“Do not tell me that you are going to be good,” Lord Henry Wotton said. He put his fingers into a bowl of rose-water. He told Dorian Gray that he was already perfect. He did not want Dorian to change.
Dorian shook his head. He said he had done many terrible things in his life. He did not want to do any more bad things. He said his good actions had started the day before.
Lord Henry asked where Dorian had been the day before. Dorian said he had been in the country at a small inn. Lord Henry smiled. He said anyone can be good in the country because there are no temptations there.
Dorian said he knew about both culture and corruption. He said he wanted to be a different person now. Lord Henry asked about his good action.
Dorian told a story about a girl named Hetty. She was a simple girl from a village. She was very beautiful and she looked like Sibyl Vane. Dorian loved her. They had planned to go away together that morning.
But Dorian decided to leave her. He did not want to ruin her life or make her a bad person. He left her while she was still happy and good. He thought this was an act of great self-sacrifice.
Lord Henry laughed at Dorian. He said Dorian only wanted a new feeling. He said that Hetty was probably very sad now. He said the girl would never be happy with a normal husband because she loved Dorian.
Dorian told Lord Henry to stop. He did not want his friend to mock him. He wanted to be a better man. He asked Lord Henry about the news in London.
Lord Henry said people were still talking about Basil Hallward. The artist had disappeared six weeks before. The police in London thought he had gone to Paris. The police in France said he had never arrived.
Dorian asked what Lord Henry thought had happened to Basil. Lord Henry did not know. He said he did not want to think about death. Death was the only thing that made him afraid.
They went into the music-room to have coffee. Dorian sat at the piano. He asked Lord Henry if he thought someone murdered Basil.
Lord Henry said Basil was not clever enough to have enemies. He said Basil was a great artist, but he was a dull man. He said Basil only became interesting when he painted Dorian.
Dorian watched his friend closely. He asked, "What would you say if I told you that I killed Basil?" Lord Henry laughed again. He said Dorian was not a murderer.
Lord Henry said that crime was vulgar and ugly. He believed that only poor or common people committed crimes. He told Dorian that he was too beautiful for such a thing.
Dorian asked if a man could commit the same crime twice. Lord Henry said that anything was a pleasure if you did it often. But he thought Basil probably had fallen into a river and drowned.
Lord Henry asked about the famous portrait of Dorian. He had not seen it for many years. Dorian said he lost the picture or someone stole it. Dorian said he hated the memory of that painting.
Dorian played some soft music on the piano. Lord Henry asked a serious question. He asked what a man gets if he wins the whole world but loses his own soul.
Dorian stopped playing. He was shocked. He asked Lord Henry why he asked that. Lord Henry said he heard a man shouting the question in the street. He thought it was an interesting idea.
Dorian said the soul was a terrible reality. He said a soul could be poisoned or made perfect. Lord Henry said the soul was just an illusion. He told Dorian to play more music.
Lord Henry looked at Dorian. He was amazed that Dorian still looked so young. Lord Henry was ten years older and he looked tired. Dorian looked just as he had many years before.
Lord Henry said he would do anything to be young again. He said that youth was the most important thing in the world. He told Dorian that his life was like a beautiful song.
Dorian said his life was not perfect. He said that Lord Henry did not know everything about him. He said that if Lord Henry knew the truth, he would turn away.
Lord Henry invited Dorian to go to a club. He wanted to introduce Dorian to a young man who admired him. But Dorian said he was too tired. He wanted to go to bed early.
Dorian told Lord Henry that he was changing. He said he was going to be good. Lord Henry said they would always be friends.
Dorian mentioned the book that Lord Henry had given him years before. He said the book was poisonous and had done harm. He asked Lord Henry never to give it to anyone else.
Lord Henry said that art does not change how people act. He invited Dorian to go for a ride the next morning at eleven o'clock. Dorian agreed to come. He said good night and left the room.