CHAPTER 3
The next day, Henry opened his eyes and the morning sun was already illuminating the room. He was trying to remember what had happened the day before and after gathering his memories back, he sighed sadly. He was feeling exhausted and after a few minutes, Maurice knocked on the door.
"Come in." said Henry.
"Your breakfast is ready sir. If you like, I can bring it to you since you are still on the bed. And here is your correspondence."
"Thank you, Maurice. Sorry, but I'm not hungry right now and you can take a day off today, I would like to do some things by myself."
"Thank you, sir. I hope you have a great day."
After his servant left, Henry stayed on the bed and while reading his correspondence he noticed that most of them were from Alan. He and his friend would always exchange letters every day, however, he decided not to answer them at that moment. Suddenly, he heard someone downstairs making some noise. Was it Maurice? He walked towards a dressing table and started combing his wavy black hair. After a while he dressed up, carefully closed the door behind him and started descending the stairs. Halfway he saw Alan in the living room and his friend looked back at him.
"Good morning, Henry."
"What brings you here at this hour?" said Henry. "I thought that it was Maurice, not you."
"Really, my friend?" said Alan surprised. "What a way to start the day. I came to visit you and I also need to talk to you."
"Please, have a seat." said Henry, walking towards Alan.
"I have a favor to ask you." said Alan. "Recently, my mother is sick and the treatment is very expensive. Me and Elise are trying our best to pay everything, however, it has been really difficult. I didn't want to ask you this, but could you lend me some money? It's an emergency and I don't have anyone else to ask."
"All right, I will help you and I hope that your mother gets well soon." replied Henry.
"Oh, thank you so much, Henry! I really appreciate that!"
Henry nodded and Alan left after having a cup of tea. As Maurice was not there, he decided to go upstairs to his office. He opened the door and everything was well organized, but behind a bookcase, Henry took out something that was covered with a silk fabric which he carefully removed. What he saw made him nostalgic and he remembered that one evening, when the package arrived. It was after coming back from Alan's house and Maurice said that a man left it without even saying his name. When he opened it, he decided to keep it in his office, as it was something too important to be kept in sight. Henry had received the picture of Dorian Gray.