CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Miss Havisham Realizes Pip's Suffering

Miss Havisham's house looked darker than ever when I arrived the next day. Suddenly, I realized how lonely she was now that Estella had gone. She looked sadly at me.

"Tell me, Pip," she said, stretching out her hand to me, "how may I help your friend? You mentioned something about it the last time you were here."

I explained my agreement with Clarrikers and how Herbert was to be made a partner. Nine hundred pounds still had to be paid to the company before they would do so.

"Will you be happier if I pay this?"

"Much happier."

"And how about yourself, Pip? Can't I do anything for you?"

"No. There is nothing you can do for me," I answered.

She handed me a written cheque. "Mr Jaggers will give you the money you need. And—here, Pip," she said, handing me another piece of paper, "here is a note with only my name on. I hope one day you can write under it 'I forgive her.'"

"Oh Miss Havisham," I said, "I can do it now. I can't be bitter with anyone because I know we all make mistakes."

"What have I done, Pip!" she suddenly cried, dropping to her knees in front of me. "It was wrong to raise her so! I should never have brought up Estella like that, or allowed you to be hurt!"

"What is done is done, but please tell me something about Estella. How and why did you adopt her?"

"I never knew who her parents were," she said quietly. "I wanted a child of my own, and so I asked Jaggers to find a little girl for me to adopt. He brought Estella here. She was only about three when she arrived at my house."

As we had nothing more to say to one another, I left. But walking through the old garden I had a strange feeling that something was wrong. I decided to run back upstairs to check on Miss Havisham. When I opened the door of her room, I saw her sitting close to the fire. Suddenly, the room was lit by a great flame. She came rushing towards me, screaming, with her hair and clothes on fire. I quickly covered her with my coat and somehow managed to put out the flames with my hands.

I called for a doctor, and he cleaned her burns as best he could. They placed her bed on the great dining table, where her wedding cake had once been. She lay there, half-conscious and covered with a white sheet. I could not stay because I had to return to London, so I left her in the care of the doctor and several nurses.

My hands and right arm had been badly burnt by the fire. Though I was in great pain, I needed to know if Magwitch was safe, and so I went straight to find Herbert.

As he gently put bandages on my hands, Herbert assured me that everything was fine. "He seems much more pleasant than before," he said. "I actually quite like him now. Yesterday he was telling me about his interesting past. Do you know, he was once married to a young woman who was jealous of another woman. There was a fight, and his wife killed the woman. But his wife was never punished for the murder because she had a very clever lawyer who convinced everyone she was innocent. She and Magwitch had a daughter, and Magwitch loved his daughter dearly. But both his wife and his child disappeared after the trial. He thought that his wife must have killed their daughter."

Trying to control my excitement, I asked Herbert how old the daughter was.

"If she had lived, she would be about your age."

"Herbert," I said, "do I look ill or mad or anything?"

"No," replied Herbert, "but you do look a little excited."

"Listen to what I know, Herbert. Magwitch is Estella's father!"

The next day I felt ill and weak because of my burns. I went straight to Jaggers' office. He admitted to me that his housekeeper's daughter was Estella, adopted by Miss Havisham to give her the chance of a better life. But he did not know that Magwitch was Estella's father.

(end of section)