Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime And Other Stories

Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories
By

Oscar Wilde
AN ELECTRONIC CLASSICS SERIES PUBLICATION

Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde is a publication of The Electronic Classics Series. This Portable Document file is furnished free and without any charge of any kind. Any person using this document file, for any purpose, and in any way does so at his or her ownrisk. Neither the Pennsylvania State University nor Jim Manis, Editor, nor anyone associated with the Pennsylvania State University assumes any responsibility for the material contained within the document or for the file as an electronic transmission, in any way. Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories by Oscar Wilde, The Electronic Classics Series, Jim Manis, Editor, PSU-Hazleton,Hazleton, PA 18202 is a Portable Document File produced as part of an ongoing publication project to bring classical works of literature, in English, to free and easy access of those wishing to make use of them. Jim Manis is a faculty member of the English Department of The Pennsylvania State University. This page and any preceding page(s) are restricted by copyright. The text of the following pages arenot copyrighted within the United States; however, the fonts used may be. Cover Design: Jim Manis Copyright © 2006 - 2012
The Pennsylvania State University is an equal opportunity university.

Oscar Wilde

Contents
LORD ARTHUR SAVILE’S CRIME...... 5 THE CANTERVILLE GHOST............ 33 THE SPHINX WITHOUT A SECRET . 57 THE MODEL MILLIONAIRE ............ 62 THE PORTRAIT OF MR. W. H..........67

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Lord Arthur’s Crime and Other Stories

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Oscar Wilde

Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories
By

Oscar Wilde
LORD ARTHUR SAVILE’S CRIME
CHAPTER I
IT WAS LADY WINDERMERE’S last reception before Easter, and Bentinck House was even more crowded than usual. Six Cabinet Ministers had come on from the Speaker’s Levee in their stars and ribands, all the pretty women woretheir smartest dresses, and at the end of the picture-gallery stood the Princess Sophia of Carlsruhe, a heavy Tartar-looking lady, with tiny black eyes and wonderful emeralds, talking bad French at the top of her voice, and laughing immoderately at everything that was said to her. It was certainly a wonderful medley of people. Gorgeous peeresses chatted affably to violent Radicals, popular preachersbrushed coat-tails with eminent sceptics, a perfect bevy of bishops kept following a stout primadonna from room to room, on the staircase stood several Royal Academicians, disguised as artists, and it was said that at one time the supperroom was absolutely crammed with geniuses. In fact, it was one of Lady Windermere’s best nights, and the Princess stayed till nearly half-past eleven. As soon asshe had gone, Lady Windermere returned to the picturegallery, where a celebrated political economist was solemnly explaining the scientific theory of music to an indignant virtuoso from Hungary,

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Lord Arthur’s Crime and Other Stories
and began to talk to the Duchess of Paisley. She looked wonderfully beautiful with her grand ivory throat, her large blue forget-me-not eyes, and her heavycoils of golden hair. Or pur they were—not that pale straw colour that nowadays usurps the gracious name of gold, but such gold as is woven into sunbeams or hidden in strange amber; and they gave to her face something of the frame of a saint, with not a little of the fascination of a sinner. She was a curious psychological study. Early in life she had discovered the important truth that nothinglooks so like innocence as an indiscretion; and by a series of reckless escapades, half of them quite harmless, she had acquired all the privileges of a personality. She had more than once changed her husband; indeed, Debrett credits her with three marriages; but as she had never changed her lover, the world had long ago ceased to talk scandal about her. She was now forty years of age, childless,...