The Brothers Karamazovmy judge in it. But don’t begin about that now; be silent.
You talk of to-morrow, of the trial; but, would you believe it,
I know nothing about it.’
‘Have you talked to the counsel?’
‘What’s the use of the counsel? I told him all about it.
He’s a soft, city-bred rogue — a Bernard! But he doesn’t be-
lieve me — not a bit of it. Only imagine, he believes I did it.
I see it. ‘In that case,’ I asked him, ‘why have you come to
defend me?’ Hang them all! They’ve got a doctor down, too,
want to prove I’m mad. I won’t have that! Katerina Ivanov-
na wants to do her ‘duty’ to the end, whatever the strain!’
Mitya smiled bitterly. ‘The cat! Hard-hearted creature! She
knows that I said of her at Mokroe that she was a wom-
an of ‘great wrath.’ They repeated it. Yes, the facts against
me have grown numerous as the sands of the sea. Grigory
sticks to his point. Grigory’s honest, but a fool. Many people
are honest because they are fools: that’s Rakitin’s idea. Grig-
ory’s my enemy. And there are some people who are better
as foes than friends. I mean Katerina Ivanovna. I am afraid,
oh, I am afraid she will tell how she bowed to the ground af-
ter that four thousand. She’ll pay it back to the last farthing.
I don’t want her sacrifice; they’ll put me to shame at the tri-
al. I wonder how I can stand it. Go to her, Alyosha, ask her
not to speak of that in the court, can’t you? But damn it all,
it doesn’t matter! I shall get through somehow. I don’t pity
her. It’s her own doing. She deserves what she gets. I shall
have my own story to tell, Alexey.’ He smiled bitterly again.
‘Only... only Grusha, Grusha! Good Lord! Why should she
have such suffering to bear?’ he exclaimed suddenly, with