In the evenings I studied as hard as I could, educating myself for Estella. Whatever I learnt, I shared with Joe, not, I'm afraid, so that he would be more educated, but so that I would be less ashamed of him in front of Estella. One Sunday Joe and I went out on the marshes, as usual, to study together. I don't think he ever remembered anything from one week to the next, but he smoked his pipe comfortably, looking as intelligent as he could. I had a question I had been intending to ask him.

In a single year everything had changed. Before I went to Miss Havisham's and met Estella, I had always wanted to be apprenticed to Joe, and I had always been happy at home, in spite of my sister's scolding. Now I was ashamed of my home and my work. I was very miserable. Because of Joe, however, I stayed at the forge and did my best to work hard. I'm glad that I never told him how unhappy I was then. I tried to follow his example and become an honest, happy, hardworking man. But all the time I thought of Estella. My worst fear was that one day she would come to the forge and see me working as a common blacksmith, with black face and hands. She would certainly turn away in disgust.

"That's true, Pip," said Joe slowly.

"Joe, do you think I should visit Miss Havisham again?"

"But, Joe, I've been apprenticed nearly a year now, and I've never thanked her!"

"Well, Pip," said Joe,"will she think you expect her to give you something? She told me she wouldn't give you anything else."

"Could you give me a half day's holiday tomorrow, Joe? I would like to visit Miss Est -- Havisham."

"I know, Joe! Please, Joe!"

"All right, Pip, but if she isn't happy to see you, better not go again.'

"Her name isn't Estavisham, as far as I know, Pip," said Joe very seriously.

Joe had another blacksmith working for him at the forge. His name was Orlick, and he had no friends or family in the village. He was a big, strong, lazy man, who moved about in a strangely unhurried way, his shoulders bent and his eyes on the ground. For some reason he never liked me, even when I was a child, and when I became Joe's apprentice, he seemed to hate me. When he heard about my half-day holiday, he threw down his hammer angrily.

"Well," nodded Joe after thinking for a moment, "I will."

Just then my sister, who had secretly been listening outside the forge, called to Joe through one of the windows,"You fool! You think you're a rich man, giving a holiday to a lazy man like that Orlick! I wish I were his master! I'd soon show him!"

"You want to be everybody's master!" Orlick told her angrily. "And what's more, you're a wicked, ugly, old woman!"

"Come now, master!" he said to Joe. "If young Pip 's having a holiday, give me one too!"

"Hold you!" said Orlick in disgust. "If you were my wife, I'd hold you tight round the neck until you couldn't breathe!"

"What did you say?" cried my sister, beginning to scream."Oh! Oh! What did you call me? Hold me, someone!" Little by little she was deliberately making herself angry. Joe and I had seen this happen many times before.

"Oh!" screamed my sister. "Me, a married woman! Being spoken to like this! In my own house! And my husband standing nearby! Oh! Oh!" And like a mad woman she pulled her hair loose, and rushed at the forge door, which I had, luckily, locked.

"Good. Come and see me again, on your birthday. Ah!" she cried suddenly, "you're looking for Estella, aren't you? Answer!"

Poor Joe had no choice. He had to challenge Orlick to fight. But Joe was the strongest man in the village, and very soon Orlick, like the pale young gentleman, was lying on the ground. Then Joe unlocked the door and picked up my sister, who had dropped unconscious to the ground, but only after watching the fight through the window. She stayed in the kitchen for the rest of the day, and Joe and Orlick shared a glass of beer peacefully together in the forge.

"Well?" she said, "I hope you don't expect me to give you anything."

That afternoon when I arrived at Miss Havisham's house, it wasn't Estella who opened the gate, but a cousin of the old lady's. Miss Havisham looked just the same as before.

"No, indeed, Miss Havisham. I only want you to know that I'm very grateful to you for helping me become Joe's apprentice."

"Ye -- yes," I admitted. "I hope Miss Estella is well?"

"She's abroad, receiving a lady's education. She's more beautiful than ever, and admired by all who see her. Do you feel you've lost her?" She gave such an unpleasant laugh with these last words that I didn't know what to say, and as I left the house I felt even more miserable.

