54 Hallward felt strangely moved. Rugged and straightforward as he was,
there was something in his nature that was purely feminine in its
tenderness. The lad was infinitely dear to him....
56 "Let us sit down, Dorian," said Hallward, looking pale and pained.
"Let us sit down. I will sit in the shadow, and you shall sit in the
sunlight. Our lives are like that. Just answer me one question."....
(169)
56, 57 "I see you did. Don't speak. Wait till you hear what I have to
say. It is quite true that I have worshipped you with far more romance
of feeling than a man usually gives to a friend. Somehow, I had never
loved a woman. I suppose I never had time. Perhaps, as Harry says, a
really '_grande passion_' is the privilege of those who have nothing to
do, and that is the use of the idle classes in a country. Well, from the
moment I met you, your personality had the most extraordinary influence
over me. I quite admit that I adored you madly, extravagantly, absurdly.
I was jealous of every one to whom you spoke. I wanted to have you all
to myself. I was only happy when I was with you. When I was away from
you, you were still present in my art. It was all wrong and foolish. It
is all wrong and foolish.... I did not understand it myself.... It was
to have been my masterpiece. It is my masterpiece.... But, as I worked
at it, ... (169, 170)
57 "Did you really see it?"
"Of course I did." (172)
58 And now good-by, Dorian. You have been the one person in my life of
whom I have been really fond. I don't suppose I shall often see you
again. You don't know what it cost me to tell you all that I have told
you."(172)
58 But you mustn't talk about not meeting me again, or anything of that
kind. You and I are friends, Basil (173)