Chapter 1

Poised on the edge of her seat and turning her attention away from the pony's reins she clutched within her hands, Estella fixed her somber gaze upon the melancholy features she had known since childhood. Staring sadly at the gentleman for a brief moment, she attempted to turn her attention to the boy standing adjacent to him.

"I am greatly changed, I know; but I thought you would like to shake hands with Estella too, Pip. Lift up that child and let me kiss it!" she pronounced with feigned cheerfulness. The elder Pip gently lifted his companion to reach Estella's kiss. Scrutinizing the child's comely features, she could not help but wonder if perhaps the child were his. Certainly he must have been. The similarities were irrefutable.

"You have much changed, Estella," the elder Pip said quietly, his gaze still fixed upon her as he placed the child next to him.

"I have aged," she corrected calmly, a slight grin forming over her lips. "But make no mistake, Pip. I am not unhappy." At this, she gently pulled a bundle of blankets towards her with a certain degree of subtlety. "Admittedly, I have surpassed my youth. However, I hope you are not under the false impression that this has brought me any sort of grief." Though her eyes were turned towards the bundle at her side, she could feel Pip's dissatisfied gaze lingering upon her. Surely he must have been pondering over her words with skepticism.

"I have heard many stories," he began hesitantly. "Regarding the past eleven years. It pains me to hear them."

Her eyes immediately shifted from the blankets. "You have no reason to feel any pain, Pip. It is true. I have been plagued with much sorrow. But I may also declare with perfect honesty that, in my current state, I have no reason to be unhappy." Her words echoed with a composed level of forcefulness that Pip clearly did not wish to contradict.

"Well," he began quietly, staring down at his boots. "I suppose you must be correct. I have heard that you have remarried. Two years ago, I believe, to a Shropshire doctor. Am I not correct in believing this gossip?"

Estella's mellow expression immediately transformed into perplexed frown. "A Shropshire doctor? How very strange."

Pip's expression quickly mirrored her own. "Then it is not true?" There was a certain tone of excitement in his voice, which Estella did not altogether like.

"No. I'm afraid you have become the victim of idle, erroneous gossip, my dear Pip."

Pip attempted to shrug nonchalantly. "Then… you are not married?"

His expression conveyed a suppressed hopefulness that Estella felt somewhat guilty to destroy. However, she could not prolong the inevitable. "There you are incorrect, Sir. I remarried two years ago. However, it was not to a doctor from Shropshire."

Pip's eyes returned to his boots. "I see," he murmured, attempting to conceal his disappointment. "And might I ask… who now has the honor of calling you his wife?"

"Am I to assume," she began, avoiding his inquiry. "That you do not travel to London very often?"

"Hardly ever," he replied quickly. "I have not had the opportunity to see my old London acquaintances for several years. I don't know if you have heard anything regarding my own history-"

"I have not," she interposed.

"I have been working in a clerical position, alongside Herbert Pocket. We travel constantly, which is the reason why I have not been a visitor of London for these several years past."

"Ah," she mumbled, nodding her head pensively. "That would explain it then."

"What does it explain?" Pip inquired.

"Never mind," she quickly responded, grasping the reins. "I will delay you no longer, Pip. I am very pleased to see you. It has been too long since our last meeting."

Pip's cheeks flushed with the remembrance of their last interaction. "Yes, it has. And I regret to say that it's very likely we will not see one another for many years henceforth."

"You are most likely correct," she said, not quite as pained by this idea as Pip would have hoped. "Until then, my friend," she said with a warm smile, offering her gloved hand to him. He took it within his own slowly, placing a soft kiss upon it before reluctantly stepping away from her small carriage.

"Good day, Estella," he muttered.

"Good-bye, Pip." Before another word was spoken, she tapped the pony lightly with the reins and journeyed forth, refusing to glance back at her former companion.

The pony moved at a steady, listless trot. Once again, she embraced the small bundle beside her, absentmindedly weaving the reins through her fingers.

Traveling at this current speed, she would most likely have much time to gather her thoughts, reflecting over what exactly had happened those eleven years past…