The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde; Camille Cauti
Author:Oscar Wilde; Camille Cauti
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Aging, Irish, Conduct of life, Portraits, Gothic Fiction, Soul, Fiction, Romance, Literary, General, Suspense, Psychological, Future life, Occult fiction, Immortality, Classics
ISBN: 9781593080259
Publisher: Barnes & Noble
Published: 2003-05-01T04:00:00+00:00
Chapter X.
When his servant entered, he looked at him steadfastly, and wondered if he had thought of peering behind the screen. The man was quite impassive, and waited for his orders. Dorian lit a cigarette, and walked over to the glass and glanced into it. He could see the reflection of Victorâs face perfectly. It was like a placid mask of servility. There was nothing to be afraid of there. Yet he thought it best to be on his guard.
Speaking very slowly, he told him to tell the housekeeper that he wanted to see her, and then to go to the frame-maker and ask him to send two of his men round at once. It seemed to him that as the man left the room his eyes wandered in the direction of the screen. Or was that merely his own fancy?
After a few moments, in her black silk dress, with old-fashioned thread mittensde on her wrinkled hands, Mrs. Leaf bustled into the library. He asked her for the key of the schoolroom.
âThe old schoolroom, Mr. Dorian!â she exclaimed. âWhy, it is full of dust. I must get it arranged and put straight before you go into it. It is not fit for you to see, sir. It is not, indeed.â
âI donât want it put straight, Leaf. I only want the key.â
âWell, sir, youâll be covered with cobwebs if you go into it. Why, it hasnât been opened for nearly five yearsânot since his lordship died.â
He winced at the mention of his grandfather. He had hateful memories of him. âThat does not matter,â he answered. âI simply want to see the placeâthat is all. Give me the key.â
âAnd here is the key, sir,â said the old lady, going over the contents of her bunch with tremulously uncertain hands. âHere is the key. Iâll have it off the bunch in a moment. But you donât think of living up there, sir, and you so comfortable here?â
âNo, no!â he cried, petulently. âThank you, Leaf. That will do.â
She lingered for a few moments, and was garrulous over some detail of the household. He sighed, and told her to manage things as she thought best. She left the room, wreathed in smiles.
As the door closed, Dorian put the key in his pocket and looked round the room. His eye fell on a large purple satin coverlet heavily embroidered with gold, a splendid piece of late seventeenth-century Venetian work that his grandfather had found in a convent near Bologna. Yes, that would serve to wrap the dreadful thing in. It had, perhaps, served often as a pall for the dead. Now it was to hide something that had a corruption of its own, worse than the corruption of death itselfâsomething that would breed horrors and yet would never die. What the worm was to the corpse, his sins would be to the painted image on the canvas. They would mar its beauty, and eat away its grace. They would defile it, and make it shameful. And yet the thing would still live on.
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