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GREAT EXPECTATIONS
by Charles Dickens
Chapter XXXVII
Deeming Sunday the best day for taking Mr. Wemmick's Walworth sentiments, I devoted the
next ensuing Sunday afternoon to a pilgrimage to the Castle. On arriving before the battlements,
I found the Union Jack flying and the drawbridge up; but undeterred by this show of defiance
and resistance, I rang at the gate, and was admitted in a most pacific manner by the Aged.
"My son, sir," said the old man, after securing the drawbridge, "rather had it in his mind
that you might happen to drop in, and he left word that he would soon be home from his afternoon's
walk. He is very regular in his walks, is my son. Very regular in everything, is my
son." I nodded at the old gentleman as Wemmick himself
might have nodded, and we went in and sat down by the fireside.
"You made acquaintance with my son, sir," said the old man, in his chirping way, while
he warmed his hands at the blaze, "at his office, I expect?" I nodded. "Hah! I have
heerd that my son is a wonderful hand at his business, sir?" I nodded hard. "Yes; so they
tell me. His business is the Law?" I nodded harder. "Which makes it more surprising in
my son," said the old man, "for he was not brought up to the Law, but to the Wine-Coopering."
Curious to know how the old gentleman stood informed concerning the reputation of Mr.
Jaggers, I roared that name at him. He threw me into the greatest confusion by laughing
heartily and replying in a very sprightly manner, "No, to be sure; you're right." And
to this hour I have not the faintest notion what he meant, or what joke he thought I had
made. As I could not sit there nodding at him perpetually,
without making some other attempt to interest him, I shouted at inquiry whether his own
calling in life had been "the Wine-Coopering." By dint of straining that term out of myself
several times and tapping the old gentleman on the chest to associate it with him, I at
last succeeded in making my meaning understood. "No," said the old gentleman; "the warehousing,
the warehousing. First, over yonder;" he appeared to mean up the chimney, but I believe he intended
to refer me to Liverpool; "and then in the City of London here. However, having an infirmityófor
I am hard of hearing, siró" I expressed in pantomime the greatest astonishment.
"óYes, hard of hearing; having that infirmity coming upon me, my son he went into the Law,
and he took charge of me, and he by little and little made out this elegant and beautiful
property. But returning to what you said, you know," pursued the old man, again laughing
heartily, "what I say is, No to be sure; you're right."
I was modestly wondering whether my utmost ingenuity would have enabled me to say anything
that would have amused him half as much as this imaginary pleasantry, when I was startled
by a sudden click in the wall on one side of the chimney, and the ghostly tumbling open
of a little wooden flap with "JOHN" upon it. The old man, following my eyes, cried with
great triumph, "My son's come home!" and we both went out to the drawbridge.
It was worth any money to see Wemmick waving a salute to me from the other side of the
moat, when we might have shaken hands across it with the greatest ease. The Aged was so
delighted to work the drawbridge, that I made no offer to assist him, but stood quiet until
Wemmick had come across, and had presented me to Miss Skiffins; a lady by whom he was
accompanied. Miss Skiffins was of a wooden appearance,
and was, like her escort, in the post-office branch of the service. She might have been
some two or three years younger than Wemmick, and I judged her to stand possessed of portable
property. The cut of her dress from the waist upward, both before and behind, made her figure
very like a boy's kite; and I might have pronounced her gown a little too decidedly orange, and
her gloves a little too intensely green. But she seemed to be a good sort of fellow, and
showed a high regard for the Aged. I was not long in discovering that she was a frequent
visitor at the Castle; for, on our going in, and my complimenting Wemmick on his ingenious
contrivance for announcing himself to the Aged, he begged me to give my attention for
a moment to the other side of the chimney, and disappeared. Presently another click came,
and another little door tumbled open with "Miss Skiffins" on it; then Miss Skiffins
shut up and John tumbled open; then Miss Skiffins and John both tumbled open together, and finally
shut up together. On Wemmick's return from working these mechanical appliances, I expressed
the great admiration with which I regarded them, and he said, "Well, you know, they're
both pleasant and useful to the Aged. And by George, sir, it's a thing worth mentioning,
that of all the people who come to this gate, the secret of those pulls is only known to
the Aged, Miss Skiffins, and me!" "And Mr. Wemmick made them," added Miss Skiffins,
"with his own hands out of his own head." While Miss Skiffins was taking off her bonnet
(she retained her green gloves during the evening as an outward and visible sign that
