

                                  Emily Brontë

                               Wuthering Heights

                               [Charlotte Brontë]

           Editor's Preface to the New Edition of »Wuthering Heights«

I have just read over »Wuthering Heights« and, for the first time, have obtained
a clear glimpse of what are termed (and, perhaps, really are) its faults; have
gained a definite notion of how it appears to other people - to strangers who
knew nothing of the author; who are unacquainted with the locality where the
scenes of the story are laid; to whom the inhabitants, the customs, the natural
characteristics of the outlying hills and hamlets in the West-Riding of
Yorkshire are things alien and unfamiliar.
    To all such »Wuthering Heights« must appear a rude and strange production.
The wild moors of the north of England can for them have no interest; the
language, the manners, the very dwellings and household customs of the scattered
inhabitants of those districts, must be to such readers in a great measure
unintelligible, and - where intelligible - repulsive. Men and women who,
perhaps, naturally very calm, and with feelings moderate in degree, and little
marked in kind, have been trained from their cradle to observe the utmost
evenness of manner and guardedness of language, will hardly know what to make of
the rough, strong utterance, the harshly manifested passions, the unbridled
aversions, and headlong partialities of unlettered moorland hinds and rugged
moorland squires, who have grown up untaught and unchecked, except by mentors as
harsh as themselves. A large class of readers, likewise, will suffer greatly
from the introduction into the pages of this work of words printed with all
their letters, which it has become the custom to represent by the initial and
final letter only - a blank line filling the interval. I may as well say at once
that, for this circumstance, it is out of my power to apologize; deeming it,
myself, a rational plan to write words at full length. The practice of hinting
by single letters those expletives with which profane and violent persons are
wont to garnish their discourse, strikes me as a proceeding which, however well
meant, is weak and futile. I cannot tell what good it does - what feeling it
spares - what horror it conceals.
    With regard to the rusticity of »Wuthering Heights« I admit the charge, for
I feel the quality. It is rustic all through. It is moorish, and wild, and
knotty as a root of heath. Nor was it natural that it should be otherwise; the
author being herself a native and nursling of the moors. Doubtless, had her lot
been cast in a town, her writings, if she had written at all, would have
possessed another character. Even had chance or taste led her to choose a
similar subject, she would have treated it otherwise. Had Ellis Bell been a lady
or a gentleman accustomed to what is called the world, her view of a remote and
unreclaimed region, as well as of the dwellers therein, would have differed
greatly from that actually taken by the homebred country girl. Doubtless it
would have been wider - more comprehensive: whether it would have been more
original or more truthful is not so certain. As far as the scenery and locality
are concerned, it could scarcely have been so sympathetic: Ellis Bell did not
describe as one whose eye and taste alone found pleasure in the prospect; her
native hills were far more to her than a spectacle; they were what she lived in,
and by, as much as the wild birds, their tenants, or as the heather, their
produce. Her descriptions, then, of natural scenery, are what they should be,
and all they should be.
    Where delineation of human character is concerned, the case is different. I
am bound to avow that she had scarcely more practical knowledge of the peasantry
amongst whom she lived, than a nun has of the country people who sometimes pass
her convent gates. My sister's disposition was not naturally gregarious;
circumstances favoured and fostered her tendency to seclusion; except to go to
church or take a walk on the hills, she rarely crossed the threshold of home.
Though her feeling for the people round was benevolent, intercourse with them
she never sought; nor, with very few exceptions, ever experienced. And yet she
knew them: knew their ways, their language, their family histories; she could
hear of them with interest, and talk of them with detail, minute, graphic, and
accurate; but with them, she rarely exchanged a word. Hence it ensued that what
her mind had gathered of the real concerning them, was too exclusively confined
to those tragic and terrible traits of which, in listening to the secret annals
of every rude vicinage, the memory is sometimes compelled to receive the
impress. Her imagination, which was a spirit more sombre than sunny, more
powerful than sportive, found in such traits material whence it wrought
creations like Heathcliff, like Earnshaw, like Catherine. Having formed these
beings, she did not know what she had done. If the auditor of her work when read
in manuscript, shuddered under the grinding influence of natures so relentless
and implacable, of spirits so lost and fallen; if it was complained that the
mere hearing of certain vivid and fearful scenes banished sleep by night, and
disturbed mental peace by day, Ellis Bell would wonder what was meant, and
suspect the complainant of affectation. Had she but lived, her mind would of
itself have grown like a strong tree, loftier, straighter, wider-spreading, and
its matured fruits would have attained a mellower ripeness and sunnier bloom;
but on that mind time and experience alone could work: to the influence of other
intellects, it was not amenable.
    Having avowed that over much of »Wuthering Heights« there broods »a horror
of great darkness;« that, in its storm-heated and electrical atmosphere, we seem
at times to breathe lightning, let me point to those spots where clouded
daylight and the eclipsed sun still attest their existence. For a specimen of
true benevolence and homely fidelity, look at the character of Nelly Dean; for
an example of constancy and tenderness, remark that of Edgar Linton. (Some
people will think these qualities do not shine so well incarnate in a man as
they would do in a woman, but Ellis Bell could never be brought to comprehend
this notion: nothing moved her more than any insinuation that the faithfulness
and clemency, the long-suffering and loving-kindness which are esteemed virtues
in the daughters of Eve, become foibles in the sons of Adam. She held that mercy
and forgiveness are the divinest attributes of the Great Being who made both man
and woman, and that what clothes the Godhead in glory, can disgrace no form of
feeble humanity.) There is a dry saturnine humour in the delineation of old
Joseph, and some glimpses of grace and gaiety animate the younger Catherine. Nor
is even the first heroine of the name destitute of a certain strange beauty in
her fierceness, or of honesty in the midst of perverted passion and passionate
perversity.
    Heathcliff, indeed, stands unredeemed; never once swerving in his
arrow-straight course to perdition, from the time when »the little black-haired,
swarthy thing, as dark as if it came from the Devil,« was first unrolled out of
the bundle and set on its feet in the farm-house kitchen, to the hour when Nelly
Dean found the grim, stalwart corpse laid on its back in the panel-enclosed bed,
with wide-gazing eyes that seemed »to sneer at her attempt to close them, and
parted lips and sharp white teeth that sneered too.«
    Heathcliff betrays one solitary human feeling, and that is not his love for
Catherine; which is a sentiment fierce and inhuman: a passion such as might boil
and glow in the bad essence of some evil genius; a fire that might form the
tormented centre - the ever-suffering soul of a magnate of the infernal world:
and by its quenchless and ceaseless ravage effect the execution of the decree
which dooms him to carry Hell with him wherever he wanders. No; the single link
that connects Heathcliff with humanity is his rudely confessed regard for
Hareton Earnshaw - the young man whom he has ruined; and then his half-implied
esteem for Nelly Dean. These solitary traits omitted, we should say he was child
neither of Lascar nor gipsy, but a man's shape animated by demon life - a Ghoul
- an Afreet.
    Whether it is right or advisable to create beings like Heathcliff, I do not
know: I scarcely think it is. But this I know; the writer who possesses the
creative gift owns something of which he is not always master - something that
at times strangely wills and works for itself. He may lay down rules and devise
principles, and to rules and principles it will perhaps for years lie in
subjection; and then, haply without any warning of revolt, there comes a time
when it will no longer consent to »harrow the vallies, or be bound with a band
in the furrow« - when it »laughs at the multitude of the city, and regards not
the crying of the driver« - when, refusing absolutely to make ropes out of
sea-sand any longer, it sets to work on statue-hewing, and you have a Pluto or a
Jove, a Tisiphone or a Psyche, a Mermaid or a Madonna, as Fate or Inspiration
direct. Be the work grim or glorious, dread or divine, you have little choice
left but quiescent adoption. As for you - the nominal artist - your share in it
has been to work passively under dictates you neither delivered nor could
question - that would not be uttered at your prayer, nor suppressed nor changed
at your caprice. If the result be attractive, the World will praise you, who
little deserve praise; if it be repulsive, the same World will blame you, who
almost as little deserve blame.
    »Wuthering Heights« was hewn in a wild workshop, with simple tools, out of
homely materials. The statuary found a granite block on a solitary moor: gazing
thereon, he saw how from the crag might be elicited a head, savage, swart,
sinister; a form moulded with at least one element of grandeur - power. He
wrought with a rude chisel, and from no model but the vision of his meditations.
With time and labour, the crag took human shape; and there it stands colossal,
dark, and frowning, half statue, half rock: in the former sense, terrible and
goblin-like; in the latter, almost beautiful, for its colouring is of mellow
grey, and moorland moss clothes it; and heath, with its blooming bells and balmy
fragrance, grows faithfully close to the giant's foot.
                                                                     CURRER BELL

                                   Chapter I

 
1801. - I have just returned from a visit to my landlord - the solitary
neighbour that I shall be troubled with. This is certainly, a beautiful country!
In all England, I do not believe that I could have fixed on a situation so
completely removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist's Heaven -
and Mr. Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair to divide the desolation
between us. A capital fellow! He little imagined how my heart warmed towards him
when I beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their brows, as I
rode up, and when his fingers sheltered themselves, with a jealous resolution,
still further in his waistcoat, as I announced my name.
    »Mr. Heathcliff?« I said.
    A nod was the answer.
    »Mr. Lockwood your new tenant, sir. I do myself the honour of calling as
soon as possible, after my arrival, to express the hope that I have not
inconvenienced you by my perseverance in soliciting the occupation of
Thrushcross Grange: I heard, yesterday, you had had some thoughts -«
    »Thrushcross Grange is my own, sir,« he interrupted wincing, »I should not
allow any one to inconvenience me, if I could hinder it - walk in!«
    The walk in, was uttered with closed teeth and expressed the sentiment, »Go
to the Deuce!« even the gate over which he leant manifested no sympathizing
movement to the words; and I think that circumstance determined me to accept the
invitation: I felt interested in a man who seemed more exaggeratedly reserved
than myself.
    When he saw my horse's breast fairly pushing the barrier, he did pull out
his hand to unchain it, and then sullenly preceded me up the causeway, calling,
as we entered the court:
    »Joseph, take Mr. Lockwood's horse; and bring up some wine.«
    »Here we have the whole establishment of domestics, I suppose,« was the
reflection, suggested by this compound order, »No wonder the grass grows up
between the flags, and cattle are the only hedge-cutters.«
    Joseph was an elderly, nay, an old man, very old, perhaps, though hale and
sinewy.
    »The Lord help us!« he soliloquised in an undertone of peevish displeasure,
while relieving me of my horse: looking, meantime, in my face so sourly that I
charitably conjectured he must have need of divine aid to digest his dinner, and
his pious ejaculation had no reference to my unexpected advent.
    Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling. Wuthering being
a significant provincial adjective, descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to
which its station is exposed, in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation they
must have up there, at all times, indeed: one may guess the power of the north
wind, blowing over the edge, by the excessive slant of a few, stunted firs at
the end of the house; and by a range of gaunt thorns all stretching their limbs
one way, as if craving alms of the sun. Happily, the architect had foresight to
build it strong: the narrow windows are deeply set in the wall; and the corners
defended with large jutting stones.
    Before passing the threshold, I paused to admire a quantity of grotesque
carving lavished over the front, and especially about the principal door, above
which, among a wilderness of crumbling griffins, and shameless little boys, I
detected the date 1500, and the name »Hareton Earnshaw.« I would have made a few
comments, and requested a short history of the place, from the surly owner, but
his attitude at the door appeared to demand my speedy entrance, or complete
departure, and I had no desire to aggravate his impatience, previous to
inspecting the penetralium.
    One step brought us into the family sitting-room, without any introductory
lobby, or passage: they call it here the house preeminently. It includes
kitchen, and parlour, generally, but I believe at Wuthering Heights, the kitchen
is forced to retreat altogether, into another quarter, at least I distinguished
a chatter of tongues, and a clatter of culinary utensils, deep within; and I
observed no signs of roasting, boiling, or baking, about the huge fire-place;
nor any glitter of copper saucepans and tin cullenders on the walls. One end,
indeed, reflected splendidly both light and heat, from ranks of immense pewter
dishes; interspersed with silver jugs, and tankards, towering row after row, in
a vast oak dresser, to the very roof. The latter had never been underdrawn, its
entire anatomy lay bare to an inquiring eye, except where a frame of wood laden
with oatcakes, and clusters of legs of beef, mutton and ham, concealed it. Above
the chimney were sundry villainous old guns, and a couple of horse-pistols, and,
by way of ornament, three gaudily painted canisters disposed along its ledge.
The floor was of smooth, white stone: the chairs, high-backed, primitive
structures, painted green: one or two heavy black ones lurking in the shade. In
an arch, under the dresser, reposed a huge, liver-coloured bitch pointer
surrounded by a swarm of squealing puppies; and other dogs, haunted other
recesses.
    The apartment, and furniture would have been nothing extraordinary as
belonging to a homely, northern farmer with a stubborn countenance, and stalwart
limbs, set out to advantage in knee-breeches, and gaiters. Such an individual,
seated in his arm-chair, his mug of ale frothing on the round table before him,
is to be seen in any circuit of five or six miles among these hills, if you go
at the right time, after dinner. But, Mr. Heathcliff forms a singular contrast
to his abode and style of living. He is a dark skinned gipsy, in aspect, in
dress, and manners, a gentleman, that is, as much a gentleman as many a country
squire: rather slovenly, perhaps, yet not looking amiss, with his negligence,
because he has an erect and handsome figure - and rather morose - possibly, some
people might suspect him of a degree of under-bred pride - I have a sympathetic
chord within that tells me it is nothing of the sort; I know, by instinct, his
reserve springs from an aversion to showy displays of feeling - to
manifestations of mutual kindliness. He'll love and hate, equally under cover,
and esteem it a species of impertinence, to be loved or hated again - No, I'm
running on too fast - I bestow my own attributes over liberally on him. Mr.
Heathcliff may have entirely dissimilar reasons for keeping his hand out of the
way, when he meets a would be acquaintance, to those which actuate me. Let me
hope my constitution is almost peculiar: my dear mother used to say I should
never have a comfortable home, and only last summer, I proved myself perfectly
unworthy of one.
    While enjoying a month of fine weather at the sea-coast, I was thrown into
the company of a most fascinating creature, a real goddess, in my eyes, as long
as she took no notice of me. I never told my love vocally; still, if looks have
language, the merest idiot might have guessed I was over head and ears; she
understood me, at last, and looked a return - the sweetest of all imaginable
looks - and what did I do? I confess it with shame - shrunk icily into myself,
like a snail, at every glance retired colder and farther; till, finally, the
poor innocent was led to doubt her own senses, and, overwhelmed with confusion
at her supposed mistake, persuaded her mamma to decamp.
    By this curious turn of disposition I have gained the reputation of
deliberate heartlessness, how undeserved, I alone can appreciate.
    I took a seat at the end of the hearthstone opposite that towards which my
landlord advanced, and filled up an interval of silence by attempting to caress
the canine mother, who had left her nursery, and was sneaking wolfishly to the
back of my legs, her lip curled up, and her white teeth watering for a snatch.
    My caress provoked a long, guttural gnarl.
    »You'd better let the dog alone,« growled Mr. Heathcliff, in unison,
checking fiercer demonstrations with a punch of his foot. »She's not accustomed
to be spoiled - not kept for a pet.«
    Then, striding to a side-door, he shouted again.
    »Joseph!«
    Joseph mumbled indistinctly in the depths of the cellar; but, gave no
intimation of ascending; so, his master dived down to him, leaving me vis-à-vis
the ruffianly bitch, and a pair of grim, shaggy sheep dogs, who shared with her
a jealous guardianship over all my movements.
    Not anxious to come in contact with their fangs, I sat still - but,
imagining they would scarcely understand tacit insults, I unfortunately indulged
in winking and making faces at the trio, and some turn of my physiognomy so
irritated madam, that she suddenly broke into a fury, and leapt on my knees. I
flung her back, and hastened to interpose the table between us. This proceeding
roused the whole hive. Half-a-dozen four-footed fiends, of various sizes, and
ages, issued from hidden dens to the common centre. I felt my heels, and
coat-laps peculiar subjects of assault; and, parrying off the larger combatants,
as effectually as I could, with the poker, I was constrained to demand, aloud,
assistance from some of the household, in re-establishing peace.
    Mr. Heathcliff and his man climbed the cellar steps with vexatious phlegm. I
don't think they moved one second faster than usual, though the hearth was an
absolute tempest of worrying and yelping.
    Happily, an inhabitant of the kitchen made more dispatch; a lusty dame, with
tucked up gown, bare arms, and fire-flushed cheeks, rushed into the midst of us
flourishing a fryingpan; and used that weapon, and her tongue to such purpose,
that the storm subsided magically, and she only remained, heaving like a sea
after a high wind, when her master entered on the scene.
    »What the devil is the matter?« he asked, eyeing me in a manner that I could
ill endure after this inhospitable treatment.
    »What the devil, indeed!« I muttered. »The herd of possessed swine could
have had no worse spirits in them than those animals of yours, sir. You might as
well leave a stranger with a brood of tigers!«
    »They won't meddle with persons who touch nothing,« he remarked, putting the
bottle before me, and restoring the displaced table. »The dogs do right to be
vigilant. Take a glass of wine?«
    »No, thank you.«
    »Not bitten, are you?«
    »If I had been, I would have set my signet on the biter.«
    Heathcliff's countenance relaxed into a grin.
    »Come, come,« he said, »you are flurried, Mr. Lockwood. Here, take a little
wine. Guests are so exceedingly rare in this house that I and my dogs, I am
willing to own, hardly know how to receive them. Your health, sir.«
    I bowed and returned the pledge; beginning to perceive that it would be
foolish to sit sulking for the misbehaviour of a pack of curs: besides, I felt
loth to yield the fellow further amusement, at my expense; since his humour took
that turn.
    He - probably swayed by prudential considerations of the folly of offending
a good tenant - relaxed, a little, in the laconic style of chipping off his
pronouns, and auxiliary verbs; and introduced, what he supposed would be a
subject of interest to me, a discourse on the advantages and disadvantages of my
present place of retirement.
    I found him very intelligent on the topics we touched; and, before I went
home, I was encouraged so far as to volunteer another visit, to-morrow.
    He evidently wished no repetition of my intrusion. I shall go,
notwithstanding. It is astonishing how sociable I feel myself compared with him.
 

