“It seems that I shall not be able to reside in this house for quite some time.” “What do you mean?” “It seems that Ms.
Estella would like my help with the misfortunes she has recently endured,” Biddy replied as she looked around the room as if she was very nervous to be around me. “Ms. Estella? Last time I had spoken to her she was to be married to Drummle. Why do you call her Ms. Estella?” I questioned. “It would to have seem that Drummle was only attempting to take advantage of what he thought was going to be her fortune from Ms. Havisham’s death. As soon as he had heard that this lady had only left her the old house for Estella, he left her and the town as fast as he could.” “Where is she now? What has happened to her since then?” “She is staying at what is now her house. She decided to renovate it with what little money she has to spare. I am to be off in an hour to go and help with what I can. She promised to pay for housing and food as I help so my work as a blacksmith with Joe has taken a pause.” “I must go there with you then,” I stammered with an excited rush to see Estella again after so
long. Biddy and I said our farewells to Joe and then left the house. Biddy struggled as I rushed uptown to the old estate where I first had met Estella all those years ago. By the time she had caught up to me, I had already reached the gate and had waited at the gate for someone to answer. She was completely out as she came up to the gate. Mr. Pumblechook was the man that finally answered to the door when I was finally running out of patience. “Mr. Pip! How are you this day?” He greeted me. “Better today than I have been lately. Is Ms. Estella here? I’ve heard that a lot of changes have occurred while I was away in London.” “Yes, yes. Many interesting events, have occurred in recent times. I feel so bad for poor Estella. You’ve heard of her plight, I assume?” Pumblechook informed as he unlocked and opened the gate. “I am well informed of Drummle and his cheating of poor Estella. That is one of the reasons that I have come here along with Biddy. Where is she now?” I replied. “I last saw her working on the walls in Ms. Havisham’s room that I am sure that you are acquainted with by now after all these years,” He said as he glanced off to the distance, looking as if he was remembering the moment when first fold me that I was to play at Miss Havisham’s home. I gave Pumblechook my best wishes and proceeded into the now dilapidated house. Any person that has ever been inside there before would be able to easily recognize that some work was being done to the house to a much different taste. Many of the walls had been either torn down to make bigger rooms or were newly painted to a more inviting color. Tools and trash laid everywhere which worked it ways through the main halls and gradually upstairs. I came up towards the old bedroom and came to find the door was closed like it always was whenever I came to the house. I knocked on the door and immediately heard Estella’s voice. “Pip’s voice. Come on in Pip!” She called. I walked into the room and instantly I saw Estella, who was covered in paint and dirt from the remodeling. It was a relief to once again see her once again, even though it was not under the best circumstances. I walked over to her so that I could help her with repainting the walls. It felt strange that I was even near her again after all this time. “So, how are you Pip? I’m sure that you have heard about Drummle. I should have listened to you when you told me about him,” she said, concentrating on the wall that she was painting. Picking up a paintbrush I started to help and replied, “I am afraid I have heard about Drummle’s scheme. Is there any way that I can help you with anything with this?” “I wish there was. I have only heard from rumors from Mr. Pumblechook that Drummle left to go to London. I’m glad you came back when you did. For all we know he was coming after you for revenge.” “Don’t worry about Drummle for now. It’s best for the two of us to try to reconstruct our lives. I have no more expectations, and you have quite the project that will surely cost you a fortune. Perhaps we can help each other’s predicaments?” “We can most definitely help one another. I’d be able to get you out of your desperate times by paying for your services to renovate the house. You would get some way to provide for yourself, and this can also relieve some of the stress of dealing with this large estate. What do you think?” “Marvelous! You know at first I thought you would hate seeing me again knowing that I was right all along. It is great fortune to know that this is not true.” I put down the paintbrush and started to help Biddy move furniture out of the olden bedroom so that we could start painting the next wall. As we did this I noticed a change in Estella’s personality. She was a lot more calm and relaxed than when I first entered the room. It was almost as though just my presence in a way soothed her from all the frustrations that happened to her lately. I wonder what was she was thinking in her mind. Was she surprised I came to help after our last encounter? Was she only happy that I would help her? I knew then that I would not know the answers to this for many years. I would most likely never know. Estella came over the next wall and began to paint. I went downstairs and asked Pumblechook if he would be willing to go make some tea for all of us so that in a moment we could have a break and talk like friends and not so much worries. When I came back up I picked up a brush and started to help with the walls. We all took our separate area but, soon Estella’s and mine came close together. Immediately I noticed that she was starting to slow down and was becoming tired. Unsurprisingly I was becoming tired for I was still not recovered from the journey back from London. Pumblechook called from the bottom of the stairs that the tea was ready. Biddy rushed down to make sure that everything was fine. As Estella and I walked to the stairs we couldn’t help but look at one another. It was though our plights brought us remarkably closer together. It as both of us walked the stairs simultaneously that I realized something. At this moment, both Estella and I have found a new type of great expectations.