Speaker 1: Chapter fifty five of Great Expectations. This is a LibriVox recording.
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Speaker 1: recording is by Mark Smith of Simpsonville, South Carolina. Great
Speaker 1: Expectations by Charles Dickens, chapter fifty five. He was taken
Speaker 1: to the police court next day and would have been
Speaker 1: immediately committed for trial, but that it was necessary to
Speaker 1: send down for an old officer of the prison ship
Speaker 1: from which he had once escaped to speak to his identity.
Speaker 1: Nobody doubted it, but Copyson, who had meant to depose
Speaker 1: to it, was tumbling on the tides dead. And it
Speaker 1: happened that there was not at that time any prison
Speaker 1: officer in London who could give the required evidence. I
Speaker 1: had gone direct to mister Jaggers at his private house
Speaker 1: my arrival over night to retain his assistance, and mister Jaggers,
Speaker 1: on the prisoner's behalf, would admit nothing. It was the
Speaker 1: sole resource. For he told me that the case must
Speaker 1: be over in five minutes when the witness was there,
Speaker 1: and that no power on earth could prevent its going
Speaker 1: against us. I imparted to mister Jaggers my design of
Speaker 1: keeping him in ignorance of the fate of his wealth.
Speaker 1: Mister Jaggers was querulous and angry with me for having
Speaker 1: let it slip through my fingers, and said we must
Speaker 1: memorialize by and by, and try at all events for
Speaker 1: some of it. But he did not conceal from me
Speaker 1: that although there might be many cases in which the
Speaker 1: forfeiture could not be exacted, there were no circumstances in
Speaker 1: this case to make it one of them. I understood
Speaker 1: that very well I was not related to the outlaw,
Speaker 1: or connected with him by any recognizable tie. He had
Speaker 1: put his hand to no writing or settlement in my
Speaker 1: favor before his apprehension, and to do so now would
Speaker 1: be idle. I had no claim, and I finally resolved,
Speaker 1: and ever afterwards abided by the resolution that my heart
Speaker 1: should never be sickened with the hopeless task of attempting
Speaker 1: to establish one. There appeared to be reason for supposing
Speaker 1: that the drowned informer had hoped for a reward out
Speaker 1: of this forfeiture, and had obtained some accurate knowledge of
Speaker 1: Magwitch's affairs. When his body was found many miles from
Speaker 1: the scene of his death, and so horribly disfigured that
Speaker 1: he was only recognizable by the contents of his pockets.
Speaker 1: Notes were still legible, folded in a case he carried.
Speaker 1: Among these were the name of a banking house in
Speaker 1: New South Wales where a sum of money was and
Speaker 1: the designation of certain lands of considerable value. Both these
Speaker 1: heads of information were in a list that Magwitch, while
Speaker 1: in prison, gave to mister Jaggers of the possessions. He
Speaker 1: supposed I should inherit his ignorance. Poor fellow at last
Speaker 1: served him. He never mistrusted, but that my inheritance was
Speaker 1: quite safe with mister Jagger's aid. After three days delay,
Speaker 1: during which the Crown Prosecution stood over for the production
Speaker 1: of the witness from the prison ship, the witness came
Speaker 1: and completed the easy case. He was committed to take
Speaker 1: his trial at the next sessions, which would come on
Speaker 1: in a month. It was at this dark time of
Speaker 1: my life that Herbert returned home one evening a good
Speaker 1: deal cast down, and said, my dear handel, I fear
Speaker 1: I shall soon have to leave you. His partner, having
Speaker 1: prepared me for that, I was less surprised than he thought.
Speaker 1: We shall lose a fine opportunity if I put off
Speaker 1: going to Cairo. And I am very much afraid I
Speaker 1: must go Handel when you most need me, Herbert, I
Speaker 1: shall always need you, because I shall always love you.
Speaker 1: But my need is no great now than at another
Speaker 1: time you will be so lonely. I have not leisure
Speaker 1: to think of that, said I. You know that I
Speaker 1: am always with him to the full extent of the
Speaker 1: time aloud, and that I should be with him all
Speaker 1: day long if I could. And when I come away
Speaker 1: from him, you know that my thoughts are with him.
Speaker 1: The dreadful condition to which he was brought was so
Speaker 1: appalling to both of us that we could not refer
Speaker 1: to it in plainer words. My dear fellow, said Herbert.
Speaker 1: Let the near prospect of our separation, for it is
Speaker 1: very near, be my justification for troubling you about yourself.
