037, unabridged. The Project Gutenberg header, footer and licence are removed.
About 600 minutes of reading across 1826 sections of 5 sentences each, at an unhurried pace.
How to work through Wyllard's Weird: A Novel section by section, using the audio and the tap-to-define vocabulary.
Choose one of the 34 chapters of Wyllard's Weird: A Novel 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 Wyllard's Weird: A Novel, each tappable for pronunciation and meaning.
