Chapter-12
Lack of witnesses worked as a boon for Magwitch as he was saved from being tested immediately after having been taken to the court, next day. Mr Jaggers was angry with me as I hadn’t taken charge of my patron’s property. I wanted to be ensured that my benefactor must have the best advice. I was least interested in the property. Magwitch was to be produced in a month’s time before the magistrate.
Herbert had to leave me quite soon as he was posted to Cairo.
“I really needed you in these moments of despair,” I said.
“Oh! You would be lonely,” said Herbert.
“I only think about Magwitch; I just want him to be safe,” I replied.
“Have you ever wondered about your future and what would you do in life?” asked Herbert.
“No, not yet,” I replied back.
“Hey! I believe I told you earlier that there is a post of a clerk vacant at one of the branches of our company,” said Herbert.
He later felt ashamed of offering me such a small job.
“You would live with me and Clara; don’t worry about it,” he continued.
“I would think it over and let you now,” I replied back.
I was constantly thinking about Magwitch. Suddenly, the discussion shifted to marriage now. Mr Wemmick married his old friend; Herbert was supposed to marry Clara. Magwitch had difficulties in breathing he had wounded one of his lungs and broken two of his ribs.
Finally, due to acute pain and his worsening condition, he was shifted to the infirmary. His health deteriorated drastically and I could see him loosening and tiring out.
While taking to me, he would often smile and look at me with eyes full of love, trust and respect as he always looked for a ray of hope.
The verdict of the trial was crystal-clear; there was a death penalty for him. My sympathy for the old man grew and I started writing petitions to the court of law, men in authority, one after another. I rested only to get some sleep. I wanted to ensure my patron that I was leaving no stone unturned in getting out of this mess.
He would constantly gaze at the ceiling, had difficulty in speaking but his eyes used to light up seeing me.
“Oh Pip, you have always been close to me and helped me since we met. You are so dear to me,” said Magwitch.
“Is it hurting a lot to you today?” I asked.
“I don’t complain, dear boy,” he replied with a smile.
“You never do,” I said. He wasn’t able to speak now; his gestures showed that he was asking me to put my hands on his chest. I smiled and put both my hands. I knew his end was closer.
As the allotted time to meet got over, I turned around and saw the governor of the jail standing in front of me.
“Don’t go; you may have some more time,” he said.
I knew there was some life left in my patron. He meant the world to me and I was losing him in front of my eyes. He was going and I wasn’t able to do anything. My hands were tied by the wheel of time. The Almighty God had already made His call.
I thanked the governor and asked if I could continue my conversation with Magwitch. His reply was in the affirmative.
I had spent quite a lot of time with Mr Jaggers after my visit to Miss Havisham. Somehow, I came to know that Estella was Magwitch’s child and he didn’t know that she was alive. Neither, he had any idea of the relationship between both of us. I chose to tell him about it.
“Sir, I hope you are hearing what I am saying?” I said
There was a gentle pressure on my hand; I knew he was listening.
I continued, “Sir, you had a little baby-girl whom you loved once but then you lost her. She is still alive and is a very pretty, charming lady whom I am in love with.”
He raised my hands to his lips and then gently let them sink upon his chest again with his own hands lying on them. His head dropped quietly on his chest and he breathed his last moments. My eyes were full of tears.
Under English law, Magwitch’s wealth forfeited to the Crown, thus extinguishing Pip’s ‘great expectations’.
I went to the temple and found the words that I most needed to say, “O Lord! be merciful to him.”
Now, I was full of doubts and suffered from horrifying nightmares. One day, I woke up from a feverish half-sleep; I found two big, burly men staring at me.
“Hey! why have you come here?” I asked.
“You are being arrested for doubt,” one of the men said.
I got up to dress but was so ill that I fell back.
“Take me if you want, but I might die on the way,” I stated. I didn’t know for how long I was ill afterwards. I struggled with mass murderers, real people, and was full of fear and anxiety. Thousands of faces passed in front of my feverish eyes but I seemed to look for the face of Joe, my dear Joe.
When I opened my eyes one night, I saw Joe relaxing in the front chair by my bed. He gave me a cold drink and I sank in the bed again after drinking it. I could now see some hope on his face.
“You are Joe, aren’t you?” I asked.
“Yes Pip,” he replied in his familiar voice.
“Hey Joe! Why aren’t you angry with me?” I asked.
He lay down on my pillow and put his arm around my neck in his usual fashion.
Biddy had asked Joe to come and stay with me when they got the news about my bad health.
“Is Miss Havisham dead,” I asked.
“Yes, she is,” he replied.
“Miss Havisham left most of her legacy and property to Estella but a special legacy to Matthew Pocket as well. Orlick had been sent to the prison as he was caught breaking into a house. Pumblechook’s house had been burgled and the robbers treated him in a rough manner, smashing his face.
But I didn’t feel sorry for Uncle Pumblechok.
Joe had the patience to talk with me the whole day. He helped me in all of my daily chores and had even hired a maid for the household work. I looked forward to the day when we would go for a ride. When it did occur, he wrapped me in a blanket, carried me down to the carriage and I felt as if I were a small baby. I tried bringing over the subject of Abel Magwitch to him but he always was unwilling to discuss it.
