At times he seemed to wish to show that his brain was still active.

Humour there was; but it was far-fetched, forced and threadbare." These touches may be necessary in order to complete a French picture of the social outcast.

They are not only untrue when applied to Oscar Wilde, but the reverse of the truth; he never talked so well, was never so charming a companion as in the last years of his life.
In the very last year his talk was more genial, more humorous, more vivid than ever, with a wider range of thought and intenser stimulus than before.

He was a born _improvisatore_.

At the moment he always dazzled one out of judgment.