He had another grief at the same time, that is the poignant consciousness of having acted contemptibly.

He admitted this to me afterwards with perfect openness.

And you know real genuine sorrow will sometimes make even a phenomenally frivolous, unstable man solid and stoical; for a short time at any rate; what's more, even fools are by genuine sorrow turned into wise men, also only for a short time of course; it is characteristic of sorrow.

And if so, what might not happen with a man like Stepan Trofimovitch?
It worked a complete transformation--though also only for a time, of course.
He bowed with dignity to Varvara Petrovna without uttering a word (there was nothing else left for him to do, indeed).

He was on the point of going out without a word, but could not refrain from approaching Darya Pavlovna.