Belieber

T
he next morning Lord Henry went to visit his aunt,
Lady Agatha. She was surprised to see him.
'I thought you fashionable young men never got
up until the afternoon,' she said.
'Ah, but mydear aunt, I need some information, you see,'
replied Lord Henry. 'I met Dorian Gray yesterday, and I'd
like to know more about him.'
'Oh, he's Lord Kelso's grandson,' said Lady Agatha. 'Hismother was Lady Margaret Devereux, a very beautiful woman.
She ran away from home to marry a poor soldier. He was
killed a few months later and she died soon after her son was
The Friend
born.She was a lovely woman. Dorian Gray has her beauty
and he will, I understand, have his grandfather's money.'
'He is', agreed Lord Henry, 'extraordinarily good-looking.'
'Come to lunch,' invitedhis aunt. 'Dorian Gray will be
here and you can meet him again.'
'I'd love to come,' smiled Lord Henry.
As he left, Lord Henry thought about this sad story. He
became more interested than everin this beautiful young
man, Dorian Gray. He remembered the night before, when
Dorian had watched him with his bright blue eyes, half
wondering, half afraid. 'He does not yet know himself,thought Lord Henry, with a smile. 'But I can teach him. Yes, I
can influence him in any way that I please. I will teach him to
discover the fire of youth, and love, and life.'
The conversationamong the fashionable people at Lady
Agatha's lunch was quick and clever. Lord Henry talked, in
his lazy, amusing way. and knew that Dorian Gray was
watching and listening.
After a while theconversation turned to a friend's plans to
marry an American girl.
'Why can't these American women stay in their own
country? They're always telling us that it's a paradise for
women,' said LordBurdon.
'It is,' said Lord Henry. 'That's the reason why they're so
happy to escape from it.'
'They say,' laughed the man next to Lady Agatha, 'that
when good Americans die, they go to...