The "pale young gentleman" and I stood in the room and looked at each other until we both burst out laughing.
"I can’t believe it’s you!" he cried.
"I can’t believe it’s you either!" I replied.
He held out his hand in a friendly way. "It’s all over now, I hope. Please forgive me for the way I treated you that day."
We shook hands warmly. His name was Herbert Pocket. He told me that he had been invited to Miss Havisham’s years ago to see if she liked him. She was looking for a partner for Estella, but she didn’t choose him.
"How did you feel about that?" I asked.
"Oh, I didn’t mind," Herbert said with a laugh. "Estella is hard and proud. Miss Havisham brought her up to take revenge on all men."
I asked why Miss Havisham wanted revenge, and Herbert promised to tell me the whole story during dinner. Herbert was a very honest and cheerful person. He wasn't handsome, but he had a kind face. He seemed very hopeful about the future, though I had a feeling he would never be very rich.
Since I had been a blacksmith and didn’t know much about "high society," I asked Herbert to help me with my manners.
"Of course," he said. "And since we are going to be friends, let’s use Christian names. I’ll call you Philip." Then he thought for a moment. "Actually, 'Philip' sounds a bit boring. Since you were a blacksmith, why don’t I call you 'Handel'? There is a famous piece of music called The Harmonious Blacksmith by a composer named Handel."
I liked the name very much. During dinner, Herbert gave me my first lesson in manners. He told me, "In London, we don't put our knives in our mouths, and we use a spoon differently." He was so kind about it that I didn’t feel embarrassed at all.
Then, he told me the story of Miss Havisham. She was a rich girl who had been spoiled by her father. She had a half-brother who was a bad man and wasted all his money. Eventually, Miss Havisham fell in love with a man who was a fraud. He only wanted her money. He convinced her to buy her brother’s share of the family business for a huge price.
"The wedding day was set," Herbert said. "The dresses were bought and the guests were invited. But on the morning of the wedding, at twenty minutes to nine, she received a letter from him. He broke off the marriage and disappeared. She became very ill, and when she recovered, she stopped all the clocks and stayed in the dark forever."
Herbert told me that Estella was not actually related to Miss Havisham; she was just adopted.
I asked Herbert what he did for a living. He told me he was a "capitalist" who insured ships. He talked about trading silks, spices, and even elephant tusks from all over the world. He sounded very successful, but then he admitted he hadn't actually started yet. He was just "looking about him" while working in a small, dusty office. He had no money of his own, but he was always cheerful.
On Monday, we traveled to Hammersmith to meet Herbert’s father, Mr. Matthew Pocket. When we arrived, we saw a house full of children. It was very chaotic. Mrs. Pocket was sitting in the garden reading a book, completely ignoring the children who were falling over her feet. She kept dropping her handkerchief, and the nurses had to keep picking it up for her. The children weren't really being raised; they were just "tumbling up" on their own.
Finally, Mr. Pocket came out to meet me. He looked very tired and confused, with messy grey hair. It seemed like he was struggling to keep his busy, chaotic house in order.