Great Expectations Continued

I decided to invite Estella for dinner back at home with Joe and Biddy, not sure whether she would accept. Surprisingly she accepted my invitation. So we headed back to Joe’s and on the way we talked on just about every subject there is to talk about. I was already aware of what had happened to Estella, but she told me the whole truth. She even described the beatings she had received from Drummle. He really turned out to be a brutal man. I was surprised that Estella was still able to walk after all the punishment she had received. Although I was not as sympathetic for her as one probably should have been. The beatings she suffered do not compare to the beatings she and Miss Havisham gave to my heart. “Forgive me”, Miss Havisham asked this before and now Estella asks me the same question. “Please forgive me for what I have done to you. Miss Havisham created me as a monster for men; I wish it were not the case.” I was a bit hesitant in forgiving her for I was suspicious that it may be another trick by her to lead me on. Maybe she too despises men for what Drummle had done to her. Perhaps she is just trying to use me again for her own advantage. Or maybe she is being honest and sincere, her voice does not sound like a proud woman, but that of a humble, sincere woman. All these thoughts were dancing around in my mind and causing me torment. Estella asked again “Can you forgive me, Pip?” I stopped walking and paused again with all my thoughts. “I forgive you Estella” I had decided to give Estella another chance. She probably had changed; she was coming for dinner at my house anyway. But I had come to an agreement in my mind that if she betrays me again, that’s it. I won’t want anything else from her.

Dinner turned out very well and my conflicting thoughts of Estella were shattered into a thousand tiny pieces and burned. She was able to talk to Joe and Biddy and Pip junior, who she was surprised to see, as if she knew them very well. I was unsure how dinner would turn out, but my concern was lost as soon as we walked into the door and Estella almost instantly started talking to Joe and about how he had changed since she last saw him at Satis a long time ago. Joe was dumfounded,