Chapter 9 Pip Becomes a Gentleman New clothes, fancy furniture, expensive dinners.
Herbert and I lived well in London.
Bills piled up, unpaid.
Allowances were quickly spent.
We weren't bothered by our debts.
We didn't even think about them.
We were young and enjoyed our freedom.
Like a true gentleman, I was well-dressed, educated, and had no need to work.
On the day before my twenty-first birthday, a note arrived from Mr. Jaggers.
Our meeting was scheduled for five o'clock the next afternoon.
Wimmick quietly wished me a happy birthday when I arrived, and then winked.
Mr. Pip, Mr. Jaggers called.
How do you feel now that you've come of age?
Ready to start behaving?
I hung my head with shame.
Mr. Jaggers knew how foolish I had been with my allowance.
Yes, sir.
I said.
"'You've been spending far too much money.
You need to smarten up.'
He paused for a moment.
"'Do you understand?'
"'I understand.
Now that I'm of age, will my benefactor be revealed?'
I asked.
"'Not yet,' he said.
"'But here's your birthday present.
It's a cheque for five hundred pounds.
This is all the money you will receive each year, enough with the careless spending.'
Mr. Jaggers looked me straight in the eye.
Do you remember the first time we met?
I told you it could be a very long time until you knew the truth.
We agreed.
No questions.
I nodded.
Mr. Jaggers said, When the person chooses to be known, you won't need me any longer.
That's all I'm going to say about On Sunday I decided to go and visit Wimmick at his castle.
I wanted to see if he could help me solve Herbert's and my money problems.
The drawbridge was up, so I rang the bell.
The elder Mr. Wimmick let me in.
I was surprised he could hear the bell, since he could hear little else.
My son's gone for a walk with Miss Skiffins, he shouted.
Miss Skiffins was Wimmick's lady friend.
He should be back soon.
The pair of us sat outside.
Soon Wimmick came into sight and he waved from across the moat.
Tally-ho, the aged parent yelled as he lowered the drawbridge.
Miss Skiffin smiled and Wimmick helped her across.
She was young and sweet, even if she wore a dress that was a little too orange, with gloves that were a little too green.
Wimmick gave her a loving look.
Pip, he said, nice to see you.
Shall we take a walk?
Miss Skiffins will sit with dear, aged parent.
As we walked, Wemmick showed me how different the castle grounds were now that it was winter.
We were deep along the garden path when he finally said, Now, tell me what's bothering you.
I said I didn't think it was fair that my future was so secure when Herbert would need to work hard to pay off his debts.
Can I set aside some of my inheritance for him?
Is there a way you can help me?
I asked.
Wemmick scratched his head.
Mighty good of you to want to help Herbert, but I'm afraid there's nothing I can do.
But you're a clerk.
I'm a law clerk, he said, but Miss Skiffin's brother is an accountant.
Maybe we can talk to him about creating a job for Herbert.
You said he was interested in shipping?
Oh, yes, we spoke of it the first day we met.
I'll bet Mr. Skiffin's knows a business that would let you create a job for Herbert.
I'd be willing to pay, I just don't want Herbert to know.
A few days passed before I got a note from Wemmick.
The business had been taken care of.
One of Mr Skiffins' clients was a fairly new shipping merchant and didn't have enough money to run his business.
He would take my hundred pounds a year and hire Herbert to help.
One day he said he might even make Herbert a partner.
When the letter came about the new job, Herbert was so excited.
He thought maybe Mr. Jaggers had set it up.
He never knew I was involved.
If only all of our money problems could be solved so easily.
Estella and I saw a lot of each other while she was only ten miles away in Richmond.
We spent many summer afternoons picnicking, and I heard all about her life in high society.
While walking one afternoon, she said, "'Miss Havisham has called me home tomorrow.
She insists that you take me.'
I told her I'd hire a coach to take us.
Estella was so important to me that I was happy to do anything she asked.
After all, there had to be a reason why Miss Havisham had made me promise to be her friend.
I decided she must want me to marry Estella.
She had never said anything about it, of course, but why else would she help me to become a gentleman'?
The coach dropped us off in front of Manor House the next day.
The same dimly lit hallway led us to the same dreary room.
Once we were seated inside, Miss Havisham couldn't stop talking about Estella's charm and her beauty.
I thought, why is she talking like this?
I already know everything about Estella, good and bad.
Miss Havisham's eyes glowed as she talked about the glamorous parties Estella attended, about the important people she met.
The quiet way Estella sat on the arm of Miss Havisham's chair made me finally realize something.
She was using Estella.
The old, worn wedding dress, the tattered flowers.
Miss Havisham's happiness was lost the day she didn't get married.
She had trained Estella to hurt people the way she had been hurt and now she was sending her out among high society.
It was mean, but I knew it was true.
I could tell just from how they looked at each other.
Everything Miss Havisham did was to mold Estella to be cold and cruel, despite her beauty.
The candle cast a strange light upon the room.
The stopped clock, the decaying furniture, the unworn shoe, Estella and me.
We were nothing but dolls to her.
She had watched us play as children.
Now she forced us to do the same as adults.
Estella stood up.
Miss Havisham said meanly, Don't you want to sit near me now?
You have a cold heart.
I am what you've made me, Estella replied.
Neither spoke much from that point until we all went to bed.
Tired but unable to sleep, I slipped out of my room.
A ghost-like Miss Havisham was wandering the hallway.
I closed my bedroom door slowly and climbed back to bed.
As I drifted off, I heard the eerie tapping of her cane and the awful sound of her crying.