                                   Chapter II

Yesterday afternoon set in misty and cold. I had half a mind to spend it by my
study fire, instead of wading through heath and mud to Wuthering Heights.
    On coming up from dinner, however, (N.B. I dine between twelve and one
o'clock; the housekeeper, a matronly lady taken as a fixture along with the
house, could not, or would not comprehend my request that I might be served at
five.) On mounting the stairs with this lazy intention, and stepping into the
room, I saw a servant-girl on her knees, surrounded by brushes, and
coal-scuttles; and raising an infernal dust as she extinguished the flames with
heaps of cinders. This spectacle drove me back immediately; I took my hat, and,
after a four miles' walk, arrived at Heathcliff's garden gate just in time to
escape the first feathery flakes of a snow shower.
    On that bleak hill top the earth was hard with a black frost, and the air
made me shiver through every limb. Being unable to remove the chain, I jumped
over, and, running up the flagged causeway bordered with straggling gooseberry
bushes, knocked vainly for admittance, till my knuckles tingled, and the dogs
howled.
    »Wretched inmates!« I ejaculated, mentally, »you deserve perpetual isolation
from your species for your churlish inhospitality. At least, I would not keep my
doors barred in the day time - I don't care - I will get in!«
    So resolved, I grasped the latch, and shook it vehemently. Vinegar-faced
Joseph projected his head from a round window of the barn.
    »Whet are ye for?« he shouted. »T' master's dahn i' t' fowld. Goa rahnd by
th' end ut' laith, if yah went tuh spoke tull him.«
    »Is there nobody inside to open the door?« I hallooed, responsively.
    »They's nobbut t' missis; and shoo'll nut oppen't an ye make yer flaysome
dins till neeght.«
    »Why? cannot you tell her who I am, eh, Joseph?«
    »Nor-ne me! Aw'll hae noa hend wi't,« muttered the head vanishing.
    The snow began to drive thickly. I seized the handle to essay another trial;
when a young man, without coat, and shouldering a pitchfork, appeared in the
yard behind. He hailed me to follow him, and, after marching through a
washhouse, and a paved area containing a coal-shed, pump, and pigeon cote, we at
length arrived in the large, warm, cheerful apartment, where I was formerly
received.
    It glowed delightfully in the radiance of an immense fire, compounded of
coal, peat, and wood: and near the table, laid for a plentiful evening meal, I
was pleased to observe the missis, an individual whose existence I had never
previously suspected.
    I bowed and waited, thinking she would bid me take a seat. She looked at me,
leaning back in her chair, and remained motionless and mute.
    »Rough weather!« I remarked. »I'm afraid, Mrs. Heathcliff, the door must
bear the consequence of your servants' leisure attendance: I had hard work to
make them hear me!«
    She never opened her mouth. I stared - she stared also. At any rate, she
kept her eyes on me, in a cool, regardless manner, exceedingly embarrassing and
disagreeable.
    »Sit down,« said the young man, gruffly. »He'll be in soon.«
    I obeyed; and hemmed, and called the villain Juno, who deigned, at this
second interview, to move the extreme tip of her tail, in token of owning my
acquaintance.
    »A beautiful animal!« I commenced again. »Do you intend parting with the
little ones, madam?«
    »They are not mine,« said the amiable hostess more repellingly than
Heathcliff himself could have replied.
    »Ah, your favourites are among these!« I continued, turning to an obscure
cushion full of something like cats.
    »A strange choice of favourites,« she observed scornfully.
    Unluckily, it was a heap of dead rabbits - I hemmed once more, and drew
closer to the hearth, repeating my comment on the wildness of the evening.
    »You should not have come out,« she said, rising and reaching from the
chimney piece two of the painted canisters.
    Her position before was sheltered from the light: now, I had a distinct view
of her whole figure and countenance. She was slender, and apparently scarcely
past girlhood: an admirable form, and the most exquisite little face that I have
ever had the pleasure of beholding: small features, very fair; flaxen ringlets,
or rather golden, hanging loose on her delicate neck; and eyes - had they been
agreeable in expression, they would have been irresistible - fortunately for my
susceptible heart, the only sentiment they evinced hovered between scorn and a
kind of desperation, singularly unnatural to be detected there.
    The canisters were almost out of her reach; I made a motion to aid her; she
turned upon me as a miser might turn, if any one attempted to assist him in
counting his gold.
    »I don't want your help,« she snapped, »I can get them for myself.«
    »I beg your pardon,« I hastened to reply.
    »Were you asked to tea?« she demanded, tying an apron over her neat black
frock, and standing with a spoonful of the leaf poised over the pot.
    »I shall be glad to have a cup,« I answered.
    »Were you asked?« she repeated.
    »No;« I said, half smiling. »You are the proper person to ask me.«
    She flung the tea back, spoon and all; and resumed her chair in a pet, her
forehead corrugated, and her red under-lip pushed out, like a child's, ready to
cry.
    Meanwhile, the young man had slung onto his person a decidedly shabby upper
garment, and, erecting himself before the blaze, looked down on me, from the
corner of his eyes, for all the world as if there were some mortal feud
unavenged between us. I began to doubt whether he were a servant or not; his
dress and speech were both rude, entirely devoid of the superiority observable
in Mr. and Mrs. Heathcliff; his thick, brown curls were rough and uncultivated,
his whiskers encroached bearishly over his cheeks, and his hands were embrowned
like those of a common labourer: still his bearing was free, almost haughty; and
he showed none of a domestic's assiduity in attending on the lady of the house.
    In the absence of clear proofs of his condition, I deemed it best to abstain
from noticing his curious conduct, and, five minutes afterwards, the entrance of
Heathcliff relieved me, in some measure, from my uncomfortable state.
    »You see, sir, I am come according to promise!« I exclaimed, assuming the
cheerful »and I fear I shall be weather-bound for half an hour, if you can
afford me shelter during that space.«
    »Half an hour?« he said, shaking the white flakes from his clothes; »I
wonder you should select the thick of a snow-storm to ramble about in. Do you
know that you run a risk of being lost in the marshes? People familiar with
these moors often miss their road on such evenings, and, I can tell you, there
is no chance of a change at present.«
    »Perhaps I can get a guide among your lads, and he might stay at the Grange
till morning - could you spare me one?«
    »No, I could not.«
    »Oh, indeed! Well then, I must trust to my own sagacity.«
    »Umph!«
    »Are you going to make th' tea?« demanded he of the shabby coat, shifting his
ferocious gaze from me to the young lady.
    »Is he to have any?« she asked, appealing to Heathcliff.
    »Get it ready, will you?« was the answer, uttered so savagely that I
started. The tone in which the words were said, revealed a genuine bad nature. I
no longer felt inclined to call Heathcliff a capital fellow.
    When the preparations were finished, he invited me with -
    »Now, sir, bring forward your chair.« And we all, including the rustic
youth, drew round the table, an austere silence prevailing while we discussed
our meal.
    I thought, if I had caused the cloud, it was my duty to make an effort to
dispel it. They could not every day sit so grim and taciturn, and it was
impossible, however ill-tempered they might be, that the universal scowl they
wore was their every day countenance.
    »It is strange,« I began in the interval of swallowing one cup of tea, and
receiving another, »it is strange how custom can mould our tastes and ideas;
many could not imagine the existence of happiness in a life of such complete
exile from the world as you spend, Mr. Heathcliff; yet, I'll venture to say,
that, surrounded by your family, and with your amiable lady as the presiding
genius over your home and heart -«
    »My amiable lady!« he interrupted, with an almost diabolical sneer on his
face. »Where is she - my amiable lady?«
    »Mrs. Heathcliff, your wife, I mean.«
    »Well, yes - Oh! you would intimate that her spirit has taken the post of
ministering angel, and guards the fortunes of Wuthering Heights, even when her
body is gone. Is that it?«
    Perceiving myself in a blunder, I attempted to correct it. I might have seen
there was too great a disparity between the ages of the parties to make it
likely that they were man and wife. One was about forty; a period of mental
vigour at which men seldom cherish the delusion of being married for love, by
girls: that dream is reserved for the solace of our declining years. The other
did not look seventeen.
    Then it flashed upon me; »the clown at my elbow, who is drinking his tea out
of a basin, and eating his bread with unwashed hands, may be her husband.
Heathcliff, junior, of course. Here is the consequence of being buried alive:
she has thrown herself away upon that boor, from sheer ignorance that better
individuals existed! A sad pity - I must beware how I cause her to regret her
choice.«
    The last reflection may seem conceited; it was not. My neighbour struck me
as bordering on repulsive. I knew, through experience, that I was tolerably
attractive.
    »Mrs. Heathcliff is my daughter-in-law,« said Heathcliff, corroborating my
surmise. He turned, as he spoke, a peculiar look in her direction, a look of
hatred unless he has a most perverse set of facial muscles that will not, like
those of other people, interpret the language of his soul.
    »Ah, certainly - I see now; you are the favoured possessor of the beneficent
fairy,« I remarked, turning to my neighbour.
    This was worse than before: the youth grew crimson, and clenched his fist
with every appearance of a meditated assault. But he seemed to recollect
himself, presently; and smothered the storm in a brutal curse, muttered on my
behalf, which, however, I took care not to notice.
    »Unhappy in your conjectures, sir!« observed my host; »we neither of us have
the privilege of owning your good fairy; her mate is dead. I said she was my
daughter-in-law, therefore, she must have married my son.«
    »And this young man is -«
    »Not my son, assuredly!«
    Heathcliff smiled again, as if it were rather too bold a jest to attribute
the paternity of that bear to him.
    »My name is Hareton Earnshaw,« growled the other; »and I'd counsel you to
respect it!«
    »I've shown no disrespect,« was my reply, laughing internally at the dignity
with which he announced himself.
    He fixed his eye on me longer than I cared to return the stare, for fear I
might be tempted either to box his ears, or render my hilarity audible. I began
to feel unmistakably out of place in that pleasant family circle. The dismal
spiritual atmosphere overcame, and more than neutralized the glowing physical
comforts round me; and I resolved to be cautious how I ventured under those
rafters a third time.
    The business of eating being concluded, and no one uttering a word of
sociable conversation, I approached a window to examine the weather.
    A sorrowful sight I saw; dark night coming down prematurely, and sky and
hills mingled in one bitter whirl of wind and suffocating snow.
    »I don't think it possible for me to get home now, without a guide,« I could
not help exclaiming. »The roads will be buried already; and, if they were bare,
I could scarcely distinguish a foot in advance.«
    »Hareton, drive those dozen sheep into the barn porch. They'll be covered if
left in the fold all night; and put a plank before them,« said Heathcliff.
    »How must I do?« I continued, with rising irritation.
    There was no reply to my question; and, on looking round, I saw only Joseph
bringing in a pail of porridge for the dogs; and Mrs. Heathcliff, leaning over
the fire, diverting herself with burning a bundle of matches which had fallen
from the chimney-piece as she restored the tea-canister to its place.
    The former, when he had deposited his burden, took a critical survey of the
room; and, in cracked tones, grated out:
    »Aw woonder hagh yah can faishion tub stand thear i' idleness un war, when
all on 'em's goan aght! Bud yah're anowt, audit's noa use talking - yah'll niver
mend uh yer ill ways; bud, goa raight tuh t' divil, like yer mother afore ye!«
    I imagined, for a moment, that this piece of eloquence was addressed to me;
and, sufficiently enraged, stepped towards the aged rascal with an intention of
kicking him out of the door.
    Mrs. Heathcliff, however, checked me by her answer.
    »You scandalous old hypocrite!« she replied. »Are you not afraid of being
carried away bodily, whenever you mention the devil's name? I warn you to
refrain from provoking me, or I'll ask your abduction as a special favour. Stop,
look here, Joseph,« she continued, taking a long, dark book from a shelf. »I'll
show you how far I've progressed in the Black Art - I shall soon be competent to
make a clear house of it. The red cow didn't die by chance; and your rheumatism
can hardly be reckoned among providential visitations!«
    »Oh, wicked, wicked!« gasped the elder, »may the Lord deliver us from evil!«
    »No, reprobate! you are a castaway - be off, or I'll hurt you seriously!
I'll have you all modelled in wax and clay; and the first who passes the limits,
I fix, shall - I'll not say what he shall be done to - but, you'll see! Go, I'm
looking at you!«
    The little witch put a mock malignity into her beautiful eyes, and Joseph,
trembling with sincere horror, hurried out praying and ejaculating wicked as he
went.
    I thought her conduct must be prompted by a species of dreary fun; and, now
that we were alone, I endeavoured to interest her in my distress.
    »Mrs. Heathcliff,« I said, earnestly, »you must excuse me for troubling you
- I presume, because, with that face, I'm sure you cannot help being
good-hearted. Do point out some landmarks by which I may know my way home - I
have no more idea how to get there than you would have how to get to London!«
    »Take the road you came,« she answered, ensconcing herself in a chair, with
a candle, and the long book open before her. »It is brief advice; but, as sound
as I can give.«
    »Then, if you hear of me being discovered dead in a bog, or a pit full of
snow, your conscience won't whisper that it is partly your fault?«
    »How so? I cannot escort you. They wouldn't let me go to the end of the
garden-wall.«
    »You! I should be sorry to ask you to cross the threshold, for my
convenience, on such a night,« I cried. »I want you to tell me my way, not to
show it; or else to persuade Mr. Heathcliff to give me a guide.«
    »Who? There is himself, Earnshaw, Zillah, Joseph, and I. Which would you
have?«
    »Are there no boys at the farm?«
    »No, those are all.«
    »Then, it follows that I am compelled to stay.«
    »That you may settle with your host. I have nothing to do with it.«
    »I hope it will be a lesson to you, to make no more rash journeys on these
hills,« cried Heathcliff's stern voice from the kitchen entrance. »As to staying
here, I don't keep accommodations for visitors; you must share a bed with
Hareton, or Joseph, if you do.«
    »I can sleep on a chair in this room,« I replied.
    »No, no! A stranger is a stranger, be he rich or poor - it will not suit me
to permit any one the range of the place while I am off guard!« said the
unmannerly wretch.
    With this insult my patience was at an end. I uttered an expression of
disgust, and pushed past him into the yard, running against Earnshaw in my
haste. It was so dark that I could not see the means of exit, and, as I wandered
round, I heard another specimen of their civil behaviour amongst each other.
    At first, the young man appeared about to befriend me.
    »I'll go with him as far as the park,« he said.
    »You'll go with him to hell!« exclaimed his master, or whatever relation he
bore. »And who is to look after the horses, eh?«
    »A man's life is of more consequence than one evening's neglect of the
horses; somebody must go,« murmured Mrs. Heathcliff, more kindly than I
expected.
    »Not at your command!« retorted Hareton. »If you set store on him, you'd
better be quiet.«
    »Then I hope his ghost will haunt you; and I hope Mr. Heathcliff will never
get another tenant, till the Grange is a ruin!« she answered sharply.
    »Hearken, hearken, shoo's cursing on em!« muttered Joseph, towards whom I
had been steering.
    He sat within earshot, milking the cows, by the aid of a lantern which I
seized unceremoniously, and calling out that I would send it back on the morrow,
rushed to the nearest postern.
    »Maister, master, he's staling t' lantern!« shouted the ancient, pursuing
my retreat. »Hey, Gnasher! Hey, dog! Hey, Wolf, holld him, holld him!«
    On opening the little door, two hairy monsters flew at my throat, bearing me
down, and extinguishing the light, while a mingled guffaw, from Heathcliff and
Hareton, put the copestone on my rage and humiliation.
    Fortunately, the beasts seemed more bent on stretching their paws, and
yawning, and flourishing their tails, than devouring me alive; but, they would
suffer no resurrection, and I was forced to lie till their malignant masters
pleased to deliver me: then hatless, and trembling with wrath, I ordered the
miscreants to let me out - on their peril to keep me one minute longer - with
several incoherent threats of retaliation, that in their indefinite depth of
virulency, smacked of King Lear.
    The vehemence of my agitation brought on a copious bleeding at the nose, and
still Heathcliff laughed, and still I scolded. I don't know what would have
concluded the scene had there not been one person at hand rather more rational
than myself, and more benevolent than my entertainer. This was Zillah, the stout
housewife; who at length issued forth to inquire into the nature of the uproar.
She thought that some of them had been laying violent hands on me; and, not
daring to attack her master, she turned her vocal artillery against the younger
scoundrel.
    »Well, Mr. Earnshaw,« she cried, »I wonder what you'll have agait next! Are
we going to murder folk on our very door-stones? I see this house will never do
for me - look at t' poor lad, he's fair choking! Wisht, wisht! you mun'n't go on
so - come in, and I'll cure that. There now, hold ye still.«
    With these words she suddenly splashed a pint of icy water down my neck, and
pulled me into the kitchen. Mr. Heathcliff followed, his accidental merriment
expiring quickly in his habitual moroseness.
    I was sick exceedingly, and dizzy and faint; and thus compelled, perforce,
to accept lodgings under his roof. He told Zillah to give me a glass of brandy,
and then passed on to the inner room, while she condoled with me on my sorry
predicament, and having obeyed his orders, whereby I was somewhat revived,
ushered me to bed.
 

                                  Chapter III

While leading the way up-stairs, she recommended that I should hide the candle,
and not make a noise, for her master had an odd notion about the chamber she
would put me in; and never let anybody lodge there willingly.
    I asked the reason.
    She did not know, she answered; she had only lived there a year or two; and
they had so many queer goings on, she could not begin to be curious.
    Too stupefied to be curious myself, I fastened my door and glanced round for
the bed. The whole furniture consisted of a chair, a clothes-press, and a large
oak case, with squares cut out near the top, resembling coach windows.
    Having approached this structure, I looked inside, and perceived it to be a
singular sort of old-fashioned couch, very conveniently designed to obviate the
necessity for every member of the family having a room to himself. In fact, it
formed a little closet, and the ledge of a window, which it enclosed, served as
a table.
    I slid back the panelled sides, got in with my light, pulled them together
again, and felt secure against the vigilance of Heathcliff, and every one else.
    The ledge, where I placed my candle, had a few mildewed books piled up in
one corner; and it was covered with writing scratched on the paint. This
writing, however, was nothing but a name repeated in all kinds of characters,
large and small - Catherine Earnshaw; here and there varied to Catherine
Heathcliff, and then again to Catherine Linton.
    In vapid listlessness I leant my head against the window, and continued
spelling over Catherine Earnshaw - Heathcliff - Linton, till my eyes closed; but
they had not rested five minutes when a glare of white letters started from the
dark, as vivid as spectres - the air swarmed with Catherines; and rousing myself
to dispel the obtrusive name, I discovered my candle wick reclining on one of
the antique volumes, and perfuming the place with an odour of roasted calf-skin.
    I snuffed it off, and, very ill at ease, under the influence of cold and
lingering nausea, sat up, and spread open the injured tome on my knee. It was a
Testament, in lean type, and smelling dreadfully musty: a fly-leaf bore the
inscription - »Catherine Earnshaw, her book,« and a date some quarter of a
century back.
    I shut it, and took up another, and another, till I had examined all.
Catherine's library was select; and its state of dilapidation proved it to have
been well used, though not altogether for a legitimate purpose; scarcely one
chapter had escaped a pen and ink commentary, at least, the appearance of one,
covering every morsel of blank that the printer had left.
    Some were detached sentences; other parts took the form of a regular diary,
scrawled in an unformed, childish hand. At the top of an extra page, quite a
treasure probably when first lighted on, I was greatly amused to behold an
excellent caricature of my friend Joseph, rudely yet powerfully sketched.
    An immediate interest kindled within me for the unknown Catherine, and I
began, forthwith, to decypher her faded hieroglyphics.
    »An awful Sunday!« commenced the paragraph beneath. »I wish my father were
back again. Hindley is a detestable substitute - his conduct to Heathcliff is
atrocious - H. and I are going to rebel - we took our initiatory step this
evening.
    All day had been flooding with rain; we could not go to church, so Joseph
must needs get up a congregation in the garret; and, while Hindley and his wife
basked down stairs before a comfortable fire, doing anything but reading their
bibles, I'll answer for it; Heathcliff, myself, and the unhappy plough-boy, were
commanded to take our Prayer-books, and mount - we were ranged in a row, on a
sack of corn, groaning and shivering, and hoping that Joseph would shiver too,
so that he might give us a short homily for his own sake. A vain idea! The
service lasted precisely three hours; and yet my brother had the face to
exclaim, when he saw us descending,
    What, done already?«
    »On Sunday evenings we used to be permitted to play, if we did not make much
noise; now a mere titter is sufficient to send us into corners!
    You forget you have a master here, says the tyrant. I'll demolish the first
who puts me out of temper! I insist on perfect sobriety and silence. Oh, boy!
was that you? Frances, darling, pull his hair as you go by; I heard him snap his
fingers.
    Frances pulled his hair heartily; and then went and seated herself on her
husband's knee, and there they were, like two babies, kissing and talking
nonsense by the hour - foolish palaver that we should be ashamed of.
    We made ourselves as snug as our means allowed in the arch of the dresser. I
had just fastened our pinafores together, and hung them up for a curtain; when
in comes Joseph, on an errand from the stables. He tears down my handy work,
boxes my ears, and croaks:
    T' master nobbut just buried, and Sabbath nut oe'red, und t' sahnd uh't
gospel still i' yer lugs, and yah darr be laiking! shame on ye! sit ye dahn, ill
childer! they's good books enough if ye'll read 'em; sit ye dahn, and think uh
yer sowls!
    Saying this, he compelled us so to square our positions that we might
receive, from the far-off fire, a dull ray to show us the text of the lumber he
thrust upon us.
    I could not bear the employment. I took my dingy volume by the scroop, and
hurled it into the dog-kennel, vowing I hated a good book.
    Heathcliff kicked his to the same place.
    Then there was a hubbub!
    Maister Hindley! shouted our chaplain. Maister, come hither! Miss Cathy's
riven th' back off »Th' Helmet uh Salvation,« un' Heathcliff's pawsed his fit
intuh t' first part uh »T' Brooad Way to Destruction!« It's fair flaysome ut yah
let 'em goa on this gait. Ech! th' owd man ud uh laced 'em properly - bud he's
goan!
    Hindley hurried up from his paradise on the hearth, and seizing one of us by
the collar, and the other by the arm, hurled both into the back-kitchen; where,
Joseph asseverated, owd Nick would fetch us as sure as we were living; and, so
comforted, we each sought a separate nook to await his advent.
    I reached this book, and a pot of ink from a shelf, and pushed the
house-door ajar to give me light, and I have got the time on with writing for
twenty minutes; but my companion is impatient and proposes that we should
appropriate the dairy woman's cloak, and have a scamper on the moors, under its
shelter. A pleasant suggestion - and then, if the surly old man come in, he may
believe his prophesy verified - we cannot be damper, or colder, in the rain than
we are here.«
 
I suppose Catherine fulfilled her project, for the next sentence took up another
subject; she waxed lachrymose.
    »How little did I dream that Hindley would ever make me cry so!« she wrote.
»My head aches, till I cannot keep it on the pillow; and still I can't give
over. Poor Heathcliff! Hindley calls him a vagabond, and won't let him sit with
us, nor eat with us any more; and, he says, he and I must not play together, and
threatens to turn him out of the house if we break his orders.
    He has been blaming our father (how dared he?) for treating H. too
liberally; and swears he will reduce him to his right place -«
 
