Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com 11 towards proving that the bag had existed and had contained
fifteen hundred roubles and that the prisoner had not been
lying at the preliminary inquiry when he alleged at Mokroe
that those fifteen hundred roubles were ‘his own.’ Alyosha
was glad. With a flushed face he moved away to the seat as-
signed to him. He kept repeating to himself: ‘How was it I
forgot? How could I have forgotten it? And what made it
come back to me now?’
Katerina Ivanovna was called to the witness-box. As she
entered something extraordinary happened in the court.
The ladies clutched their lorgnettes and opera-glasses. There
was a stir among the men: some stood up to get a better
view. Everybody alleged afterwards that Mitya had turned
‘white as a sheet’ on her entrance. All in black, she advanced
modestly, almost timidly. It was impossible to tell from her
face that she was agitated; but there was a resolute gleam in
her dark and gloomy eyes. I may remark that many people
mentioned that she looked particularly handsome at that
moment. She spoke softly but clearly, so that she was heard
all over the court. She expressed herself with composure,
or at least tried to appear composed. The President began
his examination discreetly and very respectfully, as though
afraid to touch on ‘certain chords,’ and showing consider-
ation for her great unhappiness. But in answer to one of the
first questions Katerina Ivanovna replied firmly that she
had been formerly betrothed to the prisoner, ‘until he left
me of his own accord...’ she added quietly. When they asked
her about the three thousand she had entrusted to Mitya to
post to her relations, she said firmly, ‘I didn’t give him the