The Brothers Karamazovstruck Alyosha so much before, was only betrayed now in a
frank, generous energy and a sort of bright, strong faith in
herself. Alyosha realised at the first glance, at the first word,
that all the tragedy of her position in relation to the man she
loved so dearly was no secret to her; that she perhaps already
knew everything, positively everything. And yet, in spite of
that, there was such brightness in her face, such faith in the
future. Alyosha felt at once that he had gravely wronged her
in his thoughts. He was conquered and captivated immedi-
ately. Besides all this, he noticed at her first words that she
was in great excitement, an excitement perhaps quite excep-
tional and almost approaching ecstasy.
‘I was so eager to see you, because I can learn from you
the whole truth — from you and no one else.’
‘I have come,’ muttered Alyosha confusedly, ‘I — he sent
me.’
‘Ah, he sent you I foresaw that. Now I know everything-
everything!’ cried Katerina Ivanovna, her eyes flashing.
‘Wait a moment, Alexey Fyodorovitch, I’ll tell you why I’ve
been so longing to see you. You see, I know perhaps far
more than you do yourself, and there’s no need for you to
tell me anything. I’ll tell you what I want from you. I want
to know your own last impression of him. I want you to tell
me most directly, plainly, coarsely even (oh, as coarsely as
you like!), what you thought of him just now and of his posi-
tion after your meeting with him to-day. That will perhaps
be better than if I had a personal explanation with him, as
he does not want to come to me. Do you understand what I
want from you? Now, tell me simply, tell me every word of