I began to nod drowsily over the dim page; my eye wandered from manuscript to
print. I saw a red ornamented title ... »Seventy Times Seven, and the First of
the Seventy First. A Pious Discourse delivered by the Reverend Jabes Branderham,
in the Chapel of Gimmerden Sough.« And while I was, half consciously, worrying
my brain to guess what Jabes Branderham would make of his subject, I sank back
in bed, and fell asleep.
    Alas, for the effects of bad tea and bad temper! what else could it be that
made me pass such a terrible night? I don't remember another that I can at all
compare with it since I was capable of suffering.
    I began to dream, almost before I ceased to be sensible of my locality. I
thought it was morning; and I had set out on my way home, with Joseph for a
guide. The snow lay yards deep in our road; and, as we floundered on, my
companion wearied me with constant reproaches that I had not brought a pilgrim's
staff: telling me I could never get into the house without one, and boastfully
flourishing a heavy-headed cudgel, which I understood to be so denominated.
    For a moment I considered it absurd that I should need such a weapon to gain
admittance into my own residence. Then, a new idea flashed across me. I was not
going there; we were journeying to hear the famous Jabes Branderham preach from
the text - »Seventy Times Seven;« and either Joseph, the preacher, or I had
committed the »First of the Seventy First,« and were to be publicly exposed and
excommunicated.
    We came to the chapel - I have passed it really in my walks, twice or
thrice: it lies in a hollow, between two hills - an elevated hollow - near a
swamp, whose peaty moisture is said to answer all the purposes of embalming on
the few corpses deposited there. The roof has been kept whole hitherto, but, as
the clergyman's stipend is only twenty pounds per annum, and a house with two
rooms, threatening speedily to determine into one, no clergyman will undertake
the duties of pastor, especially, as it is currently reported that his flock
would rather let him starve than increase the living by one penny from their own
pockets. However, in my dream, Jabes had a full and attentive congregation: and
he preached - good God - what a sermon! Divided into four hundred and ninety
parts - each fully equal to an ordinary address from the pulpit - and each
discussing a separate sin! Where he searched for them, I cannot tell; he had his
private manner of interpreting the phrase, and it seemed necessary the brother
should sin different sins on every occasion.
    They were of the most curious character - odd transgressions that I never
imagined previously.
    Oh, how weary I grew. How I writhed, and yawned, and nodded, and revived!
How I pinched and pricked myself, and rubbed my eyes, and stood up, and sat down
again, and nudged Joseph to inform me if he would ever have done!
    I was condemned to hear all out - finally, he reached the »First of the
Seventy-First.« At that crisis, a sudden inspiration descended on me; I was
moved to rise and denounce Jabes Branderham as the sinner of the sin that no
Christian need pardon.
    »Sir,« I exclaimed, »sitting here, within these four walls, at one stretch,
I have endured and forgiven the four hundred and ninety heads of your discourse.
Seventy times seven times have I plucked up my hat, and been about to depart -
Seventy times seven times have you preposterously forced me to resume my seat.
The four hundred and ninety-first is too much. Fellow martyrs, have at him! Drag
him down, and crush him to atoms, that the place which knows him may know him no
more!«
    »Thou art the Man!« cried Jabes, after a solemn pause, leaning over his
cushion. »Seventy times seven times didst thou gapingly contort thy visage -
seventy times seven did I take counsel with my soul - Lo, this is human
weakness; this also may be absolved! The First of the Seventy-First is come.
Brethren, execute upon him the judgment written! such honour have all His
saints!«
    With that concluding word, the whole assembly, exalting their pilgrim's
staves, rushed round me in a body, and I, having no weapon to raise in
self-defence, commenced grappling with Joseph, my nearest and most ferocious
assailant, for his. In the confluence of the multitude, several clubs crossed;
blows, aimed at me, fell on other sconces. Presently the whole chapel resounded
with rappings and counter-rappings. Every man's hand was against his neighbour;
and Branderham, unwilling to remain idle, poured forth his zeal in a shower of
loud taps on the boards of the pulpit which responded so smartly, that, at last,
to my unspeakable relief, they woke me.
    And what was it that had suggested the tremendous tumult, what had played
Jabes' part in the row? Merely, the branch of a fir-tree that touched my
lattice, as the blast wailed by, and rattled its dry cones against the panes!
    I listened doubtingly an instant; detected the disturber, then turned and
dosed, and dreamt again; if possible, still more disagreeably than before.
    This time, I remembered I was lying in the oak closet, and I heard
distinctly the gusty wind, and the driving of the snow; I heard also, the
fir-bough repeat its teasing sound, and ascribed it to the right cause; but, it
annoyed me so much, that I resolved to silence it, if possible; and, I thought,
I rose and endeavoured to unhasp the casement. The hook was soldered into the
staple, a circumstance observed by me, when awake, but forgotten.
    »I must stop it, nevertheless!« I muttered, knocking my knuckles through the
glass, and stretching an arm out to seize the importunate branch: instead of
which, my fingers closed on the fingers of a little, ice-cold hand!
    The intense horror of nightmare came over me; I tried to draw back my arm,
but, the hand clung to it, and a most melancholy voice, sobbed,
    »Let me in - let me in!«
    »Who are you?« I asked struggling, meanwhile, to disengage myself.
    »Catherine Linton,« it replied, shiveringly, (why did I think of Linton? I
had read Earnshaw, twenty times for Linton) »I'm come home, I'd lost my way on
the moor!«
    As it spoke, I discerned, obscurely, a child's face looking through the
window - Terror made me cruel; and, finding it useless to attempt shaking the
creature off, I pulled its wrist on to the broken pane, and rubbed it to and fro
till the blood ran down and soaked the bed-clothes: still it wailed, »Let me
in!« and maintained its tenacious gripe, almost maddening me with fear.
    »How can I?« I said at length. »Let me go, if you want me to let you in!«
    The fingers relaxed, I snatched mine through the hole, hurriedly piled the
books up in a pyramid against it, and stopped my ears to exclude the lamentable
prayer.
    I seemed to keep them closed above a quarter of an hour, yet, the instant I
listened, again, there was the doleful cry moaning on!
    »Begone!« I shouted, »I'll never let you in, not if you beg for twenty
years!«
    »It's twenty years,« mourned the voice, »twenty years, I've been a waif for
twenty years!«
    Thereat began a feeble scratching outside, and the pile of books moved as if
thrust forward.
    I tried to jump up; but, could not stir a limb; and so, yelled aloud, in a
frenzy of fright.
    To my confusion, I discovered the yell was not ideal. Hasty footsteps
approached my chamber door: somebody pushed it open, with a vigorous hand, and a
light glimmered through the squares at the top of the bed. I sat shuddering,
yet, and wiping the perspiration from my forehead: the intruder appeared to
hesitate and muttered to himself.
    At last, he said in a half-whisper, plainly not expecting an answer,
    »Is any one here?«
    I considered it best to confess my presence, for I knew Heathcliff's
accents, and feared he might search further, if I kept quiet.
    With this intention, I turned and opened the panels - I shall not soon
forget the effect my action produced.
    Heathcliff stood near the entrance, in his shirt and trousers; with a candle
dripping over his fingers, and his face as white as the wall behind him. The
first creak of the oak startled him like an electric shock: the light leaped
from his hold to a distance of some feet, and his agitation was so extreme, that
he could hardly pick it up.
    »It is only your guest, sir,« I called out, desirous to spare him the
humiliation of exposing his cowardice further. »I had the misfortune to scream
in my sleep, owing to a frightful nightmare. I'm sorry I disturbed you.«
    »Oh, God confound you, Mr. Lockwood! I wish you were at the -« commenced my
host setting the candle on a chair, because he found it impossible to hold it
steady.
    »And who showed you up to this room?« he continued, crushing his nails into
his palms, and grinding his teeth to subdue the maxillary convulsions. »Who was
it? I've a good mind to turn them out of the house, this moment!«
    »It was your servant, Zillah,« I replied flinging myself, on to the floor,
and rapidly resuming my garments. »I should not care if you did, Mr. Heathcliff;
she richly deserves it. I suppose that she wanted to get another proof that the
place was haunted, at my expense - Well, it is - swarming with ghosts and
goblins! You have reason in shutting it up, I assure you. No one will thank you
for a dose in such a den!«
    »What do you mean?« asked Heathcliff, »and what are you doing? Lie down and
finish out the night, since you are here; but, for Heaven's sake! don't repeat
that horrid noise - Nothing could excuse it, unless you were having your throat
cut!«
    »If the little fiend had got in at the window, she probably would have
strangled me!« I returned. »I'm not going to endure the persecutions of your
hospitable ancestors, again - Was not the Reverend Jabes Branderham akin to you
on the mother's side? And that minx, Catherine Linton, or Earnshaw, or however
she was called - she must have been a changeling - wicked little soul! She told
me she had been walking the earth these twenty years: a just punishment for her
mortal transgressions, I've no doubt!«
    Scarcely were these words uttered, when I recollected the association of
Heathcliff's with Catherine's name in the book, which had completely slipped
from my memory till thus awakened. I blushed at my inconsideration; but without
showing further consciousness of the offence, I hastened to add,
    »The truth is, sir, I passed the first part of the night in -« Here, I
stopped afresh - I was about to say »perusing those old volumes,« then it would
have revealed my knowledge of their written, as well as their printed contents;
so correcting myself, I went on,
    »In spelling over the name scratched on that window-ledge. A monotonous
occupation, calculated to set me asleep, like counting, or -«
    »What can you mean, by talking in this way to me!« thundered Heathcliff with
savage vehemence. »How - how dare you, under my roof - God! he's mad to speak
so!« And he struck his forehead with rage.
    I did not know whether to resent this language, or pursue my explanation;
but he seemed so powerfully affected that I took pity and proceeded with my
dreams; affirming I had never heard the appellation of »Catherine Linton,«
before, but, reading it often over produced an impression which personified
itself when I had no longer my imagination under control.
    Heathcliff gradually fell back into the shelter of the bed, as I spoke,
finally, sitting down almost concealed behind it. I guessed, however, by his
irregular and intercepted breathing, that he struggled to vanquish an access of
violent emotion.
    Not liking to show him that I heard the conflict, I continued my toilette
rather noisily, looked at my watch, and soliloquised on the length of the night:
    »Not three o'clock, yet! I could have taken oath it had been six - time
stagnates here - we must surely have retired to rest at eight!«
    »Always at nine in winter, and always rise at four,« said my host,
suppressing a groan; and, as I fancied, by the motion of his shadow's arm,
dashing a tear from his eyes.
    »Mr. Lockwood,« he added, »you may go into my room; you'll only be in the
way, coming down stairs so early: and your childish outcry has sent sleep to the
devil for me.«
    »And for me too,« I replied. »I'll walk in the yard till daylight, and then
I'll be off; and you need not dread a repetition of my intrusion. I am now quite
cured of seeking pleasure in society, be it country or town. A sensible man
ought to find sufficient company in himself.«
    »Delightful company!« muttered Heathcliff. »Take the candle, and go where
you please. I shall join you directly. Keep out of the yard, though, the dogs
are unchained; and the house - Juno mounts sentinel there - and - nay, you can
only ramble about the steps and passages - but, away with you! I'll come in two
minutes.«
    I obeyed, so far as to quit the chamber; when, ignorant where the narrow
lobbies led, I stood still, and was witness, involuntarily, to a piece of
superstition on the part of my landlord, which belied, oddly, his apparent
sense.
    He got on to the bed, and wrenched open the lattice, bursting, as he pulled
at it, into an uncontrollable passion of tears.
    »Come in! come in!« he sobbed. »Cathy, do come. Oh do - once more! Oh! my
heart's darling, hear me this time - Catherine, at last!«
    The spectre showed a spectre's ordinary caprice; it gave no sign of being;
but the snow and wind whirled wildly through, even reaching my station, and
blowing out the light.
    There was such anguish in the gush of grief that accompanied this raving,
that my compassion made me overlook its folly, and I drew off, half angry to
have listened at all, and vexed at having related my ridiculous nightmare, since
it produced that agony; though why, was beyond my comprehension.
    I descended cautiously to the lower regions and landed in the back-kitchen,
where a gleam of fire, raked compactly together, enabled me to rekindle my
candle.
    Nothing was stirring except a brindled, grey cat, which crept from the
ashes, and saluted me with a querulous mew.
    Two benches, shaped in sections of a circle, nearly enclosed the hearth; on
one of these I stretched myself, and Grimalkin mounted the other. We were both
of us nodding, ere any one invaded our retreat; and then it was Joseph shuffling
down a wooden ladder that vanished in the roof, through a trap, the ascent to
his garret, I suppose.
    He cast a sinister look at the little flame which I had enticed to play
between the ribs, swept the cat from its elevation, and bestowing himself in the
vacancy, commenced the operation of stuffing a three-inch pipe with tobacco; my
presence in his sanctum was evidently esteemed a piece of impudence too shameful
for remark. He silently applied the tube to his lips, folded his arms, and
puffed away.
    I let him enjoy the luxury, unannoyed; and after sucking out the last
wreath, and heaving a profound sigh, he got up, and departed as solemnly as he
came.
    A more elastic footstep entered next, and now I opened my mouth for a good
morning, but closed it again, the salutation unachieved; for Hareton Earnshaw
was performing his orisons, sotto voce, in a series of curses directed against
every object he touched, while he rummaged a corner, for a spade or shovel to
dig through the drifts. He glanced over the back of the bench dilating his
nostrils, and thought as little of exchanging civilities with me, as with my
companion, the cat.
    I guessed by his preparations that egress was allowed, and leaving my hard
couch, made a movement to follow him. He noticed this, and thrust at an inner
door with the end of his spade, intimating by an inarticulate sound, that there
was the place where I must go, if I changed my locality.
    It opened into the house, where the females were already astir, Zillah
urging flakes of flame up the chimney with a colossal bellows; and Mrs.
Heathcliff, kneeling on the hearth, reading a book by the aid of the blaze.
    She held her hand interposed between the furnace-heat and her eyes; and
seemed absorbed in her occupation: desisting from it only to chide the servant
for covering her with sparks, or to push away a dog, now and then, that snoozled
its nose over forwardly into her face.
    I was surprised to see Heathcliff there also. He stood by the fire, his back
towards me, just finishing a stormy scene to poor Zillah, who ever and anon
interrupted her labour to pluck up the corner of her apron, and heave an
indignant groan.
    »And you, you worthless -« he broke out as I entered, turning to his
daughter-in-law, and employing an epithet as harmless as duck, or sheep, but
generally represented by a dash.
    »There you are at your idle tricks again! The rest of them do earn their
bread - you live on my charity! Put your trash away, and find something to do.
You shall pay me for the plague of having you eternally in my sight - do you
hear, damnable jade?«
    »I'll put my trash away, because you can make me, if I refuse,« answered the
young lady, closing her book, and throwing it on a chair. »But I'll not do
anything, though you should swear your tongue out, except what I please!«
    Heathcliff lifted his hand, and the speaker sprang to a safer distance,
obviously acquainted with its weight.
    Having no desire to be entertained by a cat and dog combat, I stepped
forward briskly, as if eager to partake the warmth of the hearth, and innocent
of any knowledge of the interrupted dispute. Each had enough decorum to suspend
further hostilities; Heathcliff placed his fists, out of temptation, in his
pockets: Mrs. Heathcliff curled her lip, and walked to a seat far off; where she
kept her word by playing the part of a statue during the remainder of my stay.
    That was not long. I declined joining their breakfast, and, at the first
gleam of dawn, took an opportunity of escaping into the free air, now clear, and
still, and cold as impalpable ice.
    My landlord hallooed for me to stop ere I reached the bottom of the garden,
and offered to accompany me across the moor. It was well he did, for the whole
hill-back was one billowy, white ocean; the swells and falls not indicating
corresponding rises and depressions in the ground - many pits, at least, were
filled to a level; and entire ranges of mounds, the refuse of the quarries,
blotted from the chart which my yesterday's walk left pictured in my mind.
    I had remarked on one side of the road, at intervals of six or seven yards,
a line of upright stones, continued through the whole length of the barren:
these were erected, and daubed with lime, on purpose to serve as guides in the
dark, and also, when a fall, like the present, confounded the deep swamps on
either hand with the firmer path: but, excepting a dirty dot pointing up, here
and there, all traces of their existence had vanished; and my companion found it
necessary to warn me frequently to steer to the right, or left, when I imagined
I was following, correctly, the windings of the road.
    We exchanged little conversation, and he halted at the entrance of
Thrushcross park, saying, I could make no error there. Our adieux were limited
to a hasty bow, and then I pushed forward, trusting to my own resources, for the
porter's lodge is untenanted as yet.
    The distance from the gate to the Grange is two miles: I believe I managed
to make it four; what with losing myself among the trees, and sinking up to the
neck in snow, a predicament which only those who have experienced it can
appreciate. At any rate, whatever were my wanderings, the clock chimed twelve as
I entered the house; and that gave exactly an hour for every mile of the usual
way from Wuthering Heights.
    My human fixture, and her satellites rushed to welcome me; exclaiming,
tumultuously, they had completely given me up; everybody conjectured that I
perished last night; and they were wondering how they must set about the search
for my remains.
    I bid them be quiet, now that they saw me returned, and, benumbed to my very
heart, I dragged up-stairs, whence, after putting on dry clothes, and pacing to
and fro, thirty or forty minutes, to restore the animal heat, I am adjourned to
my study, feeble as a kitten, almost too much so to enjoy the cheerful fire, and
smoking coffee which the servant has prepared for my refreshment.
 

                                   Chapter IV

What vain weather-cocks we are! I, who had determined to hold myself independent
of all social intercourse, and thanked my stars that, at length, I had lighted
on a spot where it was next to impracticable. I, weak wretch, after maintaining
till dusk a struggle with low spirits, and solitude, was finally compelled to
strike my colours; and, under pretence of gaining information concerning the
necessities of my establishment, I desired Mrs. Dean, when she brought in
supper, to sit down while I ate it, hoping sincerely she would prove a regular
gossip, and either rouse me to animation, or lull me to sleep by her talk.
    »You have lived here a considerable time,« I commenced; »did you not say
sixteen years?«
    »Eighteen, sir; I came, when the mistress was married, to wait on her; after
she died, the master retained me for his house-keeper.«
    »Indeed.«
    There ensued a pause. She was not a gossip, I feared, unless about her own
affairs, and those could hardly interest me.
    However, having studied for an interval, with a fist on either knee, and a
cloud of meditation over her ruddy countenance, she ejaculated -
    »Ah, times are greatly changed since then!«
    »Yes,« I remarked, »you've seen a good many alterations, I suppose?«
    »I have: and troubles too,« she said.
    »Oh, I'll turn the talk on my landlord's family!« I thought to myself. »A
good subject to start - and that pretty girl-widow, I should like to know her
history; whether she be a native of the country, or, as is more probable, an
exotic that the surly indigenae will not recognise for kin.«
    With this intention I asked Mrs. Dean why Heathcliff let Thrushcross Grange,
and preferred living in a situation and residence so much inferior.
    »Is he not rich enough to keep the estate in good order?« I enquired.
    »Rich, sir!« she returned. »He has, nobody knows what money, and every year
it increases. Yes, yes, he's rich enough to live in a finer house than this; but
he's very near - close-handed; and, if he had meant to flit to Thrushcross
Grange, as soon as he heard of a good tenant, he could not have borne to miss
the chance of getting a few hundreds more. It is strange people should be so
greedy, when they are alone in the world!«
    »He had a son, it seems?«
    »Yes, he had one - he is dead.«
    »And that young lady, Mrs. Heathcliff, is his widow?«
    »Yes.«
    »Where did she come from originally?«
    »Why, sir, she is my late master's daughter; Catherine Linton was her maiden
name. I nursed her, poor thing! I did wish Mr. Heathcliff would remove here, and
then we might have been together again.«
    »What, Catherine Linton!« I exclaimed, astonished. But a minute's reflection
convinced me it was not my ghostly Catherine. »Then,« I continued, »my
predecessor's name was Linton?«
    »It was.«
    »And who is that Earnshaw, Hareton Earnshaw, who lives with Mr. Heathcliff?
are they relations?«
    »No; he is the late Mrs. Linton's nephew.«
    »The young lady's cousin then?«
    »Yes; and her husband was her cousin also - one, on the mother's - the
other, on the father's side - Heathcliff married Mr. Linton's sister.«
    »I see the house at Wuthering Heights has Earnshaw carved over the front
door. Are they an old family?«
    »Very old, sir; and Hareton is the last of them, as our Miss Cathy is of us
- I mean, of the Lintons. Have you been to Wuthering Heights? I beg pardon for
asking; but I should like to hear how she is!«
    »Mrs. Heathcliff? she looked very well, and very handsome; yet, I think, not
very happy.«
    »Oh dear, I don't wonder! And how did you like the master?«
    »A rough fellow, rather, Mrs. Dean. Is not that his character?«
    »Rough as a saw-edge, and hard as whinstone. The less you meddle with him
the better.«
    »He must have had some ups and downs in life to make him such a churl. Do
you know anything of his history?«
    »It's a cuckoo's, sir - I know all about it; except where he was born, and
who were his parents, and how he got his money, at first - And Hareton has been
cast out like an unfledged dunnock - The unfortunate lad is the only one, in all
this parish, that does not guess how he has been cheated!«
    »Well, Mrs. Dean, it will be a charitable deed to tell me something of my
neighbours - I feel I shall not rest, if I go to bed; so, be good enough to sit,
and chat an hour.«
    »Oh, certainly, sir! I'll just fetch a little sewing, and then I'll sit as
long as you please. But you've caught cold, I saw you shivering, and you must
have some gruel to drive it out.«
    The worthy woman bustled off; and I crouched nearer the fire: my head felt
hot, and the rest of me chill: moreover I was excited, almost to a pitch of
foolishness through my nerves and brain. This caused me to feel, not
uncomfortable, but rather fearful, as I am still, of serious effects from the
incidents of to-day and yesterday.
    She returned presently, bringing a smoking basin, and a basket of work; and,
having placed the former on the hob, drew in her seat, evidently pleased to find
me so companionable.
    Before I came to live here, she commenced, waiting no further invitation to
her story; I was almost always at Wuthering Heights; because, my mother had
nursed Mr. Hindley Earnshaw, that was Hareton's father, and I got used to
playing with the children - I ran errands too, and helped to make hay, and hung
about the farm ready for anything that anybody would set me to.
    One fine summer morning - it was the beginning of harvest, I remember - Mr.
Earnshaw, the old master, came down stairs, dressed for a journey; and, after he
had told Joseph what was to be done during the day, he turned to Hindley, and
Cathy, and me - for I sat eating my porridge, with them, and he said, speaking
to his son,
    »Now my bonny man, I'm going to Liverpool, to-day ... What shall I bring
you? You may choose what you like; only let it be little, for I shall walk there
and back; sixty miles each way, that is a long spell!«
    Hindley named a fiddle, and then he asked Miss Cathy; she was hardly six
years old, but she could ride any horse in the stable, and she chose a whip.
    He did not forget me; for he had a kind heart, though he was rather severe,
sometimes. He promised to bring me a pocketful of apples, and pears, and then he
kissed his children, good bye, and set off.
    It seemed a long while to us all - the three days of his absence - and often
did little Cathy ask when he would be home: Mrs. Earnshaw, expected him by
supper-time, on the third evening; and she put the meal off hour after hour;
there were no signs of his coming, however, and at last the children got tired
of running down to the gate to look - Then it grew dark, she would have had them
to bed, but they begged sadly to be allowed to stay up; and, just about eleven
o'clock, the door-latch was raised quietly and in stepped the master. He threw
himself into a chair, laughing and groaning, and bid them all stand off, for he
was nearly killed - he would not have such another walk for the three kingdoms.
    »And at the end of it, to be flighted to death!« he said opening his great
coat, which he held bundled up in his arms, »See here, wife; I was never so
beaten with anything in my life; but you must e'en take it as a gift of God;
though it's as dark almost as if it came from the devil.«
    We crowded round, and, over Miss Cathy's head, I had a peep at a dirty,
ragged, black-haired child; big enough both to walk and talk - indeed, its face
looked older than Catherine's - yet, when it was set on its feet, it only stared
round, and repeated over and over again, some gibberish that nobody could
understand. I was frightened, and Mrs. Earnshaw was ready to fling it out of
doors: she did fly up - asking how he could fashion to bring that gipsy brat
into the house, when they had their own bairns to feed, and fend for? What he
meant to do with it, and whether he were mad?
    The master tried to explain the matter; but, he was really half dead with
fatigue, and all that I could make out, amongst her scolding, was a tale of his
seeing it starving, and houseless, and as good as dumb in the streets of
Liverpool where he picked it up and inquired for its owner - Not a soul knew to
whom it belonged, he said, and his money and time, being both limited, he
thought it better, to take it home with him, at once, than run into vain
expenses there; because he was determined he would not leave it as he found it.
    Well, the conclusion was that my mistress grumbled herself calm; and Mr.
Earnshaw told me to wash it, and give it clean things, and let it sleep with the
children.
    Hindley and Cathy contented themselves with looking and listening till peace
was restored: then, both began searching their father's pockets for the presents
he had promised them. The former was a boy of fourteen, but when he drew out,
what had been a fiddle crushed to morsels in the great coat, he blubbered aloud,
and Cathy, when she learnt the master had lost her whip in attending on the
stranger, showed her humour by grinning and spitting at the stupid little thing,
earning for her pains, a sound blow from her father to teach her cleaner
manners.
    They entirely refused to have it in bed with them, or even in their room,
and I had no more sense, so, I put it on the landing of the stairs, hoping it
might be gone on the morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice,
it crept to Mr. Earnshaw's door and there he found it on quitting his chamber.
Inquiries were made as to how it got there; I was obliged to confess, and in
recompense for my cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house.
    This was Heathcliff's first introduction to the family: on coming back a few
days afterwards, for I did not consider my banishment perpetual, I found they
had christened him Heathcliff, it was the name of a son who died in childhood,
and it has served him ever since, both for christian and surname.
    Miss Cathy and he were now very thick; but Hindley hated him, and to say the
truth I did the same; and we plagued and went on with him shamefully, for I
wasn't't reasonable enough to feel my injustice, and the mistress never put in a
word on his behalf, when she saw him wronged.
    He seemed a sullen, patient child; hardened, perhaps, to ill-treatment: he
would stand Hindley's blows without winking or shedding a tear, and my pinches
moved him only to draw in a breath, and open his eyes as if he had hurt himself
by accident, and nobody was to blame.
    This endurance made old Earnshaw furious when he discovered his son
persecuting the poor, fatherless child, as he called him. He took to Heathcliff
strangely, believing, all he said, (for that matter, he said precious little,
and generally the truth,) and petting him up far above Cathy, who was too
mischievous and wayward for a favourite.
    So, from the very beginning, he bred bad feeling in the house; and at Mrs.
Earnshaw's death, which happened in less than two years after, the young master
had learnt to regard his father as an oppressor rather than a friend, and
Heathcliff as a usurper of his parent's affections, and his privileges, and he
grew bitter with brooding over these injuries.
    I sympathised awhile, but, when the children fell ill of the measles and I
had to tend them, and take on me the cares of a woman, at once, I changed my
ideas. Heathcliff was dangerously sick, and while he lay at the worst he would
have me constantly by his pillow; I suppose he felt I did a good deal for him,
and he hadn't wit to guess that I was compelled to do it. However, I will say
this, he was the quietest child that ever nurse watched over. The difference
between him and the others forced me to be less partial: Cathy and her brother
harassed me terribly: he was as uncomplaining as a lamb; though hardness, not
gentleness, made him give little trouble.
    He got through, and the doctor affirmed it was in a great measure owing to
me, and praised me for my care. I was vain of his commendations, and softened
towards the being by whose means, I earned them, and thus Hindley lost his last
ally; still I couldn't dote on Heathcliff, and I wondered often what my master
saw to admire so much in the sullen boy who never, to my recollection, repaid
his indulgence by any sign of gratitude. He was not insolent to his benefactor;
he was simply insensible, though knowing perfectly the hold he had on his heart,
and conscious he had only to speak and all the house would be obliged to bend to
his wishes.
    As an instance, I remember Mr. Earnshaw once bought a couple of colts at the
parish fair, and gave the lads each one. Heathcliff took the handsomest, but it
soon fell lame, and when he discovered it, he said to Hindley,
    »You must exchange horses with me; I don't like mine, and, if you won't I
shall tell your father of the three thrashings you've given me this week, and
show him my arm which is black to the shoulder.«
    Hindley put out his tongue, and cuffed him over the ears.
    »You'd better do it, at once,« he persisted escaping to the porch, (they
were in the stable) »you will have to, and, if I speak of these blows, you'll
get them again with interest.«
    »Off dog!« cried Hindley, threatening him with an iron weight, used for
weighing potatoes, and hay.
    »Throw it,« he replied, standing still, »and then I'll tell how you boasted
that you would turn me out of doors as soon as he died, and see whether he will
not turn you out directly.«
    Hindley threw it, hitting him on the breast, and down he fell, but staggered
up, immediately, breathless and white, and had not I prevented it he would have
gone just so to the master, and got full revenge by letting his condition plead
for him, intimating who had caused it.
    »Take my colt, gipsy, then!« said young Earnshaw, »And I pray that he may
break your neck, take him, and be damned, you beggarly interloper! and wheedle
my father out of all he has, only, afterwards, show him what you are, imp of
Satan - And take that, I hope he'll kick out your brains!«
    Heathcliff had gone to loose the beast, and shift it to his own stall - He
was passing behind it, when Hindley finished his speech by knocking him under
its feet, and without stopping to examine whether his hopes were fulfilled, ran
away as fast as he could.
    I was surprised to witness how coolly the child gathered himself up, and
went on with his intention, exchanging saddles and all; and then sitting down on
a bundle of hay to overcome the qualm which the violent blow occasioned, before
he entered the house.
    I persuaded him easily to let me lay the blame of his bruises on the horse;
he minded little what tale was told since he had what he wanted. He complained
so seldom, indeed, of such stirs as these, that I really thought him not
vindictive - I was deceived, completely, as you will hear.
 

