At that moment another unexpected scene followed.Though Grushenka had been removed, she had not been taken far away, only into the room next but one from the blue room, in which the examination was proceeding.It was a little room with one window, next beyond the large room in which they had danced and feasted so lavishly.She was sitting there with no one by her but Maximov, who was terribly depressed, terribly scared, and clung to her side, as though for security.At their door stood one of the peasants with a metal plate on his breast.Grushenka was crying, and suddenly her grief was too much for her, she jumped up, flung up her arms and, with a loud wail of sorrow, rushed out of the room to him, to her Mitya, and so unexpectedly that they had not time to stop her.Mitya, hearing her cry, trembled, jumped up, and with a yell rushed impetuously to meet her, not knowing what he was doing.But they were not allowed to come together, though they saw one another.He was seized by the arms.
He struggled, and tried to tear himself away.It took three or four men to hold him.She was seized too, and he saw her stretching out her arms to him, crying aloud as they carried her away.When the scene was over, he came to himself again, sitting in the same place as before, opposite the investigating lawyer, and crying out to them:
"What do you want with her? Why do you torment her? She's done nothing, nothing!
The lawyers tried to soothe him.About ten minutes passed like this.At last Mihail Makarovitch, who had been absent, came hurriedly into the room, and said in a loud and excited voice to the prosecutor:
"She's been removed, she's downstairs.Will you allow me to say one word to this unhappy man, gentlemen? In your presence, gentlemen, in your presence.""By all means, Mihail Makarovitch," answered the investigating lawyer."In the present case we have nothing against it.""Listen, Dmitri Fyodorovitch, my dear fellow," began the police captain, and there was a look of warm, almost fatherly, feeling for the luckless prisoner on his excited face."I took your Agrafena Alexandrovna downstairs myself, and confided her to the care of the landlord's daughters, and that old fellow Maximov is with her all the time.And I soothed her, do you hear? I soothed and calmed her.
I impressed on her that you have to clear yourself, so she mustn't hinder you, must not depress you, or you may lose your head and say the wrong thing in your evidence.In fact, I talked to her and she understood.She's a sensible girl, my boy, a good-hearted girl, she would have kissed my old hands, begging help for you.She sent me herself, to tell you not to worry about her.And I must go, my dear fellow, I must go and tell her that you are calm and comforted about her.And so you must be calm, do you understand? I was unfair to her; she is a Christian soul, gentlemen, yes, I tell you, she's a gentle soul, and not to blame for anything.So what am I to tell her, Dmitri Fyodorovitch? Will you sit quiet or not?"The good-natured police captain said a great deal that was irregular, but Grushenka's suffering, a fellow creature's suffering, touched his good-natured heart, and tears stood in his eyes.Mitya jumped up and rushed towards him.
"Forgive me, gentlemen, oh, allow me, allow me!" he cried."You've the heart of an angel, an angel, Mihail Makarovitch, I thank you for her.I will, I will be calm, cheerful, in fact.Tell her, in the kindness of your heart, that I am cheerful, quite cheerful, that Ishall be laughing in a minute, knowing that she has a guardian angel like you.I shall have done with all this directly, and as soon as I'm free, I'll be with her, she'll see, let her wait.Gentlemen," he said, turning to the two lawyers, now I'll open my whole soul to you; I'll pour out everything.We'll finish this off directly, finish it off gaily.We shall laugh at it in the end, shan't we? But gentlemen, that woman is the queen of my heart.Oh, let me tell you that.That one thing I'll tell you now....I see I'm with honourable men.She is my light, she is my holy one, and if only you knew! Did you hear her cry, 'I'll go to death with you'? And what have I, a penniless beggar, done for her? Why such love for me? How can a clumsy, ugly brute like me, with my ugly face, deserve such love, that she is ready to go to exile with me? And how she fell down at your feet for my sake, just now!...and yet she's proud and has done nothing! How can I help adoring her, how can I help crying out and rushing to her as I did just now? Gentlemen, forgive me! But now, now I am comforted."And he sank back in his chair and, covering his face with his hands, burst into tears.But they were happy tears.He recovered himself instantly.The old police captain seemed much pleased, and the lawyers also.They felt that the examination was passing into a new phase.When the police captain went out, Mitya was positively gay.
"Now, gentlemen, I am at your disposal, entirely at your disposal.
And if it were not for all these trivial details, we should understand one another in a minute.I'm at those details again.I'm at your disposal, gentlemen, but I declare that we must have mutual confidence, you in me and I in you, or there'll be no end to it.Ispeak in your interests.To business, gentlemen, to business, and don't rummage in my soul; don't tease me with trifles, but only ask me about facts and what matters, and I will satisfy you at once.And damn the details!"So spoke Mitya.The interrogation began again.
Chapter 4
