Chapter 17 — The Picture of Dorian Gray

A week later at Selby Royal, Dorian flirts with the Duchess of Monmouth at tea while Lord Henry sprawls nearby and Lady Narborough listens to beetle descriptions. The talk turns brilliant and cruel: Henry wants to rechristen flowers, Gladys refuses abdication, and Dorian names Harry Prince Paradox while the room debates beauty, goodness, Tartuffe, and English hypocrisy.

Henry declares it better to be beautiful than good, then adds that it is better to be good than ugly, and the duchess calls him on the contradiction. Dorian says he has searched for pleasure, not happiness, and found it too often. When Henry calls the host Prince Charming, Dorian cries out in distress, then recovers his wit while Henry warns Gladys that Dorian is fascinating and dangerous.

Dorian walks down the conservatory for orchids. From the far end comes a stifled groan and a heavy fall. He swoons face down on the tiles, revives in the blue drawing-room asking Harry if he is safe, and insists on coming down to dinner rather than staying alone. At table he performs wild gaiety while terror returns: pressed against the glass like a white handkerchief, he had seen the face of James Vane watching him.