                                   Chapter V

In the course of time, Mr. Earnshaw began to fail. He had been active and
healthy, yet his strength left him suddenly; and when he was confined to the
chimney-corner he grew grievously irritable. A nothing vexed him, and suspected
slights of his authority nearly threw him into fits.
    This was especially to be remarked if any one attempted to impose upon, or
domineer over his favourite: he was painfully jealous lest a word should be
spoken amiss to him, seeming to have got into his head the notion that, because
he liked Heathcliff, all hated, and longed to do him an ill-turn.
    It was a disadvantage to the lad, for the kinder among us did not wish to
fret the master, so we humoured his partiality; and that humouring was rich
nourishment to the child's pride and black tempers. Still it became in a manner
necessary; twice, or thrice, Hindley's manifestation of scorn, while his father
was near, roused the old man to a fury. He seized his stick to strike him, and
shook with rage that he could not do it.
    At last, our curate, (we had a curate then who made the living answer by
teaching the little Lintons and Earnshaws, and farming his bit of land himself,)
he advised that the young man should be sent to college, and Mr. Earnshaw
agreed, though with a heavy spirit, for he said -
    »Hindley was nought, and would never thrive as where he wandered.«
    I hoped heartily we should have peace now. It hurt me to think the master
should be made uncomfortable by his own good deed. I fancied the discontent of
age and disease arose from his family disagreements, as he would have it that it
did - really, you know, sir, it was in his sinking frame.
    We might have got on tolerably, notwithstanding; but, for two people, Miss
Cathy, and Joseph, the servant; you saw him, I dare say, up yonder. He was, and
is yet, most likely, the wearisomest, self-righteous pharisee that ever
ransacked a bible to rake the promises to himself, and fling the curses on his
neighbours. By his knack of sermonizing and pious discoursing, he contrived to
make a great impression on Mr. Earnshaw, and, the more feeble the master became,
the more influence he gained.
    He was relentless in worrying him about his soul's concerns, and about
ruling his children rigidly. He encouraged him to regard Hindley as a reprobate;
and, night after night, he regularly grumbled out a long string of tales against
Heathcliff and Catherine; always minding to flatter Earnshaw's weakness by
heaping the heaviest blame on the last.
    Certainly, she had ways with her such as I never saw a child take up before;
and she put all of us past our patience fifty times and oftener in a day: from
the hour she came down stairs, till the hour she went to bed, we had not a
minute's security that she wouldn't be in mischief. Her spirits were always at
high-water mark, her tongue always going - singing, laughing, and plaguing
everybody who would not do the same. A wild, wick slip she was - but, she had
the bonniest eye, and sweetest smile, and lightest foot in the parish; and,
after all, I believe she meant no harm; for when once she made you cry in good
earnest, it seldom happened that she would not keep you company; and oblige you
to be quiet that you might comfort her.
    She was much too fond of Heathcliff. The greatest punishment we could invent
for her was to keep her separate from him: yet, she got chided more than any of
us on his account.
    In play, she liked, exceedingly, to act the little mistress; using her hands
freely, and commanding her companions: she did so to me, but I would not bear
slapping, and ordering; and so I let her know.
    Now, Mr. Earnshaw did not understand jokes from his children: he had always
been strict and grave with them; and Catherine, on her part, had no idea why her
father should be crosser and less patient in his ailing condition, than he was
in his prime.
    His peevish reproofs wakened in her a naughty delight to provoke him; she
was never so happy as when we were all scolding her at once, and she defying us
with her bold, saucy look, and her ready words; turning Joseph's religious
curses into ridicule, baiting me, and doing just what her father hated most,
showing how her pretended insolence, which he thought real, had more power over
Heathcliff than his kindness. How the boy would do her bidding in anything, and
his only when it suited his own inclination.
    After behaving as badly as possible all day, she sometimes came fondling to
make it up at night.
    »Nay, Cathy,« the old man would say, »I cannot love thee; thou'rt worse than
thy brother. Go, say thy prayers, child, and ask God's pardon. I doubt thy
mother and I must rue that we ever reared thee!«
    That made her cry, at first; and then, being repulsed continually hardened
her, and she laughed if I told her to say she was sorry for her faults, and beg
to be forgiven.
    But the hour came, at last, that ended Mr. Earnshaw's troubles on earth. He
died quietly in his chair one October evening, seated by the fire-side.
    A high wind blustered round the house, and roared in the chimney: it sounded
wild and stormy, yet it was not cold, and we were all together - I, a little
removed from the hearth, busy at my knitting, and Joseph reading his Bible near
the table, (for the servants generally sat in the house then, after their work
was done.) Miss Cathy had been sick, and that made her still; she leant against
her father's knee, and Heathcliff was lying on the floor with his head in her
lap.
    I remember the master, before he fell into a doze, stroking her bonny hair -
it pleased him rarely to see her gentle - and saying -
    »Why canst thou not always be a good lass, Cathy?«
    And she turned her face up to his, and laughed, and answered -
    »Why cannot you always be a good man, father?«
    But as soon as she saw him vexed again, she kissed his hand, and said she
would sing him to sleep. She began singing very low, till his fingers dropped
from hers, and his head sank on his breast. Then I told her to hush, and not
stir, for fear she should wake him. We all kept as mute as mice a full
half-hour, and should have done longer, only Joseph, having finished his
chapter, got up and said that he must rouse the master for prayers and bed. He
stepped forward, and called him by name, and touched his shoulder, but he would
not move - so he took the candle and looked at him.
    I thought there was something wrong as he set down the light; and seizing
the children each by an arm, whispered them to »frame up-stairs, and make little
din - they might pray alone that evening - he had summut to do.«
    »I shall bid father good-night first,« said Catherine, putting her arms
round his neck, before we could hinder her.
    The poor thing discovered her loss directly - she screamed out -
    »Oh, he's dead, Heathcliff! he's dead!«
    And they both set up a heart-breaking cry.
    I joined my wail to theirs, loud and bitter; but Joseph asked what we could
be thinking of to roar in that way over a saint in Heaven.
    He told me to put on my cloak and run to Gimmerton for the doctor and the
parson. I could not guess the use that either would be of, then. However, I
went, through wind and rain, and brought one, the doctor, back with me; the
other said he would come in the morning.
    Leaving Joseph to explain matters, I ran to the children's room; their door
was ajar, I saw they had never laid down, though it was past midnight; but they
were calmer, and did not need me to console them. The little souls were
comforting each other with better thoughts than I could have hit on; no parson
in the world ever pictured Heaven so beautifully as they did, in their innocent
talk; and, while I sobbed, and listened, I could not help wishing we were all
there safe together.
 

                                   Chapter VI

Mr. Hindley came home to the funeral; and - a thing that amazed us, and set the
neighbours gossiping right and left - he brought a wife with him.
    What she was, and where she was born he never informed us; probably, she had
neither money nor name to recommend her, or he would scarcely have kept the
union from his father.
    She was not one that would have disturbed the house much on her own account.
Every object she saw, the moment she crossed the threshold, appeared to delight
her; and every circumstance that took place about her, except the preparing for
the burial, and the presence of the mourners.
    I thought she was half silly from her behaviour while that went on; she ran
into her chamber, and made me come with her, though I should have been dressing
the children; and there she sat shivering and clasping her hands, and asking
repeatedly -
    »Are they gone yet?«
    Then she began describing with hysterical emotion the effect it produced on
her to see black; and started, and trembled, and, at last, fell a weeping - and
when I asked what was the matter? answered, she didn't know; but she felt so
afraid of dying!
    I imagined her as little likely to die as myself. She was rather thin, but
young, and fresh complexioned, and her eyes sparkled as bright as diamonds. I
did remark, to be sure, that mounting the stairs made her breathe very quick,
that the least sudden noise set her all in a quiver, and that she coughed
troublesomely sometimes; but, I knew nothing of what these symptoms portended,
and had no impulse to sympathize with her. We don't in general take to
foreigners here, Mr. Lockwood, unless they take to us first.
    Young Earnshaw was altered considerably in the three years of his absence.
He had grown sparer, and lost his colour, and spoke and dressed quite
differently: and, on the very day of his return, he told Joseph and me we must
thenceforth quarter ourselves in the back-kitchen, and leave the house for him.
Indeed he would have carpeted and papered a small spare room for a parlour; but
his wife expressed such pleasure at the white floor, and huge glowing
fire-place, at the pewter dishes, and delf-case, and dog-kennel, and the wide
space there was to move about in, where they usually sat, that he thought it
unnecessary to her comfort, and so dropped the intention.
    She expressed pleasure, too, at finding a sister among her new acquaintance,
and she prattled to Catherine, and kissed her, and ran about with her, and gave
her quantities of presents, at the beginning. Her affection tired very soon,
however, and when she grew peevish, Hindley became tyrannical. A few words from
her, evincing a dislike to Heathcliff, were enough to rouse in him all his old
hatred of the boy. He drove him from their company to the servants, deprived him
of the instructions of the curate, and insisted that he should labour out of
doors instead, compelling him to do so, as hard as any other lad on the farm.
    He bore his degradation pretty well at first, because Cathy taught him what
she learnt, and worked or played with him in the fields. They both promised fair
to grow up as rude as savages, the young master being entirely negligent how
they behaved, and what they did, so they kept clear of him. He would not even
have seen after their going to church on Sundays, only Joseph and the curate
reprimanded his carelessness when they absented themselves, and that reminded
him to order Heathcliff a flogging, and Catherine a fast from dinner or supper.
    But it was one of their chief amusements to run away to the moors in the
morning and remain there all day, and the after punishment grew a mere thing to
laugh at. The curate might set as many chapters as he pleased for Catherine to
get by heart, and Joseph might thrash Heathcliff till his arm ached; they forgot
everything the minute they were together again, at least the minute they had
contrived some naughty plan of revenge, and many a time I've cried to myself to
watch them growing more reckless daily, and I not daring to speak a syllable for
fear of losing the small power I still retained over the unfriended creatures.
    One Sunday evening, it chanced that they were banished from the
sitting-room, for making a noise, or a light offence of the kind, and when I
went to call them to supper, I could discover them nowhere.
    We searched the house, above and below, and the yard, and stables; they were
invisible; and, at last, Hindley in a passion told us to bolt the doors, and
swore nobody should let them in that night.
    The household went to bed; and I, too anxious to lie down, opened my lattice
and put my head out to hearken, though it rained, determined to admit them in
spite of the prohibition, should they return.
    In a while, I distinguished steps coming up the road, and the light of a
lantern glimmered through the gate.
    I threw a shawl over my head and ran to prevent them from waking Mr.
Earnshaw by knocking. There was Heathcliff, by himself; it gave me a start to
see him alone.
    »Where is Miss Catherine?« I cried hurriedly. »No accident, I hope?«
    »At Thrushcross Grange,« he answered, »and I would have been there too, but
they had not the manners to ask me to stay.«
    »Well, you will catch it!« I said, »you'll never be content till you're sent
about your business. What in the world led you wandering to Thrushcross Grange?«
    »Let me get off my wet clothes, and I'll tell you all about it, Nelly,« he
replied.
    I bid him beware of rousing the master, and while he undressed, and I waited
to put out the candle, he continued -
    »Cathy and I escaped from the wash-house to have a ramble at liberty, and
getting a glimpse of the Grange lights, we thought we would just go and see
whether the Lintons passed their Sunday evenings standing shivering in corners,
while their father and mother sat eating and drinking, and singing and laughing,
and burning their eyes out before the fire. Do you think they do? Or reading
sermons, and being catechised by their man-servant, and set to learn a column of
Scripture names, if they don't answer properly?«
    »Probably not,« I responded. »They are good children, no doubt, and don't
deserve the treatment you receive, for your bad conduct.«
    »Don't you cant, Nelly,« he said: »nonsense! We ran from the top of the
Heights to the park, without stopping - Catherine completely beaten in the race,
because she was barefoot. You'll have to seek for her shoes in the bog
to-morrow. We crept through a broken hedge, groped our way up the path, and
planted ourselves on a flower-pot under the drawing-room window. The light came
from thence; they had not put up the shutters, and the curtains were only half
closed. Both of us were able to look in by standing on the basement, and
clinging to the ledge, and we saw - ah! it was beautiful - a splendid place
carpeted with crimson, and crimson-covered chairs and tables, and a pure white
ceiling bordered by gold, a shower of glass-drops hanging in silver chains from
the centre, and shimmering with little soft tapers. Old Mr. and Mrs. Linton were
not there. Edgar and his sister had it entirely to themselves; shouldn't they
have been happy? We should have thought ourselves in heaven! And now, guess what
your good children were doing? Isabella, I believe she is eleven, a year younger
than Cathy, lay screaming at the farther end of the room, shrieking as if
witches were running red hot needles into her. Edgar stood on the hearth weeping
silently, and in the middle of the table sat a little dog shaking its paw and
yelping, which, from their mutual accusations, we understood they had nearly
pulled in two between them. The idiots! That was their pleasure! to quarrel who
should hold a heap of warm hair, and each begin to cry because both, after
struggling to get it, refused to take it. We laughed outright at the petted
things, we did despise them! When would you catch me wishing to have what
Catherine wanted? or find us by ourselves, seeking entertainment in yelling, and
sobbing, and rolling on the ground, divided by the whole room? I'd not exchange,
for a thousand lives, my condition here, for Edgar Linton's at Thrushcross
Grange - not if I might have the privilege of flinging Joseph off the highest
gable, and painting the house-front with Hindley's blood!«
    »Hush, hush!« I interrupted. »Still you have not told me, Heathcliff, how
Catherine is left behind?«
    »I told you we laughed,« he answered. »The Lintons heard us, and with one
accord, they shot like arrows to the door; there was silence, and then a cry,
Oh, mamma, mamma! Oh, papa! Oh, mamma, come here. Oh papa, oh! They really did
howl out, something in that way. We made frightful noises to terrify them still
more, and then we dropped off the ledge, because somebody was drawing the bars,
and we felt we had better flee. I had Cathy by the hand, and was urging her on,
when all at once she fell down.
    Run, Heathcliff, run! she whispered. They have let the bull-dog loose, and
he holds me!
    The devil had seized her ankle, Nelly; I heard his abominable snorting. She
did not yell out - no! She would have scorned to do it, if she had been spitted
on the horns of a mad cow. I did, though, I vociferated curses enough to
annihilate any fiend in Christendom, and I got a stone and thrust it between his
jaws, and tried with all my might to cram it down his throat. A beast of a
servant came up with a lantern, at last, shouting -
    Keep fast, Skulker, keep fast! He changed his note, however, when he saw
Skulker's game. The dog was throttled off, his huge, purple tongue hanging half
a foot out of his mouth, and his pendant lips streaming with bloody slaver.
    The man took Cathy up; she was sick; not from fear, I'm certain, but from
pain. He carried her in; I followed grumbling execrations and vengeance.
    What prey, Robert? hallooed Linton from the entrance.
    Skulker has caught a little girl, sir, he replied; and there's a lad here,
he added, making a clutch at me, who looks an out-and-outer! Very like, the
robbers were for putting them through the window, to open the doors to the gang
after all were asleep, that they might murder us at their ease. Hold your
tongue, you foul-mouthed thief, you! you shall go to the gallows for this. Mr.
Linton, sir, don't lay by your gun!
    No, no, Robert! said the old fool. The rascals knew that yesterday was my
rent day; they thought to have me cleverly. Come in; I'll furnish them a
reception. There, John, fasten the chain. Give Skulker some water, Jenny. To
beard a magistrate in his stronghold, and on the Sabbath, too! where will their
insolence stop? Oh, my dear Mary, look here! Don't be afraid, it is but a boy -
yet, the villain scowls so plainly in his face, would it not be a kindness to
the country to hang him at once, before he shows his nature in acts, as well as
features?
    He pulled me under the chandelier, and Mrs. Linton placed her spectacles on
her nose and raised her hands in horror. The cowardly children crept nearer
also, Isabella lisping -
    Frightful thing! Put him in the cellar, papa. He's exactly like the son of
the fortune-teller, that stole my tame pheasant. Isn't he, Edgar?
    While they examined me, Cathy came round; she heard the last speech, and
laughed. Edgar Linton, after an inquisitive stare, collected sufficient wit to
recognise her. They see us at church, you know, though we seldom meet them
elsewhere.
    That's Miss Earnshaw! he whispered to his mother, and look how Skulker has
bitten her - how her foot bleeds!
    Miss Earnshaw! Nonsense! cried the dame, Miss Earnshaw scouring the country
with a gipsy! And yet, my dear, the child is in mourning - surely it is - and
she may be lamed for life!
    What culpable carelessness in her brother! exclaimed Mr. Linton, turning
from me to Catherine. I've understood from Shielders« (that was the curate, sir)
»that he lets her grow up in absolute heathenism. But who is this? Where did she
pick up this companion? Oho! I declare he is that strange acquisition my late
neighbour made in his journey to Liverpool - a little Lascar, or an American or
Spanish castaway.
    A wicked boy, at all events, remarked the old lady, and quite unfit for a
decent house! Did you notice his language, Linton? I'm shocked that my children
should have heard it.
    I recommenced cursing - don't be angry Nelly - and so Robert was ordered to
take me off - I refused to go without Cathy - he dragged me into the garden,
pushed the lantern into my hand, assured me that Mr. Earnshaw, should be
informed of my behaviour, and bidding me march, directly, secured the door
again.
    The curtains were still looped up at one corner; and I resumed my station as
spy, because, if Catherine had wished to return, I intended shattering their
great glass panes to a million fragments, unless they let her out.
    She sat on the sofa quietly. Mrs. Linton took off the grey cloak of the
dairy maid which we had borrowed for our excursion; shaking her head, and
expostulating with her, I suppose; she was a young lady and they made a
distinction between her treatment, and mine. Then the woman servant brought a
basin of warm water, and washed her feet; and Mr. Linton mixed a tumbler of
negus, and Isabella emptied a plateful of cakes into her lap, and Edgar, stood
gaping at a distance. Afterwards, they dried and combed her beautiful hair, and
gave her a pair of enormous slippers, and wheeled her to the fire, and I left
her, as merry as she could be, dividing her food, between the little dog and
Skulker whose nose she pinched as he ate; and kindling a spark of spirit in the
vacant blue eyes of the Lintons - a dim reflection from her own enchanting face
- I saw they were full of stupid admiration; she is so immeasurably superior to
them - to everybody on earth; is she not, Nelly?«
    »There will more come of this business than you reckon on,« I answered
covering him up and extinguishing the light, »You are incurable Heathcliff, and
Mr. Hindley will have to proceed to extremities, see if he won't.«
    My words came truer than I desired. The luckless adventure made Earnshaw
furious - And then, Mr. Linton, to mend matters, paid us a visit himself, on the
morrow; and read the young master such a lecture on the road he guided his
family, that he was stirred to look about him, in earnest.
    Heathcliff received no flogging, but he was told that the first word he
spoke to Miss Catherine should ensure a dismissal; and Mrs. Earnshaw undertook
to keep her sister-in-law in due restraint, when she returned home; employing
art, not force - with force she would have found it impossible.
 

