Great Expectations Read Online Free PDF Page B

of England. Our escape would be fast and easy.
    Every evening I rowed past the house. I watched for a signal from Herbert. Herbert would tell us when it was safe to go.
    One day Mr. Jaggers invited me to dinner, and I accepted.
    I took a coach to Jaggers’s house. Molly, the housekeeper, served the food as soon as I got there.
    “Miss Havisham sent me a note, Mr. Pip,” said my host. “She wishes to see you. You’ll go, won’t you?”
    I planned to go the next day. Jaggers had more news. Drummle and Estella were married! I had been so busy with Magwitch that I had forgotten all about them!
    Molly brought out the dessert. Again she reminded me of someone I knew. Her eyes and the way she moved her hands reminded me of—Estella! Could this be Estella’s real mother?
    *   *   *
    I couldn’t stop thinking about Molly and Estella all night. I left Jaggers’s house early and went home.
    When the sun finally rose, I took the coach to Miss Havisham’s house. It was gray and bleak. The garden was in ruins. The paths were overgrown. Most sad of all was the thought that Estella was gone. She was Mrs. Drummle now. She would never live with Miss Havisham again.
    Miss Havisham sat in the banquet room. She looked so lonely that I almost felt sorry for her.
    “Who is it?” she asked. “Come closer so I can see you.”
    “It is I, Pip,” I said, and entered the room.
    “Thank you for coming,” she replied.
    I brought a chair to the hearth and sat down. Miss Havisham looked scared!
    “I am not made of stone, you know,” she began. “Can you believe that thereis anything human in my heart?”
    She stretched out her hand, but pulled it back before she touched me.
    “If you can ever forgive me, pray do it!” she said. “Even if it is years from now and my broken heart is dust.”
    “Miss Havisham,” I said. “I forgive you now. I need forgiveness, too, for the hurt I’ve caused others.”
    “If I could undo what I have done to Estella, I would,” cried Miss Havisham. She wrung her hands in despair. “I regret it! I regret it so much!”
    “Whose child is Estella?” I asked gently.
    Miss Havisham shook her head.
    “You don’t know?”
    She shook her head again.
    “Mr. Jaggers brought her, didn’t he?”
    “Yes,” she said. “Jaggers brought her to me when she was only two or three. I called her Estella. Her real mother had been charged with murder. Jaggers was her lawyer. He didn’t tell me anythingelse about her mother—not even her name.”
    Miss Havisham and I parted at twilight. The dying light matched my mood. In the courtyard, I turned to take a last look at the old house.
    Flames were shooting up in the window of the banquet room! I took the stairs two at a time and burst into the room.
    Miss Havisham’s faded wedding dress had caught fire! She was shrieking, “Fire! Fire! Save me!”
    I threw my coat over her and pushed her to the floor, hitting at the flames. But it was not enough!
    I swept the table clear of its feast. The rotten wedding cake smashed to the floor. I wrapped Miss Havisham in the tablecloth.
    She screamed like a wild animal. She tried to break free, but I held her tightly.
    At last the fire was out. Only smoke and cinders were left. Miss Havishamlay unconscious beside me.
    For the first time, I became aware of my hands. They were burned raw from the fire. The pain was unbearable.
    A doctor soon arrived and wrapped my hands. We put Miss Havisham to bed. She was weak with shock. And her burns were serious. Still, we hoped she would be fine with rest.
    Before leaving, I whispered in her ear, “I forgive you.” I hoped she heard me.

Chapter Eleven

Magwitch Is Free
    My left arm was burned all the way to the shoulder. My right arm was not as bad. Herbert helped me change the bandages.
    “Last night Magwitch told me that he had been married,” he said as he wrapped a clean bandage around my arm. “His wife was jealous. They say she murdered a woman.”
    “How? When?” I