Chapter 6 A New Life in London Five hours later, I was in a coach taking me to Mr. Jagger's office.
The gloomy street frightened me a little, so I quickly went inside and introduced myself to the clerk.
Mr. Jagger's is in court, young sir, but you're to wait here for him.
There were many people crowded into the room waiting to see him.
When Mr. Jagger's finally arrived, he talked with everyone else first before he approached me.
After leading me back into his private room, he washed his hands and face and said At last Pip, you've arrived.
You're going to go to Bernard's Inn to see Mr. Pockett's son, Herbert.
Stay there until Monday when you'll go to Pockett's house in Hammersmith.
You won't be at school full time, so we'll have to sort out a place for you to stay here in London too.
He continued, Here's your allowance.
My clerk, Wimmick, will be keeping tabs on you in case you run into any trouble.
Should I call for a cab?
I asked.
Wemmick can walk you over.
It's not far.
Mr. Wemmick smiled as we stepped out into the street.
He asked if I'd ever been to London before.
When I said no, he chuckled.
I was new here once.
A short man with a square face, Wemmick had a nose that looked like it was carved out of wood.
Funny to think about that now when I know the city so well, he said.
The gate for Bernard's Inn opened into a dismal square, complete with dismal trees and dismal birds.
Dirty windows with four rent signs, broken flower pots, and a layer of dust completed the scene.
I could see no earthly reason why anyone might want to live here.
Mr. Wimmick led me up rickety set of stairs.
I thought they would collapse beneath our feet.
We came to a door with a note that said, Be right back.
I suppose Herbert didn't think you'd be early, Mr. Wimmick said.
You need me to wait here in the hallway with you?
No, I'll be fine.
I'm sure we'll meet again, Mr. Wimmick started back downstairs.
Good day.
As I waited, I wrote my name on a dirty window and thought, London is not what I expected.
Five, then ten, then thirty minutes passed.
Finally, I heard the sound of shoes on the stairs.
A young man in a suit identical to mine soon stood before me.
He looked very familiar to me.
Pip, he said.
Herbert?
Dear me, he said.
I thought you would take the afternoon coach.
I've been out getting us some fruit.
Herbert pushed, pulled, and attacked the door as if it were a wild beast.
At last, it opened.
Come in.
Come in, he shouted excitedly.
It's a small place.
He showed me around.
Tomorrow, I thought, well, Mr. Jaggers thought, we could take a walk around London.
Herbert's voice trailed off as he looked at me more closely.
Why, it's you, from that day in Miss Havisham's garden.
Suddenly I recognized him, and you are the pale young gentleman.
We laughed.
Of all places, Pip, how have you come to be here?
I replied, I'm to come into a fortune one day.
My benefactor wants me to become a gentleman.
Herbert was cheerful and chatty and made me feel right at home.
After dinner, we ate strawberries and swapped stories about Miss Havisham.
I even told Herbert that I thought she was the one helping me.
It's a secret, I said.
It's safe with me, he said.
Do you know the story of Miss Havisham's life?
I knew she was supposed to be married.
Herbert told me her father had owned a factory, the one on the grounds of Manor House.
She was popular, always attending balls and parties, he continued.
She met a young man who wasn't very nice.
On the day they were to be married, he didn't show up, stole her money and sent a letter instead.
I gasped.
He just left her?
Herbert nodded.
At that very minute, all the clocks in Manor House were stopped.
What happened to him?
He fell onto hard times, Herbert said.
Might have ended up in jail.
Soon after, Miss Havisham adopted to Stella.
Before I could ask about Estella, Herbert started telling me about his plans to own a shipping empire.
We spent the rest of the night dreaming of the future.
Monday came and we went by coach to Hammersmith to meet Mr. Pocket, Herbert's dad.
He was to be my teacher.
As we walked into the garden, we saw Herbert's six brothers and sisters tumbling around.
Mother, Herbert called.
This is young Mr. Pip.
At that moment, Mr. Pocket came rushing out of the house, shouting, Good to see you, Pip.
Hope you're glad to see us, too.
He was a young-looking man, despite the gray hair, and he was as easygoing and friendly as Herbert.
He showed me upstairs to my airy, pleasant room.
It even had a little sitting area next to the desk.
We left my suitcase behind and knocked on two similar doors.
My fellow students, Startop and Drummel, came out to say hello.
Bentley Drummel was heavyset and unpleasant.
He was the opposite of Startup, who was thin and looked like the type of boy who was always reading.
Mr. Pocket said, "'I'll leave you boys to chat.'
Drummel said, "'Should we take the boats out for a row?'
Startup said, "'As long as I can sit and read.'
"'As if you ever do anything else,' Drummel said, sulking.
"'Pip, you'll row, right?'
"'I suppose, yes.'
