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<v Speaker 1>Great Expectations by Charles Dickens, Chapter fifty nine, the final chapter.

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<v Speaker 1>For eleven years I have not seen Joe nor Biddy

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<v Speaker 1>with my bodily eyes, though they had both been often

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<v Speaker 1>before my fancy in the east. When upon an evening

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<v Speaker 1>in December, an hour or two after dark, I laid

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<v Speaker 1>my hand softly on the latch of the old kitchen door.

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<v Speaker 1>I touched it so softly that I was not heard,

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<v Speaker 1>and looked in unseen there smoking his pipe in the

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<v Speaker 1>old place, by the kitchen firelight, as hale and as

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<v Speaker 1>strong as ever, though a little gray sat Joe. And

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<v Speaker 1>there fenced into the corner with Joe's leg, and sitting

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<v Speaker 1>on my own little stool, looking at the fire, was

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<v Speaker 1>I again would give him the name of Pip. For

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<v Speaker 1>your sake, dear old Jap, said Joe, delighted when I

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<v Speaker 1>took another stool by the child's side. But I did

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<v Speaker 1>not rumple his hair. And we hoped he might grow

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<v Speaker 1>a little bit like you, And we think ye do.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought so too, And I took him out for

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<v Speaker 1>a walk next morning, and we talked immensely, understanding one

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<v Speaker 1>another to perfection, and I took him down to the

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<v Speaker 1>churchyard and set him on a certain tombstone there, and

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<v Speaker 1>he showed me from that elevation which stone was sacred

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<v Speaker 1>to the memory of Philip Pirrip, late of this parish,

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<v Speaker 1>and also Georgiana, wife of the above. Biddy said I

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<v Speaker 1>when I talked with her after dinner, as her little

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<v Speaker 1>girl lay sleeping in her lap, you must give Pip

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<v Speaker 1>to me one of these days, or lend him at

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<v Speaker 1>all events. No, no, said Biddy gently. You must marry,

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<v Speaker 1>so Herbert and Clara say, But I don't think I shall. Biddy,

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<v Speaker 1>I have so settled down in their home that it's

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<v Speaker 1>not at all likely. I'm already quite an old bachelor.

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<v Speaker 1>Biddy looked down at her child and put its little

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<v Speaker 1>hand to her lips, and then put the good matronly

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<v Speaker 1>hand with which she had touched it into mine. There

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<v Speaker 1>was something in the action and in the light pressure

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<v Speaker 1>of Biddy's wedding ring that had a very pretty eloquence

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<v Speaker 1>in it. Dear Pip, said Biddy, you are sure you

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<v Speaker 1>don't fret for her? Oh? No, I think not, Biddy.

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<v Speaker 1>Tell me, as an old old friend, have you quite

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<v Speaker 1>forgotten her? My dear Biddy, I have forgotten nothing in

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<v Speaker 1>my life that ever had a foremost place there, and

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<v Speaker 1>little that ever had any place there, but that or dream,

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<v Speaker 1>as I once used to call it, has all gone by, Biddy,

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<v Speaker 1>all gone by. Nevertheless, I knew while I said those words,

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<v Speaker 1>that I secretly intended to revisit the side of the

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<v Speaker 1>old house that evening alone, for her sake. Yes, even so,

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<v Speaker 1>for Estella's sake. I had heard of her as leading

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<v Speaker 1>a most unhappy life, and as being separated from her husband,

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<v Speaker 1>who had used her with great cruelty, and who had

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<v Speaker 1>become quite renowned as a compound of pride, avarice, brutality,

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<v Speaker 1>and meanness. And I had heard of the death of

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<v Speaker 1>her husband from an accident consequent on his ill treatment

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<v Speaker 1>of a horse. This release had befallen her some two

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<v Speaker 1>years before for anything, I knew she was married again.

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<v Speaker 1>The early dinner hour at Joe's left me in abundance

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<v Speaker 1>of time, without hurrying my talk with Biddy to walk

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<v Speaker 1>over to the old spot before dark. But while with

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<v Speaker 1>loitering on the way to look at old objects and

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<v Speaker 1>to think of old times, the day had quite declined.

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<v Speaker 1>When I came to the place. There was no house now,

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<v Speaker 1>no brewery, no building, whatever left but the wall of

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<v Speaker 1>the old garden. The cleared space had been enclosed with

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<v Speaker 1>a rough fence, and looking over it, I saw that

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<v Speaker 1>some of the old ivy had struck root anew and

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<v Speaker 1>was growing green on low, quiet mounds of Ruin a

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<v Speaker 1>gate in the fence, standing ajar, I pushed it open

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<v Speaker 1>and went in. A cold, silvery mist had veiled the afternoon,

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<v Speaker 1>and the moon was not yet up to scatter it.

