An hour later he rang, and bade the man-servant who answered the bell: "Go and find out whether Stepanida is alive."
The servant already knew all about it, and told him she had died an hour ago.
"Well, all right. Now leave me alone,—when the police-officer or the magistrate comes, let me know."
The police-officer and magistrate arrived next morning, and Eugene, having bidden his wife and the baby farewell, was taken to prison.
He was tried. It was during the early days of trial by jury;[5] and the verdict was one of temporary insanity, and he was sentenced only to perform church penance.
He had been kept in prison for nine months and was then confined in a monastery for one month.
[5]Trial by jury was introduced in 1864, and at first the juries were inclined to be extremely lenient to the prisoners.