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VIII . Joe’s Visit One morning I received a letter from Biddy . It said that Joe was coming to London with Mr Wopsle and would like to call on me . I am sorry to say that I was not glad . If I could have kept him away by paying money , I would have paid it . I was afraid that Drummle , whom I despised , would see him . Joe arrived wearing his best clothes and carrying his hat with great care , as if it were a bird’s nest with eggs in it . He called me “ sir ” , which made me angry , though I did not stop him . He sat on the edge of his chair and dropped his hat again and again from the corner of the shelf , where it would not stay . He spoke to Herbert politely and drank his tea very slowly . At last , when Herbert had gone out , Joe turned to me and said , “ Miss Havisham sent for me . She said , ‘ Would you tell him , then , that Estella has come home and would be glad to see him . ’ ” My face grew hot as I heard it . “ And now , sir , ” said Joe , getting up , “ I wish you ever well and ever prospering to a greater and a greater height . ” “ But you are not going now , Joe ? ” “ Yes I am , ” said Joe . “ Pip , dear old chap , life is made of ever so many partings welded together . One man’s a blacksmith , and one’s a whitesmith , and one’s a goldsmith , and one’s a coppersmith . Divisions among such must come , and must be met as they come . If there’s been any fault at all today , it’s mine . You and me is not two figures to be together in London . It ain’t that I am proud , but that I want to be right , as you shall never see me no more in these clothes . I’m wrong in these clothes . I’m wrong out of the forge , the kitchen , or off the marshes . You won’t find half so much fault in me if you think of me in my forge dress , with my hammer in my hand . And so God bless you , dear old Pip , old chap , God bless you ! ” He touched me gently on the forehead and went out . When I had recovered , I hurried after him into the street , but he was gone . The next day I took the coach to our town . Two convicts were sent down on the same coach , chained together , to go to the prison ships . One of them , I saw with horror , was the stranger who had stirred his rum with Joe’s file . He did not know me , but I heard him talking to the other convict behind my back . He said that once , long ago , a man on the prison ships had asked him to give two one - pound notes to a boy who had fed him and kept his secret . He had found the boy and given him the money . I was shaking so much that I left the coach as soon as I could .
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