“Pip, dear old chap, life is made of ever so many partings welded together, as I may say, and one man’s a blacksmith, and one’s a whitesmith, and one’s a goldsmith, and one’s a coppersmith.  Diwisions among such must come, and must be met as they come.  If there’s been any fault at all to-day, it’s mine.  You and me is not two figures to be together in London; nor yet anywheres else but what is private, and beknown, and understood among friends.  It ain’t that I am proud, but that I want to be right, as you shall never see me no more in these clothes.  I’m wrong in these clothes.  I’m wrong out of the forge, the kitchen, or off th’ meshes.  You won’t find half so much fault in me if you think of me in my forge dress, with my hammer in my hand, or even my pipe.  You won’t find half so much fault in me if, supposing as you should ever wish to see me, you come and put your head in at the forge window and see Joe the blacksmith, there, at the old anvil, in the old burnt apron, sticking to the old work.  I’m awful dull, but I hope I’ve beat out something nigh the rights of this at last.  And so god bless you, dear old Pip, old chap, god bless you!”

I had not been mistaken in my fancy that there was a simple dignity in him.  The fashion of his dress could no more come in its way when he spoke these words, than it could come in its way in Heaven.  He touched me gently on the forehead, and went out.  As soon as I could recover myself sufficiently, I hurried out after him and looked for him in the neighbouring streets; but he was gone.

Chapter 28

It was clear that I must repair to our town next day, and in the first flow of my repentance it was equally clear that I must stay at Joe’s.  But, when I had secured my box-place by to-morrow’s coach and had been down to Mr. Pocket’s and back, I was not by any means convinced on the last point, and began to invent reasons and make excuses for putting up at the Blue Boar.  I should be an inconvenience at Joe’s; I was not expected, and my bed would not be ready; I should be too far from Miss Havisham’s, and she was exacting and mightn’t like it.  All other swindlers upon earth are nothing to the self-swindlers, and with such pretences did I cheat myself.  Surely a curious thing.  That I should innocently take a bad half-crown of somebody else’s manufacture, is reasonable enough; but that I should knowingly reckon the spurious coin of my own make, as good money!  An obliging stranger, under pretence of compactly folding up my bank-notes for security’s sake, abstracts the notes and gives me nutshells; but what is his sleight of hand to mine, when I fold up my own nutshells and pass them on myself as notes!