The Wish That Stood Trial
Mitya storms into the blue room weeping and turns childlike with champagne while the Poles rake him at faro until Kalganov stops the game. He offers three thousand roubles in the bedroom to make them leave; they spit and expose his bribe in Russian. Grushenka's fury peaks: five years wasted on a falcon who is only a gander in a wig.
Key Insight
Flashing money you do not fully own in a spree reads like confession even when you stole the sum for honour, not murder. Vicarious guilt spends like guilt before the corpse exists.
