Reedle Откройте в мобильном приложении
Понятно
Понятно
Для того чтобы воспользоваться закладками, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Отмена
Для того чтобы воспользоваться озвучкой предложений, необходимо
Войти или зарегистрироваться
Отмена
Озвучка предложений доступна при наличии PRO-доступа
Купить PRO-доступ
Отмена
681
In
the
huge
gilt
Venetian
lantern
,
spoil
of
some
Doge
's
barge
,
that
hung
from
the
ceiling
of
the
great
oak-panelled
hall
of
entrance
,
lights
were
still
burning
from
three
flickering
jets
:
thin
blue
petals
of
flame
they
seemed
,
rimmed
with
white
fire
.
He
turned
them
out
,
and
,
having
thrown
his
hat
and
cape
on
the
table
,
passed
through
the
library
towards
the
door
of
his
bedroom
,
a
large
octagonal
chamber
on
the
ground
floor
that
,
in
his
new-born
feeling
for
luxury
,
he
had
just
had
decorated
for
himself
,
and
hung
with
some
curious
Renaissance
tapestries
that
had
been
discovered
stored
in
a
disused
attic
at
Selby
Royal
.
As
he
was
turning
the
handle
of
the
door
,
his
eye
fell
upon
the
portrait
Basil
Hallward
had
painted
of
him
.
He
started
back
as
if
in
surprise
.
Then
he
went
on
into
his
own
room
,
looking
somewhat
puzzled
.
After
he
had
taken
the
buttonhole
out
of
his
coat
,
he
seemed
to
hesitate
.
Finally
he
came
back
,
went
over
to
the
picture
,
and
examined
it
.
In
the
dim
arrested
light
that
struggled
through
the
cream-coloured
silk
blinds
,
the
face
appeared
to
him
to
be
a
little
changed
.
The
expression
looked
different
.
One
would
have
said
that
there
was
a
touch
of
cruelty
in
the
mouth
.
It
was
certainly
strange
.
682
He
turned
round
,
and
,
walking
to
the
window
,
drew
up
the
blind
.
The
bright
dawn
flooded
the
room
,
and
swept
the
fantastic
shadows
into
dusky
corners
,
where
they
lay
shuddering
.
But
the
strange
expression
that
he
had
noticed
in
the
face
of
the
portrait
seemed
to
linger
there
,
to
be
more
intensified
even
.
683
The
quivering
,
ardent
sunlight
showed
him
the
lines
of
cruelty
round
the
mouth
as
clearly
as
if
he
had
been
looking
into
a
mirror
after
he
had
done
some
dreadful
thing
.
Отключить рекламу
684
He
winced
,
and
,
taking
up
from
the
table
an
oval
glass
framed
in
ivory
Cupids
,
one
of
Lord
Henry
's
many
presents
to
him
,
glanced
hurriedly
into
its
polished
depths
.
No
line
like
that
warped
his
red
lips
.
What
did
it
mean
?
685
He
rubbed
his
eyes
,
and
came
close
to
the
picture
,
and
examined
it
again
.
There
were
no
signs
of
any
change
when
he
looked
into
the
actual
painting
,
and
yet
there
was
no
doubt
that
the
whole
expression
had
altered
.
It
was
not
a
mere
fancy
of
his
own
.
The
thing
was
horribly
apparent
.
686
He
threw
himself
into
a
chair
,
and
began
to
think
.
Suddenly
there
flashed
across
his
mind
what
he
had
said
in
Basil
Hallward
's
studio
the
day
the
picture
had
been
finished
.
Yes
,
he
remembered
it
perfectly
.
He
had
uttered
a
mad
wish
that
he
himself
might
remain
young
,
and
the
portrait
grow
old
;
that
his
own
beauty
might
be
untarnished
,
and
the
face
on
the
canvas
bear
the
burden
of
his
passions
and
his
sins
;
that
the
painted
image
might
be
seared
with
the
lines
of
suffering
and
thought
,
and
that
he
might
keep
all
the
delicate
bloom
and
loveliness
of
his
then
just
conscious
boyhood
.
Surely
his
wish
had
not
been
fulfilled
?
Such
things
were
impossible
.
It
seemed
monstrous
even
to
think
of
them
.
And
,
yet
,
there
was
the
picture
before
him
,
with
the
touch
of
cruelty
in
the
mouth
.
687
Cruelty
!
Had
he
been
cruel
?
It
was
the
girl
's
fault
,
not
his
.
He
had
dreamed
of
her
as
a
great
artist
,
had
given
his
love
to
her
because
he
had
thought
her
great
.
Then
she
had
disappointed
him
.
Отключить рекламу
688
She
had
been
shallow
and
unworthy
.
And
,
yet
,
a
feeling
of
infinite
regret
came
over
him
,
as
he
thought
of
her
lying
at
his
feet
sobbing
like
a
little
child
.
He
remembered
with
what
callousness
he
had
watched
her
.
Why
had
he
been
made
like
that
?
Why
had
such
a
soul
been
given
to
him
?
But
he
had
suffered
also
.
During
the
three
terrible
hours
that
the
play
had
lasted
,
he
had
lived
centuries
of
pain
,
æon
upon
æon
of
torture
.
His
life
was
well
worth
hers
.
She
had
marred
him
for
a
moment
,
if
he
had
wounded
her
for
an
age
.
Besides
,
women
were
better
suited
to
bear
sorrow
than
men
.
They
lived
on
their
emotions
.
They
only
thought
of
their
emotions
.
When
they
took
lovers
,
it
was
merely
to
have
someone
with
whom
they
could
have
scenes
.
Lord
Henry
had
told
him
that
,
and
Lord
Henry
knew
what
women
were
.
Why
should
he
trouble
about
Sibyl
Vane
?
She
was
nothing
to
him
now
.
689
But
the
picture
?
What
was
he
to
say
of
that
?
It
held
the
secret
of
his
life
,
and
told
his
story
.
It
had
taught
him
to
love
his
own
beauty
.
Would
it
teach
him
to
loathe
his
own
soul
?
Would
he
ever
look
at
it
again
?
690
No
;
it
was
merely
an
illusion
wrought
on
the
troubled
senses
.
The
horrible
night
that
he
had
passed
had
left
phantoms
behind
it
.
Suddenly
there
had
fallen
upon
his
brain
that
tiny
scarlet
speck
that
makes
men
mad
.
The
picture
had
not
changed
.
It
was
folly
to
think
so
.