One day, while I was studying with Mr. Pocket, I received a letter. Even though I had never seen the handwriting before, I guessed immediately who had written it. It had no formal beginning, but simply said:
"I am coming to London the day after tomorrow by the midday coach. Miss Havisham believes you are meeting me. She sends her regards. Yours, Estella."
I was so excited that I couldn't eat or sleep. On the day she was due to arrive, I went to the coach station hours too early. I was walking up and down the street nervously when I ran into Wemmick.
"Hello, Mr. Pip!" he said. "What are you doing here?"
I explained that I was waiting for a friend. I asked him how the "Castle" and his father, the Aged Parent, were doing.
"Both are doing great," Wemmick said. "The Aged will be eighty-two soon. I’m thinking of firing my cannon eighty-two times to celebrate! But right now, I’m going to Newgate Prison. We have a client there who is accused of a big robbery."
Wemmick invited me to go with him. Since I had plenty of time before Estella’s coach arrived, I agreed. I thought it would be better than waiting around and worrying.
Newgate was a horrible, depressing place. It was dirty, crowded, and dark. Prisoners stood behind iron bars, drinking beer and shouting to their friends. Wemmick walked among them like a gardener walking through a greenhouse. He knew all the "plants" (the prisoners). He nodded to some and whispered to others, checking on how their cases were going.
He was very popular with the criminals, but he always kept his professional distance. When prisoners tried to talk to him about his fees, he would say, "I’m only an assistant. If you can’t pay, you’ll have to find someone else."
Wemmick then introduced me to a man he called "The Colonel." He was a former soldier who had been caught making fake money. He was a polite man, but Wemmick told me quietly that he was going to be executed on Monday. Even though the Colonel was about to die, he was very friendly to Wemmick and promised to give him a pair of pigeons as a gift.
"He's a good workman," Wemmick said as we walked away. "And pigeons are 'portable property' after all."
Even the prison guards were impressed by Mr. Jaggers. One of them asked Wemmick for news about a murder case. Wemmick told me that the guards were too afraid to ask Mr. Jaggers directly. "Mr. Jaggers stays 'high' above everyone," Wemmick whispered. "That is why he is so successful."
I said goodbye to Wemmick and went back to wait for the coach. I felt very uneasy. I started thinking about how crime and prisons seemed to follow me everywhere. I had met my first convict on the marshes as a child, and now, even as a gentleman, I was still surrounded by the shadow of Newgate.
I felt dirty. I tried to brush the prison dust off my clothes and breathe in the fresh air. I hated the idea of meeting the beautiful, proud Estella while I felt so "stained" by the prison. I was still shaking out my coat when the coach finally arrived. I saw Estella’s face at the window, and she waved to me. In that second, I saw that strange, nameless shadow pass over her face again. I still couldn't find out where I had seen it before.