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Chapter 7

Ilusha

T

HE doctor came out of the room again, muffled in his

fur coat and with his cap on his head. His face looked

almost angry and disgusted, as though he were afraid of

getting dirty. He cast a cursory glance round the passage,

looking sternly at Alyosha and Kolya as he did so. Alyosha

waved from the door to the coachman, and the carriage that

had brought the doctor drove up. The captain darted out

after the doctor, and, bowing apologetically, stopped him

to get the last word. The poor fellow looked utterly crushed;

there was a scared look in his eyes.

‘Your Excellency, your Excellency... is it possible?’ he be-

gan, but could not go on and clasped his hands in despair.

Yet he still gazed imploringly at the doctor, as though a

word from him might still change the poor boy’s fate.

‘I can’t help it, I am not God!’ the doctor answered off-

hand, though with the customary impressiveness.

‘Doctor... your Excellency... and will it be soon, soon?’

‘You must be prepared for anything,’ said the doctor in

emphatic and incisive tones, and dropping his eyes, he was

about to step out to the coach.