Book Anatomy · Lady Audley's Secret
Lady Audley's Secret: Pace
16 lenses on pace for Lady Audley's Secret by Mary Elizabeth Braddon. Count lenses are exact for our text. AI lenses are our reading and cite only quotes that passed a word for word check.
Jump to: D1 D2 D3 D4 D5 D6 D7 D8 D9 D10 D11 D12 D13 D14 D15 D16
D1. Chapter length in words, as a chart. Count
41 chapters, median 3,867 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D2. Mean sentence length per chapter. Count
Mean 19.6 words. See the full lens on the book page.
D3. Paragraph length per chapter. Count
Paragraphs average 46 words.
Mean paragraph words, chapter by chapter
D4. Scene against summary: how much is shown live? AI
Most of the book is shown live in scenes with dialogue and action. Chapters 1 to 41 contain extensive dialogue (35% share) and direct confrontations. Summary appears mainly in transitions between investigations, like chapter 7's overview of George's grief.
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 4, Ch 7, Ch 10, Ch 18, Ch 29
A false move, my lady, and one I never looked for from you. (Ch 18, para 9)
The speaker was Robert Audley. He whose bedroom door she had double-locked seventeen hours before at the Castle Inn. (Ch 33, para 67)
D5. Action against reflection, per chapter. AI
Early chapters balance action and reflection equally. Chapters 10 to 23 shift heavily toward Robert's internal investigation and reasoning. Chapters 29 to 37 return to high action as Lady Audley commits crimes and Robert forces confessions.
Chapters: Ch 4, Ch 10, Ch 18, Ch 29, Ch 34
Why do I go on with this," he said, "when I know that it is leading me, step by step, day by day, hour by hour, nearer to that conclusion which, of all others, I should avoid? (Ch 19, para 85)
Robert took no comforting thought from the unnatural stillness. He knew enough to know that Sir Michael Audley went away with the barbed arrow, which his nephew's hand had sent home to its aim, rankling in his tortured heart (Ch 35, para 2)
D6. Tension score per chapter (1 to 5) as a curve. AI
Peak 5 of 5, mean 3.8. See the full lens on the book page.
D7. Emotional arc of the whole book, matched to the six shapes. Count
Riches to rags (fall). See the full lens on the book page.
D8. Chapter endings: cliffhanger, question, reveal or quiet close. AI
32 of 41 chapters end on a hook. See the full lens on the book page.
D9. Chapter openings: in scene, in summary, or after a time jump. AI
Most chapters open in scene or with immediate action. Chapter 7 opens in summary about George's grief. Chapter 19 opens with Robert at his chambers discovering evidence. Chapter 41 opens with a time jump of two years, signalled by 'Two years later.'
Chapters: Ch 1, Ch 7, Ch 19, Ch 25, Ch 41
D10. Do chapters and sentences get shorter near the climax? Count
In the last fifth, chapters run at 1.16 times the length of earlier ones, and sentences at 1.08 times. So the end does not speed up by these measures.
D11. Dialogue density against pace. Count
Link between dialogue share and chapter length: 0.2 (1 is a perfect match, 0 none). Between dialogue share and tension: 0.32.
Dialogue % per chapter, chapter by chapter
D12. Time jumps and how they are signalled. Both
27 time jump phrases in the narration, such as 'next morning' or 'years later'.
| Where | Phrase |
|---|---|
| c1p10 | three months after |
| c5p33 | next morning |
| c6p20 | a few months after |
| c6p40 | next morning |
| c7p20 | next day |
| c7p29 | next day |
| c7p73 | next morning |
| c8p13 | next morning |
Time jump phrases, chapter by chapter
Ch 1, para 10: Sir Michael Audley was fifty-six years of age, and he had married a second wife three months after his fifty-fifth birthday. He was a big man, tall and …
Ch 5, para 33: Early the next morning he was seated opposite to Robert Audley in the first-class carriage of an express, whirling through the pretty open country toward Portsmouth.
Ch 6, para 20: They walked slowly back to the cottage, and once more George Talboys told the history of that desertion which had seemed so cruel. He told, too, of the …
Ch 6, para 40: The document which appointed Robert Audley as guardian to little George Talboys was drawn up in a solicitor's office the next morning.
Ch 7, para 20: So the two young men left London the next day, with one portmanteau and a rod and tackle between them, and reached the straggling, old-fashioned, fast-decaying village of …
Ch 7, para 29: Under these circumstances of course it was no use going to the Court, so the two young men strolled through the village and looked at the old church, …
Time jumps are signalled explicitly. Chapter 7 summarises a year passing. Chapter 41 opens 'Two years later' and describes children born to Robert and Clara. Most jumps occur between chapters rather than within them.
Chapters: Ch 7, Ch 41
D13. Info dump spots: long runs with no action or speech. Both
3 stretches of 900 words or more with no speech at all. These are where description, summary or backstory pile up.
| Starts at | Words | Paragraphs |
|---|---|---|
| c1p1 | 2842 | 17 |
| c2p42 | 1311 | 3 |
| c33p19 | 1288 | 4 |
Long info dumps appear in chapters 25 to 27 when Robert investigates Lady Audley's past. Chapter 26 contains extended description of Robert's search for Mrs. Vincent with minimal dialogue. Chapter 27 details his discovery of Helen Talboys' departure records.
Chapters: Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27
Mr. Audley knelt down to examine the scraps of railway labels and addresses which were pasted here and there upon the box. (Ch 26, para 93)
D14. Reading time per chapter. Count
About 10.1 hours to read at 250 words a minute. The longest chapter takes 27.1 minutes.
Minutes per chapter, chapter by chapter
D15. Micro tension in quiet scenes. AI
Not enough in the text to answer this one yet.
D16. Section breaks per chapter. Count
0 section breaks marked in the text, in 0 of 41 chapters.
Ask Lady Audley's Secret a question about its craft (free beta)
Answers cite chapter and paragraph, and every quote is checked against the text. (3 free questions a day).
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