                                  Chapter VII

Cathy stayed at Thrushcross Grange five weeks, till Christmas. By that time her
ankle was thoroughly cured, and her manners much improved. The mistress visited
her often, in the interval, and commenced her plan of reform, by trying to raise
her self-respect with fine clothes, and flattery, which she took readily: so
that, instead of a wild, hatless little savage jumping into the house, and
rushing to squeeze us all breathless, there lighted from a handsome black pony a
very dignified person with brown ringlets falling from the cover of a feathered
beaver, and a long cloth habit which she was obliged to hold up with both hands
that she might sail in.
    Hindley lifted her from her horse exclaiming delightedly,
    »Why Cathy, you are quite a beauty! I should scarcely have known you - you
look like a lady now - Isabella Linton is not to be compared with her, is she
Frances?«
    »Isabella has not her natural advantages,« replied his wife, »but she must
mind and not grow wild again here. Ellen, help Miss Catherine off with her
things - Stay, dear, you will disarrange your curls - let me untie your hat.«
    I removed the habit, and there shone forth, beneath a grand plaid silk
frock, white trousers, and burnished shoes; and, while her eyes sparkled
joyfully when the dogs came bounding up to welcome her, she dare hardly touch
them lest they should fawn upon her splendid garments.
    She kissed me gently, I was all flour making the christmas cake, and it
would not have done to give me a hug; and, then, she looked round for
Heathcliff. Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw watched anxiously their meeting, thinking it
would enable them to judge, in some measure, what grounds they had for hoping to
succeed in separating the two friends.
    Heathcliff was hard to discover, at first - If he were careless, and uncared
for, before Catherine's absence, he had been ten times more so, since.
    Nobody, but I even did him the kindness to call him a dirty boy, and bid him
wash himself, once a week; and children of his age, seldom have a natural
pleasure in soap and water. Therefore, not to mention his clothes, which had
seen three months' service, in mire and dust, and his thick uncombed hair; the
surface of his face and hands was dismally beclouded. He might well skulk behind
the settle, on beholding such a bright, graceful damsel enter the house, instead
of a rough-headed counterpart to himself, as he expected.
    »Is Heathcliff not here?« she demanded pulling off her gloves, and
displaying fingers wonderfully whitened with doing nothing, and staying in
doors.
    »Heathcliff you may come forward,« cried Mr. Hindley enjoying his
discomfiture and gratified to see what a forbidding young blackguard he would be
compelled to present himself. »You may come and wish Miss Catherine welcome,
like the other servants.«
    Cathy, catching a glimpse of her friend in his concealment, flew to embrace
him, she bestowed seven or eight kisses on his cheek within the second, and,
then, stopped, and drawing back, burst into a laugh, exclaiming,
    »Why, how very black and cross you look! and how - how funny and grim! But
that's because I'm used to Edgar, and Isabella Linton. Well, Heathcliff, have
you forgotten me?«
    She had some reason to put the question, for shame, and pride threw double
gloom over his countenance, and kept him immoveable.
    »Shake hands, Heathcliff,« said Mr. Earnshaw, condescendingly; »once in a
way, that is permitted.«
    »I shall not!« replied the boy finding his tongue at last, »I shall not
stand to be laughed at, I shall not bear it!«
    And he would have broken from the circle, but Miss Cathy seized him again.
    »I did not mean to laugh at you,« she said, »I could not hinder myself,
Heathcliff, shake hands, at least! What are you sulky for? It was only that you
looked odd - If you wash your face, and brush your hair it will be all right.
But you are so dirty!«
    She gazed concernedly at the dusky fingers she held in her own, and also at
her dress which she feared had gained no embellishment from its contact with
his.
    »You needn't have touched me!« He answered, following her eye and snatching
away his hand. »I shall be as dirty as I please, and I like to be dirty, and I
will be dirty.«
    With that he dashed head foremost out of the room, amid the merriment of the
master and mistress, and to the serious disturbance of Catherine who could not
comprehend how her remarks should have produced such an exhibition of bad
temper.
    After playing lady's maid to the new comer, and putting my cakes in the
oven, and making the house and kitchen cheerful with great fires befitting
Christmas eve, I prepared to sit down and amuse myself by singing carols, all
alone; regardless of Joseph's affirmations that he considered the merry tunes I
chose as next door to songs.
    He had retired to private prayer in his chamber, and Mr. and Mrs. Earnshaw
were engaging Missy's attention by sundry gay trifles bought for her to present
to the little Lintons, as an acknowledgement of their kindness.
    They had invited them to spend the morrow at Wuthering Heights, and the
invitation had been accepted, on one condition: Mrs. Linton begged that her
darlings might be kept carefully apart from that »naughty, swearing boy.«
    Under these circumstances I remained solitary. I smelt the rich scent of the
heating spices; and admired the shining kitchen utensils, the polished clock,
decked in holly, the silver mugs ranged on a tray ready to be filled with mulled
ale for supper; and, above all, the speckless purity of my particular care - the
scoured and well-swept floor.
    I gave due inward applause to every object and, then, I remembered how old
Earnshaw used to come in when all was tidied, and call me a cant lass, and slip
a shilling into my hand, as a christmas box: and, from that, I went on to think
of his fondness for Heathcliff, and his dread lest he should suffer neglect
after death had removed him; and that naturally led me to consider the poor
lad's situation now, and from singing I changed my mind to crying. It struck me
soon, however, there would be more sense in endeavouring to repair some of his
wrongs than shedding tears over them - I got up and walked into the court to
seek him.
    He was not far, I found him smoothing the glossy coat of the new pony in the
stable, and feeding the other beasts, according to custom.
    »Make haste, Heathcliff!« I said »the kitchen is so comfortable - and Joseph
is up-stairs; make haste, and let me dress you smart before Miss Cathy comes out
- and then you can sit together, with the whole hearth to yourselves, and have a
long chatter till bed-time.«
    He proceeded with his task and never turned his head towards me.
    »Come - are you coming?« I continued, »There's a little cake for each of
you, nearly enough; and you'll need half an hour's donning.«
    I waited five minutes, but getting no answer left him ... Catherine supped
with her brother and sister-in-law: Joseph and I joined at an unsociable meal
seasoned with reproofs on one side, and sauciness on the other. His cake and
cheese remained on the table all night, for the fairies. He managed to continue
work till nine o'clock, and, then, marched dumb and dour, to his chamber.
    Cathy sat up late; having a world of things to order for the reception of
her new friends: she came into the kitchen, once, to speak to her old one, but
he was gone, and she only staid to ask what was the matter with him, and then
went back.
    In the morning, he rose early; and, as it was a holiday, carried his
ill-humour onto the moors; not re-appearing till the family were departed for
church. Fasting, and reflection seemed to have brought him to a better spirit.
He hung about me, for a while, and having screwed up his courage, exclaimed
abruptly,
    »Nelly, make me decent, I'm going to be good.«
    »High time, Heathcliff,« I said, »you have grieved Catherine; she's sorry
she ever came home, I dare say! It looks as if you envied her, because she is
more thought of than you.«
    The notion of envying Catherine was incomprehensible to him, but the notion
of grieving her, he understood clearly enough.
    »Did she say she was grieved?« he inquired looking very serious.
    »She cried when I told her you were off again this morning.«
    »Well, I cried last night« he returned, »and I had more reason to cry than
she.«
    »Yes, you had the reason of going to bed, with a proud heart, and an empty
stomach,« said I, »Proud people breed sad sorrows for themselves - But, if you
be ashamed of your touchiness, you must ask pardon, mind, when she comes in. You
must go up, and offer to kiss her, and say - you know best what to say, only, do
it heartily, and not as if you thought her converted into a stranger by her
grand dress. And now, though I have dinner to get ready, I'll steal time to
arrange you so that Edgar Linton shall look quite a doll beside you: and that he
does - You are younger, and yet, I'll be bound, you are taller and twice as
broad across the shoulders - you could knock him down in a twinkling; don't you
feel that you could?«
    Heathcliff's face brightened a moment; then, it was overcast afresh, and he
sighed.
    »But, Nelly, if I knocked him down twenty times, that wouldn't make him less
handsome, or me more so. I wish I had light hair and a fair skin, and was
dressed, and behaved as well, and had a chance of being as rich as he will be!«
    »And cried for mamma, at every turn -« I added, »and trembled if a country
lad heaved his fist against you, and sat at home all day for a shower of rain. -
O, Heathcliff, you are showing a poor spirit! Come to the glass, and I'll let
you see what you should wish. Do you mark those two lines between your eyes, and
those thick brows, that instead of rising arched, sink in the middle, and that
couple of black fiends, so deeply buried, who never open their windows boldly,
but lurk glinting under them, like devil's spies? Wish and learn to smooth away
the surly wrinkles, to raise your lids frankly, and change the fiends to
confident, innocent angels, suspecting and doubting nothing, and always seeing
friends where they are not sure of foes - Don't get the expression of a vicious
cur that appears to know the kicks it gets are its desert, and yet, hates all
the world, as well as the kicker, for what it suffers.«
    »In other words, I must wish for Edgar Linton's great blue eyes, and even
forehead,« he replied. »I do - and that won't help me to them.«
    »A good heart will help you to a bonny face my lad,« I continued, »if you
were a regular black; and a bad one will turn the bonniest into something worse
than ugly. And now that we've done washing, and combing, and sulking - tell me
whether you don't think yourself rather handsome? I'll tell you, I do. You're
fit for a prince in disguise. Who knows, but your father was Emperor of China,
and your mother an Indian queen, each of them able to buy up, with one week's
income, Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange together? And you were
kidnapped by wicked sailors, and brought to England. Were I in your place, I
would frame high notions of my birth; and the thoughts of what I was should give
me courage and dignity to support the oppressions of a little farmer!«
    So I chattered on; and Heathcliff gradually lost his frown, and began to
look quite pleasant; when, all at once, our conversation was interrupted by a
rumbling sound moving up the road and entering the court. He ran to the window,
and I to the door, just in time to behold the two Lintons descend from the
family carriage, smothered in cloaks and furs, and the Earnshaws dismount from
their horses - they often rode to church in winter. Catherine took a hand of
each of the children, and brought them into the house, and set them before the
fire which quickly put colour into their white faces.
    I urged my companion to hasten now, and show his amiable humour; and he
willingly obeyed: but ill luck would have it; that as he opened the door leading
from the kitchen on one side, Hindley opened it on the other; they met, and the
master irritated at seeing him clean and cheerful, or, perhaps, eager to keep
his promise to Mrs. Linton shoved him back with a sudden thrust, and angrily
bade Joseph »keep the fellow out of the room - send him into the garret till
dinner is over. He'll be cramming his fingers in the tarts, and stealing the
fruit, if left alone with them a minute.«
    »Nay, sir,« I could not avoid answering, »he'll touch nothing, not he - and,
I suppose, he must have his share of the dainties as well as we.«
    »He shall have his share of my hand, if I catch him down stairs again till
dark,« cried Hindley. »Begone, you vagabond! What, you are attempting the
coxcomb, are you? Wait till I get hold of those elegant locks - see if I won't
pull them a bit longer!«
    »They are long enough already,« observed Master Linton, peeping from the
door-way, »I wonder they don't make his head ache. It's like a colt's mane over
his eyes!«
    He ventured this remark without any intention to insult; but, Heathcliff's
violent nature was not prepared to endure the appearance of impertinence from
one whom he seemed to hate, even then, as a rival. He seized a tureen of hot
applesauce, the first thing that came under his gripe, and dashed it full
against the speaker's face and neck - who instantly commenced a lament that
brought Isabella and Catherine hurrying to the place.
    Mr. Earnshaw snatched up the culprit directly and conveyed him to his
chamber, where, doubtless, he administered a rough remedy to cool the fit of
passion, for he reappeared red and breathless. I got the dish-cloth, and, rather
spitefully, scrubbed Edgar's nose and mouth, affirming, it served him right for
meddling. His sister began weeping to go home, and Cathy stood by confounded,
blushing for all.
    »You should not have spoken to him!« she expostulated with Master Linton.
»He was in a bad temper, and now you've spoilt your visit, and he'll be flogged
- I hate him to be flogged! I can't eat my dinner. Why did you speak to him,
Edgar?«
    »I didn't,« sobbed the youth, escaping from my hands, and finishing the
remainder of the purification with his cambric pocket-handkerchief. »I promised
mamma that I wouldn't say one word to him, and I didn't!«
    »Well, don't cry!« replied Catherine, contemptuously. »You're not killed -
don't make more mischief - my brother is coming - be quiet! Give over, Isabella!
Has anybody hurt you?«
    »There, there, children - to your seats!« cried Hindley, bustling in. »That
brute of a lad has warmed me nicely. Next time, Master Edgar, take the law into
your own fists - it will give you an appetite!«
    The little party recovered its equanimity at sight of the fragrant feast.
They were hungry, after their ride, and easily consoled, since no real harm had
befallen them.
    Mr. Earnshaw carved bountiful platefuls; and the mistress made them merry
with lively talk. I waited behind her chair, and was pained to behold Catherine,
with dry eyes and an indifferent air, commence cutting up the wing of a goose
before her.
    »An unfeeling child,« I thought to myself, »how lightly she dismisses her
old playmate's troubles. I could not have imagined her to be so selfish.«
    She lifted a mouthful to her lips; then, she set it down again: her cheeks
flushed, and the tears gushed over them. She slipped her fork to the floor, and
hastily dived under the cloth to conceal her emotion. I did not call her
unfeeling long, for, I perceived she was in purgatory throughout the day, and
wearying to find an opportunity of getting by herself, or paying a visit to
Heathcliff, who had been locked up by the master, as I discovered, on
endeavouring to introduce to him a private mess of victuals.
    In the evening we had a dance. Cathy begged that he might be liberated then,
as Isabella Linton had no partner; her entreaties were vain, and I was appointed
to supply the deficiency.
    We got rid of all gloom in the excitement of the exercise, and our pleasure
was increased by the arrival of the Gimmerton band, mustering fifteen strong; a
trumpet, a trombone, clarionets, bassoons, French horns, and a bass viol,
besides singers. They go the rounds of all the respectable houses, and receive
contributions every Christmas, and we esteemed it a first-rate treat to hear
them.
    After the usual carols had been sung, we set them to songs and glees. Mrs.
Earnshaw loved the music, and, so, they gave us plenty.
    Catherine loved it too; but she said it sounded sweetest at the top of the
steps, and she went up in the dark; I followed. They shut the house door below,
never noting our absence, it was so full of people. She made no stay at the
stairs' head, but mounted farther, to the garret where Heathcliff was confined;
and called him. He stubbornly declined answering for a while - she persevered,
and finally persuaded him to hold communion with her through the boards.
    I let the poor things converse unmolested, till I supposed the songs were
going to cease, and the singers to get some refreshment: then, I clambered up
the ladder to warn her.
    Instead of finding her outside, I heard her voice within. The little monkey
had crept by the skylight of one garret, along the roof, into the skylight of
the other, and it was with the utmost difficulty I could coax her out again.
    When she did come, Heathcliff came with her; and she insisted that I should
take him into the kitchen, as my fellow-servant had gone to a neighbour's to be
removed from the sound of our »devil's psalmody,« as it pleased him to call it.
    I told them I intended, by no means, to encourage their tricks; but as the
prisoner had never broken his fast since yesterday's dinner, I would wink at his
cheating Mr. Hindley that once.
    He went down; I set him a stool by the fire, and offered him a quantity of
good things; but, he was sick and could eat little: and my attempts to entertain
him were thrown away. He leant his two elbows on his knees, and his chin on his
hands, and remained wrapt in dumb meditation. On my inquiring the subject of his
thoughts, he answered gravely -
    »I'm trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I don't care how long I
wait, if I can only do it, at last. I hope he will not die before I do!«
    »For shame, Heathcliff!« said I. »It is for God to punish wicked people; we
should learn to forgive.«
    »No, God won't have the satisfaction that I shall,« he returned. »I only
wish I knew the best way! Let me alone, and I'll plan it out: while I'm thinking
of that, I don't feel pain.«
    But, Mr. Lockwood, I forget these tales cannot divert you. I'm annoyed how I
should dream of chattering on at such a rate; and your gruel cold, and you
nodding for bed! I could have told Heathcliff's history, all that you need hear,
in half-a-dozen words.
    Thus interrupting herself, the housekeeper rose, and proceeded to lay aside
her sewing; but I felt incapable of moving from the hearth, and I was very far
from nodding.
    »Sit still, Mrs. Dean,« I cried, »do sit still, another half hour! You've
done just right to tell the story leisurely. That is the method I like; and you
must finish in the same style. I am interested in every character you have
mentioned, more or less.«
    »The clock is on the stroke of eleven, sir.«
    »No matter - I'm not accustomed to go to bed in the long hours. One or two
is early enough for a person who lies till ten.«
    »You shouldn't lie till ten. There's the very prime of the morning gone long
before that time. A person who has not done one half his day's work by ten
o'clock, runs a chance of leaving the other half undone.«
    »Nevertheless, Mrs. Dean, resume your chair; because to-morrow I intend
lengthening the night till afternoon. I prognosticate for myself an obstinate
cold, at least.«
    »I hope not, sir. Well, you must allow me to leap over some three years;
during that space, Mrs. Earnshaw -«
    »No, no, I'll allow nothing of the sort! Are you acquainted with the mood of
mind in which, if you were seated alone, and the cat licking its kitten on the
rug before you, you would watch the operation so intently that puss's neglect of
one ear would put you seriously out of temper?«
    »A terribly lazy mood, I should say.«
    »On the contrary, a tiresomely active one. It is mine, at present, and,
therefore, continue minutely. I perceive that people in these regions acquire
over people in towns the value that a spider in a dungeon does over a spider in
a cottage, to their various occupants; and yet the deepened attraction is not
entirely owing to the situation of the looker-on. They do live more in earnest,
more in themselves, and less in surface change, and frivolous external things. I
could fancy a love for life here almost possible; and I was a fixed unbeliever
in any love of a year's standing - one state resembles setting a hungry man down
to a single dish on which he may concentrate his entire appetite, and do it
justice - the other, introducing him to a table laid out by French cooks; he can
perhaps extract as much enjoyment from the whole; but each part is a mere atom
in his regard and remembrance.«
    »Oh! here we are the same as anywhere else, when you get to know us,«
observed Mrs. Dean, somewhat puzzled at my speech.
    »Excuse me,« I responded; »you, my good friend, are a striking evidence
against that assertion. Excepting a few provincialisms of slight consequence,
you have no marks of the manners that I am habituated to consider as peculiar to
your class. I am sure you have thought a great deal more than the generality of
servants think. You have been compelled to cultivate your reflective faculties,
for want of occasions for frittering your life away in silly trifles.«
    Mrs. Dean laughed.
    »I certainly esteem myself a steady, reasonable kind of body,« she said;
»not exactly from living among the hills, and seeing one set of faces, and one
series of actions, from year's end to year's end: but I have undergone sharp
discipline which has taught me wisdom; and then, I have read more than you would
fancy, Mr. Lockwood. You could not open a book in this library that I have not
looked into, and got something out of also; unless it be that range of Greek and
Latin, and that of French - and those I know one from another, it is as much as
you can expect of a poor man's daughter.
    However, if I am to follow my story in true gossip's fashion, I had better
go on; and instead of leaping three years, I will be content to pass to the next
summer - the summer of 1778, that is, nearly twenty-three years ago.«
 

                                  Chapter VIII

On the morning of a fine June day, my first bonny little nursling, and the last
of the ancient Earnshaw stock was born.
    We were busy with the hay in a far away field, when the girl that usually
brought our breakfasts came running, an hour too soon, across the meadow and up
the lane, calling me as she ran.
    »Oh, such a grand bairn!« she panted out. »The finest lad that ever
breathed! But the doctor says missis must go; he says she's been in a
consumption these many months. I heard him tell Mr. Hindley - and now she has
nothing to keep her, and she'll be dead before winter. You must come home
directly. You're to nurse it, Nelly - to feed it with sugar and milk, and take
care of it, day and night - I wish I were you, because it will be all yours when
there is no missis!«
    »But is she very ill?« I asked, flinging down my rake, and tying my bonnet.
    »I guess she is; yet she looks bravely,« replied the girl, »and she talks as
if she thought of living to see it grow a man. She's out of her head for joy,
it's such a beauty! If I were her I'm certain I should not die. I should get
better at the bare sight of it, in spite of Kenneth. I was fairly mad at him.
Dame Archer brought the cherub down to master, in the house, and his face just
began to light up, then the old croaker steps forward, and, says he: - Earnshaw,
it's a blessing your wife has been spared to leave you this son. When she came,
I felt convinced we shouldn't keep her long; and now, I must tell you, the
winter will probably finish her. Don't take on, and fret about it too much, it
can't be helped. And besides, you should have known better than to choose such a
rush of a lass!«
    »And what did the master answer?« I enquired.
    »I think he swore - but, I didn't mind him, I was straining to see the
bairn,« and she began again to describe it rapturously. I, as zealous as
herself, hurried eagerly home to admire, on my part, though I was very sad for
Hindley's sake; he had room in his heart only for two idols - his wife and
himself - he doted on both, and adored one, and I couldn't conceive how he would
bear the loss.
    When we got to Wuthering Heights, there he stood at the front door; and, as
I passed in, I asked, »how was the baby?«
    »Nearly ready to run about, Nell!« he replied, putting on a cheerful smile.
    »And the mistress?« I ventured to inquire, »the doctor says she's -«
    »Damn the doctor!« he interrupted, reddening. »Frances is quite right -
she'll be perfectly well by this time next week. Are you going upstairs? will
you tell her that I'll come, if she'll promise not to talk. I left her because
she would not hold her tongue; and she must - tell her Mr. Kenneth says she must
be quiet.«
    I delivered this message to Mrs. Earnshaw; she seemed in flighty spirits,
and replied merrily -
    »I hardly spoke a word, Ellen, and there he has gone out twice, crying.
Well, say I promise I won't speak; but that does not bind me not to laugh at
him!«
    Poor soul! Till within a week of her death that gay heart never failed her;
and her husband persisted doggedly, nay, furiously, in affirming her health
improved every day. When Kenneth warned him that his medicines were useless at
that stage of the malady, and he needn't put him to further expense by attending
her, he retorted -
    »I know you need not - she's well - she does not want any more attendance
from you! She never was in a consumption. It was a fever; and it is gone - her
pulse is as slow as mine now, and her cheek as cool.«
    He told his wife the same story, and she seemed to believe him; but one
night, while leaning on his shoulder, in the act of saying she thought she
should be able to get up to-morrow, a fit of coughing took her - a very slight
one - he raised her in his arms; she put her two hands about his neck, her face
changed, and she was dead.
    As the girl had anticipated; the child Hareton, fell wholly into my hands.
Mr. Earnshaw, provided he saw him healthy, and never heard him cry, was
contented, as far as regarded him. For himself, he grew desperate; his sorrow
was of that kind that will not lament, he neither wept nor prayed - he cursed
and defied - execrated God and man, and gave himself up to reckless dissipation.
    The servants could not bear his tyrannical and evil conduct long: Joseph and
I were the only two that would stay. I had not the heart to leave my charge; and
besides, you know, I had been his foster sister, and excused his behaviour more
readily than a stranger would.
    Joseph remained to hector over tenants and labourers; and because it was his
vocation to be where he had plenty of wickedness to reprove.
    The master's bad ways and bad companions formed a pretty example for
Catherine and Heathcliff. His treatment of the latter was enough to make a fiend
of a saint. And, truly, it appeared as if the lad were possessed of something
diabolical at that period. He delighted to witness Hindley degrading himself
past redemption; and became daily more notable for savage sullenness and
ferocity.
    I could not half tell what an infernal house we had. The curate dropped
calling, and nobody decent came near us, at last; unless, Edgar Linton's visits
to Miss Cathy might be an exception. At fifteen she was the queen of the
country-side; she had no peer: and she did turn out a haughty, headstrong
creature! I own I did not like her, after her infancy was past; and I vexed her
frequently by trying to bring down her arrogance; she never took an aversion to
me though. She had a wondrous constancy to old attachments; even Heathcliff kept
his hold on her affections unalterably, and young Linton, with all his
superiority, found it difficult to make an equally deep impression.
    He was my late master; that is his portrait over the fire-place. It used to
hang on one side, and his wife's on the other; but hers has been removed, or
else you might see something of what she was. Can you make that out?
    Mrs. Dean raised the candle, and I discerned a soft-featured face,
exceedingly resembling the young lady at the Heights, but more pensive and
amiable in expression. It formed a sweet picture. The long light hair curled
slightly on the temples; the eyes were large and serious; the figure almost too
graceful. I did not marvel how Catherine Earnshaw could forget her first friend
for such an individual. I marvelled much how he, with a mind to correspond with
his person, could fancy my idea of Catherine Earnshaw.
    »A very agreeable portrait,« I observed to the housekeeper. »Is it like?«
    »Yes,« she answered; »but he looked better when he was animated, that is his
everyday countenance; he wanted spirit in general.«
    Catherine had kept up her acquaintance with the Lintons since her five
weeks' residence among them; and as she had no temptation to show her rough side
in their company, and had the sense to be ashamed of being rude where she
experienced such invariable courtesy, she imposed unwittingly on the old lady
and gentleman, by her ingenious cordiality; gained the admiration of Isabella,
and the heart and soul of her brother - acquisitions that flattered her from the
first, for she was full of ambition - and led her to adopt a double character
without exactly intending to deceive anyone.
    In the place where she heard Heathcliff termed a »vulgar young ruffian,« and
»worse than a brute,« she took care not to act like him; but at home she had
small inclination to practise politeness that would only be laughed at, and
restrain an unruly nature when it would bring her neither credit, nor praise.
    Mr. Edgar seldom mustered courage to visit Wuthering Heights openly. He had
a terror of Earnshaw's reputation, and shrank from encountering him, and yet, he
was always received with our best attempts at civility: the master himself,
avoided offending him - knowing why he came, and if he could not be gracious,
kept out of the way. I rather think his appearance there was distasteful to
Catherine; she was not artful, never played the coquette, and had evidently an
objection to her two friends meeting at all: for when Heathcliff expressed
contempt of Linton, in his presence, she could not half coincide, as she did in
his absence; and when Linton evinced disgust and antipathy to Heathcliff, she
dared not treat his sentiments with indifference, as if depreciation of her
playmate were of scarcely any consequence to her.
    I've had many a laugh at her perplexities, and untold troubles, which she
vainly strove to hide from my mockery. That sounds ill-natured - but she was so
proud, it became really impossible to pity her distresses, till she should be
chastened into more humility.
    She did bring herself, finally, to confess, and confide in me. There was not
a soul else that she might fashion into an adviser.
    Mr. Hindley had gone from home, one afternoon; and Heathcliff presumed to
give himself a holiday, on the strength of it. He had reached the age of sixteen
then, I think, and without having bad features or being deficient in intellect,
he contrived to convey an impression of inward and outward repulsiveness that
his present aspect retains no traces of.
    In the first place, he had, by that time, lost the benefit of his early
education: continual hard work, begun soon and concluded late, had extinguished
any curiosity he once possessed in pursuit of knowledge, and any love for books,
or learning. His childhood's sense of superiority, instilled into him by the
favours of old Mr. Earnshaw, was faded away. He struggled long to keep up an
equality with Catherine in her studies and yielded with poignant though silent
regret: but, he yielded completely; and there was no prevailing on him to take a
step in the way of moving upward, when he found he must, necessarily, sink
beneath his former level. Then personal appearance sympathised with mental
deterioration; he acquired a slouching gait, and ignoble look; his naturally
reserved disposition was exaggerated into an almost idiotic excess of unsociable
moroseness; and he took a grim pleasure, apparently, in exciting the aversion
rather than the esteem of his few acquaintance.
    Catherine and he were constant companions still, at his seasons of respite
from labour; but he had ceased to express his fondness for her in words, and
recoiled with angry suspicion from her girlish caresses, as if conscious there
could be no gratification in lavishing such marks of affection on him. On the
before-named occasion he came into the house to announce his intention of doing
nothing, while I was assisting Miss Cathy to arrange her dress - she had not
reckoned on his taking it into his head to be idle, and imagining she would have
the whole place to herself, she managed, by some means, to inform Mr. Edgar of
her brother's absence, and was then preparing to receive him.
    »Cathy, are you busy, this afternoon?« asked Heathcliff. »Are you going
anywhere?«
    »No, it is raining,« she answered.
    »Why have you that silk frock on, then?« he said. »Nobody coming here, I
hope?«
    »Not that I know of;« stammered Miss, »but you should be in the field now,
Heathcliff. It is an hour past dinner time; I thought you were gone.«
    »Hindley does not often free us from his accursed presence;« observed the
boy, »I'll not work any more to-day, I'll stay with you.«
    »O, but Joseph will tell;« she suggested, »you'd better go!«
    »Joseph is loading lime on the farther side of Pennistow Crag, it will take
him till dark, and he'll never know.«
    So saying he lounged to the fire, and sat down. Catherine reflected an
instant, with knitted brows - she found it needful to smooth the way for an
intrusion.
    »Isabella, and Edgar Linton talked of calling this afternoon;« she said at
the conclusion of a minute's silence. »As it rains, I hardly expect them; but,
they may come, and if they do, you run the risk of being scolded for no good.«
    »Order Ellen to say you are engaged, Cathy,« he persisted, »Don't turn me
out for those pitiful, silly friends of yours! I'm on the point, sometimes, of
complaining that they - but I'll not -«
    »That they what?« cried Catherine, gazing at him with a troubled
countenance. »Oh Nelly!« she added petulantly jerking her head away from my
hands, »you've combed my hair quite out of curl! That's enough, let me alone.
What are you on the point of complaining about, Heathcliff?«
    »Nothing - only look at the almanack, on that wall,« he pointed to a framed
sheet hanging near the window, and continued;
    »The crosses are for the evenings you have spent with the Lintons, the dots
for those spent with me - Do you see, I've marked every day?«
    »Yes - very foolish; as if I took notice!« replied Catherine in a peevish
tone. »And where is the sense of that?«
    »To show that I do take notice,« said Heathcliff.
    »And should I always be sitting with you?« she demanded, growing more
irritated. »What good do I get - What do you talk about? You might be dumb or a
baby for anything you say to amuse me, or for anything you do, either!«
    »You never told me before that I talked too little, or that you disliked my
company, Cathy!« exclaimed Heathcliff, in much agitation.
    »It is no company at all, when people know nothing and say nothing,« she
muttered.
    Her companion rose up, but he hadn't time to express his feelings further,
for a horse's feet were heard on the flags, and, having knocked gently, young
Linton entered, his face brilliant with delight at the unexpected summons he had
received.
    Doubtless Catherine marked the difference between her friends as one came
in, and the other went out. The contrast resembled what you see in exchanging a
bleak, hilly, coal country, for a beautiful fertile valley; and his voice, and
greeting were as opposite as his aspect - He had a sweet, low manner of
speaking, and pronounced his words as you do, that's less gruff than we talk
here and softer.
    »I'm not come too soon, am I?« he said, casting a look at me. I had begun to
wipe the plate, and tidy some drawers at the far end in the dresser.
    »No,« answered Catherine. »What are you doing there, Nelly?«
    »My work, Miss,« I replied. (Mr. Hindley had given me directions to make a
third party in any private visits Linton chose to pay.)
    She stepped behind me and whispered crossly, »Take yourself and your dusters
off! when company are in the house, servants don't commence scouring and
cleaning in the room where they are!«
    »It's a good opportunity, now that master is away,« I answered aloud, »he
hates me to be fidgeting over these things in his presence - I'm sure Mr. Edgar
will excuse me.«
    »I hate you to be fidgeting in my presence,« exclaimed the young lady
imperiously, not allowing her guest time to speak - she had failed to recover
her equanimity since the little dispute with Heathcliff.
    »I'm sorry for it, Miss Catherine!« was my response; and I proceeded
assiduously with my occupation.
    She, supposing Edgar could not see her, snatched the cloth from my hand, and
pinched me, with a prolonged wrench, very spitefully on the arm.
    I've said I did not love her; and rather relished mortifying her vanity, now
and then; besides, she hurt me extremely, so I started up from my knees, and
screamed out.
    »O, Miss, that's a nasty trick! You have no right to nip me, and I'm not
going to bear it!«
    »I didn't touch you, you lying creature!« cried she, her fingers tingling to
repeat the act, and her ears red with rage. She never had power to conceal her
passion, it always set her whole complexion in a blaze.
    »What's that then?« I retorted, showing a decided purple witness to refute
her.
    She stamped her foot, wavered a moment, and then, irresistibly impelled by
the naughty spirit within her, slapped me on the cheek a stinging blow that
filled both eyes with water.
    »Catherine, love! Catherine!« interposed Linton, greatly shocked at the
double fault of falsehood, and violence which his idol had committed.
    »Leave the room, Ellen!« she repeated, trembling all over.
    Little Hareton, who followed me everywhere, and was sitting near me on the
floor, at seeing my tears commenced crying himself, and sobbed out complaints
against wicked aunt Cathy, which drew her fury on to his unlucky head: she
seized his shoulders, and shook him till the poor child waxed livid, and Edgar
thoughtlessly laid hold of her hand to deliver him. In an instant one was wrung
free, and the astonished young man felt it applied over his own ear in a way
that could not be mistaken for jest.
    He drew back in consternation - I lifted Hareton in my arms, and walked off
to the kitchen with him; leaving the door of communication open, for I was
curious to watch how they would settle their disagreement.
    The insulted visitor moved to the spot where he had laid his hat, pale and
with a quivering lip.
    »That's right!« I said to myself, »Take warning and begone! It's a kindness
to let you have a glimpse of her genuine disposition.«
    »Where are you going?« demanded Catherine, advancing to the door.
    He swerved aside and attempted to pass.
    »You must not go!« she exclaimed energetically.
    »I must and shall!« he replied in a subdued voice.
    »No,« she persisted, grasping the handle; »not yet, Edgar Linton - sit down,
you shall not leave me in that temper. I should be miserable all night, and I
won't be miserable for you!«
    »Can I stay after you have struck me?« asked Linton.
    Catherine was mute.
    »You've made me afraid, and ashamed of you;« he continued; »I'll not come
here again!«
    Her eyes began to glisten and her lids to twinkle.
    »And you told a deliberate untruth!« he said.
    »I didn't!« she cried, recovering her speech. »I did nothing deliberately -
Well, go, if you please - get away! And now I'll cry - I'll cry myself sick!«
    She dropped down on her knees by a chair and set to weeping in serious
earnest.
    Edgar persevered in his resolution as far as the court; there, he lingered.
I resolved to encourage him.
    »Miss is dreadfully wayward, sir!« I called out. »As bad as any marred child
- you'd better be riding home, or else she will be sick, only to grieve us.«
    The soft thing looked askance through the window - he possessed the power to
depart, as much as a cat possesses the power to leave a mouse half killed, or a
bird half eaten.
    Ah; I thought, there will be no saving him - He's doomed, and flies to his
fate!
    And so it was; he turned abruptly, hastened into the house again, shut the
door behind him; and, when I went in a while after to inform them that Earnshaw
had come home rabid drunk, ready to pull the old place about our ears, (his
ordinary frame of mind in that condition) I saw the quarrel had merely effected
a closer intimacy - had broken the outworks of youthful timidity, and enabled
them to forsake the disguise of friendship, and confess themselves lovers.
    Intelligence of Mr. Hindley's arrival drove Linton speedily to his horse,
and Catherine to her chamber. I went to hide little Hareton, and to take the
shot out of the master's fowling piece which he was fond of playing with in his
insane excitement, to the hazard of the lives of any who provoked, or even,
attracted his notice too much; and I had hit upon the plan of removing it, that
he might do less mischief, if he did go the length of firing the gun.
 