Speaker 1: Have you thought of your future? No, for I have
Speaker 1: been afraid to think of any future. But yours cannot
Speaker 1: be dismissed. Indeed, my dear dear Handel, it must not
Speaker 1: be dismissed. I wish you would enter on it now.
Speaker 1: As far as a few friendly words go with me,
Speaker 1: I will said I in this branch house of ours, Handel,
Speaker 1: we must have a I saw that his delicacy was
Speaker 1: avoiding the right words, so I said, a clerk, a clerk,
Speaker 1: and I hope it is not unlikely that he may expand,
Speaker 1: as a clerk of your acquaintance has expanded into a partner. Now, Handel,
Speaker 1: in short, my dear boy, will you come to me?
Speaker 1: There was something charmingly cordial and engaging in the manner
Speaker 1: in which, after saying, now, handle, as if it were
Speaker 1: the grave beginning of a portentis business exordium, he had
Speaker 1: suddenly given up that tone, stretched out his honest hand,
Speaker 1: and spoken like a schoolboy. Clara and I have talked
Speaker 1: about it again and again, Herbert pursued, and the dear
Speaker 1: little thing begged me only this evening, with tears in
Speaker 1: her eyes, to say to you that if you will
Speaker 1: live with us, when we come together, she will do
Speaker 1: her best to make you happy, and to convince her
Speaker 1: husband's friend that he is her friend too. We should
Speaker 1: get on so well, Handel. I thanked her heartily, and
Speaker 1: I thanked him heartily, but said I could not yet
Speaker 1: make sure of joining him, as he so kindly offered. Firstly,
Speaker 1: my mind was too preoccupied to be able to take
Speaker 1: in the subject clearly. Secondly, yes, Secondly, there was a
Speaker 1: vague something lingering in my thoughts that will come out
Speaker 1: very near the end of this slight narrative. But if
Speaker 1: you thought, Herbert, that you could, without doing any injury
Speaker 1: to your business, leave the question open for a little while,
Speaker 1: For any while, cried Herbert. Six months a year, not
Speaker 1: so long as that, said I, two or three months
Speaker 1: at most. Herbert highly delighted when we shook hands on
Speaker 1: this arrangement, and said he could now take courage to
Speaker 1: tell me that he believed he must go away at
Speaker 1: the end of the week. And Clara said I the
Speaker 1: dear little thing returned. Herbert holds dutifully to her father
Speaker 1: as long as he lasts. But he won't last long.
Speaker 1: Missus Wimple confides to me that he is certainly going,
Speaker 1: not to say an unfeeling thing, said I. He cannot
Speaker 1: do better than go. I am afraid that must be admitted,
Speaker 1: said Herbert. And then I shall come back for the
Speaker 1: dear little thing, and the dear little thing, and I
Speaker 1: will walk quietly into the nearest church. Remember the blessed
Speaker 1: darling comes of no family, my dear handel, and never
Speaker 1: looked into the Red Book, and hasn't a notion about
Speaker 1: her grandpapa. What a fortune for the son of my mother.
Speaker 1: On the Saturday in that same week, I took my
Speaker 1: leave of Herbert, full of bright hope, but sad and
Speaker 1: sorry to leave me, as he sat on one of
Speaker 1: the seaport mail coaches. I went into a coffee house
Speaker 1: to write a little note to Clara, telling her he
Speaker 1: had gone off, sending his love to her over and
Speaker 1: over again, and then went to my lonely home, if
Speaker 1: it deserved the name, for it was now no home
Speaker 1: to me, and I had no home anywhere. On the
Speaker 1: stairs I encountered Wemmick, who was coming down after an
Speaker 1: unsuccessful application of his knuckles to my door. I had
Speaker 1: not seen him alone since the disastrous issue of the
Speaker 1: attempted flight, and he had come in his private, impersonal
Speaker 1: capacity to say a few words of explanation in reference
Speaker 1: to that failure. The late Compison said Wemmick had, by
Speaker 1: little and little, got at the bottom of half of
Speaker 1: the regular business now transacted. And it twas from the
Speaker 1: talk of some of his people in trouble, some of
Speaker 1: his people being always in trouble that I heard what
Speaker 1: I did. I kept my ears open, seeming to have
Speaker 1: them shut, until I heard that he was absent, and
Speaker 1: I thought that would be the best time for making
Speaker 1: the attempt. I can only suppose now that it was
Speaker 1: a part of his policy as a very clever man,
Speaker 1: habitually to deceive his own instruments. You don't blame me,
Speaker 1: I hope, mister Pip. I am sure I tried to
Speaker 1: serve you with all my heart. I am as sure
Speaker 1: of that, Wemmick as you can be. And I thank
Speaker 1: you most earnestly for all your interest and friendship. Thank you,
Speaker 1: thank you very much. It's a bad job, said Wemmick,
Speaker 1: scratching his head. And I assure you I haven't been
Speaker 1: so cut up for a long time. What I look
Speaker 1: at is the sacrifice of so much portable property. Dear me,
Speaker 1: What I think of Wemmick as the poor owner or
Speaker 1: the property. Yes, to be sure, said Wemmick. Of course
Speaker 1: there can be no objection to your being sorry for him,
Speaker 1: And I'd put down a five pound note myself to
Speaker 1: get him out of it. But what I look at
Speaker 1: is this the late Copysen, having been beforehand with him
Speaker 1: in intelligence of his return, and being so determined to
Speaker 1: bring him to book, I do not think he could
Speaker 1: have been saved, whereas the portable property certainly could have
Speaker 1: been saved. That's the difference between the property and the owner,
Speaker 1: don't you see. I invited Wemmick to come upstairs and
Speaker 1: refresh himself with a glass of grog before walking to Walworth.
