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d to live with us．There's room for him at the forge！”’
I put my arms round Joe's neck and cried into his shirt．
‘Don't cry，old boy！’he said．‘Always the best of friends，you and me！’ As I dried my tears，he continued，‘So here we are，Pip！Now if you teach me a bit（and I warn you now that I'm very stupid）Mrs Joe must never know．And why？Because she likes to be…in charge…you know…giving the orders．’
‘Joe，’I asked，‘why don't you ever rebel？’
‘Well，’said Joe，‘ to start with，your sister's clever．And I'm not．And another thing，and this is serious，old boy，when I think of my poor mother's hard life，I'm afraid of not behaving right to a woman．So I'd much rather seem a bit weak with Mrs Joe than shout at her，or hurt her，or hit her．I'm just sorry she scolds you as well，Pip，and hits you with the stick．I wish I could take all the scolding myself．But there it is，Pip．’
Just then we heard the sound of a horse on the road．Mrs Joe and Uncle Pumblechook were returning from market．The carriage arrived，and in a rush of cold air，they were in the kitchen．
‘Now，’said Mrs Joe，excitedly throwing off her cloak，‘if this boy isn't grateful tonight，he never will be！’
‘She's offering the boy a great opportunity，’agreed Pumblechook．Trying to look grateful，I looked at Joe，making the word‘She？’with my lips．He clearly did not know either．
‘You were speaking of a she？’he said Politely to them．
‘She is a she，I suppose，’Mrs Joe replied crossly．‘Unless you call Miss Havisham a he．And even you wouldn't do that．’
‘The rich Miss Havisham who lives all alone in the big house in town？’asked Joe．
‘There aren't any other Miss Havishams that I know of！She wants a boy to go and play there．She asked Uncle Pumblechook if he knew of anyone．And Uncle Pumblechook，thinking of us as he always does，suggested this boy．And what's more，Uncle Pumblechook，realizing that this boy's fortune may be made by going to Miss Havisham's，has of…fered to take him into town tonight in his carriage，and let him sleep in his own house，and deliver him tomorrow to Miss Havisham's．And just look！’she cried，catching hold of me．‘Look at the dirt on this by！’
I was washed from top to toe in Mrs Joe's usual violent manner，and handed over，in my tightest Sunday clothes，to Mr Pumblechook．In the carriage taking me into town，I cried a little．I had never been away from Joe before，and I had no idea what was going to happen to me at Miss Havisham's．
Mr Pumblechook seemed to agree with my sister that I should be punished as much as possible，even when eating，and so for breakfast next morning he gave me a large piece of bread with very little butter，and a cup of warm water with very little milk，and insisted on checking my learning．
‘What's seven and thirteen，boy？’He continued testing me all through breakfast．‘And nine？And eleven？’
So I was glad to arrive at Miss Havisham's house at about ten o’clock．It was a large house，made of old stone，and with iron bars on the windows．We rang the bell，and waited at the gate．Even then Mr Pumblechook said，‘And fourteen？’but I pretended not to hear him．Then a young lady came to open the gate，and let me in．Mr Pumblechook was following me when she stopped him．
‘Do you wish to see Miss Havisham？’she asked．
‘If Miss Havisham wishes to see me，’answered Mr Pumblechook，a little confused．
‘Ah！’said the girl，‘but you see，she doesn't．’
Mr Pumblechook dared not protest but he whispered angrily to me before he turned away，‘Boy！Behave well here and re…member those who brought you up by hand！’I thought he would come back and call through the gate，‘And sixteen？’but he did not．
The young lady took me through the untidy garden to the house．Although she called me ‘boy，’she was the same age as me，but she seemed much older than me．She was beautiful，and as proud as a queen．We went through many dark passages until we reached a door，where she left me，taking her candle with her．
I knocked at the door and was told to enter．I found myself in a large room，where the curtains were closed to allow no daylight in，and the candles were lit．In the centre of the room，sitting at a table，was the strangest lady I have ever seen，or shall ever see．She was wearing a wedding dress made of rich material．She had a bride's flowers in her hair，but her hair was white．There were suitcases full of dresses and Jewels around her，ready for a journey．She only had one white shoe on．‘Then I realized that over the years the white wedding dress had become yellow，and the flowers in her hair had died，and the bride inside the dress had grown old．Everything in the room was ancient and dying．The only brightness in the room was in her dark old eyes，that stared at me．
‘Who are you？’said the lady at the table．
‘Pip，madam．Mr Pumblechook's boy．Come…to play．’
‘Come close．Let me look at you．’As I stood in front of ＊her，I noticed that her watch and a clock in the room had both stopped at twenty minutes to nine．
‘You aren't afraid of a woman who has never seen the sun since you were born？’asked Miss Havisham．
I am sorry to say I told a huge lie by saying，‘No．’
‘Do you know what ths is？’she asked，putting her hand on her left side．
‘Yes，madam．’It made me think of my convict's travel…ling companion．‘Your heart，madam，’I added．
‘My heart！Broken！’she cried almost proudly，with a strange smile．Then she said，‘I am tired．I want to see some…thing different．Play．’
No order could be more difficult to obey in that house and that room．I was desperate enough to consider rushing round the table pretending to be Pumblechook's carriage，but I could not make myself do it，and just stood there helplessly．
‘I'm very sorry，madam，’I said，‘my sister will be very angry with me if you complain，but I can't play just now．Everything is so strange，and new，and sad…’I stopped，afraid to say more．Miss Havisham looked down at her dress，and then at her face in the mirror on the table．
‘So strange to him，so well…known to me，