                                   Chapter IX

He entered, vociferating oaths dreadful to hear; and caught me in the act of
stowing his son away in the kitchen cupboard. Hareton was impressed with a
wholesome terror of encountering either his wild-beast's fondness, or his
madman's rage - for in one he ran a chance of being squeezed and kissed to
death, and in the other of being flung into the fire, or dashed against the wall
- and the poor thing remained perfectly quiet wherever I chose to put him.
    »There I've found it out at last!« cried Hindley, pulling me back by the
skin of the neck, like a dog. »By Heaven and Hell, you've sworn between you to
murder that child! I know how it is, now, that he is always out of my way. But,
with the help of Satan, I shall make you swallow the carving knife, Nelly! you
needn't laugh; for I've just crammed Kenneth, head-downmost, in the Blackhorse
marsh: and two is the same as one - and I want to kill some of you, I shall have
no rest till I do!«
    »But I don't like the carving knife, Mr. Hindley;« I answered, »it has been
cutting red herrings - I'd rather be shot if you please.«
    »You'd rather be damned!« he said, »and so you shall - No law in England can
hinder a man from keeping his house decent, and mine's abominable! open your
mouth.«
    He held the knife in his hand, and pushed its point between my teeth: but,
for my part I was never much afraid of his vagaries. I spat out, and affirmed it
tasted detestably - I would not take it on any account.
    »Oh!« said he releasing me, »I see that hideous little villain is not
Hareton - I beg your pardon, Nell - if it be he deserves flaying alive for not
running to welcome me, and for screaming as if I were a goblin. Unnatural cub,
come hither! I'll teach thee to impose on a good-hearted, deluded father - Now,
don't you think the lad would be handsomer cropped? It makes a dog fiercer, and
I love something fierce - Get me a scissors - something fierce and trim!
Besides, it's infernal affectation - devilish conceit, it is to cherish our ears
- we're asses enough without them. Hush, child, hush! well then, it is my
darling! wisht, dry thy eyes - there's a joy; kiss me; what, it won't? kiss me,
Hareton! Damn thee, kiss me! By God, as if I would rear such a monster! As sure
as I'm living, I'll break the brat's neck.«
    Poor Hareton was squalling and kicking in his father's arms with all his
might, and redoubled his yells when he carried him up-stairs and lifted him over
the bannister. I cried out that he would frighten the child into fits, and ran
to rescue him.
    As I reached them, Hindley leant forward on the rails to listen to a noise
below; almost forgetting what he had in his hands.
    »Who is that?« he asked, hearing some one approaching the stair's-foot.
    I leant forward, also, for the purpose of signing to Heathcliff, whose step
I recognized, not to come further; and, at the instant when my eye quitted
Hareton, he gave a sudden spring, delivered himself from the careless grasp that
held him, and fell.
    There was scarcely time to experience a thrill of horror before he saw that
the little wretch was safe. Heathcliff arrived, underneath just at the critical
moment; by a natural impulse, he arrested his descent, and setting him on his
feet, looked up to discover the author of the accident.
    A miser who has parted with a lucky lottery ticket for five shillings and
finds next day he has lost in the bargain five thousand pounds, could not show a
blanker countenance than he did on beholding the figure of Mr. Earnshaw above -
It expressed, plainer than words could do, the intensest anguish at having made
himself the instrument of thwarting his own revenge. Had it been dark, I dare
say, he would have tried to remedy the mistake by smashing Hareton's skull on
the steps; but, we witnessed his salvation; and I was presently below with my
precious charge pressed to my heart.
    Hindley descended more leisurely, sobered and abashed.
    »It is your fault, Ellen,« he said, »you should have kept him out of sight;
you should have taken him from me! Is he injured anywhere?«
    »Injured!« I cried, angrily, »If he is not killed, he'll be an idiot! Oh! I
wonder his mother does not rise from her grave to see how you use him. You're
worse than a heathen - treating your own flesh and blood in that manner!«
    He attempted to touch the child, who on finding himself with me sobbed off
his terror directly. At the first finger his father laid on him, however, he
shrieked again louder than before, and struggled as if he would go into
convulsions.
    »You shall not meddle with him!« I continued, »He hates you - they all hate
you - that's the truth! A happy family you have; and a pretty state you're come
to!«
    »I shall come to a prettier, yet! Nelly,« laughed the misguided man,
recovering his hardness. »At present, convey yourself and him away - And, hark
you, Heathcliff! dear you too, quite from my reach and hearing ... I wouldn't
murder you to-night, unless, perhaps, I set the house on fire; but that's as my
fancy goes -«
    While saying this he took a pint bottle of brandy from the dresser, and
poured some into a tumbler.
    »Nay don't!« I entreated, »Mr. Hindley do take warning. Have mercy on this
unfortunate boy, if you care nothing for yourself!«
    »Anyone will do better for him, than I shall,« he answered.
    »Have mercy on your own soul!« I said, endeavouring to snatch the glass from
his hand.
    »Not I! On the contrary, I shall have great pleasure in sending it to
perdition, to punish its maker,« exclaimed the blasphemer, »Here's to its hearty
damnation!«
    He drank the spirits, and impatiently bade us go; terminating his command
with a sequel of horrid imprecations, too bad to repeat, or remember.
    »It's a pity he cannot kill himself with drink,« observed Heathcliff,
muttering an echo of curses back when the door was shut. »He's doing his very
utmost; but his constitution defies him - Mr. Kenneth says he would wager his
mare, that he'll outlive any man on this side Gimmerton, and go to the grave a
hoary sinner; unless, some happy chance out of the common course befall him.«
    I went into the kitchen and sat down to lull my little lamb to sleep.
Heathcliff, as I thought, walked through to the barn. It turned out, afterwards,
that he only got as far as the other side the settle, when he flung himself on a
bench by the wall, removed from the fire, and remained silent.
    I was rocking Hareton on my knee, and humming a song that began;
 
»It was far in the night, and the bairnies grat,
The mither beneath the mools heard that.«
 
when Miss Cathy, who had listened to the hubbub from her room, put her head in,
and whispered,
    »Are you alone, Nelly?«
    »Yes, Miss,« I replied.
    She entered and approached the hearth. I, supposing she was going to say
something, looked up. The expression of her face seemed disturbed and anxious.
Her lips were half asunder as if she meant to speak; and she drew a breath, but
it escaped in a sigh, instead of a sentence.
    I resumed my song: not having forgotten her recent behaviour.
    »Where's Heathcliff?« she said, interrupting me.
    »About his work in the stable,« was my answer.
    He did not contradict me; perhaps, he had fallen into a doze. There followed
another long pause, during which I perceived a drop or two trickle from
Catherine's cheek to the flags.
    »Is she sorry for her shameful conduct?« I asked myself. »That will be a
novelty, but she may come to the point as she will - I shan't help her!«
    No, she felt small trouble regarding any subject, save her own concerns.
    »Oh, dear!« she cried at last. »I'm very unhappy!«
    »A pity,« observed I, »you're hard to please - so many friends and so few
cares, and can't make yourself, content!«
    »Nelly, will you keep a secret for me?« she pursued, kneeling down by me,
and lifting her winsome eyes to my face with that sort of look which turns off
bad temper, even, when one has all the right in the world to indulge it.
    »Is it worth keeping?« I inquired, less sulkily.
    »Yes, and it worries me, and I must let it out! I want to know what I should
do - To-day, Edgar Linton has asked me to marry him, and I've given him an
answer - Now, before I tell you whether it was a consent, or denial - you tell
me which it ought to have been.«
    »Really, Miss Catherine, how can I know?« I replied. »To be sure,
considering the exhibition you performed in his presence, this afternoon, I
might say it would be wise to refuse him - since he asked you after that, he
must either be hopelessly stupid, or a venturesome fool.«
    »If you talk so, I won't tell you any more,« she returned, peevishly, rising
to her feet. »I accepted him, Nelly; be quick, and say whether I was wrong!«
    »You accepted him? then, what good is it discussing the matter? You have
pledged your word, and cannot retract.«
    »But, say whether I should have done so - do!« she exclaimed in an irritated
tone; chafing her hands together, and frowning.
    »There are many things to be considered, before that question can be
answered properly,« I said sententiously, »First and foremost, do you love Mr.
Edgar?«
    »Who can help it? Of course I do,« she answered.
    Then I put her through the following catechism - for a girl of twenty-two it
was not injudicious.
    »Why do you love him, Miss Cathy?«
    »Nonsense, I do - that's sufficient.«
    »By no means; you must say why?«
    »Well, because he is handsome, and pleasant to be with.«
    »Bad,« was my commentary.
    »And because he is young and cheerful.«
    »Bad, still.«
    »And, because he loves me.«
    »Indifferent, coming there.«
    »And he will be rich, and I shall like to be the greatest woman of the
neighbourhood, and I shall be proud of having such a husband.«
    »Worst of all! And, now, say how you love him?«
    »As everybody loves - You're silly, Nelly.«
    »Not at all - Answer.«
    »I love the ground under his feet, and the air over his head, and everything
he touches, and every word he says - I love all his looks, and all his actions,
and him entirely, and altogether. There now!«
    »And why?«
    »Nay - you are making a jest of it; it is exceedingly ill-natured! It's no
jest to me!« said the young lady scowling, and turning her face to the fire.
    »I'm very far from jesting, Miss Catherine,« I replied, »you love Mr. Edgar,
because he is handsome, and young, and cheerful, and rich, and loves you. The
last, however, goes for nothing - You would love him without that, probably, and
with it, you wouldn't unless he possessed the four former attractions.«
    »No, to be sure not - I should only pity him - hate him, perhaps, if he were
ugly, and a clown.«
    »But, there are several other handsome, rich young men in the world;
handsomer, possibly, and richer than he is - What should hinder you from loving
them?«
    »If there be any, they are out of my way - I've seen none like Edgar.«
    »You may see some; and he won't always be handsome, and young, and may not
always be rich.«
    »He is now; and I have only to do with the present - I wish you would speak
rationally.«
    »Well, that settles it - if you have only to do with the present, marry Mr.
Linton.«
    »I don't want your permission for that - I shall marry him; and yet, you
have not told me whether I'm right.«
    »Perfectly right; if people be right to marry only for the present. And now,
let us hear what you are unhappy about. Your brother will be pleased ... The old
lady and gentleman will not object, I think - you will escape from a disorderly,
comfortless home into a wealthy respectable one; and you love Edgar, and Edgar
loves you. All seems smooth and easy - where is the obstacle?«
    »Here! and here!« replied Catherine, striking one hand on her forehead, and
the other on her breast. »In whichever place the soul lives - in my soul, and in
my heart, I'm convinced I'm wrong!«
    »That is very strange! I cannot make it out.«
    »It's my secret; but if you will not mock at me, I'll explain it; I can't do
it distinctly - but I'll give you a feeling of how I feel.«
    She seated herself by me again: her countenance grew sadder and graver, and
her clasped hands trembled.
    »Nelly, do you never dream queer dreams?« she said, suddenly, after some
minutes' reflection.
    »Yes, now and then,« I answered.
    »And so do I. I've dreamt in my life dreams that have stayed with me ever
after, and changed my ideas; they've gone through and through me, like wine
through water, and altered the colour of my mind. And this is one - I'm going to
tell it - but take care not to smile at any part of it.«
    »Oh! don't, Miss Catherine!« I cried. »We're dismal enough without conjuring
up ghosts, and visions to perplex us. Come, come, be merry, and like yourself!
Look at little Hareton - he's dreaming nothing dreary. How sweetly he smiles in
his sleep!«
    »Yes; and how sweetly his father curses in his solitude! You remember him, I
dare say, when he was just such another as that chubby thing - nearly as young
and innocent. However, Nelly, I shall oblige you to listen - it's not long; and
I've no power to be merry to-night.«
    »I won't hear it, I won't hear it!« I repeated, hastily.
    I was superstitious about dreams then, and am still; and Catherine had an
unusual gloom in her aspect, that made me dread something from which I might
shape a prophecy, and foresee a fearful catastrophe.
    She was vexed, but she did not proceed. Apparently taking up another
subject, she re-commenced in a short time.
    »If I were in heaven, Nelly, I should be extremely miserable.«
    »Because you are not fit to go there,« I answered. »All sinners would be
miserable in heaven.«
    »But it is not for that. I dreamt, once, that I was there.«
    »I tell you I won't hearken to your dreams, Miss Catherine! I'll go to bed,«
I interrupted again.
    She laughed, and held me down, for I made a motion to leave my chair.
    »This is nothing,« cried she; »I was only going to say that heaven did not
seem to be my home; and I broke my heart with weeping to come back to earth; and
the angels were so angry that they flung me out, into the middle of the heath on
the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for joy. That will do to
explain my secret, as well as the other. I've no more business to marry Edgar
Linton than I have to be in heaven; and if the wicked man in there, had not
brought Heathcliff so low I shouldn't have thought of it. It would degrade me to
marry Heathcliff, now; so he shall never know how I love him; and that, not
because he's handsome, Nelly, but because he's more myself than I am. Whatever
our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Linton's is as different
as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from fire.«
    Ere this speech was ended I became sensible of Heathcliff's presence. Having
noticed a slight movement, I turned my head, and saw him rise from the bench,
and steal out, noiselessly. He had listened till he heard Catherine say it would
degrade her to marry him, and then he stayed to hear no farther.
    My companion, sitting on the ground, was prevented by the back of the settle
from remarking his presence or departure; but I started, and bade her hush.
    »Why?« she asked, gazing nervously round.
    »Joseph is here,« I answered, catching, opportunely, the roll of his
cartwheels up the road; »and Heathcliff will come in with him. I'm not sure
whether he were not at the door this moment.«
    »Oh, he couldn't overhear me at the door!« said she. »Give me Hareton, while
you get the supper, and when it is ready ask me to sup with you. I want to cheat
my uncomfortable conscience, and be convinced that Heathcliff has no notion of
these things - he has not, has he? He does not know what being in love is?«
    »I see no reason that he should not know, as well as you,« I returned; »and
if you are his choice, he'll be the most unfortunate creature that ever was
born! As soon as you become Mrs. Linton, he loses friend, and love, and all!
Have you considered how you'll bear the separation, and how he'll bear to be
quite deserted in the world? Because, Miss Catherine -«
    »He quite deserted! we separated!« she exclaimed, with an accent of
indignation. »Who is to separate us, pray? They'll meet the fate of Milo! Not as
long as I live, Ellen - for no mortal creature. Every Linton on the face of the
earth might melt into nothing, before I could consent to forsake Heathcliff. Oh,
that's not what I intend - that's not what I mean! I shouldn't be Mrs. Linton
were such a price demanded! He'll be as much to me as he has been all his
lifetime. Edgar must shake off his antipathy, and tolerate him, at least. He
will when he learns my true feelings towards him. Nelly, I see now, you think me
a selfish wretch, but, did it never strike you that, if Heathcliff and I
married, we should be beggars? whereas, if I marry Linton, I can aid Heathcliff
to rise, and place him out of my brother's power.«
    »With your husband's money, Miss Catherine?« I asked. »You'll find him not
so pliable as you calculate upon: and, though I'm hardly a judge, I think that's
the worst motive you've given yet for being the wife of young Linton.«
    »It is not,« retorted she, »it is the best! The others were the satisfaction
of my whims; and for Edgar's sake, too, to satisfy him. This is for the sake of
one who comprehends in his person my feelings to Edgar and myself. I cannot
express it; but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is, or should
be an existence of yours beyond you. What were the use of creation if I were
entirely contained here? My great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's
miseries, and I watched and felt each from the beginning; my great thought in
living is himself. If all else perished, and he remained, I should still
continue to be; and if all else remained, and he were annihilated, the Universe
would turn to a mighty stranger. I should not seem a part of it. My love for
Linton is like the foliage in the woods. Time will change it, I'm well aware, as
winter changes the trees - my love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks
beneath - a source of little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am
Heathcliff - he's always, always in my mind - not as a pleasure, any more than I
am always a pleasure to myself - but, as my own being - so, don't talk of our
separation again - it is impracticable; and -«
    She paused, and hid her face in the folds of my gown; but I jerked it
forcibly away. I was out of patience with her folly!
    »If I can make any sense out of your nonsense, Miss,« I said, »it only goes
to convince me that you are ignorant of the duties you undertake in marrying; or
else, that you are a wicked, unprincipled girl. But, trouble me with no more
secrets. I'll not promise to keep them.«
    »You'll keep that?« she asked, eagerly.
    »No, I'll not promise,« I repeated.
    She was about to insist, when the entrance of Joseph finished our
conversation; and Catherine removed her seat to a corner, and nursed Hareton,
while I made the supper.
    After it was cooked, my fellow servant and I began to quarrel who should
carry some to Mr. Hindley; and we didn't settle it till all was nearly cold.
Then we came to the agreement that we would let him ask, if he wanted any, for
we feared particularly to go into his presence when he had been for some time
alone.
    »Und hah isn't that nowt comed in frough th' field, be this time? What is he
abaht? girt eedle seeght!« demanded the old man, looking round for Heathcliff.
    »I'll call him,« I replied. »He's in the barn, I've no doubt.«
    I went and called, but got no answer. On returning, I whispered to Catherine
that he had heard a good part of what she said, I was sure; and told her how I
saw him quit the kitchen just as she complained of her brother's conduct
regarding him.
    She jumped up in a fine fright - flung Hareton onto the settle, and ran to
seek for her friend herself, not taking leisure to consider why she was so
flurried, or how her talk would have affected him.
    She was absent such a while that Joseph proposed that we should wait no
longer. He cunningly conjectured that they were staying away in order to avoid
hearing his protracted blessing. They were »ill enough for ony fahl manners,« he
affirmed. And, on their behalf, he added that night a special prayer to the
usual quarter of an hour's supplication before meat, and would have tacked
another to the end of the grace, had not his young mistress broken in upon him
with a hurried command, that he must run down the road, and, wherever Heathcliff
had rambled, find and make him re-enter directly!
    »I want to speak to him, and I must, before I go upstairs,« she said. »And
the gate is open, he is somewhere out of hearing; for he would not reply, though
I shouted at the top of the fold as loud as I could.«
    Joseph objected at first; she was too much in earnest, however, to suffer
contradiction; and, at last, he placed his hat on his head, and walked grumbling
forth.
    Meantime Catherine paced up and down the floor, exclaiming -
    »I wonder where he is - I wonder where he can be! What did I say, Nelly?
I've forgotten. Was he vexed at my bad humour this afternoon? Dear! tell me what
I've said to grieve him? I do wish he'd come. I do wish he would!«
    »What a noise for nothing!« I cried, though rather uneasy myself. »What a
trifle scares you! It's surely no great cause of alarm that Heathcliff should
take a moonlight saunter on the moors, or, even lie too sulky to speak to us, in
the hay-loft. I'll engage he's lurking there. See, if I don't ferret him out!«
    I departed to renew my search; its result was disappointment, and Joseph's
quest ended in the same.
    »Yon lad gets war un war!« observed he on re-entering. »He's left th' yate
ut t' full swing, and miss's pony has trodden dahn two rigs uh corn, un
plottered through, raight o'er intuh t' meadow! Hahsomdiver, t' master 'ull
play t' devil to-morn, and he'll do well. He's patience itsseln wi' such
careless, offald craters - patience itsseln he is! Bud he'll nut be soa allus -
yah's see, all on ye! Yah mumn't drive him aht uf his heead fur nowt!«
    »Have you found Heathcliff, you ass?« interrupted Catherine. »Have you been
looking for him, as I ordered?«
    »Aw sud more likker look for th' horse,« he replied. »It 'ud be tuh more
sense. Bud, aw can look for norther horse, nur man uf a neeght like this - as
black as t' chimbley! und Hathecliff's noan t' chap tuh come at maw whistle -
happen he'll be less hard uh hearing wi' ye!«
    It was a very dark evening for summer: the clouds appeared inclined to
thunder, and I said we had better all sit down; the approaching rain would be
certain to bring him home without further trouble.
    However, Catherine would not be persuaded into tranquillity. She kept
wandering to and fro, from the gate to the door, in a state of agitation, which
permitted no repose: and, at length, took up a permanent situation on one side
of the wall, near the road; where, heedless of my expostulations, and the
growling thunder, and the great drops that began to plash around her, she
remained calling, at intervals, and then listening, and then crying outright.
She beat Hareton, or any child, at a good, passionate fit of crying.
    About midnight, while we still sat up, the storm came rattling over the
Heights in full fury. There was a violent wind, as well as thunder, and either
one or the other split a tree off at the corner of the building; a huge bough
fell across the roof, and knocked down a portion of the east chimney-stack,
sending a clatter of stones and soot into the kitchen fire.
    We thought a bolt had fallen in the middle of us, and Joseph swung onto his
knees, beseeching the Lord to remember the patriarchs Noah and Lot; and, as in
former times, spare the righteous, though he smote the ungodly. I felt some
sentiment that it must be a judgment on us also. The Jonah, in my mind, was Mr.
Earnshaw, and I shook the handle of his den that I might ascertain if he were
yet living. He replied audibly enough, in a fashion which made my companion
vociferate more clamorously than before that a wide distinction might be drawn
between saints like himself, and sinners like his master. But, the uproar passed
away in twenty minutes, leaving us all unharmed, excepting Cathy, who got
thoroughly drenched for her obstinacy in refusing to take shelter, and standing
bonnetless and shawlless to catch as much water as she could with her hair and
clothes.
    She came in, and lay down on the settle, all soaked as she was, turning her
face to the back, and putting her hands before it.
    »Well, Miss!« I exclaimed, touching her shoulder. »You are not bent on
getting your death, are you? Do you know what o'clock it is? Half-past twelve.
Come! come to bed; there's no use waiting longer on that foolish boy - he'll be
gone to Gimmerton, and he'll stay there now. He guesses we shouldn't wake for
him till this late hour; at least, he guesses that only Mr. Hindley would be up;
and he'd rather avoid having the door opened by the master.«
    »Nay, nay, he's noan at Gimmerton!« said Joseph. »Aw's niver wonder, bud
he's at t' bothom uf a bog-hoile. This visitation worn't for nowt, und aw wod
have ye tuh look aht, Miss, - yah muh be t' next. Thank Hivin for all! All warks
togither for gooid tuh them as is chozzen, and piked aht froo' th' rubbidgel Yah
knaw whet t' Scripture ses -«
    And he began quoting several texts; referring us to the chapters and verses,
where we might find them.
    I having vainly begged the wilful girl to rise and remove her wet things,
left him preaching, and her shivering, and betook myself to bed with little
Hareton; who slept as fast as if every one had been sleeping round him.
    I heard Joseph read on a while afterwards; then, I distinguished his slow
step on the ladder, and then I dropped asleep.
    Coming down somewhat later than usual, I saw, by the sunbeams piercing the
chinks of the shutters, Miss Catherine still seated near the fire-place. The
house-door was ajar, too; light entered from its unclosed windows, Hindley had
come out, and stood on the kitchen hearth, haggard, and drowsy.
    »What ails you, Cathy?« he was saying when I entered; »You look as dismal as
a drowned whelp - Why are you so damp and pale, child?«
    »I've been wet;« she answered reluctantly, »and I'm cold, that's all.«
    »Oh, she is naughty!« I cried, perceiving the master to be tolerably sober;
»She got steeped in the shower of yesterday evening, and there she has sat, the
night through, and I couldn't prevail on her to stir.«
    Mr. Earnshaw stared at us in surprise. »The night through,« he repeated.
»What kept her up, not fear of the thunder, surely? That was over, hours since.«
    Neither of us wished to mention Heathcliff's absence, as long as we could
conceal it; so, I replied, I didn't know how she took it into her head to sit
up; and she said nothing.
    The morning was fresh and cool; I threw back the lattice, and presently the
room filled with sweet scents from the garden: but Catherine called peevishly to
me.
    »Ellen, shut the window. I'm starving!« And her teeth chattered as she
shrunk closer to the almost extinguished embers.
    »She's ill -« said Hindley, taking her wrist; »I suppose that's the reason
she would not go to bed - Damn it! I don't want to be troubled with more
sickness, here - What took you into the rain?«
    »Running after t' lads, as usuald!« croaked Joseph, catching an opportunity,
from our hesitation, to thrust in his evil tongue.
    »If Aw wur yah, master, Aw'd just slam t' boards i' their faces all on 'em,
gentle and simple! Never a day ut yah're off, but yon cat uh Linton comes
sneaking hither - and Miss Nelly, shoo's a fine lass! shoo sits watching for ye
i' t' kitchen; and as yah're in at one door, he's aht at t'other - Und, then,
wer grand lady goes a coorting uf hor side! It's bonny behaviour, lurking amang
t' fields, after twelve ut' night, wi' that fahl, flaysome divil of a gipsy,
Heathcliff! They think Aw'm blind; but Aw'm noan, now't ut t' soart! Aw seed
young Linton, boath coming and going, and Aw seed yah (directing his discourse
to me) Yah gooid fur nowt, slattenly witch! nip up und bolt intuh th' hahs, t'
minute yah heard t' master's horse fit clatter up t' road.«
    »Silence, eavesdropper!« cried Catherine, »None of your insolence, before
me! Edgar Linton, came yesterday, by chance, Hindley: and it was I who told him
to be off: because, I knew you would not like to have met him as you were.«
    »You lie, Cathy, no doubt,« answered her brother, »and you are a confounded
simpleton! But, never mind Linton, at present - Tell me, were you not with
Heathcliff, last night? Speak the truth, now. You need not be afraid of harming
him - Though I hate him as much as ever, he did me a good turn, a short time
since, that will make my conscience tender of breaking his neck. To prevent it,
I shall send him about his business, this very morning; and after he's gone, I'd
advise you all to look sharp, I shall only have the more humour for you!«
    »I never saw Heathcliff last night,« answered Catherine, beginning to sob
bitterly: »and if you do turn him out of doors, I'll go with him. But, perhaps,
you'll never have an opportunity - perhaps, he's gone.« Here she burst into
uncontrollable grief, and the remainder of her words were inarticulate.
    Hindley lavished on her a torrent of scornful abuse, and bid her get to her
room immediately, or she shouldn't cry for nothing! I obliged her to obey; and I
shall never forget what a scene she acted, when we reached her chamber. It
terrified me - I thought she was going mad, and I begged Joseph to run for the
doctor.
    It proved the commencement of delirium; Mr. Kenneth, as soon as he saw her,
pronounced her dangerously ill; she had a fever.
    He bled her, and he told me to let her live on whey, and water gruel; and
take care she did not throw herself down stairs, or out of the window; and then
he left; for, he had enough to do in the parish where two or three miles was the
ordinary distance between cottage and cottage.
    Though I cannot say I made a gentle nurse, and Joseph and the master were no
better; and though our patient was as wearisome and headstrong as a patient
could be, she weathered it through.
    Old Mrs. Linton paid us several visits, to be sure; and set things to
rights, and scolded, and ordered us all; and when Catherine was convalescent,
she insisted on conveying her to Thrushcross Grange; for which deliverance we
were very grateful. But, the poor dame had reason to repent of her kindness;
she, and her husband, both took the fever, and died within a few days of each
other.
    Our young lady returned to us, saucier, and more passionate, and haughtier
than ever. Heathcliff had never been heard of since the evening of the
thunder-storm, and, one day, I had the misfortune, when she had provoked me
exceedingly, to lay the blame of his disappearance on her (where indeed it
belonged, as she well knew.) From that period for several months, she ceased to
hold any communication with me save in the relation of a mere servant. Joseph
fell under a ban also; he would speak his mind, and lecture her all the same as
if she were a little girl; and she esteemed herself a woman, and our mistress;
and thought that her recent illness gave her a claim to be treated with
consideration. Then the doctor had said that she would not bear crossing much,
she ought to have her own way; and it was nothing less than murder, in her eyes,
for any one, to presume to stand up and contradict her.
    From Mr. Earnshaw, and his companions she kept aloof, and tutored by
Kenneth, and serious threats of a fit that often attended her rages, her brother
allowed her whatever she pleased to demand, and generally avoided aggravating
her fiery temper. He was rather too indulgent in humouring her caprices; not
from affection, but from pride; he wished earnestly to see her bring honour to
the family by an alliance with the Lintons, and, as long as she let him alone,
she might trample us like slaves for aught he cared!
    Edgar Linton, as multitudes have been before, and will be after him, was
infatuated; and believed himself the happiest man alive on the day he led her to
Gimmerton Chapel, three years subsequent to his father's death.
    Much against my inclination, I was persuaded to leave Wuthering Heights and
accompany her here. Little Hareton was nearly five years old, and I had just
begun to teach him his letters: We made a sad parting, but Catherine's tears
were more powerful than ours - When I refused to go, and when she found her
entreaties did not move me, she went lamenting to her husband, and brother. The
former offered me munificent wages; the latter ordered me to pack up - he wanted
no women in the house, he said, now that there was no mistress; and as to
Hareton, the curate should take him in hand, by and bye. And so, I had but one
choice left, to do as I was ordered - I told the master he got rid of all decent
people only to run to ruin a little faster; I kissed Hareton good bye; and,
since then, he has been a stranger, and it's very queer to think it, but I've no
doubt, he has completely forgotten all about Ellen Dean and that he was ever
more than all the world to her, and she to him!
    At this point of the housekeeper's story she chanced to glance towards the
time-piece over the chimney; and was in amazement, on seeing the minute-hand
measure half past one. She would not hear of staying a second longer - In truth,
I felt rather disposed to defer the sequel of her narrative, myself: and now,
that she is vanished to her rest, and I have meditated for another hour or two,
I shall summon courage to go, also, in spite of aching laziness of head and
limbs.
 