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<v Speaker 1>But the stars were shining beyond the mist, and the

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<v Speaker 1>moon was coming, and the evening was not dark. I

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<v Speaker 1>could trace out where every part of the old house

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<v Speaker 1>had been, and where the brewery had been, and where

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<v Speaker 1>the gates, and where the the casks. I had done

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<v Speaker 1>so and was looking along the desolate garden walk when

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<v Speaker 1>I beheld a solitary figure in it. The figure showed

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<v Speaker 1>itself aware of me as I advanced. It had been

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<v Speaker 1>moving towards me, but it stood still as I drew nearer.

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<v Speaker 1>I saw it to be the figure of a woman.

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<v Speaker 1>As I drew nearer, yet it was about to turn

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<v Speaker 1>away when it stopped and let me come up with it.

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<v Speaker 1>Then it faltered, as if much surprise, and uttered my name,

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<v Speaker 1>and I cried out Estella, I am greatly changed. I

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<v Speaker 1>wonder you knew me. The freshness of her beauty was

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<v Speaker 1>indeed gone, but its indescribable majesty and its indescribable charm remained.

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<v Speaker 1>Those attractions in it I had seen before. What I

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<v Speaker 1>had never seen before was the saddened often light of

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<v Speaker 1>the once proud eyes. What I had never felt before

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<v Speaker 1>was the friendly touch of the once insensible hand. We

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<v Speaker 1>sat down on a bench that was near, and I said,

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<v Speaker 1>after so many years, it is strange that we should

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<v Speaker 1>thus meet again, Estella, here where our first meeting was.

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<v Speaker 1>Do you often come back? I have never been here

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<v Speaker 1>since nor I. The moon began to rise, and I

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<v Speaker 1>thought of the placid look at the white ceiling which

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<v Speaker 1>had passed away. The moon began to rise, and I

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<v Speaker 1>thought of the pressure on my hand when I had

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<v Speaker 1>spoken the last words he had heard on earth. Estella

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<v Speaker 1>was the next to break the silence that ensued between us.

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<v Speaker 1>I have very often hoped and intended to come back,

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<v Speaker 1>but have been prevented by many circumstances. Poor, poor old place.

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<v Speaker 1>The silvery mist was touched with the first rays of

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<v Speaker 1>the moonlight, and the same rays touched the tears that

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<v Speaker 1>dropped from her eyes, not knowing that I saw them,

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<v Speaker 1>and setting herself to get the better of them, She

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<v Speaker 1>said quietly. Were you wondering, as you walked along how

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<v Speaker 1>it came to be left in this condition? Yes, Estella,

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<v Speaker 1>the ground belongs to me. It is the only possession

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<v Speaker 1>I have not relinquished. Everything else has gone from me

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<v Speaker 1>little by little, but I have kept this. It was

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<v Speaker 1>the subject of the only determined resistance I made in

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<v Speaker 1>all the wretched years. Is it to be built on?

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<v Speaker 1>At last? It is? I came here to take leave

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<v Speaker 1>of it before its change. And you, she said, in

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<v Speaker 1>a voice of touching interest to a wanderer, You live

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<v Speaker 1>abroad still still, and do well. I am sure. I

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<v Speaker 1>worked pretty hard for a sufficient living, and therefore, yes,

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<v Speaker 1>I do well. I have often thought of you, said Estella,

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<v Speaker 1>have you of late? Very often? There was a long

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<v Speaker 1>hard time when I kept far from me the remembrance

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<v Speaker 1>of what I had thrown away when I was quite

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<v Speaker 1>ignorant of its worth. But since my duty has not

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<v Speaker 1>been incompatible with the admission of that remembrance, I have

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<v Speaker 1>given it a place in my heart. You have always

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<v Speaker 1>held your place in my heart, I answered, and we

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<v Speaker 1>were silent again until she spoke. I little thought, said Estella,

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<v Speaker 1>that I should take leave of you. In taking leave

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<v Speaker 1>of the spot, I am very glad to do so,

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<v Speaker 1>glad to part again, Estella. To me, parting is a

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<v Speaker 1>painful thing to me. The remembrance of our last parting

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<v Speaker 1>has been ever mournful and painful. But you said to me,

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<v Speaker 1>returned Estella, very earnestly. God bless you, God forgive you.

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<v Speaker 1>And if you could say that to me, then you

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<v Speaker 1>will not hesitate to say that to me now, now,

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<v Speaker 1>when suffering has been stronger than all other teaching, and

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<v Speaker 1>has taught me to understand what your heart used to be.

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<v Speaker 1>I have been bent and broken, but I hope into

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<v Speaker 1>a better shape. Be as considerate and good to me

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<v Speaker 1>as you were, and tell me we are friends. We

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<v Speaker 1>are friends, said I, rising and bending over her as

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<v Speaker 1>she rose from the bench. And we'll continue friends apart,

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<v Speaker 1>said Estella. I took her hand in mine, and we

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<v Speaker 1>went out of the ruined place. And as the morning

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<v Speaker 1>miss had risen long ago when I first left the forge,

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<v Speaker 1>so the evening mists were rising now, and in all

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<v Speaker 1>the broad expanse of tranquil light, they showed to me,

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<v Speaker 1>I saw no shadow of another parting from her end

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<v Speaker 1>of chapter, end of book. Thank you for listening.