My mind was very troubled about the pale young gentleman. The more I thought about our fight, the more I believed I would be punished. I was sure the police would come to arrest me. For a few days, I was too afraid to even leave the house. I had blood on my trousers, and I tried to wash it out in the middle of the night. However, when I finally returned to Miss Havisham’s house, nothing happened. The pale young gentleman was completely gone. The only sign of the fight was a little blood on the ground, which I quickly covered with dirt.
On the landing upstairs, I saw a wheelchair. It had been put there since my last visit. That day, my new job began. When Miss Havisham was tired of walking, I had to push her in this chair around her room and across the hall. We did this over and over again, sometimes for three hours at a time. This became my routine, and I went there every other day for about eight or ten months.
As we spent more time together, Miss Havisham talked to me more. She asked me what I was going to be when I grew up, and I told her I would be Joe's apprentice at the forge. I hoped she might help me become a gentleman, but she never offered me any money or lessons.
Estella was always there to open the gate. Sometimes she was polite, and sometimes she proudly told me that she hated me. But she never told me I could kiss her again. Miss Havisham loved watching Estella. Sometimes, when we were in the dark rooms, she pulled the beautiful girl close and whispered fiercely, "Break their hearts, my pride and hope! Break their hearts and have no mercy!"
While I pushed the wheelchair, I often sang a working song from the forge about a blacksmith named Old Clem. Surprisingly, Miss Havisham liked it, and soon the three of us would sing it quietly as we moved through the gloomy old house.
Living in this strange, misty place confused my mind. I never told Joe about the pale young gentleman or the secrets of the house. However, I trusted Biddy completely, and I told her everything.
Back at home, things were very annoying. Uncle Pumblechook often came over in the evenings to discuss my future with my sister. He would pull me up by my collar, push me in front of the fire, and mess up my hair. Then, he and my sister would talk endlessly about how Miss Havisham might make me rich. Joe stayed quiet during these talks. But my sister knew Joe wanted me to work at the forge, so she often shouted at him. In the end, she always got angry at me and sent me to bed.
We went on like this for a long time. Then, one day, Miss Havisham suddenly stopped walking and looked at me with displeasure. "You are growing tall, Pip!" she said. She seemed unhappy about it.
The next time I visited, after I finished pushing her chair, she stopped me. "Tell me the name of that blacksmith again," she said.
"Joe Gargery, ma'am," I answered.
"Meaning the master you will be apprenticed to? You had better be apprenticed at once. Would Gargery come here with you?"
I told her that Joe would be honored.
"Then let him come soon," she said. "And bring your official papers with you."
When I got home and gave this message to Joe, my sister was furious. She went on a terrible rampage because Miss Havisham had invited Joe, but not her. She shouted at us and threw a candle at Joe. Then, she started cleaning the house aggressively to show how angry she was. She used a bucket of water and a large brush, and she forced Joe and me out into the cold backyard. We stood shivering outside until ten o'clock at night. Joe just touched his beard and looked at me sadly, as if he wondered why he had ever married her.