The Picture of Dorian Gray

impression that I had taken too much champagne, or something.”

“I am not surprised.”

“Then he asked me if I wrote for any of the newspapers. I told him I
never even read them. He seemed terribly disappointed at that, and
confided to me that all the dramatic critics were in a conspiracy
against him, and that they were every one of them to be bought.”

“I should not wonder if he was quite right there. But, on the other
hand, judging from their appearance, most of them cannot be at all
expensive.”

“Well, he seemed to think they were beyond his means,” laughed Dorian.
“By this time, however, the lights were being put out in the theatre,
and I had to go. He wanted me to try some cigars that he strongly
recommended. I declined. The next night, of course, I arrived at the
place again. When he saw me, he made me a low bow and assured me that I
was a munificent patron of art. He was a most offensive brute, though
he had an extraordinary passion for Shakespeare. He told me once, with
an air of pride, that his five bankruptcies were entirely due to ‘The
Bard,’ as he insisted on calling him. He seemed to think it a
distinction.”

“It was a distinction, my dear Dorian—a great distinction. Most people