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“ What nonsense people talk about happy marriages ! ” he said . “ A man can be happy with any woman , as long as he does not love her . ” “ Ah , what a cynic you are ! ” cried Lady Narborough . “ But who would you like to meet at my next dinner ? ” “ I like men who have a future and women who have a past . ” Dorian could not eat , and he drank too much champagne . After dinner Lord Henry asked him where he had gone the night before , and Dorian said too quickly that he had come home at half past two and that his servant could tell him so . Lord Henry only shrugged his shoulders , but Dorian felt the terror returning . He left early and went home . In the library he burned Basil’s coat and bag in the fire , which took him nearly an hour . Then his eyes fell on a small cabinet between the windows . He watched it for a long time , as if it held something that he wanted and hated at the same time . At last he opened a secret drawer and took out a little black and gold box . Inside it there was a green paste with a heavy smell . It was opium . At midnight Dorian Gray , dressed in common clothes and with a scarf round his throat , crept quietly out of his house . He found a cab , gave the driver a gold coin and told him to drive fast towards the river . XIII . Eighteen Years A cold rain began to fall , and the street lamps looked ghostly in the wet mist . As the cab went on through the dark streets , Dorian repeated to himself the words that Lord Henry had said to him on the first day they met : “ To cure the soul by means of the senses , and the senses by means of the soul . ” Yes , that was the secret , because his soul was sick to death , and innocent blood had been spilled . For that there could be no forgiveness , but he could still forget . There were places near the river where a man could buy forgetfulness . At last the cab stopped at the end of a dark lane . Over the low roofs rose the black masts of ships . Dorian walked quickly along the river until he reached a small , dirty house between two factories , and he knocked in a special way . Inside there was a long , low room with sawdust on the floor . A few sailors were drinking at the bar , and two tired women were laughing at an old man . At the end of the room a few steps led up to a dark room that smelled of opium . A young man with smooth yellow hair was lighting a pipe there , and he looked up and nodded . “ You here , Adrian ? ” said Dorian in surprise . “ Where else should I be ? ” answered Adrian Singleton . “ None of my friends will speak to me now . My brother has paid my debts at last , but he doesn’t speak to me either , and I don’t care . As long as one has this stuff , one doesn’t want friends . I think I have had too many friends . ”
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