Speaker 1: He accepted the invitation while he was drinking his moderate allowance.
Speaker 1: He said, with nothing to lead up to it, and
Speaker 1: after having appeared rather fidgety, what do you think of
Speaker 1: my meaning to take a holiday on Monday, mister Pip?
Speaker 1: Why I suppose you have not done so to thing
Speaker 1: these twelve months, these twelve years more likely? Said Wemmick. Yes,
Speaker 1: I'm going to take a holiday. More than that, I'm
Speaker 1: going to take a walk. More than that, I'm going
Speaker 1: to ask you to take a walk with me. I
Speaker 1: was about to excuse myself as being but a bad
Speaker 1: companion just then when Wemmick anticipated me. I know your engagements,
Speaker 1: said he, and I know you were out of sorts,
Speaker 1: mister Pip, but if you could oblige me, I should
Speaker 1: take it as a kindness. It ain't a long walk,
Speaker 1: and it's an early one. Say it might occupy you,
Speaker 1: including breakfast on the walk from eight to twelve. Couldn't
Speaker 1: you stretch a point and manage it? He had done
Speaker 1: so much for me at various times, that this was
Speaker 1: very little to do for him. I said I could
Speaker 1: manage it, would manage it, And he was so very
Speaker 1: much pleased by my acquiescence that I was pleased to
Speaker 1: at his particular request, I appointed to call for him
Speaker 1: at the castle at half past eight on Monday morning,
Speaker 1: and so we parted for the time punctual to my appointment.
Speaker 1: I rang at the castle gate on the Monday morning
Speaker 1: and was received by Wemmick himself, who struck me as
Speaker 1: looking tighter than usual and having a sleeker hat on.
Speaker 1: Within there were two glasses of rum and milk prepared,
Speaker 1: and two biscuits. The aged must have been stirring with
Speaker 1: the lark. For glancing into the perspective of his bedroom,
Speaker 1: I observed that his bed was empty. When we had
Speaker 1: fortified ourselves with the rum and milk and biscuits and
Speaker 1: were going out for the walk, with that training preparation
Speaker 1: on us, I was considerably surprised to see Wemmick take
Speaker 1: up a fishing rod and put it over his shoulder.
Speaker 1: Why we are not going fishing, said I. No, replied Wemmy,
Speaker 1: but I like to walk with one. I thought this odd, However,
Speaker 1: I said nothing, and we set off. We went towards
Speaker 1: Caberwell Green, and when we were thereabouts, Wemmick said suddenly, Hello,
Speaker 1: here's a church. There was nothing very surprising in that,
Speaker 1: but again I was rather surprised when he said, as
Speaker 1: if he were animated by a brilliant idea, let's go in.
Speaker 1: We went in, Wemmick leaving his fishing rod on the porch,
Speaker 1: and looked all round. In the meantime, Wemmick was diving
Speaker 1: into his coat pockets and getting something out of paper. There, Hello,
Speaker 1: said he, here's a couple a pair of gloves. Let's
Speaker 1: put him on. As the gloves were white kid gloves.
