Page 986 - the-brothers-karamazov

Chapter 4

A Hymn and a Secret

T was quite late (days are short in November) when Alyo-
Isha rang at the prison gate. It was beginning to get dusk.
But Alyosha knew that he would be admitted without diffi-
culty. Things were managed in our little town, as everywhere
else. At first, of course, on the conclusion of the preliminary
inquiry, relations and a few other persons could only obtain
interviews with Mitya by going through certain inevitable
formalities. But later, though the formalities were not re-
laxed, exceptions were made for some, at least, of Mitya’s
visitors. So much so, that sometimes the interviews with the
prisoner in the room set aside for the purpose were practi-
cally tete-a-tete.
These exceptions, however, were few in number; only
Grushenka, Alyosha and Rakitin were treated like this. But
the captain of the police, Mihail Mihailovitch, was very fa-
vourably disposed to Grushenka. His abuse of her at Mokroe
weighed on the old man’s conscience, and when he learned
the whole story, he completely changed his view of her. And
strange to say, though he was firmly persuaded of his guilt,
yet after Mitya was once in prison, the old man came to