Chapter 10

by Oscar Wilde

　　When his servant entered, be looked at him steadfastlyand wondered if he had thought of peering behind the screen.The man was quite impassive and waited for his orders. Dorian lita cigarette and walked over to the glass and glanced into it.He could see the reflection of Victor's face perfectly.It was like a placid mask of servility. There was nothingto be afraid of, there. Yet he thought it best to be onhis guard.Speaking very slowly, he told him to tell the house-keeper that he wantedto see her, and then to go to the frame-maker and ask him to send two of hismen round at once. It seemed to him that as the man left the room his eyeswandered in the direction of the screen. Or was that merely his own fancy?After a few moments, in her black silk dress, with old-fashioned threadmittens on her wrinkled hands, Mrs. Leaf bustled into the library.He asked her for the key of the schoolroom."The old schoolroom, Mr. Dorian?" she exclaimed. "Why, it is full of dust.I must get it arranged and put straight before you go into it. It is not fitfor you to see, sir. It is not, indeed.""I don't want it put straight, Leaf. I only want the key.""Well, sir, you'll be covered with cobwebs if you go into it. Why, it hasn'tbeen opened for nearly five years--not since his lordship died."He winced at the mention of his grandfather. He had hateful memories of him."That does not matter," he answered. "I simply want to see the place--that is all. Give me the key.""And here is the key, sir," said the old lady, going overthe contents of her bunch with tremulously uncertain hands."Here is the key. I'll have it off the bunch in a moment.But you don't think of living up there, sir, and you socomfortable here?""No, no," he cried petulantly. "Thank you, Leaf. That will do."She lingered for a few moments, and was garrulous over some detailof the household. He sighed and told her to manage things as shethought best. She left the room, wreathed in smiles.As the door closed, Dorian put the key in his pocket and looked roundthe room. His eye fell on a large, purple satin coverlet heavilyembroidered with gold, a splendid piece of late seventeenth-centuryVenetian work that his grandfather had found in a convent near Bologna.Yes, that would serve to wrap the dreadful thing in. It had perhapsserved often as a pall for the dead. Now it was to hide something thathad a corruption of its own, worse than the corruption of death itself--something that would breed horrors and yet would never die. What the wormwas to the corpse, his sins would be to the painted image on the canvas.They would mar its beauty and eat away its grace. They would defileit and make it shameful. And yet the thing would still live on.It would be always alive.He shuddered, and for a moment he regretted that he had not toldBasil the true reason why he had wished to hide the picture away.Basil would have helped him to resist Lord Henry's influence,and the still more poisonous influences that came from hisown temperament. The love that he bore him--for it was really love--had nothing in it that was not noble and intellectual.It was not that mere physical admiration of beauty that is bornof the senses and that dies when the senses tire. It was suchlove as Michelangelo had known, and Montaigne, and Winckelmann,and Shakespeare himself. Yes, Basil could have saved him.But it was too late now. The past could always be annihilated.Regret, denial, or forgetfulness could do that. But the futurewas inevitable. There were passions in him that would findtheir terrible outlet, dreams that would make the shadow of theirevil real.He took up from the couch the great purple-and-gold texture thatcovered it, and, holding it in his hands, passed behind the screen.Was the face on the canvas viler than before? It seemed to himthat it was unchanged, and yet his loathing of it was intensified.Gold hair, blue eyes, and rose-red lips--they all were there.It was simply the expression that had altered. That was horriblein its cruelty. Compared to what he saw in it of censure or rebuke,how shallow Basil's reproaches about Sibyl Vane had been!--how shallow, and of what little account! His own soul was lookingout at him from the canvas and calling him to judgement. A lookof pain came across him, and he flung the rich pall over the picture.As he did so, a knock came to the door. He passed out as hisservant entered."The persons are here, Monsieur."He felt that the man must be got rid of at once. He mustnot be allowed to know where the picture was being taken to.There was something sly about him, and he had thoughtful,treacherous eyes. Sitting down at the writing-table he scribbleda note to Lord Henry, asking him to send him round somethingto read and reminding him that they were to meet at eight-fifteenthat evening."Wait for an answer," he said, handing it to him, "and show the men in here."In two or three minutes there was another knock, and Mr. Hubbard himself,the celebrated frame-maker of South Audley Street, came in with asomewhat rough-looking young assistant. Mr. Hubbard was a florid,red-whiskered little man, whose admiration for art was considerably temperedby the inveterate impecuniosity of most of the artists who dealt with him.As a rule, he never left his shop. He waited for people to come to him.But he always made an exception in favour of Dorian Gray. There wassomething about Dorian that charmed everybody. It was a pleasure even tosee him."What can I do for you, Mr. Gray?" he said, rubbing his fat freckled hands."I thought I would do myself the honour of coming round in person. I havejust got a beauty of a frame, sir. Picked it up at a sale. Old Florentine.Came from Fonthill, I believe. Admirably suited for a