We found Herbert and the four of us had a bit of fun on the river, despite Drummle's sour mood.
We had just stowed the boats when it was time for dinner.
A lively occasion there was fuss over a missing cook and misbehaving children.
Afterward, Mr. Pocket sighed and said, Pip, I do hope you'll like it here.
I already know that I will, I said.
Over the next few days, Mr Pocket and I went back and forth between London and Hammersmith to buy new school supplies.
I'd be taking general lessons and wouldn't be training for any specific career, not like when I was Joe's apprentice.
Mr. Pocket was a very good teacher, and I loved learning from him.
I spent half my time in Hammersmith and the other half in London with Herbert.
The arrangement suited me just fine.
Herbert was becoming one of my closest friends.
I had finally found happiness in London.
One afternoon, I realized it had been some time since I'd seen Wemmick.
I decided to go to the office to see if he wanted to have dinner.
"'I'll be done here in a few minutes,' Wemmick said.
"'Then why don't we go to my house?'
"'Along the way,' Wemmick said.
"'I think Mr. Jaggers plans to invite you and all your friends to dinner tomorrow night.'
"'All of us?
There's four of you, right?
Herbert, Startup, Drummle, and you?'
Even though I didn't think of Drummle as a pal, I said yes.
Look, I've got to warn you.
Mr. Jaggers's housekeeper, Molly, is very strange.
Strange how?
She's good at her job, mind you, but she has a dark past.
She was in a great deal of trouble with the law.
Mr. Jaggers fixed the situation.
Wemmick lived in Walworth.
We took a series of back lanes until we arrived at the smallest house I had ever seen.
I built my castle myself, Wemmick said.
On Sundays, I even run a flag up the flagpole.
It's lovely, I said.
He pulled down the large plank he used as a drawbridge.
We crossed a moat and then a garden many times the size of the house.
I created all of this, he claimed cheerily.
I am my own jack of all trades.
Once inside, Wemmick introduced me to his aged parent.
That's what he lovingly called his father.
The elderly man was hard of hearing, so I tipped my hat to him.
He chuckled.
We had a delicious fish dinner and great conversation.
Might as well spend the night, Pip, Wemmick said when the clock struck midnight.
It's a long walk back to Bernard's Inn.
I said goodnight to the aged parent and followed Wemmick to a room upstairs.
As I closed the door, I thought about how I had never laughed so much in my life as I had during dinner.
Wimmick was serious and harsh while at work in Mr Jagger's office, but at home he was an inventor, a carpenter, a plumber, a gardener and a bit of a clown.
I felt special knowing both sides of him.
The next morning I went into the office with Wimmick.
"'Pibb,' Mr. Jaggers called, "'good to see you.
How about coming to my house for dinner tonight with your three pals?
You may come here first, then we'll go to my house.'
Drummle, Startop, Herbert, and I arrived at six o'clock sharp.
Mr. Jaggers led us through the crowded street.
At last we came upon a house in good need of a cleaning and a paint job.
"'Follow me, boys.
In you come.
Don't be shy,' he said.'
We walked upstairs to the third floor where Mr. Jagger's housekeeper had already set out our meal.
As the boys helped themselves to a drink, Mr. Jagger's pulled me aside.
Pip, I'm afraid I don't know who's who, except Herbert, of course.
Who's this spidery-looking fellow?
Who?
I said.
Oh, the blotchy, sprawly, sulky one.
Oh, Drummel, the one with the softer face as start-up.
Right.
I like the look of him, he said.
I didn't pretend to understand why and was glad when the housekeeper motioned for us all to sit.
I stole a glance at her and noticed that Molly was tall and very pale, with large eyes and long hair.
I couldn't put my finger on it, but there was something familiar about her.
Once she served our food, Mr. Jaggers motioned for her to leave.
Dinner went off without a hitch.
Mr. Jaggers mainly listened as we boys chatted freely.
Of course, Drummle bragged about his rowing and we all rolled our eyes.
This upset him enough to remark that we spent too much money and should be ashamed of ourselves.
I said, Should you be pointing fingers?
You don't have any of your allowance left either.
Didn't you borrow money from Startup last week?
I'll pay him back, Drummle shouted.
I never said you wouldn't, I yelled.
You wouldn't loan us the shirt off your back if we needed it.
Quite right, he continued.
I wouldn't loan anything to anyone.
Startup said something funny to stop us from arguing.
Mr. Jaggers announced, All right, boys, it's half past nine.
Time to call it a night.
Before we left, I apologized to Mr. Jaggers for our rough behavior.
No worries, Pip.
See you soon. we all spilled out of Miss Jagger's home into the misty London air.
I decided that from then on I would keep my distance from Drummle.
I linked arms with Herbert, and we walked back to Bernard's Inn.
