hich he could
realise his conception of the beautiful.

CHAPTER XII

It was on the ninth of November, the eve of his own thirty-eighth
birthday, as he often remembered afterwards.

He was walking home about eleven o'clock from Lord Henry's, where he had
been dining, and was wrapped in heavy furs, as the night was cold and
foggy. At the corner of Grosvenor Square and South Audley Street a man
passed him in the mist, walking very fast, and with the collar of his
grey ulster turned up. He had a bag in his hand. Dorian recognised him.
It was Basil Hallward. A strange sense of fear, for which he could not
account, came over him. He made no sign of recognition, and went on
quickly in the direction of his own house.

But Hallward had seen him. Dorian heard him first stopping on the
pavement, and then hurrying after him. In a few moments his hand was on
his arm.

"Dorian! What an extraordinary piece of luck! I have been waiting for
you in your library ever since nine o'clock. Finally I took pity on your
tired servant, and told him to go to bed, as he let me out. I am off to
Paris by the midnight train, and I particularly wanted to see you before
I left. I thought it was you, or rather your fur coat, as you passed me.
But I wasn't quite sure. Didn't you recognise me?"

"In this fog, my dear Basil? Why, I can't even recognise Grosvenor
Square. I believe my house is somewhere about here, but I don't feel at
all certain about it. I am sorry you are going away, as I have not seen
you for ages. But I suppose you will be back soon?"

"No: I am going to be out of England for six months. I intend to take a
studio in Paris, and shut myself up till I have finished a great picture
I have in my head. However, it wasn't about myself I wanted to talk.
Here we are at your door. Let me come in for a moment. I have something
to say to you."

"I shall be charmed. But won't you miss your train?" said Dorian Gray,
languidly, as he passed up the steps and opened the door with his
latch-key.

The lamp-light struggled out through the fog, and Hallward looked at his
watch. "I have heaps of time," he answered. "The train doesn't go till
twelve-fifteen, and it is only just eleven. In fact, I was on my way to
the club to look for you, when I met you. You see, I shan't have any
delay about luggage, as I have sent on my heavy things. All I have with
me is in this bag, and I can easily get to Victoria in twenty minutes."

Dorian looked a