Speaker 1: And as the post office was widened to its utmost extent,
Speaker 1: I now began to have my strong suspicions. They were
Speaker 1: strengthened into certainty when I beheld the aged enter at
Speaker 1: a side door escorting a lady. Hello, said Wemmick, here's
Speaker 1: miss s Gifvens, Let's have a wedding. That discreet damsel
Speaker 1: was attired as usual, except that she was now engaged
Speaker 1: in substituting for her green kid gloves a pair of white.
Speaker 1: The aged was likewise occupied in preparing a similar sacrifice
Speaker 1: for the altar of hymen. The old gentleman, however, experienced
Speaker 1: so much difficulty in getting his gloves on, that Wemmick
Speaker 1: found it necessary to put him with his back against
Speaker 1: a pillar, and then to get behind the pillar himself
Speaker 1: and pull away at them, while I, for my part,
Speaker 1: held the old gentleman round the waist that he might
Speaker 1: present equal and safe resistance. By din of this ingenious scheme,
Speaker 1: his gloves were got on to perfection. The clerk and clergyman,
Speaker 1: then appearing, we were ranged in order at those fatal rails,
Speaker 1: true to his notion of seeming to do it all
Speaker 1: without preparation, I heard Wemmick say to himself, as he
Speaker 1: took something out of his waistcoat pocket before the service began, Hello,
Speaker 1: here's a ring. I acted in the capacity of backer
Speaker 1: or best man to the bridegroom. While a little limp
Speaker 1: pew opener in a soft bonnet like a baby's made
Speaker 1: a feint of being the bosom friend of miss Skiffin's.
Speaker 1: The responsibility of giving the lady away devolved upon the aged,
Speaker 1: which led to the clergyman's being unintentionally scandalized. And it
Speaker 1: happened thus when he said, who giveth this woman to
Speaker 1: be married to this man? The old gentleman, not in
Speaker 1: the least knowing what point of the ceremony we had
Speaker 1: arrived at, stood most amiably beaming at the Ten Commandments,
Speaker 1: upon which the clergyman said again, who giveth this woman
Speaker 1: to be married to this man? The old gentleman being
Speaker 1: still in a state of most estimable unconsciousness, The bridegroom
Speaker 1: cried out in his accustomed voice, No, Aged, p you
Speaker 1: know who giveth, to which the aged replied with great briskness,
Speaker 1: before saying that he gave all right, John, all right,
Speaker 1: my boy. And the clergyman came to so gloomy a
Speaker 1: pause upon it, that I had doubts for the moment
Speaker 1: whether we should get completely married that day. It was
Speaker 1: completely done, however, and when we were going out of church,
Speaker 1: Wemmick took the cover off the font and put his
Speaker 1: white gloves in it, and put the cover on again.
Speaker 1: Missus Wemmick, more heedful of the future, put her white
Speaker 1: gloves in her pocket and assumed her green Now, mister Pip,
Speaker 1: said Wemmick, triumphantly shouldering the fishing rod as we came out.
Speaker 1: Let me ask you whether anybody would suppose this to
Speaker 1: be a wedding party. Breakfast had been ordered at a
Speaker 1: pleasant little tavern a mile or so away, upon the
Speaker 1: rising ground beyond the green, and there was a bagatelle
Speaker 1: board in the room in case we should desire to
Speaker 1: unbend our minds after the solemnity. It was pleasant to
Speaker 1: observe that Missus Wemmick no longer unwound Wemmick's arm when
Speaker 1: it adapted itself to her figure, but sat in a
Speaker 1: high backed chair against the wall, like a violincello in
Speaker 1: its case, and submitted to be embraced, as that melodious
Speaker 1: instrument might have done. We had an excellent breakfast, and
Speaker 1: when any one declined anything on table, Wemmick said, provided
Speaker 1: by contract, you know, don't be afraid of it. I
Speaker 1: drank to the new couple, drank to the aged, drank
Speaker 1: to the castle, saluted the bride at parting, and made
Speaker 1: myself as agreeable as I could. Wemmick came down to
Speaker 1: the door with me, and I again shook hands with
Speaker 1: him and wished him joy. Think ye, said Wemmick, rubbing
Speaker 1: his hands. She's such a manager of fowls. You have
Speaker 1: no idea. You shall have some eggs and judge for yourself,
Speaker 1: I say, mister Pip, calling me back and speaking low.
Speaker 1: This is altogether a woeworth sentiment. Please I understand not
Speaker 1: to be mentioned in Little Britain, said I. Wemmick nodded.
Speaker 1: After what you let out the other day, mister Jaggers
Speaker 1: may as well not know of it. He might think
Speaker 1: my brain was softening, or something of the kind. End
Speaker 1: of chapter