Pagina 13 de 490

"The story is simply this," said the painter after some time.

"Two months ago I went to a crush at Lady Brandon's. You know we

poor artists have to show ourselves in society from time to time,

just to remind the public that we are not savages. With an

evening coat and a white tie, as you told me once, anybody, even

a stock-broker, can gain a reputation for being civilized. Well,

after I had been in the room about ten minutes, talking to huge

overdressed dowagers and tedious academicians, I suddenly became

conscious that some one was looking at me. I turned half-way

round and saw Dorian Gray for the first time. When our eyes met,

I felt that I was growing pale. A curious sensation of terror

came over me. I knew that I had come face to face with some one

whose mere personality was so fascinating that, if I allowed it

to do so, it would absorb my whole nature, my whole soul, my very

art itself. I did not want any external influence in my life.