Pagina 465 van 490

Dorian said nothing, but rose from the table, and passing into

the next room, sat down to the piano and let his fingers stray

across the white and black ivory of the keys. After the coffee

had been brought in, he stopped, and looking over at Lord Henry,

said, "Harry, did it ever occur to you that Basil was murdered?"

Lord Henry yawned. "Basil was very popular, and always wore a

Waterbury watch. Why should he have been murdered? He was not

clever enough to have enemies. Of course, he had a wonderful

genius for painting. But a man can paint like Velasquez and yet

be as dull as possible. Basil was really rather dull. He only

interested me once, and that was when he told me, years ago, that

he had a wild adoration for you and that you were the dominant

motive of his art."

"I was very fond of Basil," said Dorian with a note of sadness in

his voice. "But don't people say that he was murdered?"