Cer 3

        At    t day Lord ton strolled from Curzon Street over to to call side icular be from     ired from tic servi a caprioment of annoyan not being offered t Paris, a post to led by reason of ce passion for pleasure. tary,    foolis at time, and on succeeding some moo title,    o tudy of t aristocratic art of doing absolutely notoo live in c rouble, and took most of    tention to t of ies, exg aint of industry on t tage of    it enabled a gentleman to afford tics ory, except o most of ions, ry o t of date, but to be said for his prejudices.

        ered tting in a rouging-coat, smoking a d grumbling over times. "ell, ; said tleman, " so early? I t you dandies never got up till t visible till five."

        "Pure family affe, I assure you, Uncle Gee. I    to get somet of you."

        "Money, I suppose," said Lord Fermor, making a ;ell, sit doell me all about it. Young people, no money is everyt;

        "Yes," murmured Lord tling ton-; "and    I dont    money. It is only people , Uncle Gee, and I never pay mine. Credit is tal of a younger son, and one lives c. Besides, I almoors tradesmen, and sequently t I    is information: not useful information, of course; useless information."

        "ell, I    tell you anyt is in an Englise a lot of nonsense. ic, tter. But I    tion.     you expect? Examinations, sir, are pure o end. If a man is a gentleman, e enoug a gentleman, wever ;

        "Mr. Dorian Gray does not belong to Blue Books, Uncle Gee," said Lord henry languidly.

        "Mr. Dorian Gray? ; asked Lord Fermor, knitting e eyebrows.

        "t is    Lord Kelsos grandson.    Devereaux. I    you to tell me about    ed in Mr. Gray at present. I    met ;

        "Kelsos grandson!" ecleman. "Kelsos grandson! ... Of course.... I kneely. I believe I    ening. Sraordinarily beautiful girl, Margaret Devereux, and made all tic by running aern in a fiment, or somet kind. Certainly. I remember t erday. t Spa a feer tory about it. t some rascally adventurer, some Belgian brute, to insult o do it, paid    tted , egad, Kelso ate    time afterold, and so    oo, died    a son, did sten t.    sort of boy is    be a good-looking c;

        "; assented Lord henry.

        "I o proper ; ti; of money ing for    too. All ty came to ed Kelso, t oo. Came to Madrid o te a story of it. I didnt dare s Court for a moed ter t;

        "I dont kno; ans t of age yet. old me so. And . . . iful?"

        "Margaret Devereux    creatures I ever sao beand. Son er ic, t family , but, egad! ton    on o old me so     a girl in London at time er alking about silly marriages, ells me about Dartm to marry an Ameri? Aint Englis;

        "It is rato marry Ameris just no;

        "Ill baglis t; said Lord Fermor, striking table .

        "tting is on t;

        "t last, I am told," muttered his uncle.

        "A long e exs t tal at a steeplecake t tmoor ;

        "; grumbled tleman. " any?"

        Lord ;Ameri girls are as clever at cealing ts, as Englis cealing t," o go.

        "t;

        "I moors sake. I am told t pork-pag is t lucrative profession in America, after politics."

        "Is sty?"

        "Siful. Most Ameri    is t of t;

        " tay in try? telling us t it is t;

        "It is. t is to get out of it," said Lood-bye, Uncle Gee. I se for luncop any loion I ed. I alo kno my ne my old ones."

        ";

        "At Aunt Agatest protégée."

        "ell your Aunt Agat to boty appeals. I am sick of t I o do but to e c;

        "All rigell    it    . Py. It is tinguiseristic."

        tleman gro. Lord ton Street and turned eps in tion of Berkeley Square.

        So t ory of Dorian Grays parentage. Crudely as it old to     stirred s suggestion of a strange, almost modern romance. A beautiful    s by a reacc to solitude and tyranny of an old and loveless man. Yes; it eresting background. It posed t, as it    existed, tragic. orlds o be in travail, t t flo before, as artled eyes and lips parted in frig opposite to    taining to a ricalking to e violin. o every toucerribly entivity . to projees soul into some gracious form, a tarry t; to ellectual vieo vey oemperament into anot le fluid or a strange perfume: t--per satisfying joy left to us in an age so limited and vulgar as our os pleasures, and grossly on in its aims.... ype, too, t in Basils studio, or could be faso a marvellous type, at any rate. Grace y of boyy suc for us. t one could not do itan or a toy.    a pity it    sued to fade! . . . And Basil? From a psyc of vieing , t life, suggested sely by t all; t spirit t d in dim o    terns of some ot form    all    not Plato, t artist in t, ? as it not Buonarotti -sequence? But in our oury it range. . . . Yes; ry to be to Dorian Gray    kno, to ter . o dominate     ing in th.

        Suddenly opped and glanced up at t s some distance, and, smiling to urned back. ered t sombre ler told    to lun    and stid passed into the dining-room.

        "Late as usual, ; cried , s him.

        ed a facile excuse, and aken t seat o o see o e ure and good temper, mucectural proportions t in outness. o , on , Sir t,    cooks, dining ories and t on    readley, an old gentleman of siderable cure,    o say before y. s oldest friends, a perfect saint amongst    so dreadfully do sunately for    intelligent middle-aged mediocrity, as bald as a ministerial statement in t intensely ear manner o, and from we escape.

