to him and him to the world.
The effect on the harder fibre of the boy was chiefly mental: to
Alfred Douglas, Oscar was merely a quickening, inspiring, intellectual
influence; but the boy's effect on Oscar was of character and induced
imitation. Lord Alfred Douglas' boldness gave Oscar _outrecuidance_,
an insolent arrogance: artist-like he tried to outdo his model in
aristocratic disdain. Without knowing the cause the change in Oscar
astonished me again and again, and in the course of this narrative I
shall have to notice many instances of it.

One other effect the friendship had of far-reaching influence. Oscar
always enjoyed good living; but for years he had had to earn his
bread: he knew the value of money; he didn't like to throw it away; he
was accustomed to lunch or dine at a cheap Italian restaurant for a
few shillings. But to Lord Alfred Douglas money was only a counter and
the most luxurious living a necessity. As soon as Oscar Wilde began to
entertain him, he was led to the dearest hotels and restaurants; his
expenses became formidable and soon outran his large earnings. For
the first time since I had known him he borrowed heedlessly right and
left, and had, therefore, to bring forth play after play with scant
time for thought.

Lord Alfred Douglas has declared recently:

"I spent much more in entertaining Oscar Wilde than he did in
entertaining me"; but this is preposterous self-deception. An earlier
confession of his was much nearer the truth: "It was a sweet
humiliation to me to let Oscar Wilde pay for everything and to ask him
for money."

There can be no doubt that Lord Alfred Douglas' habitual extravagance
kept Oscar Wilde hard up, and drove him to write without intermission.

There were other and worse results of the intimacy which need not be
exposed here in so many words, though they must be indicated; for they
derived of necessity from that increased self-assurance which has
already been recorded. As Oscar devoted himself to Lord Alfred Douglas
and went about with him continually, he came to know his friends and
his familiars, and went less into society so-called. Again and again
Lord Alfred Douglas flaunted acquaintance with youths of the lowest
class; but no one knew him or paid much attention to him; Oscar Wilde,
on the other hand, was already a famous personage whose every
movement provoked comment. From this time on the rumours about Oscar
took definite form and shaped themselves in specif