Her entrapped hand was on the table, but she had already put her other hand behind her waist. `Master,' she said, in a low voice, with her eyes attentively and entreatingly fixed upon him. `Don't.'

`I'll show you a wrist,' repeated Mr Jaggers, with an immovable determination to show it. `Molly, let them see your wrist.'

`Master,' she again murmured. `Please!'

`Molly,' said Mr Jaggers, not looking at her, but obstinately looking at the opposite side of the room, `let them see both your wrists. Show them. Come!'

He took his hand from hers, and turned that wrist up on the table. She brought her other hand from behind her, and held the two out side by side. The last wrist was much disfigured - deeply scarred and scarred across and across. When she held her hands out, she took her eyes from Mr Jaggers, and turned them watchfully on every one of the rest of us in succession.

`There's power here,' said Mr Jaggers, coolly tracing out the sinews with his forefinger. `Very few men have the power of wrist that this woman has. It's remarkable what mere force of grip there is in these hands. I have had occasion to notice many hands; but I never saw stronger in that respect, man's or woman's, than these.'

While he said these words in a leisurely critical style, she continued to look at every one of us in regular succession as we sat. The moment he ceased, she looked at him again. `That'll do, Molly,' said Mr Jaggers, giving her a slight nod; `you have been admired, and can go.' She withdrew her hands and went out of the room, and Mr Jaggers, putting the decanters on from his dumbwaiter, filled his glass and passed round the wine.

`At half-past nine, gentlemen,' said he, `we must break up. Pray make the best use of your time. I am glad to see you all. Mr Drummle, I drink to you.'

If his object in singling out Drummle were to bring him out still more, it perfectly succeeded. In a sulky triumph, Drummle showed his morose depreciation of the rest of us, in a more and more offensive degree until he became downright intolerable. Through all his stages, Mr Jaggers followed him with the same strange interest. He actually seemed to serve as a zest to Mr Jaggers's wine.

In our boyish want of discretion I dare say we took too much to drink, and I know we talked too much. we became particularly hot upon some boorish sneer of Drummle's, to the effect that we were too free with our money. It led to my remarking, with more zeal than discretion, that it came with a bad grace from him, to whom Startop had lent money in my presence but a week or so before.

`Well,' retorted Drummle; `he'll be paid.'

`I don't mean to imply that he won't,' said I, `but it might make you hold your tongue about us and our money, I should think.'

`You should think!' retorted Drummle. `Oh Lord!'

'I dare say,' I went on, meaning to be very severe, `that you wouldn't lend money to any of us, if we wanted it.'

`You are right,' said Drummle. `I wouldn't lend one of you a sixpence. I wouldn't lend anybody a sixpence.'

`Rather mean to borrow under those circumstances, I should say.'

`You should say,' repeated Drummle. `Oh Lord!'