        "e are talking about poor Dartmoor, Lord ; cried tly to able. "Do you ting young person?"

        "I believe so propose to ;

        "; exclaimed Lady Agat;Really, some one serfere."

        "I am told, on excellent auty, t ore," said Sir thomas Burdon, looking supercilious.

        "My uncle ed pork-pag Sir t;

        &quoods!    are Ameri dry-goods?" asked tuating the verb.

        "Ameriovels," answered Lord o some quail.

        the duchess looked puzzled.

        "Dont mind ; w; ;

        "; said to give some s. Like all people o ex a subject, ed eners. terruption. "I    never    all!" s;Really, irls    is most unfair."

        "Perer all, Ameriever ; said Mr. Erskine; "I myself    it ected."

        "O I ants," ans;I must fess t most of tremely pretty. And too. t all to do t;

        "t ; c-off clothes.

        "Really! And he duchess.

        "to America," murmured Lord henry.

        Sir t;I am afraid t your    great try," o Lady Agat;I ravelled all over it in cars provided by tors, remely civil. I assure you t it is an education to visit it."

        "But must ed?" asked Mr. Erskine plaintively. "I dont feel up to t;

        Sir t;Mr. Erskine of treadley ical men like to see t to read about tremely iing people. tely reasonable. I t is tinguiseristic. Yes, Mr. Erskine, an absolutely reasonable people. I assure you t t;

        "; cried Lord ;I    stand brute force, but brute reason is quite unbearable. t its use. It is ting beloellect."

        "I do not uand you," said Sir ther red.

        "I do, Lord ; murmured Mr. Erskine, h a smile.

        "Paradoxes are all very ; rejoi.

        "as t a paradox?" asked Mr. Erskine. "I did not t ruto test reality    see it on tigies bee acrobats, ;

        "Dear me!" said Lady Agat; alking about. Oe vexed ry to persuade our nice Mr. Dorian Gray to give up t End? I assure you e invaluable. t;

        "I    o play to me," cried Lord able and caug answering glance.

        "But tec; tinued Lady Agatha.

        "I    sympat suffering," said Lord ;I ot sympat. It is too ugly, too oo distressing. terribly morbid in ty, t lifes sores, tter."

        "Still, t End is a very important problem," remarked Sir the head.

        "Quite so," ans;It is try to solve it by amusing t;

        ti looked at ; c; he asked.

        Lord ;I dont desire to c t; ;I am quite tent emplation. But, as teentury    ture of sympat t o put us straigage of tions is t tray, and tage of sce is t it is ional."

        "But ; ventured Mrs. Vaimidly.

        "terribly grave," echa.

        Lord    Mr. Erskine. "y takes itself too seriously. It is to laugory ;

        "You are really very f," ;I    raty , for I take no i at all in t End. For ture I so look    a blus;

        "A blus; remarked Lord henry.

        "Only ;

        for a moment. " you remember any great error t you itted in your early days, Duc;    able.

        "A great many, I fear," she cried.

        "t t; ;to get baes youto repeat ones follies."

        "A delig; s;I must put it into practice."

        "A dangerous t; came from Sir tig could not ened.

        "Yes," inued, "t is one of t secrets of life. No people die of a sort of creeping on sense, and discover oo late t ts are ones mistakes."

        A laugable.

        ossed it into transformed it; let it escape aured it; made it iridest     on, soared into a pcy, ained robe and e over ts fled before ened forest te feet trod t ill ts black, dripping, sloping sides. It raordinary improvisation.    t t amongst emperament o fasate seemed to give    keenness and to lend colour to ion. , fantastic, irresponsible. eners out of took    sat like one under a spell, smiles cher over his lips and wrowing grave in his darkening eyes.

        At last, liveried in tume of ty e to tell t ing. S;; s;I must go. I o call for my    to take o some absurd meeting at illiss Rooms, e o be furious, and I couldnt . It is far tile. A . No, I must go, dear Agate delig knoo say about your vie e and diuesday? Are you diseuesday?"

        "For you I ; said Lord h a bow.

        "A is very nice, and very ; s;so mind you e"; and s out of ther ladies.

        doaking a , placed his hand upon his arm.

        "You talk books a; ;e one?"

        "I am too fond of reading books to care to e to e a novel certainly, a     and as unreal. But terary publi England for anyt ne sense of ty of literature."

        "I fear you are rig; ans;I myself used to erary ambitions, but I gave to call you so, may I ask if you really meant all t you said to us at lunc;

        "I quite fet ; smiled Lord ;as it all very bad?"

        "Very bad indeed. In fact I sider you extremely dangerous, and if anytood duc I so talk to you about life. tion into o treadley and expound to me your punate enougo possess."

        "I s to treadley    privilege. It    , and a perfect library."

        "You e it," ansleman eous bo;And no bid good-bye to your excellent aunt. I am due at t is t;

        "All of you, Mr. Erskine?"

        "Forty of us, in forty arm-g for an Englisters."

        Lord ;I am going to t; he cried.

        As    of touc;Let me e ; he murmured.

        "But I t you o go and see ; answered Lord henry.

        "I    e    me. And you o talk to me all time? No oalks so ;

        "Aalked quite enougo-day," said Lord ;All I    noo look at life. You may e and look at it o."
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