Chapter 43

⁠​​​‌​​​​​​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​​​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌⁠Why should I pause to ask how much of my shrinking from Provis might be traced to Estella? Why should I loiter on my road, to compare the state of mind in which I had tried to rid myself of the stain of the prison before meeting her at the coach-office, with the state of mind in which I now reflected on the abyss between Estella in her pride and beauty, and the returned transport whom I harboured?