s?

"What has happened since?" I enquired.

"Nothing," he replied, "perhaps he will be quiet now. Bosie has
written him a terrible letter; he must see now that, if he goes on, he
will only injure his own flesh and blood."

"That won't stop him," I replied, "if I read him aright. But if I
could see what Alfred Douglas wrote, I should be better able to judge
of the effect it will have on Queensberry."

A little later I saw the letter: it shows better than words of mine
the tempers of the chief actors in this squalid story:

"As you return my letters unopened, I am obliged to write on
a postcard. I write to inform you that I treat your absurd
threats with absolute indifference. Ever since your
exhibition at O.W.'s house, I have made a point of appearing
with him at many public restaurants such as The Berkeley,
Willis's Rooms, the Cafe Royal, etc., and I shall continue
to go to any of these places whenever I choose and with
whom I choose. I am of age and my own master. You have
disowned me at least a dozen times, and have very meanly
deprived me of money. You have therefore no right over me,
either legal or moral. If O.W. was to prosecute you in the
Central Criminal Court for libel, you would get seven years'
penal servitude for your outrageous libels. Much as I detest
you, I am anxious to avoid this for the sake of the family;
but if you try to assault me, I shall defend myself with a
loaded revolver, which I always carry; and if I shoot you or
if he shoots you, we shall be completely justified, as we
shall be acting in self-defence against a violent and
dangerous rough, and I think if you were dead many people
would not miss you.--A.D."

This letter of the son seemed to me appalling. My guess was right; it
was he who was speaking through Oscar; the threat of shooting at sight
came from him. I did not then understand all the circumstances; I had
not met Lady Queensberry. I could not have imagined how she had
suffered at the hands of her husband--a charming, cultivated woman,
with exquisite taste in literature and art; a woman of the most
delicate, aspen-like sensibilities and noble generosities, coupled
with that violent, coarse animal with the hot eyes and combative
nature. Her married life had been a martyrdom. Naturally the children
had all taken her side in the quarrel, and Lord Alfred Douglas, her
especial favo