religious subject,Mr. Gray.""I am so sorry you have given yourself the trouble of coming round,Mr. Hubbard. I shall certainly drop in and look at the frame--though I don't go in much at present for religious art--but to-dayI only want a picture carried to the top of the house for me.It is rather heavy, so I thought I would ask you to lend me a couple ofyour men.""No trouble at all, Mr. Gray. I am delighted to be of any service to you.Which is the work of art, sir?""This," replied Dorian, moving the screen back. "Can you move it,covering and all, just as it is? I don't want it to get scratchedgoing upstairs.""There will be no difficulty, sir," said the genial frame-maker, beginning,with the aid of his assistant, to unhook the picture from the long brasschains by which it was suspended. "And, now, where shall we carry it to,Mr. Gray?""I will show you the way, Mr. Hubbard, if you will kindly follow me.Or perhaps you had better go in front. I am afraid it is right atthe top of the house. We will go up by the front staircase, as itis wider."He held the door open for them, and they passed out into the hall and beganthe ascent. The elaborate character of the frame had made the pictureextremely bulky, and now and then, in spite of the obsequious protestsof Mr. Hubbard, who had the true tradesman's spirited dislike of seeing agentleman doing anything useful, Dorian put his hand to it so as to help them."Something of a load to carry, sir," gasped the little man when theyreached the top landing. And he wiped his shiny forehead."I am afraid it is rather heavy," murmured Dorian as he unlocked the doorthat opened into the room that was to keep for him the curious secret of hislife and hide his soul from the eyes of men.He had not entered the place for more than four years--not, indeed,since he had used it first as a play-room when he was a child,and then as a study when he grew somewhat older. It was a large,well-proportioned room, which had been specially built by the lastLord Kelso for the use of the little grandson whom, for his strangelikeness to his mother, and also for other reasons, he had alwayshated and desired to keep at a distance. It appeared to Dorianto have but little changed. There was the huge Italian cassone,with its fantastically painted panels and its tarnishedgilt mouldings, in which he had so often hidden himself as a boy.There the satinwood book-case filled with his dog-eared schoolbooks.On the wall behind it was hanging the same ragged Flemish tapestrywhere a faded king and queen were playing chess in a garden,while a company of hawkers rode by, carrying hooded birds on theirgauntleted wrists. How well he remembered it all! Every momentof his lonely childhood came back to him as he looked round.He recalled the stainless purity of his boyish life, and it seemed horribleto him that it was here the fatal portrait was to be hidden away.How little he had thought, in those dead days, of all that was in storefor him!But there was no other place in the house so secure from prying eyes as this.He had the key, and no one else could enter it. Beneath its purple pall,the face painted on the canvas could grow bestial, sodden, and unclean.What did it matter? No one could see it. He himself would not see it.Why should he watch the hideous corruption of his soul? He kept his youth--that was enough. And, besides, might not his nature grow finer, after all?There was no reason that the future should be so full of shame.Some love might come across his life, and purify him, and shield himfrom those sins that seemed to be already stirring in spirit and in flesh--those curious unpictured sins whose very mystery lent them their subtlety andtheir charm. Perhaps, some day, the cruel look would have passed away fromthe scarlet sensitive mouth, and he might show to the world Basil Hallward'smasterpiece.No; that was impossible. Hour by hour, and week by week, the thingupon the canvas was growing old. It might escape the hideousnessof sin, but the hideousness of age was in store for it.The cheeks would become hollow or flaccid. Yellow crow's feetwould creep round the fading eyes and make them horrible.The hair would lose its brightness, the mouth would gape or droop,would be foolish or gross, as the mouths of old men are.There would be the wrinkled throat, the cold, blue-veined hands,the twisted body, that he remembered in the grandfather who had beenso stern to him in his boyhood. The picture had to be concealed.There was no help for it."Bring it in, Mr. Hubbard, please," he said, wearily, turning round."I am sorry I kept you so long. I was thinking of something else.""Always glad to have a rest, Mr. Gray," answered the frame-maker,who was still gasping for breath. "Where shall we put it, sir?""Oh, anywhere. Here: this will do. I don't want to have it hung up.Just lean it against the wall. Thanks.""Might one look at the work of art, sir?"Dorian started. "It would not interest you, Mr. Hubbard,"he said, keeping his eye on the man. He felt ready to leapupon him and fling him to the ground if he dared to liftthe gorgeous hanging that concealed the secret of his life."I shan't trouble you any more now. I am much obliged for yourkindness in coming round.""Not at all, not at all, Mr. Gray. Ever ready to do anything for you, sir."And Mr. Hubbard tramped downstairs, followed by the assistant, who glancedback at Dorian with a look of shy wonder in his rough uncomely face.He had never seen any one so marvellous.When the sound of their footsteps had died away, Dorian lockedthe door and put the key in his pocket. He felt safe now.No one would ever look upon the horrible thing. No eye but hiswould ever see his shame.On reaching the library, he found that it was just