"Harry is never wrong, Duchess."
"And does his philosophy make you happy?"
"I have never searched for happiness.
Who wants happiness?
I have searched for pleasure."
"And found it, Mr. Gray?"
"Often.
Too often."
The Duchess sighed.
"I am searching for peace," she said, "and if I don't go and dress, I shall have none this evening."
"Let me get you some orchids, Duchess," cried Dorian, starting to his feet, and walking down the conservatory.
"You are flirting disgracefully with him," said Lord Henry to his cousin. "You had better take care.
He is very fascinating."
"If he were not, there would be no battle."
"Greek meets Greek, then?"
"I am on the side of the Trojans.
They fought for a woman."
"They were defeated."
"There are worse things than capture," she answered.
"You gallop with a loose rein."
"Pace gives life," was the riposte.
"I shall write it in my diary to-night."
"What?"
"That a burnt child loves the fire."
"I am not even singed.
My wings are untouched."
"You use them for everything, except flight."
"Courage has passed from men to women.
It is a new experience for us."
"You have a rival."
"Who?"
He laughed. "Lady Narborough," he whispered. "She perfectly adores him."
"You fill me with apprehension.
The appeal to Antiquity is fatal to us who are romanticists."
"Romanticists!
You have all the methods of science."
"Men have educated us."
"But not explained you."
"Describe us as a sex," was her challenge.
"Sphynxes without secrets."
She looked at him, smiling.
"How long Mr. Gray is!" she said.
"Let us go and help him.
I have not yet told him the colour of my frock."
"Ah! you must suit your frock to his flowers, Gladys."
"That would be a premature surrender."
"Romantic Art begins with its climax."
"I must keep an opportunity for retreat."
"In the Parthian manner?"
"They found safety in the desert.