                                   Chapter X

A charming introduction to a hermit's life! Four week's torture, tossing and
sickness! Oh, these bleak winds, and bitter, northern skies, and impassable
roads, and dilatory country surgeons! And, oh, this dearth of the human
physiognomy, and, worse than all, the terrible intimation of Kenneth that I need
not expect to be out of doors till spring!
    Mr. Heathcliff has just honoured me with a call. About seven days ago he
sent me a brace of grouse - the last of the season. Scoundrel! He is not
altogether guiltless in this illness of mine; and that I had a great mind to
tell him. But, alas! how could I offend a man who was charitable enough to sit
at my bedside a good hour, and talk on some other subjects than pills, and
draughts, blisters, and leeches?
    This is quite an easy interval. I am too weak to read, yet I feel as if I
could enjoy something interesting. Why not have up Mrs. Dean to finish her tale?
I can recollect its chief incidents, as far as she had gone. Yes, I remember her
hero had run off, and never been heard of for three years: and the heroine was
married. I'll ring; she'll be delighted to find me capable of talking
cheerfully.
    Mrs. Dean came.
    »It wants twenty minutes, sir, to taking the medicine,« she commenced.
    »Away, away with it!« I replied; »I desire to have -«
    »The doctor says you must drop the powders.«
    »With all my heart! Don't interrupt me. Come and take your seat here. Keep
your fingers from that bitter phalanx of vials. Draw your knitting out of your
pocket - that will do - now continue the history of Mr. Heathcliff, from where
you left off, to the present day. Did he finish his education on the Continent,
and come back a gentleman? or did he get a sizer's place at college? or escape
to America, and earn honours by drawing blood from his foster country? or make a
fortune more promptly, on the English highways?«
    »He may have done a little in all these vocations, Mr. Lockwood; but I
couldn't give my word for any. I stated before that I didn't know how he gained
his money; neither am I aware of the means he took to raise his mind from the
savage ignorance into which it was sunk; but, with your leave, I'll proceed in
my own fashion, if you think it will amuse, and not weary you. Are you feeling
better this morning?«
    »Much.«
    »That's good news.«
    I got Miss Catherine and myself to Thrushcross Grange: and to my agreeable
disappointment, she behaved infinitely better than I dared to expect. She seemed
almost over fond of Mr. Linton; and even to his sister, she showed plenty of
affection. They were both very attentive to her comfort, certainly. It was not
the thorn bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing the thorn.
There were no mutual concessions; one stood erect, and the other yielded; and
who can be ill-natured, and bad-tempered, when they encounter neither
opposition, nor indifference?
    I observed that Mr. Edgar had a deep-rooted fear of ruffling her humour. He
concealed it from her; but if ever he heard me answer sharply, or saw any other
servant grow cloudy at some imperious order of hers, he would show his trouble
by a frown of displeasure that never darkened on his own account. He, many a
time, spoke sternly to me about my pertness; and averred that the stab of a
knife could not inflict a worse pang than he suffered at seeing his lady vexed.
    Not to grieve a kind master I learned to be less touchy; and, for the space
of half a year, the gunpowder lay as harmless as sand, because no fire came near
to explode it. Catherine had seasons of gloom and silence, now and then: they
were respected with sympathizing silence by her husband, who ascribed them to an
alteration in her constitution, produced by her perilous illness, as she was
never subject to depression of spirits before. The return of sunshine was
welcomed by answering sunshine from him. I believe I may assert that they were
really in possession of deep and growing happiness.
    It ended. Well, we must be for ourselves in the long run; the mild and
generous are only more justly selfish than the domineering - and it ended when
circumstances caused each to feel that the one's interest was not the chief
consideration in the other's thoughts.
    On a mellow evening in September, I was coming from the garden with a heavy
basket of apples which I had been gathering. It had got dusk, and the moon
looked over the high wall of the court, causing undefined shadows to lurk in the
corners of the numerous projecting portions of the building. I set my burden on
the house steps by the kitchen door, and lingered to rest, and draw in a few
more breaths of the soft, sweet air; my eyes were on the moon, and my back to
the entrance, when I heard a voice behind me say -
    »Nelly, is that you?«
    It was a deep voice, and foreign in tone; yet, there was something in the
manner of pronouncing my name which made it sound familiar. I turned about to
discover who spoke, fearfully, for the doors were shut, and I had seen nobody on
approaching the steps.
    Something stirred in the porch; and moving nearer, I distinguished a tall
man dressed in dark clothes, with dark face and hair. He leant against the side,
and held his fingers on the latch, as if intending to open for himself.
    »Who can it be?« I thought. »Mr. Earnshaw? Oh, no! The voice has no
resemblance to his.«
    »I have waited here an hour,« he resumed, while I continued staring; »and
the whole of that time all round has been as still as death. I dared not enter.
You do not know me? Look, I'm not a stranger!«
    A ray fell on his features; the cheeks were sallow, and half covered with
black whiskers; the brows lowering, the eyes deep set and singular. I remembered
the eyes.
    »What!« I cried, uncertain whether to regard him as a worldly visitor, and I
raised my hands in amazement. »What! you come back? Is it really you? Is it?«
    »Yes, Heathcliff,« he replied, glancing from me up to the windows which
reflected a score of glittering moons, but showed no lights from within. »Are
they at home - where is she? Nelly, you are not glad - you needn't be so
disturbed. Is she here? Speak! I want to have one word with her - your mistress.
Go, and say some person from Gimmerton desires to see her.«
    »How will she take it?« I exclaimed, »what will she do? The surprise
bewilders me - it will put her out of her head! And you are Heathcliff? But
altered! Nay, there's no comprehending it. Have you been for a soldier?«
    »Go, and carry my message,« he interrupted impatiently; »I'm in hell till
you do!«
    He lifted the latch, and I entered; but when I got to the parlour where Mr.
and Mrs. Linton were, I could not persuade myself to proceed.
    At length, I resolved on making an excuse to ask if they would have the
candles lighted, and I opened the door.
    They sat together in a window whose lattice lay back against the wall, and
displayed beyond the garden trees, and the wild green park, the valley of
Gimmerton, with a long line of mist winding nearly to its top (for very soon
after you pass the chapel, as you may have noticed, the sough that runs from the
marshes joins a beck which follows the bend of the glen), Wuthering Heights rose
above this silvery vapour; but our old house was invisible - it rather dips down
on the other side.
    Both the room, and its occupants, and the scene they gazed on, looked
wondrously peaceful. I shrank reluctantly from performing my errand: and was
actually going away, leaving it unsaid, after having put my question about the
candles, when a sense of my folly compelled me to return, and mutter:
    »A person from Gimmerton wishes to see you, ma'am.«
    »What does he want?« asked Mrs. Linton.
    »I did not question him,« I answered.
    »Well, close the curtains, Nelly,« she said; »and bring up tea. I'll be back
again directly.«
    She quitted the apartment; Mr. Edgar inquired, carelessly, who it was?
    »Some one mistress does not expect,« I replied. »That Heathcliff, you
recollect him, sir, who used to live at Mr. Earnshaw's.«
    »What, the gipsy - the ploughboy?« he cried. »Why did you not say so to
Catherine?«
    »Hush! you must not call him by those names, master,« I said. »She'd be
sadly grieved to hear you. She was nearly heartbroken when he ran off; I guess
his return will make a jubilee to her.«
    Mr. Linton walked to a window on the other side of the room that overlooked
the court. He unfastened it, and leant out. I suppose they were below, for he
exclaimed, quickly: -
    »Don't stand there, love! Bring the person in, if it be any one particular.«
    Ere long, I heard the click of the latch, and Catherine flew up-stairs,
breathless and wild, too excited to show gladness; indeed, by her face, you
would rather have surmised an awful calamity.
    »Oh, Edgar, Edgar!« she panted, flinging her arms round his neck. »Oh,
Edgar, darling! Heathcliff's come back - he is!« And she tightened her embrace
to a squeeze.
    »Well, well,« cried her husband, crossly, »don't strangle me for that! He
never struck me as such a marvellous treasure. There is no need to be frantic!«
    »I know you didn't like him,« she answered, repressing a little the
intensity of her delight. »Yet for my sake, you must be friends now. Shall I
tell him to come up?«
    »Here?« he said, »into the parlour?«
    »Where else?« she asked.
    He looked vexed, and suggested the kitchen as a more suitable place for him.
    Mrs. Linton eyed him with a droll expression - half angry, half laughing at
his fastidiousness.
    »No,« she added after a while; »I cannot sit in the kitchen. Set two tables
here, Ellen; one for your master and Miss Isabella, being gentry; the other for
Heathcliff and myself, being of the lower orders. Will that please you, dear? Or
must I have a fire lighted elsewhere? If so, give directions. I'll run down and
secure my guest. I'm afraid the joy is too great to be real!«
    She was about to dart off again; but Edgar arrested her.
    »You bid him step up,« he said, addressing me; »and, Catherine, try to be
glad, without being absurd! The whole household need not witness the sight of
your welcoming a runaway servant as a brother.«
    I descended and found Heathcliff waiting under the porch, evidently
anticipating an invitation to enter. He followed my guidance without waste of
words, and I ushered him into the presence of the master and mistress, whose
flushed cheeks betrayed signs of warm talking. But the lady's glowed with
another feeling when her friend appeared at the door; she sprang forward, took
both his hands, and led him to Linton; and then she seized Linton's reluctant
fingers and crushed them into his.
    Now fully revealed by the fire and candle-light, I was amazed, more than
ever, to behold the transformation of Heathcliff. He had grown a tall, athletic,
well-formed man; beside whom, my master seemed quite slender and youth-like. His
upright carriage suggested the idea of his having been in the army. His
countenance was much older in expression, and decision of feature than Mr.
Linton's; it looked intelligent, and retained no marks of former degradation. A
half-civilized ferocity lurked yet in the depressed brows, and eyes full of
black fire, but it was subdued; and his manner was even dignified, quite
divested of roughness though too stern for grace.
    My master's surprise equalled or exceeded mine: he remained for a minute at
a loss how to address the ploughboy, as he had called him. Heathcliff dropped
his slight hand, and stood looking at him coolly till he chose to speak.
    »Sit down, sir,« he said, at length. »Mrs. Linton, recalling old times,
would have me give you a cordial reception, and, of course, I am gratified when
anything occurs to please her.«
    »And I also,« answered Heathcliff, »especially if it be anything in which I
have a part. I shall stay an hour or two willingly.«
    He took a seat opposite Catherine, who kept her gaze fixed on him as if she
feared he would vanish were she to remove it. He did not raise his to her,
often; a quick glance now and then sufficed; but it flashed back, each time,
more confidently, the undisguised delight he drank from hers.
    They were too much absorbed in their mutual joy to suffer embarrassment; not
so Mr. Edgar, he grew pale with pure annoyance, a feeling that reached its
climax when his lady rose - and stepping across the rug, seized Heathcliff's
hands again, and laughed like one beside herself.
    »I shall think it a dream to-morrow!« she cried. »I shall not be able to
believe that I have seen, and touched, and spoken to you once more - and yet,
cruel Heathcliff! you don't deserve this welcome. To be absent and silent for
three years, and never to think of me!«
    »A little more than you have thought of me!« he murmured. »I heard of your
marriage, Cathy, not long since; and, while waiting in the yard below, I
meditated this plan - just to have one glimpse of your face - a stare of
surprise, perhaps, and pretended pleasure; afterwards settle my score with
Hindley; and then prevent the law by doing execution on myself. Your welcome has
put these ideas out of my mind; but beware of meeting me with another aspect
next time! Nay, you'll not drive me off again - you were really sorry for me,
were you? Well, there was cause. I've fought through a bitter life since I last
heard your voice, and you must forgive me, for I struggled only for you!«
    »Catherine, unless we are to have cold tea, please to come to the table,«
interrupted Linton, striving to preserve his ordinary tone, and a due measure of
politeness. »Mr. Heathcliff will have a long walk, wherever he may lodge
to-night; and I'm thirsty.«
    She took her post before the urn; and Miss Isabella came, summoned by the
bell; then, having handed their chairs forward, I left the room.
    The meal hardly endured ten minutes - Catherine's cup was never filled, she
could neither eat, nor drink. Edgar had made a slop in his saucer, and scarcely
swallowed a mouthful.
    Their guest did not protract his stay, that evening, above an hour longer. I
asked, as he departed, if he went to Gimmerton?
    »No, to Wuthering Heights,« he answered, »Mr. Earnshaw invited me when I
called this morning.«
    Mr. Earnshaw invited him! and he called on Mr. Earnshaw! I pondered this
sentence painfully, after he was gone. Is he turning out a bit of a hypocrite,
and coming into the country to work mischief under a cloak? I mused - I had a
presentiment, in the bottom of my heart, that he had better have remained away.
    About the middle of the night, I was wakened from my first nap by Mrs.
Linton gliding into my chamber, taking a seat on my bedside, and pulling me by
the hair to rouse me.
    »I cannot rest, Ellen;« she said, by way of apology. »And I want some living
creature to keep me company in my happiness! Edgar is sulky, because I am glad
of a thing that does not interest him - He refuses to open his mouth, except to
utter pettish, silly speeches; and he affirmed I was cruel and selfish for
wishing to talk when he was so sick and sleepy. He always contrives to be sick
at the least cross! I gave a few sentences of commendation to Heathcliff, and
he, either for a headache or a pang of envy, began to cry: so I got up and left
him.«
    »What use is it praising Heathcliff to him?« I answered. »As lads they had
an aversion to each other, and Heathcliff would hate just as much to hear him
praised - it's human nature. Let Mr. Linton alone about him, unless you would
like an open quarrel between them.«
    »But does it not show great weakness?« pursued she. »I'm not envious - I
never feel hurt at the brightness of Isabella's yellow hair, and the whiteness
of her skin; at her dainty elegance, and the fondness all the family exhibit for
her. Even you Nelly, if we have a dispute sometimes, you back Isabella, at once;
and I yield like a foolish mother - I call her a darling, and flatter her into a
good temper. It pleases her brother to see us cordial, and that pleases me. But,
they are very much alike: they are spoiled children, and fancy the world was
made for their accommodation; and, though I humour both, I think a smart
chastisement might improve them, all the same.«
    »You're mistaken, Mrs. Linton,« said I, »They humour you - I know what there
would be to do if they did not! You can well afford to indulge their passing
whims, as long as their business is to anticipate all your desires - You may,
however, fall out, at last, over something of equal consequence to both sides;
and, then those you term weak are very capable of being as obstinate as you.«
    »And then we shall fight to the death, shan't we, Nelly?« she returned
laughing, »No! I tell you, I have such faith in Linton's love that I believe I
might kill him, and he wouldn't wish to retaliate.«
    I advised her to value him the more for his affection.
    »I do,« she answered; »but, he needn't resort to whining for trifles. It is
childish; and, instead of melting into tears, because I said that Heathcliff was
now worthy of any one's regard, and it would honour the first gentleman in the
country to be his friend; he ought to have said it for me, and been delighted
from sympathy - He must get accustomed to him, and he may as well like him -
considering how Heathcliff has reason to object to him, I'm sure he behaved
excellently!«
    »What do you think of his going to Wuthering Heights?« I inquired. »He is
reformed in every respect, apparently - quite a Christian - offering the right
hand of fellowship to his enemies all round!«
    »He explained it,« she replied. »I wondered as much as you - He said he
called to gather information concerning me, from you, supposing you resided
there still; and Joseph told Hindley, who came out, and fell to questioning him
of what he had been doing, and how he had been living: and finally, desired him
to walk in - There were some persons sitting at cards - Heathcliff joined them;
my brother lost some money to him; and, finding him plentifully supplied, he
requested that he would come again in the evening, to which he consented.
Hindley is too reckless to select his acquaintance prudently; he doesn't't trouble
himself to reflect on the causes he might have for mistrusting one whom he has
basely injured - But, Heathcliff affirms his principal reason for resuming a
connection with his ancient persecutor is a wish to instal himself in quarters
at walking distance from the Grange, and an attachment to the house where we
lived together, and, likewise a hope that I shall have more opportunities of
seeing him there than I could have if he settled in Gimmerton. He means to offer
liberal payment for permission to lodge at the Heights; and doubtless my
brother's covetousness will prompt him to accept the terms; he was always
greedy, though what he grasps with one hand, he flings away with the other.«
    »It's a nice place for a young man to fix his dwelling in!« said I. »Have
you no fear of the consequences, Mrs. Linton?«
    »None for my friend,« she replied, »his strong head will keep him from
danger - a little for Hindley; but, he can't be made morally worse than he is;
and I stand between him and bodily harm - The event of this evening has
reconciled me to God, and humanity! I had risen in angry rebellion against
providence - Oh, I've endured very, very bitter misery. Nelly! If that creature
knew how bitter, he'd be ashamed to cloud its removal with idle petulance - It
was kindness for him which induced me to bear it alone: had I expressed the
agony I frequently felt, he would have been taught to long for its alleviation
as ardently as I - However, it's over, and I'll take no revenge on his folly - I
can afford to suffer anything, hereafter! should the meanest thing alive slap me
on the cheek, I'd not only turn the other, but, I'd ask pardon for provoking it
- and, as a proof, I'll go make my peace with Edgar instantly - Good-night - I'm
an angel!«
    In this self-complacent conviction she departed; and the success of her
fulfilled resolution was obvious on the morrow - Mr. Linton had not only abjured
his peevishness (though his spirits seemed still subdued by Catherine's
exuberance of vivacity) but he ventured no objection to her taking Isabella with
her to Wuthering Heights, in the afternoon; and she rewarded him with such a
summer of sweetness and affection, in return, as made the house a paradise for
several days; both master, and servants profiting from the perpetual sunshine.
    Heathcliff - Mr. Heathcliff I should say in future - used the liberty of
visiting Thrushcross Grange cautiously, at first: he seemed estimating how far
its owner would bear his intrusion. Catherine also, deemed it judicious to
moderate her expressions of pleasure in receiving him; and he gradually
established his right to be expected.
    He retained a great deal of the reserve for which his boyhood was
remarkable, and that served to repress all startling demonstrations of feeling.
My master's uneasiness experienced a lull, and further circumstances diverted it
into another channel for a space.
    His new source of trouble sprang from the not anticipated misfortune of
Isabella Linton evincing a sudden and irresistible attraction towards the
tolerated guest - She was at that time a charming young lady of eighteen;
infantile in manners, though possessed of keen wit, keen feelings, and a keen
temper, too, if irritated. Her brother, who loved her tenderly, was appalled at
this fantastic preference. Leaving aside the degradation of an alliance with a
nameless man, and the possible fact that his property, in default of heirs male,
might pass into such a one's power, he had sense to comprehend Heathcliff's
disposition - to know that, though his exterior was altered, his mind was
unchangeable, and unchanged. And he dreaded that mind; it revolted him; he
shrank forebodingly from the idea of committing Isabella to its keeping.
    He would have recoiled still more had he been aware that her attachment rose
unsolicited, and was bestowed where it awakened no reciprocation of sentiment;
for the minute he discovered its existence, he laid the blame on Heathcliff's
deliberate designing.
    We had all remarked, during some time, that Miss Linton fretted and pined
over something. She grew cross and wearisome, snapping at and teasing Catherine,
continually, at the imminent risk of exhausting her limited patience. We excused
her to a certain extent, on the plea of ill health - she was dwindling and
fading before our eyes - But, one day when she had been peculiarly wayward,
rejecting her breakfast, complaining that the servants did not do what she told
them; that the mistress would allow her to be nothing in the house, and Edgar
neglected her; that she had caught a cold with the doors being left open, and we
let the parlour fire go out on purpose to vex her; with a hundred yet more
frivolous accusations; Mrs. Linton peremptorily insisted that she should get
to-bed; and, having scolded her heartily, threatened to send for the doctor.
    Mention of Kenneth, caused her to exclaim, instantly, that her health was
perfect, and it was only Catherine's harshness which made her unhappy.
    »How can you say I am harsh, you naughty fondling?« cried the mistress,
amazed at the unreasonable assertion. »You are surely losing your reason. When
have I been harsh, tell me?«
    »Yesterday,« sobbed Isabella, »and now!«
    »Yesterday!« said her sister-in-law. »On what occasion?«
    »In our walk along the moor; you told me to ramble where I pleased, while
you sauntered on with Mr. Heathcliff!«
    »And that's your notion of harshness?« said Catherine, laughing. »It was no
hint that your company was superfluous; we didn't care whether you kept with us
or not; I merely thought Heathcliff's talk would have nothing entertaining for
your ears.«
    »Oh, no,« wept the young lady, »you wished me away, because you knew I liked
to be there!«
    »Is she sane?« asked Mrs. Linton, appealing to me. »I'll repeat our
conversation, word for word, Isabella; and you point out any charm it could have
had for you.«
    »I don't mind the conversation,« she answered: »I wanted to be with -«
    »Well!« said Catherine, perceiving her hesitate to complete the sentence.
    »With him; and I won't always be sent off!« she continued, kindling up. »You
are a dog in the manger, Cathy, and desire no one to be loved but yourself!«
    »You are an impertinent little monkey!« exclaimed Mrs. Linton, in surprise.
»But I'll not believe this idiocy! It is impossible that you can covet the
admiration of Heathcliff - that you consider him an agreeable person! I hope I
have misunderstood you, Isabella?«
    »No, you have not,« said the infatuated girl. »I love him more than ever you
loved Edgar; and he might love me, if you would let him!«
    »I wouldn't be you for a kingdom, then!« Catherine declared, emphatically -
and she seemed to speak sincerely. »Nelly, help me to convince her of her
madness. Tell her what Heathcliff is - an unreclaimed creature, without
refinement - without cultivation; an arid wilderness of furze and whinstone. I'd
as soon put that little canary into the park on a winter's day as recommend you
to bestow your heart on him! It is deplorable ignorance of his character, child,
and nothing else, which makes that dream enter your head. Pray don't imagine
that he conceals depths of benevolence and affection beneath a stern exterior!
He's not a rough diamond - a pearl-containing oyster of a rustic; he's a fierce,
pitiless, wolfish man. I never say to him let this or that enemy alone, because
it would be ungenerous or cruel to harm them - I say let them alone, because I
should hate them to be wronged: and he'd crush you, like a sparrow's egg,
Isabella, if he found you a troublesome charge. I know he couldn't love a
Linton; and yet, he'd be quite capable of marrying your fortune, and
expectations. Avarice is growing with him a besetting sin. There's my picture;
and I'm his friend - so much so, that had he thought seriously to catch you, I
should, perhaps, have held my tongue, and let you fall into his trap.«
    Miss Linton regarded her sister-in-law with indignation.
    »For shame! for shame!« she repeated, angrily, »You are worse than twenty
foes, you poisonous friend!«
    »Ah! you won't believe me, then?« said Catherine. »You think I speak from
wicked selfishness?«
    »I'm certain you do,« retorted Isabella; »and I shudder at you!«
    »Good!« cried the other. »Try for yourself, if that be your spirit; I have
done, and yield the argument to your saucy insolence.«
    »And I must suffer for her egotism!« she sobbed, as Mrs. Linton left the
room. »All, all is against me; she has blighted my single consolation. But she
uttered falsehoods, didn't she? Mr. Heathcliff is not a fiend; he has an
honourable soul, and a true one, or how could he remember her?«
    »Banish him from your thoughts, miss,« I said. »He's a bird of bad omen; no
mate for you. Mrs. Linton spoke strongly, and yet, I can't contradict her. She
is better acquainted with his heart than I, or any one besides; and she never
would represent him as worse than he is. Honest people don't hide their deeds.
How has he been living? how has he got rich? why is he staying at Wuthering
Heights, the house of a man whom he abhors? They say Mr. Earnshaw is worse and
worse since he came. They sit up all night together continually: and Hindley has
been borrowing money on his land; and does nothing but play and drink, I heard
only a week ago; it was Joseph who told me - I met him at Gimmerton.
    Nelly! he said, we's hae a Crahnr's 'quest enah, at ahr folks. One on 'ems
a'most getten his finger cut off wi' haudin t' other froo' sticking hisseln
like a cawlf. That's master, yah knaw, 'ut's soa up uh going tuh t'grand
'sizes. He's noan feard uh t' Bench uh judges, norther Paul, nur Peter, nur
John, nor Mathew, nor noan on 'em, nut he! He fair like's he langs tuh set his
brazened face agean 'em! And yon bonny lad Heathcliff, yah mind, he's a rare
'un! He can girn a laugh, as well's anybody at a raight divil's jest. Does he
niver say nowt of his fine living amang us, when he goas tuh t' Grange? This is
t' way on't - up at sun-dahn; dice, brandy, cloised shutters, und can'le lught
till next day, at nooin - then, t' fooil gangs banning un raving to his cham'er,
makking dacent fowks dig thur fingers i' thur lugs fur varry shaume; un' th'
knave, wah he carn cahnt his brass, un' ate, un' sleep, un' off tuh his
neighbour's tuh gossip wi' t' wife. I' course, he tells Dame Catherine hah hor
fathur's goold runs intuh his pocket, and her fathur's son gallops dahn t' Broad
road, while he flees afore tuh oppen t' pikes? Now, Miss Linton, Joseph is an
old rascal, but no liar; and, if his account of Heathcliff's conduct be true,
you would never think of desiring such a husband, would you?«
    »You are leagued with the rest, Ellen!« she replied. »I'll not listen to
your slanders. What malevolence you must have to wish to convince me that there
is no happiness in the world!«
    Whether she would have got over this fancy if left to herself, or persevered
in nursing it perpetually, I cannot say; she had little time to reflect. The day
after, there was a justice-meeting at the next town; my master was obliged to
attend; and Mr. Heathcliff, aware of his absence, called rather earlier than
usual. Catherine and Isabella were sitting in the library, on hostile terms, but
silent. The latter alarmed at her recent indiscretion, and the disclosure she
had made of her secret feelings in a transient fit of passion; the former, on
mature consideration, really offended with her companion; and, if she laughed
again at her pertness, inclined to make it no laughing matter to her.
    She did laugh as she saw Heathcliff pass the window. I was sweeping the
hearth, and I noticed a mischievous smile on her lips. Isabella, absorbed in her
meditations, or a book, remained till the door opened, and it was too late to
attempt an escape, which she would gladly have done had it been practicable.
    »Come in, that's right!« exclaimed the mistress, gaily, pulling a chair to
the fire. »Here are two people sadly in need of a third to thaw the ice between
them; and you are the very one we should both of us choose. Heathcliff, I'm
proud to show you, at last, somebody that dotes on you more than myself. I
expect you to feel flattered - nay, it's not Nelly; don't look at her! My poor
little sister-in-law is breaking her heart by mere contemplation of your
physical and moral beauty. It lies in your own power to be Edgar's brother! No,
no, Isabella, you shan't run off,« she continued, arresting, with feigned
playfulness, the confounded girl who had risen indignantly. »We were quarrelling
like cats about you, Heathcliff; and I was fairly beaten in protestations of
devotion and admiration; and, moreover, I was informed that if I would but have
the manners to stand aside, my rival, as she will have herself to be, would
shoot a shaft into your soul that would fix you for ever, and send my image into
eternal oblivion!«
    »Catherine,« said Isabella, calling up her dignity, and disdaining to
struggle from the tight grasp that held her. »I'd thank you to adhere to the
truth and not slander me, even in joke! Mr. Heathcliff, be kind enough to bid
this friend of yours release me - she forgets that you and I are not intimate
acquaintances, and what amuses her is painful to me beyond expression.«
    As the guest answered nothing, but took his seat, and looked thoroughly
indifferent what sentiments she cherished concerning him, she turned, and
whispered an earnest appeal for liberty to her tormenter.
    »By no means!« cried Mrs. Linton in answer. »I won't be named a dog in the
manger again. You shall stay, now then! Heathcliff, why don't you evince
satisfaction at my pleasant news? Isabella swears that the love Edgar has for me
is nothing to that she entertains for you. I'm sure she made some speech of the
kind, did she not, Ellen? And she has fasted ever since the day before
yesterday's walk, from sorrow and rage that I despatched her out of your
society, under the idea of its being unacceptable.«
    »I think you belie her,« said Heathcliff, twisting his chair to face them.
»She wishes to be out of my society now, at any rate!«
    And he stared hard at the object of discourse, as one might do at a strange
repulsive animal, a centipede from the Indies, for instance, which curiosity
leads one to examine in spite of the aversion it raises.
    The poor thing couldn't bear that; she grew white and red in rapid
succession, and, while tears beaded her lashes, bent the strength of her small
fingers to loosen the firm clutch of Catherine, and perceiving that, as fast as
she raised one finger off her arm, another closed down, and she could not remove
the whole together, she began to make use of her nails, and their sharpness
presently ornamented the detainer's with crescents of red.
    »There's a tigress!« exclaimed Mrs. Linton, setting her free, and shaking
her hand with pain. »Begone, for God's sake, and hide your vixen face! How
foolish to reveal those talons to him! Can't you fancy the conclusions he'll
draw? Look, Heathcliff! they are instruments that will do execution - you must
beware of your eyes.«
    »I'd wrench them off her fingers, if they ever menaced me,« he answered,
brutally, when the door had closed after her. »But, what did you mean by teasing
the creature in that manner, Cathy? You were not speaking the truth, were you?«
    »I assure you I was,« she returned. »She has been pining for your sake
several weeks; and raving about you this morning, and pouring forth a deluge of
abuse, because I represented your failings in a plain light for the purpose of
mitigating her adoration. But don't notice it further. I wished to punish her
sauciness, that's all - I like her too well, my dear Heathcliff, to let you
absolutely seize and devour her up.«
    »And I like her too ill to attempt it,« said he, »except in a very ghoulish
fashion. You'd hear of odd things, if I lived alone with that mawkish, waxen
face; the most ordinary would be painting on its white the colours of the
rainbow, and turning the blue eyes, black, every day or two; they detestably
resemble Linton's.«
    »Delectably,« observed Catherine. »They are dove's eyes - angel's!«
    »She's her brother's heir, is she not?« he asked, after a brief silence.
    »I should be sorry to think so,« returned his companion. »Half-a-dozen
nephews shall erase her title, please Heaven! Abstract your mind from the
subject, at present - you are too prone to covet your neighbour's goods:
remember this neighbour's goods are mine.«
    »If they were mine, they would be none the less that,« said Heathcliff, »but
though Isabella Linton may be silly, she is scarcely mad; and - in short we'll
dismiss the matter as you advise.«
    From their tongues, they did dismiss it; and Catherine, probably, from her
thoughts. The other, I felt certain, recalled it often in the course of the
evening; I saw him smile to himself - grin rather - and lapse into ominous
musing whenever Mrs. Linton had occasion to be absent from the apartment.
    I determined to watch his movements. My heart invariably cleaved to the
master's, in preference to Catherine's side; with reason, I imagined, for he was
kind, and trustful, and honourable: and she - she could not be called the
opposite, yet, she seemed to allow herself such wide latitude, that I had little
faith in her principles, and still less sympathy for her feelings. I wanted
something to happen which might have the effect of freeing both Wuthering
Heights and the Grange of Mr. Heathcliff, quietly, leaving us as we had been
prior to his advent. His visits were a continual nightmare to me; and, I
suspected, to my master also. His abode at the Heights was an oppression past
explaining. I felt that God had forsaken the stray sheep there to its own wicked
wanderings, and an evil beast prowled between it and the fold, waiting his time
to spring and destroy.
 

