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"Thanks, Basil," answered Dorian Gray, pressing his hand. "I knew

that you would understand me. Harry is so cynical, he terrifies

me. But here is the orchestra. It is quite dreadful, but it only

lasts for about five minutes. Then the curtain rises, and you

will see the girl to whom I am going to give all my life, to whom

I have given everything that is good in me."

A quarter of an hour afterwards, amidst an extraordinary turmoil

of applause, Sibyl Vane stepped on to the stage. Yes, she was

certainly lovely to look at-one of the loveliest creatures, Lord

Henry thought, that he had ever seen. There was something of the

fawn in her shy grace and startled eyes. A faint blush, like the

shadow of a rose in a mirror of silver, came to her cheeks as she

glanced at the crowded enthusiastic house. She stepped back a few

paces and her lips seemed to tremble. Basil Hallward leaped to

his feet and began to applaud. Motionless, and as one in a dream,

sat Dorian Gray, gazing at her. Lord Henry peered through his

glasses, murmuring, "Charming! charming!"