afterfive o'clock and that the tea had been already brought up.On a little table of dark perfumed wood thickly incrusted with nacre,a present from Lady Radley, his guardian's wife, a prettyprofessional invalid who had spent the preceding winter in Cairo,was lying a note from Lord Henry, and beside it was a book boundin yellow paper, the cover slightly torn and the edges soiled.A copy of the third edition of The St. James's Gazette had beenplaced on the tea-tray. It was evident that Victor had returned.He wondered if he had met the men in the hall as they were leavingthe house and had wormed out of them what they had been doing.He would be sure to miss the picture--had no doubt missedit already, while he had been laying the tea-things. The screenhad not been set back, and a blank space was visible on the wall.Perhaps some night he might find him creeping upstairs and tryingto force the door of the room. It was a horrible thing to havea spy in one's house. He had heard of rich men who had beenblackmailed all their lives by some servant who had read a letter,or overheard a conversation, or picked up a card with an address,or found beneath a pillow a withered flower or a shred ofcrumpled lace.He sighed, and having poured himself out some tea, opened Lord Henry's note.It was simply to say that he sent him round the evening paper, and a bookthat might interest him, and that he would be at the club at eight-fifteen. Heopened The St. James's languidly, and looked through it. A red pencil-mark onthe fifth page caught his eye. It drew attention to the following paragraph:INQUEST ON AN ACTRESS.--An inquest was held this morning at the Bell Tavern,Hoxton Road, by Mr. Danby, the District Coroner, on the body of Sibyl Vane,a young actress recently engaged at the Royal Theatre, Holborn. A verdictof death by misadventure was returned. Considerable sympathy was expressedfor the mother of the deceased, who was greatly affected during the givingof her own evidence, and that of Dr. Birrell, who had made the post-mortemexamination of the deceased.He frowned, and tearing the paper in two, went acrossthe room and flung the pieces away. How ugly it all was!And how horribly real ugliness made things! He felt a littleannoyed with Lord Henry for having sent him the report.And it was certainly stupid of him to have marked it with red pencil.Victor might have read it. The man knew more than enough Englishfor that.Perhaps he had read it and had begun to suspect something.And, yet, what did it matter? What had Dorian Gray to dowith Sibyl Vane's death? There was nothing to fear.Dorian Gray had not killed her.His eye fell on the yellow book that Lord Henry had sent him.What was it, he wondered. He went towards the little,pearl-coloured octagonal stand that had always looked to himlike the work of some strange Egyptian bees that wrought in silver,and taking up the volume, flung himself into an arm-chair and beganto turn over the leaves. After a few minutes he became absorbed.It was the strangest book that he had ever read. It seemed to himthat in exquisite raiment, and to the delicate sound of flutes,the sins of the world were passing in dumb show before him.Things that he had dimly dreamed of were suddenly madereal to him. Things of which he had never dreamed weregradually revealed.It was a novel without a plot and with only one character, being, indeed,simply a psychological study of a certain young Parisian who spent his lifetrying to realize in the nineteenth century all the passions and modesof thought that belonged to every century except his own, and to sum up,as it were, in himself the various moods through which the world-spirit hadever passed, loving for their mere artificiality those renunciations that menhave unwisely called virtue, as much as those natural rebellions that wisemen still call sin. The style in which it was written was that curiousjewelled style, vivid and obscure at once, full of argot and of archaisms,of technical expressions and of elaborate paraphrases, that characterizesthe work of some of the finest artists of the French school of Symbolistes.There were in it metaphors as monstrous as orchids and as subtle in colour.The life of the senses was described in the terms of mystical philosophy.One hardly knew at times whether one was reading the spiritual ecstasiesof some mediaeval saint or the morbid confessions of a modern sinner.It was a poisonous book. The heavy odour of incense seemed to cling about itspages and to trouble the brain. The mere cadence of the sentences, the subtlemonotony of their music, so full as it was of complex refrains and movementselaborately repeated, produced in the mind of the lad, as he passed fromchapter to chapter, a form of reverie, a malady of dreaming, that made himunconscious of the falling day and creeping shadows.Cloudless, and pierced by one solitary star, a copper-greensky gleamed through the windows. He read on by its wan lighttill he could read no more. Then, after his valet had remindedhim several times of the lateness of the hour, he got up,and going into the next room, placed the book on the littleFlorentine table that always stood at his bedside and beganto dress for dinner.It was almost nine o'clock before he reached the club, where he foundLord Henry sitting alone, in the morning-room, looking very much bored."I am so sorry, Harry," he cried, "but really it is entirely your fault.That book you sent me so fascinated me that I forgot how the timewas going.""Yes, I thought you would like it," replied his host, rising from his chair."I didn't say I liked it, Harry. I said it fascinated me.There is a great difference.""Ah, you have discovered that?" murmured Lord Henry.And they passed into the dining-room.