# ■ 16 Miss Havisham realizes how Pip has suffered

When I went to see Miss Havisham the next day，as she had requested，her house looked darker than ever，and I realized how lonely she was without Estella．She looked sadly at me．

‘Tell me，Pip，'she said，stretching out her hand to me，‘how can I help your friend？You said something about it last time．

I explained my agreement with Clarrikers to make Herbert a partner．Nine hundred pounds still had to be paid．

‘And you will be happier if I pay this？’

‘Much happier．’

‘can't I help you yourself，Pip？’

‘There is nothing you can do，’I answered．

She wrote a cheque which she handed to me．‘Mr Jaggers will give you the money．And-here，Pip，’handing me another piece of paper，‘here is a note with my name on．If，one day，you can write under my name“I forgive her”，please do it．’

‘Oh Miss Havisham，’I said，‘I can do it now．We have all made mistakes．I can't be bitter with anyone．’

‘What have I done，Pip！'she cried，dropping to her knees in front of me．‘I should never have brought up Estella like that，or allowed you to be hurt！’

‘Could I ask you something about Estella？How and why did you adopt her？’

‘I never knew her parents，'she said quietly．‘I asked Jaggers to find a little girl for me to adopt，and he brought Estella here，when she was about three．’

We had no more to say to each other，and so I left．But on my way through the old garden I had a strange feeling that something was wrong，and I ran back upstairs to check that Miss Havisham was all right．As I opened the door of her room，I saw her sitting close to the fire．Suddenly a great flame lit the room．She turned and rushed towards me，screaming，her hair and clothes on fire．Somehow I managed to cover her with my coat and put out the flames with my hands．

I sent for a doctor，who cleaned her wounds．Her bed was placed on the great dining table，where her wedding cake had been，and she lay there，covered with a white sheet，half con-scions．I could not stay，but left her in the care of the doctor and several nurses，and returned to London．

My hands and right arm had been badly burnt．But al－though I was in great pain，I was desperate to know if Mag－witch was safe．

‘Everything's fine，’Handel，’Herbert told me calmly，as he gently put bandages on my hands．‘He seems much pleasanter than before．I actually like him now．Do you know，yesterday he was telling me about his past．Apparently at one time he was married to a young woman who was jealous of an-other woman．There was a fight， and his wife killed the other Luckily for her，she had a clever lawyer at her trial，and was never punished for the murder．She and Magwitch had a daughter， who Magwitch dearly loved Both wife and child disappeared after the trial， and he thought his wife must have killed their daughter．’

‘How old was the child？’I asked，trying to control my excitement．

‘She would have been about your age，if she had lived．’

‘Herbert，’ I said，‘am I ill or mad or anything？’

‘No，’replied Herbert， after examining me carefully，‘al-though you do look a little excited．’

‘Listen， Herbert．Magwitch is Estella's father．’

The next day，although I felt ill and weak，because of my burns，I went straight to Jaggers’office．He admitted that Estella was his housekeeper's daughter，adopted by Miss Hav-isham to give her the chance of a better life． But even he，the great Jaggers，did not know that Magwitch was Estella's father．

■ 16 郝薇香小姐認識到匹普蒙受了不少痛苦

當我第二天去看郝薇香小姐時，由於她的要求，她的屋子看來比以前更黑暗，我認識到，沒有艾絲黛拉，她是多麼的孤獨，她傷心地看著我。

“告訴我，匹普”，她向我伸出手說，“我怎麼才能幫助你的朋友？上一次有關這件事你說了一點兒。”

我解釋我同克拉雷克斯的協議，讓赫伯特有股份，仍然有900英鎊必須支付。

“如果我支付這些，你會更高興？”

“會很高興。”

“我不能幫助你自己嗎？匹普。”

“你沒有什麼可幫的，”我回答說。

她寫了一張支票遞給我，“賈格斯先生會給你錢。這兒，匹普，”她遞給我另一張紙，“這兒是帶有我名字的票據。如果，有一天，你能在我的名字下面寫上‘我原諒她’，請你這樣做。”

“噢，郝薇香小姐”，我說，“我現在就能這樣做，我們都有錯兒，我不能怨恨別人”。

“我做了些什麼，匹普！”她跪在我面前叫喊著，“我不應該像那樣培養艾絲黛拉，或讓你受到傷害！”

“我可以問你有關艾絲黛拉的情況嗎？怎麼和為什麼你收養她？”

“我從來不知道她的父母，”她平靜地說。“我要求賈格斯為我找一個小女孩收養，她把艾絲黛拉帶到這兒，當時她大約3歲。”

我們相互再沒有說什麼，因此，我離開了。但是，在穿過那個舊花園的路上，我有一個奇怪的感覺，情況不太對頭。我跑回來上了樓去核實郝薇香小姐是不是安然無恙。當我打開她的房門，我看到她緊靠火爐坐著。突然，一個巨大的火焰點燃了屋子，她轉過身向我撲來，尖叫著，她的頭髮和衣服著火了。我想方設法用我的外套蓋住她，用我的手撲滅了火焰。

我派人去請了一位醫生，醫生給她清洗了傷口。她的床放在那張大餐桌上，她的結婚蛋糕還在那兒，她躺在那裡，上面蓋著白床單，半清醒狀態。我不能久留，離開她後，交由醫生和幾名護士照看。我回到倫敦。

我的手和右臂燒得很厲害，但是，雖然我很痛，我還是迫不及待地想知道馬格韋契是否安全。

“平安無事，漢德爾，”赫伯特心平氣和地告訴我，他輕柔地把我的手纏上繃帶，“他好像比以前更高興。現在，我確實喜歡他。你知道，昨天，他告訴我他的身世。很明顯，他和一個年輕的女人結了婚，這個女人嫉妒另外一個女人，在一次廝打中，他的妻子殺了另外一個女人。她很幸運，在她的判決中，有一位精明的律師，對於這次謀殺，她從來沒有受到懲罰。她和馬格韋契有一個女兒，馬格韋契非常愛她。判決以後，妻子和孩子失蹤了。他想，他的妻子一定殺了他們的女兒。”

“這個孩子多大？”我盡力控制著激動的心情問道。

“如果她還活著的話，和你的年齡差不多。”

“赫伯特，”我說，“是我病了、瘋了、或出了其它什麼毛病？”

“不是，”赫伯特仔細地檢查了我以後，回答，“雖然你看上去有點興奮。”

“聽著，赫伯特，馬格韋契是艾絲黛拉的父親。”

第二天，儘管因為我的燒傷，感到不舒服和虛弱，我還是直接去了賈格斯的事務所。他承認，艾絲黛拉是他的女管家的女兒，給她一個生活更好一點的機會，被郝薇香小姐收養。但是，至於他，聰明能幹的賈格斯卻並不知道馬格韋契是艾絲黛拉的父親。