y; but a moment after he
changed his mind again and went on in the old direction.

Why, here he was on the Petersburg Side already, quite close to the
house! Where was his "idea"? He was marching along without it now. Yes,
his malady was coming back, it was clear enough; all this gloom and
heaviness, all these "ideas," were nothing more nor less than a fit
coming on; perhaps he would have a fit this very day.

But just now all the gloom and darkness had fled, his heart felt full of
joy and hope, there was no such thing as doubt. And yes, he hadn't
seen her for so long; he really must see her. He wished he could meet
Rogojin; he would take his hand, and they would go to her together. His
heart was pure, he was no rival of Parfen's. Tomorrow, he would go
and tell him that he had seen her. Why, he had only come for the sole
purpose of seeing her, all the way from Moscow! Perhaps she might be
here still, who knows? She might not have gone away to Pavlofsk yet.

Yes, all this must be put straight and above-board, there must be no
more passionate renouncements, such as Rogojin's. It must all be clear
as day. Cannot Rogojin's soul bear the light? He said he did not love
her with sympathy and pity; true, he added that "your pity is greater
than my love," but he was not quite fair on himself there. Kin! Rogojin
reading a book--wasn't that sympathy beginning? Did it not show that he
comprehended his relations with her? And his story of waiting day and
night for her forgiveness? That didn't look quite like passion alone.

And as to her face, could it inspire nothing but passion? Could her
face inspire passion at all now? Oh, it inspired suffering, grief,
overwhelming grief of the soul! A poignant, agonizing memory swept over
the prince's heart.

Yes, agonizing. He remembered how he had suffered that first day when he
thought he observed in her the symptoms of madness. He had almost fallen
into despair. How could he have lost his hold upon her when she ran away
from him to Rogojin? He ought to have run after her himself, rather than
wait for news as he had done. Can Rogojin have failed to observe, up
to now, that she is mad? Rogojin attributes her strangeness to other
causes, to passion! What insane jealousy! What was it he had hinted at
in that suggestion of his? The prince suddenly blushed, and shuddered to
his very heart.

But why recall all this? There was insanity on both sides. For him, the
prince, to love this woman wi