"Yes!" he answered. "I'll walk home with you. Been in town all afternoon, I have. Did you hear the big gun firing, from the prison-ships? Must be some prisoners who've escaped." That made me think of my convict. We didn't talk any more, but walked along in silence. We heard the gun firing several times.

On my way through town I met Mr Wopsle, and together we started the long walk home to the village. It was a dark, wet, misty night, and we could only just see someone ahead of us.

"Hello!" we called. "Is that Orlick?"

We didn't stop running until we reached the forge. In Mrs Joe's kitchen there was a doctor, and Joe, and a group of Women. And on the floor in the middle of them all was my sister, lying unconscious. She would never scold us again.

It was late by the time we got to the village, and we were surprised to see lights on at the pub, and people running in and out. Mr Wopsle went in to discover what was happening, and after a few minutes rushed out, calling, "Something wrong up at the forge, Pip! Run! They say perhaps it was an escaped convict who got into the house while Joe was out. Someone's been attacked!"

The police spent the next week investigating the attack, but did not arrest anybody. I felt sure the iron chain belonged to my convict, but I did not think he had attacked my sister. The attacker could have been either Orlick, or the stranger who had shown me the file. But several witnesses had seen Orlick in town all evening. My only reason for suspecting him was his quarrel with my sister, but she had quarrelled with everyone in the village ten thousand times. And if the stranger had come to ask for his two pounds back, my sister would gladly have given it to him. So I could not imagine who her attacker was.

Joe had been at the pub that evening, and when he arrived home just before ten, he found her on the floor. Nothing had been stolen. She had been hit violently on the back of the head with a heavy weapon. On the floor beside her was a convict's iron chain. It did not belong to the prisoners who had escaped that day.

She lay ill in bed for a long time. She could not speak or understand much, and her character was greatly changed. She had become quiet, patient, and grateful for all our care. She used to write a word or draw a picture when she wanted something, and we tried to discover what she meant. She needed someone to take care of her all the time, and luckily old Mrs Wopsle had just died, so Biddy came to live with us. She understood my sister perfectly and looked after us all very well.

One Sunday I asked Biddy to come for a walk on the marshes.

"It's not a T, it's Orlick's hammer!" she cried. "She's forgotten his name but she wants to see Orlick!"

I must say l expected to see my sister accuse Orlick of attacking her, but instead she seemed very pleased to see him. She often used to ask for him after that, and nobody knew why.

"Don't you think you're happier as you are?" she replied.

"Biddy," I said seriously, "promise to keep this a secret. I'm going to tell you something. I want to be a gentleman."

One day my sister drew a T, and seemed to want it very much. I brought her toast, and tea, but Biddy knew immediately.

I had often wondered this myself, but I didn't want to hear it from her. "It's a pity, I know," I said. "It would have been much better if I could have been happy working at the forge. Perhaps you and I would have spent more time together. I would have been good enough for you, wouldn't I, Biddy?"

"The point is," I continued crossly, "if nobody had told me I was coarse and common, I wouldn't have thought abut it!"

"Oh yes," she said sadly. "But I don't ask for very much."

"That may be true, but I can't stop myself admiring her."

"It was the beautiful young lady at Miss Havisham's, and I admire her greatly, and I want to be a gentleman for her!" The words rushed out before I could stop them.

"Pip, what a fool you are!' I said to myself. I realized how much happier I would always be with Biddy than with Estella.

Biddy looked at me, interested. "That wasn't a true or polite thing to say. Who said it?"

Biddy said gently, "She may not be worth the trouble, Pip."

Biddy was the most sensible of girls, and did not try to persuade me any more. As we walked home, I felt rested and comforted.

"Biddy, I wish I could make myself fall in love with you!" I said suddenly. "You don't mind my speaking so openly, as you're such an old friend?"

I wondered if I should continue working with Joe in a plain, honest way of life, and perhaps marry Biddy. Or dare I hope that Miss Havisham would make my fortune and marry me to Estella?

"No, of course not. But you never will fall in love with me, you see," she answered, a little sadly.