Free eBooks at Planet eBook.com ecutor observed, still speaking with the same restraint,
though with a note of triumph, ‘that there was no need to
give the signal if the door already stood open when you
were there, while you were in the garden..’
‘The door, the door,’ muttered Mitya, and he stared
speechless at the prosecutor. He sank back helpless in his
chair. All were silent.
‘Yes, the door!... It’s a nightmare! God is against me!’ he
exclaimed, staring before him in complete stupefaction.
‘Come, you see,’ the prosecutor went on with dignity,
‘and you can judge for yourself, Dmitri Fyodorovitch. On
the one hand, we have the evidence of the open door from
which you ran out, a fact which overwhelms you and us. On
the other side, your incomprehensible, persistent, and, so
to speak, obdurate silence with regard to the source from
which you obtained the money which was so suddenly seen
in your hands, when only three hours earlier, on your own
showing, you pledged your pistols for the sake of ten rou-
bles! In view of all these facts, judge for yourself. What are
we to believe, and what can we depend upon? And don’t
accuse us of being ‘frigid, cynical, scoffing people,’ who
are incapable of believing in the generous impulses of your
heart.... Try to enter into our position..’
Mitya was indescribably agitated. He turned pale.
‘Very well!’ he exclaimed suddenly, ‘I will tell you my
secret. I’ll tell you where I got the money!... I’ll reveal my
shame, that I may not have to blame myself or you hereaf-
ter.’
‘And believe me, Dmitri Fyodorovitch,’ put in Nikolay