The Long-Lost Home: Chapters 6–7

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 15 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. elusive
    skillful at evading capture
    The little scamp was still being elusive, but she (or he) never refused a treat and would eagerly perform tricks to get one: juggling one acorn, for example, or flicking that bushy tail in time to the Swanburne school song, like a furry gray metronome.
  2. interlude
    an intervening period or episode
    Beowulf held up a hand, for this strange interlude with Gogolev had given him time to think.
  3. oblige
    provide a service or favor for someone
    “I shall do my best to oblige.”
  4. vigor
    forceful exertion
    “Who are you, sir, to impose upon my company in this manner? Did you come in the window like a burglar? Is it my bread you want? Or my herring? I warn you, I shall defend myself—and my lunch—with vigor, and no mercy!”
  5. sheaf
    a package of several things tied together
    He grabbed the sheaf of papers he had been working on earlier and shoved them into Edward Ashton’s hands.
  6. groundbreaking
    introducing new ideas or creative methods
    “Here are my latest masterworks! Though I fear they are too groundbreaking to find favor with the general public.”
  7. apparition
    a ghostly appearing figure
    He rubbed his eyes, but the fearful apparition would not go away.
  8. bedraggled
    limp, untidy, and soiled
    With the new clothes they could not afford now rumpled and covered with grit, the bedraggled Babushkinovs and their quiet but unusually alert governess arrived in Saint Petersburg at last.
  9. sprawling
    spreading out in different directions
    Also like London, this sprawling city was both the nation’s capital and the home of its royal rulers.
  10. autocrat
    a cruel and oppressive dictator
    Nicholas was an autocrat, which means he was the sort of leader who tries to make his own people afraid of him.
  11. fervently
    with strong emotion or zeal
    “No hopeless case is truly without hope,” he said fervently.
  12. dither
    be undecided or uncertain
    To dither and dally when the window of opportunity opens means to end up with one’s nose pressed against the glass of fate, gazing with regret at what might have been.
  13. dally
    waste time
    To dither and dally when the window of opportunity opens means to end up with one’s nose pressed against the glass of fate, gazing with regret at what might have been.
  14. incredulous
    not disposed or willing to believe; unbelieving
    “An apartment in Saint Petersburg?” he said to his wife, incredulous.
  15. schooner
    sailing vessel used in former times
    “Imagine! A little three-masted schooner made of gold, sailing across the sky!”
  16. forelock
    a tuft of hair growing (or falling) over the front part of your face
    With that unruly, poetical forelock and the gleam of genius in his eye!
  17. don
    put on clothes
    Whether the job was to jump on a stolen velocipede, win over a band of pirates, visibilize invisible ink, pen a sonnet, or don a disguise, Simon Harley-Dickinson was the man for it.
  18. occult
    supernatural forces and events and beings collectively
    “I checked the occult bookstores, the spooky carnivals, the abandoned cemeteries, and all the obscure and little-trafficked corners of the city. Nothing!”
  19. obscure
    difficult to find
    “I checked the occult bookstores, the spooky carnivals, the abandoned cemeteries, and all the obscure and little-trafficked corners of the city. Nothing!”
  20. forsooth
    certainly; indeed (now often used ironically)
    It’s what Hamlet says when the ghost of his kingly dad turns up at the castle at Elsinore. I know the speech by heart, and would have been keen to play it, too—but before I can spit out another forsooth, the mysterious Madame herself waddles down the aisle and plants herself at the footlights.
  21. matinee
    a theatrical performance held during the daytime
    Well, I’ve faced the matinee crowds on the West End and lived to tell about it, but I’m all thumbs in the kitchen.
  22. flue
    a conduit to carry off smoke
    “Nothing so fancy. I was just trying to fix the flue. It was stuck.”
  23. contralto
    of or being the lowest female singing voice
    “My name is Mrs. Penworthy,” she said in a deep contralto voice.
  24. flounce
    a strip of pleated material used as a decoration or a trim
    However, the colorful meadow-flower print of the fabric and the shocking flounce of pink tulle that had been unevenly stitched ’round the hem surely lent the garment a festive air.
  25. prospective
    of or concerned with or related to the future
    Such a quantity of prospective baby nurses made Lady Constance throw up her hands.
Created on Tue Nov 26 08:43:28 EST 2024 (updated Mon Jan 27 19:29:23 EST 2025)

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