there was company), Wemmick invited me to take a walk with him round the property, and
see how the island looked in wintertime. Thinking that he did this to give me an opportunity
of taking his Walworth sentiments, I seized the opportunity as soon as we were out of
the Castle. Having thought of the matter with care, I
approached my subject as if I had never hinted at it before. I informed Wemmick that I was
anxious in behalf of Herbert Pocket, and I told him how we had first met, and how we
had fought. I glanced at Herbert's home, and at his character, and at his having no means
but such as he was dependent on his father for; those, uncertain and unpunctual. I alluded
to the advantages I had derived in my first rawness and ignorance from his society, and
I confessed that I feared I had but ill repaid them, and that he might have done better without
me and my expectations. Keeping Miss Havisham in the background at a great distance, I still
hinted at the possibility of my having competed with him in his prospects, and at the certainty
of his possessing a generous soul, and being far above any mean distrusts, retaliations,
or designs. For all these reasons (I told Wemmick), and because he was my young companion
and friend, and I had a great affection for him, I wished my own good fortune to reflect
some rays upon him, and therefore I sought advice from Wemmick's experience and knowledge
of men and affairs, how I could best try with my resources to help Herbert to some present
income,ósay of a hundred a year, to keep him in good hope and heart,óand gradually
to buy him on to some small partnership. I begged Wemmick, in conclusion, to understand
that my help must always be rendered without Herbert's knowledge or suspicion, and that
there was no one else in the world with whom I could advise. I wound up by laying my hand
upon his shoulder, and saying, "I can't help confiding in you, though I know it must be
troublesome to you; but that is your fault, in having ever brought me here."
Wemmick was silent for a little while, and then said with a kind of start, "Well you
know, Mr. Pip, I must tell you one thing. This is devilish good of you."
"Say you'll help me to be good then," said I.
"Ecod," replied Wemmick, shaking his head, "that's not my trade."
"Nor is this your trading-place," said I. "You are right," he returned. "You hit the
nail on the head. Mr. Pip, I'll put on my considering-cap, and I think all you want
to do may be done by degrees. Skiffins (that's her brother) is an accountant and agent. I'll
look him up and go to work for you." "I thank you ten thousand times."
"On the contrary," said he, "I thank you, for though we are strictly in our private
and personal capacity, still it may be mentioned that there are Newgate cobwebs about, and
it brushes them away." After a little further conversation to the
same effect, we returned into the Castle where we found Miss Skiffins preparing tea. The
responsible duty of making the toast was delegated to the Aged, and that excellent old gentleman
was so intent upon it that he seemed to me in some danger of melting his eyes. It was
no nominal meal that we were going to make, but a vigorous reality. The Aged prepared
such a hay-stack of buttered toast, that I could scarcely see him over it as it simmered
on an iron stand hooked on to the top-bar; while Miss Skiffins brewed such a jorum of
tea, that the pig in the back premises became strongly excited, and repeatedly expressed
his desire to participate in the entertainment. The flag had been struck, and the gun had
been fired, at the right moment of time, and I felt as snugly cut off from the rest of
Walworth as if the moat were thirty feet wide by as many deep. Nothing disturbed the tranquillity
of the Castle, but the occasional tumbling open of John and Miss Skiffins: which little
doors were a prey to some spasmodic infirmity that made me sympathetically uncomfortable
until I got used to it. I inferred from the methodical nature of Miss Skiffins's arrangements
that she made tea there every Sunday night; and I rather suspected that a classic brooch
she wore, representing the profile of an undesirable female with a very straight nose and a very
new moon, was a piece of portable property that had been given her by Wemmick.
We ate the whole of the toast, and drank tea in proportion, and it was delightful to see
how warm and greasy we all got after it. The Aged especially, might have passed for some
clean old chief of a savage tribe, just oiled. After a short pause of repose, Miss Skiffinsóin
the absence of the little servant who, it seemed, retired to the *** of her family
on Sunday afternoonsówashed up the tea-things, in a trifling lady-like amateur manner that
compromised none of us. Then, she put on her gloves again, and we drew round the fire,
and Wemmick said, "Now, Aged Parent, tip us the paper."
Wemmick explained to me while the Aged got his spectacles out, that this was according
to custom, and that it gave the old gentleman infinite satisfaction to read the news aloud.
