"Miss Havisham was good enough to ask me," I returned, "whether she could do nothing for me, and I told her No."

     "Everybody should know his own business," said Mr. Jaggers. And I saw Wemmick's lips form the words "portable property."

     "I should not have told her No, if I had been you," said Mr Jaggers; "but every man ought to know his own business best."

     "Every man's business," said Wemmick, rather reproachfully towards me, "is portable property."

     As I thought the time was now come for pursuing the theme I had at heart, I said, turning on Mr. Jaggers:--

     "I did ask something of Miss Havisham, however, sir. I asked her to give me some information relative to her adopted daughter, and she gave me all she possessed."

     "Did she?" said Mr. Jaggers, bending forward to look at his boots and then straightening himself. "Hah! I don't think I should have done so, if I had been Miss Havisham. But she ought to know her own business best."