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The portrait had taught him to love his own beauty . Would it teach him to hate his own soul ? For every sin that he committed , a stain would spoil its fairness . But he would not sin . The picture would be a sign of his conscience , which he could see with his own eyes . He would stop seeing Lord Henry , or at least he would stop listening to those clever , poisonous ideas . He would go back to Sibyl Vane , ask her to forgive him and marry her . Yes , it was his duty , because he had been selfish and cruel to the poor child . He pulled a large screen in front of the portrait , and with a shiver he walked out into the garden . The fresh morning air seemed to drive away all his dark thoughts . He repeated her name over and over again . The birds that were singing in the wet garden seemed to be telling the flowers about her . It was long past noon when he woke up . His French servant , Victor , brought him tea and a pile of letters . One of them was from Lord Henry , but Dorian put it aside without opening it . After breakfast he looked at the screen for a long time . Had the picture really changed , or had it been his imagination ? At last he locked both doors of the room and pulled the screen aside . It was perfectly true : the portrait had changed . He was horrified , and yet at the same time he looked at it with a strange , almost scientific interest . One thing was clear : the picture had shown him how cruel he had been to Sibyl Vane . It was not too late to put things right . He sat down at his desk and wrote her a long , passionate letter , in which he begged her to forgive him . He covered page after page with wild words of sorrow . When he had finished , he felt that he had been forgiven already . There is a kind of luxury in blaming ourselves , because when we blame ourselves , we feel that no one else has the right to blame us . Suddenly there was a knock at the door , and he heard Lord Henry’s voice . “ My dear boy , I must see you , so let me in at once . ” VIII . Lord Henry’s Comfort Dorian quickly pulled the screen back in front of the picture and opened the door . “ I am so sorry for it all , Dorian , ” said Lord Henry as he came in , “ but you must not think too much about it . ” “ Do you mean about Sibyl Vane ? ” asked Dorian . “ I was cruel to her last night , Harry , perfectly cruel . But it is all right now , because I know what conscience is . It is not what you told me it was . It is the most divine thing in us . I want to be good , and I am going to begin by marrying Sibyl Vane . ” “ Marrying Sibyl Vane ! ” cried Lord Henry , standing up . “ But , Dorian , didn’t you get the letter that I sent this morning ? Sibyl Vane is dead . ” A cry of pain broke from Dorian’s lips . “ Dead ! It is not true , it is a horrible lie ! ”
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