thing to do with its insertion.

Nemesis was following hard after him. Late in this year he spoke to
me of his own accord about Lord Queensberry. He wanted my advice:

"Lord Queensberry is annoying me," he said; "I did my best to
reconcile him and Bosie. One day at the Cafe Royal, while Bosie and I
were lunching there, Queensberry came in and I made Bosie go over and
fetch his father and bring him to lunch with us. He was half friendly
with me till quite recently; though he wrote a shameful letter to
Bosie about us. What am I to do?"

I asked him what Lord Queensberry objected to.

"He objects to my friendship with Bosie."

"Then why not cease to see Bosie?" I asked.

"It is impossible, Frank, and ridiculous; why should I give up my
friends for Queensberry?"

"I should like to see Queensberry's letter," I said. "Is it possible?"

"I'll bring it to you, Frank, but there's nothing in it." A day or two
later he showed me the letter, and after I had read it he produced a
copy of the telegram which Lord Alfred Douglas had sent to his father
in reply. Here they both are; they speak for themselves loudly enough:

ALFRED,--

It is extremely painful for me to have to write to you in
the strain I must; but please understand that I decline to
receive any answers from you in writing in return. After
your recent hysterical impertinent ones I refuse to be
annoyed with such, and I decline to read any more letters.
If you have anything to say do come here and say it in
person. Firstly, am I to understand that, having left Oxford
as you did, with discredit to yourself, the reasons of which
were fully explained to me by your tutor, you now intend to
loaf and loll about and do nothing? All the time you were
wasting at Oxford I was put off with an assurance that you
were eventually to go into the Civil Service or to the
Foreign Office, and then I was put off with an assurance
that you were going to the Bar. It appears to me that you
intend to do nothing. I utterly decline, however, to just
supply you with sufficient funds to enable you to loaf
about. You are preparing a wretched future for yourself, and
it would be most cruel and wrong for me to encourage you in
this. Secondly, I come to the more painful part of this
letter--your intimacy with this man Wilde. It must either
cease or I will disown you and stop all money