The Long-Lost Home: Chapters 4–5

by Maryrose Wood
In Book 6, the final installment of The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series, governess Miss Penelope Lumley and the wolf-children Alexander, Beowulf, and Cassiopeia must defeat their wolfish family curse before it's too late!

Here are links to our lists for the book:
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapters 4–5, Chapters 6–7, Chapters 8–9, Chapters 10–12, Chapter 13–Epilogue.
25 words 14 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. tedious
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental weariness
    What comes before is boring, dull, tedious, and frankly uninteresting.
  2. balmy
    mild and pleasant
    During these same three days, however, events elsewhere—that is to say, in England, on the estate of the notoriously wealthy, hopelessly nearsighted, and increasingly worked-up father-to-be, Lord Fredrick Ashton—were as far from uninteresting as the frozen tundra of Siberia is from the balmy beaches of the Black Sea.
  3. gravitas
    formality, dignity, or seriousness
    One could say the painting had gravitas, but not gloom.
  4. haggard
    showing the wearing effects of overwork or care or suffering
    As she had nervously explained to Lord Fredrick and his haggard houseguest just the other day, she had chosen a nature theme for the baby’s room.
  5. mince
    make less severe or harsh
    “No need to mince words, Mrs. Clarke. Young Freddy was a, well—unusual child, and that’s the truth.”
  6. heartrending
    causing or marked by grief or anguish
    The children’s memories of their former friends in Plinkst were bittersweet at best, heartrending at worst, but the heel-clicking gesture was both invigorating and enjoyable, and they saw no reason to give it up.
  7. newfangled
    needlessly modern, different, or innovative
    It was made from one of those newfangled telegraph tubes that the postman had given him as a curiosity, with some bits of broken mirror and a handful of sequins and sparkly beads cadged from Madame LePoint.
  8. boon
    something that is desirable, favorable, or beneficial
    (The professional educators among you will note that Cassiopeia had unwittingly invented what would later be called “phonics,” a boon to teachers and students to this very day.)
  9. bay
    bark with prolonged noises, of dogs
    “No! I mean—yes, howl around the baby! Especially around the baby! You must carry on like wild cubs, just as if you were trying to teach the baby to yap and bay at the moon.”
  10. wreak
    cause to happen or to occur as a consequence
    On one point they were in firm agreement: they would happily howl at the moon, chew on expensive leather shoes, climb the furniture, and wreak havoc in any number of wolfish ways, but under no circumstances would they go back to hunting squirrels.
  11. plaintive
    expressing sorrow
    Even Veronika had the sense not to repeat her plaintive question, “I wonder how they heard of me.”
  12. glean
    collect or gather bit by bit, especially information
    It was a lot to glean from a round of charades.
  13. reverent
    feeling or showing profound respect or veneration
    Then she bowed to Svetlana, reverent and low, as if she were bowing to the tsarina herself.
  14. coax
    influence or persuade by gentle and persistent urging
    When it finally came time to leave, Madame Babushkinov swirled her fur cape to and fro like a matador to coax her three older children to the door.
  15. dismay
    the feeling of despair in the face of obstacles
    After that, Max’s howls of dismay at being left behind drowned out every other sound, until the door had been firmly shut behind them.
  16. ramshackle
    in poor or broken-down condition
    Penelope did not turn back even once to look at the ramshackle estate, but kept her eyes fixed on the road ahead.
  17. wearisome
    so lacking in interest as to cause mental fatigue
    Lips chapped and tempers frayed, and the ceaseless ringing and jingling of the troika bells grew so wearisome, it was like something out of Poe.
  18. tintinnabulation
    the sound of a bell ringing
    That poem, aptly titled “The Bells,” uses so many different words to describe the sounds made by bells that Mr. Poe evidently ran out and had to invent a new one: “tintinnabulation.”
  19. fickle
    marked by erratic changeableness in affections
    As you surely ought to recall by now (for this fact will soon become quite important to our tale!), the village baker had run off to America with fickle, stoop-shouldered Julia, the former baby nurse, and now there was no bread baker for miles.
  20. diligently
    in a hard-working manner
    Mrs. Clarke and Cook diligently searched for a replacement.
  21. sourdough
    a leaven with active fermentation used to make bread
    Even a promising-smelling sourdough soon turned rank.
  22. uncanny
    suggesting the operation of supernatural influences
    It was uncanny, to say the least.
  23. captivated
    filled with wonder and delight
    But they too had been captivated by the tantalizing smell.
  24. tantalizing
    very pleasantly inviting
    But they too had been captivated by the tantalizing smell.
  25. corrigible
    capable of being corrected or set right
    (Interestingly, the word incorrigible is also made from bits of Latin: in plus corrigible, which means “able to be fixed.”
Created on Tue Nov 26 08:42:30 EST 2024 (updated Mon Jan 27 19:29:06 EST 2025)

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