In chapter 59, Pip goes to visit Joe and Biddy. He discovers that in addition to having a daughter, the couple now have a little son named after him. Both Joe and Biddy are happy to see Pip.

During the course of the visit, Biddy tells Pip that he must marry. She asks him whether he still "fret[s]" for Estella. Upon hearing the question, Pip answers that he no longer does. Biddy, however, appears unconvinced and asks him whether he's "quite forgotten" Estella.

Pip tells Biddy that he never forgets the people who matter to him. And, although he doesn't say that he no longer thinks of Estella, he maintains that his dreams pertaining to Estella have "all gone by." Still, even as he says this, Pip knows that he can't leave without visiting Satis House, the site of his first meeting with Estella.

From hearsay, Pip knows that Estella didn't have a happy marriage. Bentley Drummle was an abusive husband, full of "pride, avarice, brutality, and meanness," and he and Estella eventually separated. Then, Pip reveals that Drummle has been dead for two years due to an accident with a horse he mistreated.

Later, after leaving Joe and Biddy, Pip heads toward Satis House. When he arrives, the house and brewery are no longer there. However, the old garden still remains and is enclosed by a fence. Not long after his arrival, Estella arrives.

Although the freshness of her beauty is gone, the core of her loveliness remains. During their conversation, Estella tells Pip that Satis House now belongs to her. The chapter ends with the two leaving the grounds hand in hand. Pip says that he sees "no shadow of another parting from her."