One week later, Dorian Gray was at his country house, Selby Royal. He sat in the conservatory. He talked to the Duchess of Monmouth. She was a very pretty woman. Her husband sat with them. He was sixty years old and he looked very tired.
It was time for tea. The Duchess of Monmouth moved her white hands over the tea cups. She smiled at Dorian. Lord Henry Wotton sat in a silk chair and watched them. Lady Narborough sat on a sofa and listened to the Duke.
Lord Henry walked to the table. He talked about a plan to give new names to everything. The Duchess of Monmouth liked her own name. She did not want a new name. Lord Henry said names were very important.
Dorian called Lord Henry "Prince Paradox." "Prince Paradox" was a good name for him. Lord Henry laughed. He did not want a title like that.
The Duchess of Monmouth said that beauty was very important to Lord Henry. Lord Henry agreed. He said it was better to be beautiful than to be good. He also said that ugliness was a sin.
They talked about many things. Lord Henry said that art was like a sickness. He said that love was not real. He said that religion was only a fashion. The Duchess of Monmouth called him a sceptic.
Lord Henry called Dorian "Prince Charming." Dorian told him not to use that name. The Duchess of Monmouth looked at Dorian. She thought Dorian was very interesting.
Dorian said he did not look for happiness. He only looked for pleasure. He found pleasure many times. The Duchess of Monmouth sighed. She said she wanted to find peace.
The Duchess of Monmouth wanted to change her clothes for dinner. Dorian offered to get some flowers for her. He walked to the end of the glass room. Lord Henry and the Duchess of Monmouth waited for him.
Suddenly, they heard a loud noise. It was a groan of pain. Then they heard something fall to the floor. Lord Henry ran to the end of the room. He found Dorian on the floor.
Dorian had fainted. They carried Dorian to a sofa in another room. After some time, Dorian opened his eyes. He felt very confused. He asked Lord Henry if he was safe. Dorian began to shake with fear.
Lord Henry told Dorian that he was tired. He told Dorian to stay in his room and rest. But Dorian wanted to go to dinner. Dorian did not want to be alone.
At dinner, Dorian acted very happy. But he felt a lot of terror inside. He remembered a face at the window of the glass room. It was the face of James Vane. James was watching him.