Портрет Дориана Грея / The Picture of Dorian Gray. Оскар Уайльд

lovely to look at – one of the loveliest creatures, Lord Henry thought. Basil Hallward leaped to his feet and began to applaud. Dorian Gray sat staring at her like he was in a dream. Lord Henry peered through his glasses, murmuring, “Charming! charming!”

      But Sibyl was acting badly. Something was wrong when she spoke, there was no emotion in her voice. Dorian Gray grew pale as he watched her. He was puzzled and anxious. Neither of his friends dared to say anything to him. She seemed to them to be absolutely incompetent. They were horribly disappointed.

      A quarter of an hour later, Lord Henry whispered to Hallward, “She’s one of the loveliest girls I have ever seen. But she is a terrible actress.”

      Dorian Gray’s face turned white as he watched her speak, “She was so different tonight! Now she was not Juliet but a very bad actress who did not understand Shakespeare’s words.”

      Even the crowd became bored and began to talk loudly. The only person who did not seem to notice was the actress herself.

      When the second act was over, Lord Henry got up from his chair and put on his coat. “She is quite beautiful, Dorian,” he said, “but she can’t act. Let us go.”

      “I’m sorry, Harry. I don’t know what’s wrong. I am going to stay until the end,” answered Dorian in a cold voice. “I am awfully sorry that I have made you waste an evening, Harry. I apologize to you both.”

      “My dear Dorian, perhaps Miss Vane is ill,” said Hallward. “We will come some other night.”

      “She has entirely altered,” said Dorian, “Last night she was a great artist.”

      “Come to the club with Basil and myself. We will smoke cigarettes and drink to the beauty of Sibyl Vane. She is beautiful. What more do you want? Who cares if your wife can’t act.[48] She’s beautiful. That’s enough. Dorian, you must not stay here any longer. It is not good for one’s morals to see bad acting.”

      “Go away, Harry,” cried Dorian, “I want to be alone. Can’t you see that my heart is breaking?” Hot tears came to his eyes as Lord Henry and Hallward left the theatre.

      When it was over, Dorian Gray rushed to see Sibyl Vane. The girl was standing there alone, with a look of extraordinary happiness on her face.

      “How badly I acted tonight, Dorian!” she cried.

      “Horribly!” he answered, staring at her. “It was dreadful. Are you ill? You have no idea what it was. You have no idea what I suffered.”

      The girl smiled, “Dorian, don’t you understand?”

      “Understand what?” he asked, angrily.

      “Why I was so bad tonight. Why I will always be bad. Why I will never act well again.”

      “You are ill, I suppose. When you are ill, you shouldn’t act. You make yourself ridiculous. My friends were bored. I was bored.”

      “Dorian, Dorian,” she cried, “before I knew you, acting was the one important thing in my life. It was only in the theatre that I lived. I thought that it was all true. Tonight, for the first time, I became conscious that the Romeo was hideous, and old, and painted, that the moonlight in the orchard was false, that the scenery was vulgar, and that the words I had to speak were unreal, were not my words, were not what I wanted to say. I saw that I was playing at love. Our love for each other is the only true love. I cannot act anymore because I have found true love. How can I act like Juliet when I do not feel her love? I only feel my love for you, Dorian. Take me away with you, Dorian! I don’t want to be an actress any more.”