Sayfa 339 / 490

"I must speak, and you must listen. You shall listen. When you

met Lady Gwendolen, not a breath of scandal had ever touched her.

Is there a single decent woman in London now who would drive with

her in the park? Why, even her children are not allowed to live

with her. Then there are other stories-stories that you have been

seen creeping at dawn out of dreadful houses and slinking in

disguise into the foulest dens in London. Are they true? Can they

be true? When I first heard them, I laughed. I hear them now, and

they make me shudder. What about your country-house and the life

that is led there? Dorian, you don't know what is said about you.

I won't tell you that I don't want to preach to you. I remember

Harry saying once that every man who turned himself into an

amateur curate for the moment always began by saying that, and

then proceeded to break his word. I do want to preach to you. I

want you to lead such a life as will make the world respect you.