صفحة 11 من 490

"Well, I will tell you what it is. I want you to explain to me

why you won't exhibit Dorian Gray's picture. I want the real

reason."

"I told you the real reason."

"No, you did not. You said it was because there was too much of

yourself in it. Now, that is childish."

"Harry," said Basil Hallward, looking him straight in the face,

"every portrait that is painted with feeling is a portrait of the

artist, not of the sitter. The sitter is merely the accident, the

occasion. It is not he who is revealed by the painter; it is

rather the painter who, on the coloured canvas, reveals himself.

The reason I will not exhibit this picture is that I am afraid

that I have shown in it the secret of my own soul."

Lord Henry laughed. "And what is that?" he asked.

"I will tell you," said Hallward; but an expression of perplexity

came over his face.

"I am all expectation, Basil," continued his companion, glancing

at him.