The portrait of Dorian Gray - - Chapter 9 : A hunting Accident

Dorian Gray had a co untry home at Selby Royal whe re he
had invited several gu es ts so th at they could go hunting and
e njoy the bea utiful co untrys id e. Lord He nry and the
Duchess of Monmouth were sitting in th e glass house next to
the main building, talking, while Dorian had walked away to
look for a beautiful flower for the Duchess. Doria n had
reached out for a white o rchid whe n he saw the face ofj ames
Vane looking at him through the window. Lord Henry and
the Duchess heard Dori a n fall to th e ground, but they didn 't
know why. Lord Henry ran over to he lp him up.
"Dori an , my boy, are you alri ght?"
Dorian opened his eyes slowl y and looked co nfused .
"Oh, Henry. Am I safe? Am I safe?"
"Yes, you only fainted . You must be weak. Let's get you
inside."
For two days, Do rian stayed inside. He said he needed
rest, but he was really afraid . He did not kn ow if he h ad
really seen J ames Vane. Maybe it was his imagin atio n. Maybe
hi s guilt over the murder of Bas il was making him see things
th at were n't really th ere.
Fin all y, on the third clay, th e smell of the pine trees and
the cold winter air made him feel like bein g o utsid e with the
oth er hunters. He rode his horse through the fo rest to a
small lake where he saw the Duchess's brother , GeotTrey
Clo uston , emptying hi s gun . Do rian walked with Geoffrey,
and he was filled with joy and happiness when he heard the
sound of guns firing and voices crying out in the distance.
A small rabbit ran in front of them, and Sir Geoffrey
raised his gun to shoot it. Dorian saw the beauty in the way
the rabbit moved, and he cried out: "Don't shoot it. Let it
live ."
But Sir Geoffrey would not listen. He fired two shots, and
there was a horrible cry from the bush the rabbit had run
into. Sir Geoffrey had shot one of the men who helped the
hunters. He was hidden by the bush .
Dorian felt ill. Lord Henry came up to comfort him.
"It's a bad omen, Harry. I feel like something terrible is
going to happen."
'There's no such thing as bad omens. Besides, what
horrible thing could happen to you? Every man in the world
wants to be like you."
Dorian lay on the couch in his room that evening with a
sick feeling inside. He wanted to leave Selby Royal. He could
feel death all around it. He told his servant he was going to
take the night train to London. He was about to write a letter
to Lord Henry, telling him he was going to see a doctor,
when there >vas a knock at his door. It was the man in charge
of the farm workers. Dorian thought it was about the man
who had been killed.
"What is it, Thornton? Do you need some money to give
to the man's family ?"
"No, sir. vVe don't know who the man was."
"What? Wasn't he one of your men ?"
"No, sir. I've never seen him before. I think he was a
sai lor."
Dorian's face turned white.
"He had tattooes on his arms and he was wearing sailor's
cloth es. They found a gun in his pocket."
"I have to see him. Tell me where he is."
Dorian rode out to the farm house. The dead man lay
there with a handkerchief over his face and a candle next to
his head . Dor.ian asked one of the farmers to uncover the
face . Then he saw that it was James Vane, he felt great joy.
Now he thought that he was safe.