"I won't offer an apology," said Wemmick, "for he isn't capable of many pleasuresóare
you, Aged P.?" "All right, John, all right," returned the
old man, seeing himself spoken to. "Only tip him a nod every now and then when
he looks off his paper," said Wemmick, "and he'll be as happy as a king. We are all attention,
Aged One." "All right, John, all right!" returned the
cheerful old man, so busy and so pleased, that it really was quite charming.
The Aged's reading reminded me of the classes at Mr. Wopsle's great-aunt's, with the pleasanter
peculiarity that it seemed to come through a keyhole. As he wanted the candles close
to him, and as he was always on the verge of putting either his head or the newspaper
into them, he required as much watching as a powder-mill. But Wemmick was equally untiring
and gentle in his vigilance, and the Aged read on, quite unconscious of his many rescues.
Whenever he looked at us, we all expressed the greatest interest and amazement, and nodded
until he resumed again. As Wemmick and Miss Skiffins sat side by side,
and as I sat in a shadowy corner, I observed a slow and gradual elongation of Mr. Wemmick's
mouth, powerfully suggestive of his slowly and gradually stealing his arm round Miss
Skiffins's waist. In course of time I saw his hand appear on the other side of Miss
Skiffins; but at that moment Miss Skiffins neatly stopped him with the green glove, unwound
his arm again as if it were an article of dress, and with the greatest deliberation
laid it on the table before her. Miss Skiffins's composure while she did this was one of the
most remarkable sights I have ever seen, and if I could have thought the act consistent
with abstraction of mind, I should have deemed that Miss Skiffins performed it mechanically.
By and by, I noticed Wemmick's arm beginning to disappear again, and gradually fading out
of view. Shortly afterwards, his mouth began to widen again. After an interval of suspense
on my part that was quite enthralling and almost painful, I saw his hand appear on the
other side of Miss Skiffins. Instantly, Miss Skiffins stopped it with the neatness of a
placid boxer, took off that girdle or cestus as before, and laid it on the table. Taking
the table to represent the path of virtue, I am justified in stating that during the
whole time of the Aged's reading, Wemmick's arm was straying from the path of virtue and
being recalled to it by Miss Skiffins. At last, the Aged read himself into a light
slumber. This was the time for Wemmick to produce a little kettle, a tray of glasses,
and a black bottle with a porcelain-topped cork, representing some clerical dignitary
of a rubicund and social aspect. With the aid of these appliances we all had something
warm to drink, including the Aged, who was soon awake again. Miss Skiffins mixed, and
I observed that she and Wemmick drank out of one glass. Of course I knew better than
to offer to see Miss Skiffins home, and under the circumstances I thought I had best go
first; which I did, taking a cordial leave of the Aged, and having passed a pleasant
evening. Before a week was out, I received a note from
Wemmick, dated Walworth, stating that he hoped he had made some advance in that matter appertaining
to our private and personal capacities, and that he would be glad if I could come and
see him again upon it. So, I went out to Walworth again, and yet again, and yet again, and I
saw him by appointment in the City several times, but never held any communication with
him on the subject in or near Little Britain. The upshot was, that we found a worthy young
merchant or shipping-broker, not long established in business, who wanted intelligent help,
and who wanted capital, and who in due course of time and receipt would want a partner.
Between him and me, secret articles were signed of which Herbert was the subject, and I paid
him half of my five hundred pounds down, and engaged for sundry other payments: some, to
fall due at certain dates out of my income: some, contingent on my coming into my property.
Miss Skiffins's brother conducted the negotiation. Wemmick pervaded it throughout, but never
appeared in it. The whole business was so cleverly managed,
that Herbert had not the least suspicion of my hand being in it. I never shall forget
the radiant face with which he came home one afternoon, and told me, as a mighty piece
of news, of his having fallen in with one Clarriker (the young merchant's name), and
of Clarriker's having shown an extraordinary inclination towards him, and of his belief
that the opening had come at last. Day by day as his hopes grew stronger and his face
brighter, he must have thought me a more and more affectionate friend, for I had the greatest
difficulty in restraining my tears of triumph when I saw him so happy. At length, the thing
being done, and he having that day entered Clarriker's House, and he having talked to
me for a whole evening in a flush of pleasure and success, I did really cry in good earnest
when I went to bed, to think that my expectations had done some good to somebody.
A great event in my life, the turning point of my life, now opens on my view. But, before
I proceed to narrate it, and before I pass on to all the changes it involved, I must
give one chapter to Estella. It is not much to give to the theme that so long filled my
heart.