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

by. There were two women in it and a young man with curly blond hair and laughing eyes.

      “Oh, look! Look, there he is! He’s in that carriage!” Sibyl shouted.

      “Who?”

      “Prince Charming.”

      “Where? Show him to me.”

      She pointed across the park at a carriage. James looked across the park. But, at that moment, another carriage suddenly passed in front of the brother and sister. James never saw Prince Charming.

      “Oh dear,” said Sibyl, “I wanted you to see him.”

      “I wanted to see him too,” replied her brother, “because I will kill him if he ever hurts you. Do you hear me Sybil? I’ll kill him!”

      James Vane’s eyes looked red with anger. At first Sibyl was angry with her brother. But she remembered that he was sixteen years old. He was a boy. He had never been in love.

      “You won’t hurt a man I love, will you, James?” she said.

      “No, I won’t,” he said at last. “I won’t hurt him if you love him.”

      “I will always love Prince Charming,” said Sibyl. “And he will always love me.”

      So Sibyl and James were friends again. But that evening, James spoke again to their mother.

      “If this young man hurts Sibyl,” said he again. “I will find him and I will kill him. I will kill him like a dog!”

      “Jim, what are you saying? Come, let us go. You will be late for your boat.”

      Chapter 6

      “I suppose you have heard the news, Basil?” said Lord Henry the following evening. They were in the dining-room of the Bristol Hotel.

      “No, Harry,” answered the artist, giving his hat and coat to the waiter. “What is it? Nothing about politics, I hope! They don’t interest me.”

      “Dorian Gray is going to be married,” said Lord Henry, watching him as he spoke.

      Hallward frowned. “Impossible!” he cried.

      “It is perfectly true.”

      “To whom?”

      “To some little actress.”

      “I can’t believe it. Dorian is far too sensible[44].”

      “Basil, whenever a man does a completely stupid thing, it is always for a good reason.”

      “I hope this girl is good, Harry. I don’t want to see Dorian tied to some vile creature.”

      “Oh, she is better than good – she is beautiful,” murmured Lord Henry. “Dorian says that she is beautiful and he is not often wrong about these things. Your portrait has helped him understand beauty in others. We are to see her tonight, if that boy doesn’t forget.”

      “Are you serious?”

      “Quite serious, Basil.”

      “But how can Dorian marry an actress, Harry? It is absurd,” cried the painter, walking up and down the room, biting his lip. “Do you approve of it, Harry? You can’t approve of it, possibly.”

      “I never approve, or disapprove, of anything now. You know I am not a champion of marriage. Dorian Gray falls in love with a beautiful actress who plays Juliet. He asks her to marry him. Why not? I hope that Dorian Gray marries this girl and worships her for six months. Then he can suddenly become fascinated by another woman.”