Chapter 10 Both Together

Alyosha, shaken by the day’s turmoil, hurries to Katerina Ivanovna seeking clarity. She greets him with fervent warmth, demands his unvarnished impression of Dmitri, and seizes on the phrasing of Dmitri’s “compliments” as possible bravado rather than finality. She reveals she long knew the three thousand roubles were never sent, hoping Dmitri would turn to her as his true friend.

Alyosha recounts Dmitri’s violent scene with Fyodor and his rushed farewell. Katerina insists Dmitri’s passion for Grushenka will not endure and, to Alyosha’s shock, introduces Grushenka, who has been waiting in the next room. Katerina exalts Grushenka as kind and noble and pins her hopes on Grushenka renouncing Dmitri because an old love is returning to her.

Grushenka, gentle in tone but willful, declines to promise anything. She admits she could reclaim Dmitri on a whim, undercutting Katerina’s plan. Katerina showers her with kisses, pleading for assurance; Grushenka withholds a reciprocal kiss to ensure the imbalance and threatens to boast of it to Dmitri.

The scene flips from adoration to insult: Katerina explodes, calling Grushenka vile. Grushenka retorts by alluding to Katerina’s past “for sale” visit, knowledge Dmitri has shared. Alyosha restrains Katerina as her aunts and a maid rush in. Grushenka departs, laughing, asking Alyosha to see her home, and hinting she staged the scene for him.

Katerina collapses in hysterics, condemning Dmitri’s betrayal in exposing her secret and branding him dishonorable. Alyosha, heartsick, withdraws. In the street, a maid overtakes him with a long-forgotten letter from Madame Hohlakov, which he pockets absently.