I got well soon and we even spent the next Sunday in the countryside. He looked quite gloomy when I bade him goodnight that day. When I woke up refreshed, next morning, I looked all over for him but found him nowhere in hindsight. He was gone. On the breakfast table, I found a note, “You are well again, Pip, so I should leave now. We continue to be good friends.”
He had even paid off the debt of the two men who had arrested me. The receipt of the same was enclosed in the letter. I decided to go back to the forge in order to be among the ones who had loved me, been true to me, despite of my ingratitude. I would do as Biddy would guide me, either go to a distant place or work at the forge with Joe.
I would ask her, “Will you marry me and make me a better human being?”
I met Uncle Pumblechook after I had got down at Blue Boon next morning. “Oh! I am so sorry for you, young man. What else could you have expected? Are you going to Joseph?” said Uncle Pumblechook.
I was full of rage and remarked, “Good Lord! It is none of your business. How does it matter to you?”
I quickly got Pumblechook off my mind. The weather was pleasant, the sun shone brightly, the countryside looked more beautiful than I had ever seen it before. There weren’t any children in the school at which Biddy had been a mistress. It was a holiday. I couldn’t hear the click of Joe’s hammer at the forge. The house looked isolated and I presumed both of them to be in the garden. When I entered the garden, it was blooming with the fragrance of the newly blossomed flowers. I could see Biddy and Joe.
Biddy was the first to notice me and had her arms round me in the next moment. She seemed to be radiant whereas I looked a bit coarse and worn. Both of us started crying having looked at each other.
“Hey Biddy, you look smart and cute,” I said.
“Yes, Pip,” she replied.
“Even you, Joe,” I said facing towards Joe.
Then Biddy disclosed, “Today, I and Joe are getting married.”
Although I was totally spell-bound at what I had just listened yet I was totally shell-shocked. I told them about my future plans and congratulated them on their wedding. I left England, sold all off various things I had to repay my debts. I asked my creditors for some more time and joined Herbert’s Clarriter & Co. as a clerk.
I lived with Herbert and Clara. Soon, I became a secret partner at the firm. I lived cautiously, wrote regularly to Joe and even paid off my debts. I even reached the third post in order of seniority. One ungrateful day, someone disclosed my secret partnership with the firm to Herbert. Though he was a bit startled yet it didn’t affect our friendship.
I longed to be with Biddy and Joe as eleven years already passed by. So, I went to London and saw a small boy sitting near Joe’s leg as he smoked his old pipe.
“Hey Pip! See whom I have brought with me. He is our son. We named him Pip, hoping that he would turn out to be like you,” said Joe.
“Biddy, do you think I can adopt Pip?” I asked her.
“No Pip; you must marry someone,” she replied.
“Even Herbert says this to me but I am quite old now,” I replied.
“Pip, do you still think of Estella?” she asked.
“No, no Biddy. I haven’t forgotten anything but I just know that the poor dream is over. I have done away with it for now,” I replied.
Somewhere deep down my heart, I couldn’t leave without visiting Estella’s place.
I heard that her husband was notorious for all negative deeds. She had tough life and had been a widow for two years after her husband’s death while he was trying to control a wild horse.
There wasn’t any house, brewer or building, only the wall of the old garden stood in its place and the space was enclosed with a fence all along. I pushed the gate and entered. The stars were shining, but it still wasn’t dark. I was looking around the dilapidated garden when I suddenly saw a solitary figure. The figure was moving towards me and then stood still. It was Estella. I cried.
“I have changed quite a bit since we last met,” she said.
Her freshness had disappeared but her indispensable charm was still present. Her eyes were sad, gloomy but there was a friendly touch as she held my hands.
“Do you come here often?” I asked.
“No, never,” she replied.
“Even I do not come here often,” I replied back.
It began to grow dark.
“Do you wonder as to how this looks now, I mean this place?” I said to break the silence between us.
Pip and Estella talking, standing in wretched place (broken house behind).
“Yes, I am amazed to see this. This land is mine. Everything else is gone now,” she said.
“Will you build a house now?” I asked.
“Yes. Do you still live abroad?” she asked.
“Yes,” I answered.
“Do you do well,” she asked again.
“Yes, I mean I hope so,” I replied, “Often I thought about you.”
“Oh! Did you?” she asked.
“Yes, very often. There was a sad and tough time when I tried forgetting what had happened. But now, I often remember those times. You continue to be in my heart,” I said in a crying voice.
“Do you still wish to part from me; it is painful for me,” I said.
“The last time we both parted, you said ‘God will bless you, God will forgive you’. Pip, my own sufferings have enabled me to experience as how you would have felt earlier. I have broken down innumerable times in the past few years. Pip, be kind and loving to me as you were earlier and promise me that we are still good friends,” she said.
“We are indeed good friends, Estella,” I said.
We went out of the wretched place hand in hand. Evening mists began to rise now.
I knew there would never be a parting for Estella and me.