                                   Chapter XI

Sometimes, while meditating on these things in solitude, I've got up in a sudden
terror, and put on my bonnet to go see how all was at the farm; I've persuaded
my conscience that it was a duty to warn him how people talked regarding his
ways; and then I've recollected his confirmed bad habits, and, hopeless of
benefiting him, have flinched from re-entering the dismal house, doubting if I
could bear to be taken at my word.
    One time, I passed the old gate, going out of my way, on a journey to
Gimmerton. It was about the period that my narrative has reached - a bright,
frosty afternoon; the ground bare, and the road hard and dry.
    I came to a stone where the highway branches off on to the moor at your left
hand; a rough sand-pillar, with the letters W.H. cut on its north side, on the
east, G., and on the south-west, T.G. It serves as guide-post to the Grange,
Heights, and village. The sun shone yellow on its grey head, reminding me of
summer; and I cannot say why, but all at once, a gush of child's sensations
flowed into my heart. Hindley and I held it a favourite spot twenty years
before.
    I gazed long at the weather-worn block; and, stooping down, perceived a hole
near the bottom still full of snail-shells and pebbles which we were fond of
storing there with more perishable things - and, as fresh as reality, it
appeared that I beheld my early playmate seated on the withered turf; his dark,
square head bent forward, and his little hand scooping out the earth with a
piece of slate.
    »Poor Hindley!« I exclaimed, involuntarily.
    I started - my bodily eye was cheated into a momentary belief that the child
lifted its face and stared straight into mine! It vanished in a twinkling; but,
immediately, I felt an irresistible yearning to be at the Heights. Superstition
urged me to comply with this impulse - »supposing he should be dead!« I thought
- »or should die soon! - supposing it were a sign of death!«
    The nearer I got to the house the more agitated I grew: and on catching
sight of it, I trembled every limb. The apparition had outstripped me; it stood
looking through the gate. That was my first idea on observing an elf-locked,
brown-eyed boy setting his ruddy countenance against the bars. Further
reflection suggested this must be Hareton, my Hareton, not altered greatly since
I left him, ten months since.
    »God bless thee, darling!« I cried, forgetting instantaneously my foolish
fears. »Hareton, it's Nelly - Nelly, thy nurse.«
    He retreated out of arm's length, and picked up a large flint.
    »I am come to see thy father, Hareton,« I added, guessing from the action
that Nelly, if she lived in his memory at all, was not recognized as one with
me.
    He raised his missile to hurl it; I commenced a soothing speech, but could
not stay his hand. The stone struck my bonnet, and then ensued, from the
stammering lips of the little fellow, a string of curses which, whether he
comprehended them or not, were delivered with practised emphasis, and distorted
his baby features into a shocking expression of malignity.
    You may be certain this grieved, more than angered me. Fit to cry, I took an
orange from my pocket, and offered it to propitiate him.
    He hesitated, and then snatched it from my hold, as if he fancied I only
intended to tempt, and disappoint him.
    I showed another keeping it out of his reach.
    »Who has taught you those fine words, my barn?« I inquired. »The curate?«
    »Damn the curate, and thee! Gie me that,« he replied.
    »Tell us where you got your lessons, and you shall have it,« said I. »Who's
your master?«
    »Devil daddy,« was his answer.
    »And what do you learn from Daddy?« I continued.
    He jumped at the fruit; I raised it higher. »What does he teach you?« I
asked.
    »Naught,« said he, »but to keep out of his gait - Daddy cannot bide me,
because I swear at him.«
    »Ah! and the devil teaches you to swear at Daddy?« I observed.
    »Aye - nay,« he drawled.
    »Who then?«
    »Heathcliff.«
    I asked if he liked Mr. Heathcliff.
    »Aye!« he answered again.
    Desiring to have his reasons for liking him, I could only gather the
sentences. »I known't - he pays Dad back what he gives to me - he curses Daddy
for cursing me - He says I mun do as I will.«
    »And the curate does not teach you to read and write, then?« I pursued.
    »No, I was told the curate should have his -- teeth dashed down his --
throat, if he stepped over the threshold - Heathcliff, had promised that!«
    I put the orange in his hand; and bade him tell his father that a woman
called Nelly Dean, was waiting to speak with him, by the garden gate.
    He went up the walk, and entered the house; but instead of Hindley,
Heathcliff appeared on the door stones, and I turned directly and ran down the
road as hard as ever I could race, making no halt till I gained the guide post,
and feeling as scared as if I had raised a goblin.
    This is not much connected with Miss Isabella's affair; except that it urged
me to resolve further, on mounting vigilant guard, and doing my utmost to check
the spread of such bad influence at the Grange, even though I should wake a
domestic storm, by thwarting Mrs. Linton's pleasure.
    The next time Heathcliff came, my young lady chanced to be feeding some
pigeons in the court. She had never spoken a word to her sister-in-law, for
three days; but, she had likewise dropped her fretful complaining, and we found
it a great comfort.
    Heathcliff had not the habit of bestowing a single unnecessary civility on
Miss Linton, I knew. Now, as soon as he beheld her, his first precaution was to
take a sweeping survey of the house-front. I was standing by the kitchen window,
but I drew out of sight. He then stepped across the pavement to her, and said
something: she seemed embarrassed, and desirous of getting away; to prevent it,
he laid his hand on her arm: she averted her face; he apparently put some
question which she had no mind to answer. There was another rapid glance at the
house, and supposing himself unseen, the scoundrel had the impudence to embrace
her.
    »Judas! Traitor!« I ejaculated, »you are a hypocrite, too, are you? a
deliberate deceiver.«
    »Who is, Nelly?« said Catherine's voice at my elbow - I had been over-intent
on watching the pair outside to mark her entrance.
    »Your worthless friend!« I answered, warmly, »the sneaking rascal yonder -
Ah, he has caught a glimpse of us - he is coming in! I wonder will he have the
art to find a plausible excuse, for making love to Miss, when he told you he
hated her?«
    Mrs. Linton saw Isabella tear herself free, and run into the garden; and a
minute after, Heathcliff opened the door.
    I couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation; but Catherine
angrily insisted on silence, and threatened to order me out of the kitchen, if I
dared be so presumptuous as to put in my insolent tongue.
    »To hear you, people might think you were the mistress!« she cried. »You
want setting down in your right place! Heathcliff, what are you about, raising
this stir? I said you must let Isabella alone! - I beg you will, unless you are
tired of being received here, and wish Linton to draw the bolts against you!«
    »God forbid that he should try!« answered the black villain - I detested him
just then. »God keep him meek and patient! Every day I grow madder after sending
him to heaven!«
    »Hush!« said Catherine shutting the inner door! »Don't vex me. Why have you
disregarded my request? Did she come across you on purpose?«
    »What is it to you?« he growled, »I have a right to kiss her, if she
chooses, and you have no right to object - I'm not your husband, you needn't be
jealous of me!«
    »I'm not jealous of you;« replied the mistress, »I'm jealous for you. Clear
your face, you shan't scowl at me! If you like Isabella, you shall marry her.
But, do you like her, tell the truth, Heathcliff? There, you won't answer. I'm
certain you don't!«
    »And would Mr. Linton approve of his sister marrying that man?« I inquired.
    »Mr. Linton should approve,« returned my lady decisively.
    »He might spare himself the trouble,« said Heathcliff, »I could do as well
without his approbation - And, as to you, Catherine, I have a mind to speak a
few words, now, while we are at it - I want you to be aware that I know you have
treated me infernally - infernally! Do you hear? And, if you flatter yourself
that I don't perceive it you are a fool - and if you think I can be consoled by
sweet words you are an idiot - and if you fancy I'll suffer unrevenged, I'll
convince you of the contrary, in a very little while! Meantime, thank you for
telling me your sister-in-law's secret - I swear I'll make the most of it, and
stand you aside!«
    »What new phase of his character is this?« exclaimed Mrs. Linton, in
amazement. »I've treated you infernally - and you'll take your revenge! How will
you take it, ungrateful brute? How have I treated you infernally?«
    »I seek no revenge on you,« replied Heathcliff, less vehemently. »That's not
the plan - The tyrant grinds down his slaves and they don't turn against him,
they crush those beneath them - You are welcome to torture me to death for your
amusement, only, allow me to amuse myself a little in the same style - And
refrain from insult, as much as you are able. Having levelled my palace, don't
erect a hovel and complacently admire your own charity in giving me that for a
home. If I imagined you really wished me to marry Isabella, I'd cut my throat!«
    »Oh, the evil is that I am not jealous, is it?« cried Catherine. »Well, I
won't repeat my offer of a wife - It is as bad as offering Satan a lost soul -
Your bliss lies, like his, in inflicting misery - You prove it - Edgar is
restored from the ill-temper he gave way to at your coming; I begin to be secure
and tranquil; and, you, restless to know us at peace, appear resolved on
exciting a quarrel - quarrel with Edgar if you please, Heathcliff, and deceive
his sister; you'll hit on exactly the most efficient method of revenging
yourself on me.«
    The conversation ceased - Mrs. Linton sat down by the fire, flushed and
gloomy. The spirit which served her was growing intractable: she could neither
lay nor control it. He stood on the hearth, with folded arms brooding on his
evil thoughts; and in this position I left them, to seek the master who was
wondering what kept Catherine below so long.
    »Ellen,« said he, when I entered, »have you seen your mistress?«
    »Yes, she is in the kitchen, sir,« I answered. »She's sadly put out by Mr.
Heathcliff's behaviour: and, indeed, I do think it's time to arrange his visits
on another footing. There's harm in being too soft, and now it's come to this
-.« And I related the scene in the court, and, as near as I dared, the whole
subsequent dispute. I fancied it could not be very prejudicial to Mrs. Linton,
unless she made it so, afterwards, by assuming the defensive for her guest.
    Edgar Linton had difficulty in hearing me to the close - His first words
revealed that he did not clear his wife of blame.
    »This is insufferable!« he exclaimed. »It is disgraceful that she should own
him for a friend, and force his company on me! Call me two men out of the hall,
Ellen - Catherine shall linger no longer to argue with the low ruffian - I have
humoured her enough.«
    He descended, and bidding the servants wait in the passage, went, followed
by me, to the kitchen. Its occupants had recommenced their angry discussion;
Mrs. Linton, at least, was scolding with renewed vigour; Heathcliff had moved to
the window, and hung his head somewhat cowed by her violent rating apparently.
    He saw the master first, and made a hasty motion that she should be silent;
which she obeyed, abruptly, on discovering the reason of his intimation.
    »How is this?« said Linton, addressing her; »what notion of propriety must
you have to remain here, after the language which has been held to you by that
blackguard? I suppose, because it is his ordinary talk, you think nothing of it
- you are habituated to his baseness, and, perhaps, imagine I can get used to it
too!«
    »Have you been listening at the door, Edgar?« asked the mistress, in a tone
particularly calculated to provoke her husband, implying both carelessness and
contempt of his irritation.
    Heathcliff, who had raised his eyes at the former speech, gave a sneering
laugh at the latter, on purpose, it seemed, to draw Mr. Linton's attention to
him.
    He succeeded; but Edgar did not mean to entertain him with any high flights
of passion.
    »I have been so far forbearing with you, sir,« he said, quietly; »not that I
was ignorant of your miserable, degraded character, but, I felt you were only
partly responsible for that; and Catherine wishing to keep up your acquaintance,
I acquiesced - foolishly. Your presence is a moral poison that would contaminate
the most virtuous - for that cause, and to prevent worse consequences, I shall
deny you, hereafter, admission into this house, and give notice, now, that I
require your instant departure. Three minutes' delay will render it involuntary
and ignominious.«
    Heathcliff measured the height and breadth of the speaker with an eye full
of derision.
    »Cathy, this lamb of yours threatens like a bull!« he said. »It is in danger
of splitting its skull against my knuckles. By God, Mr. Linton, I'm mortally
sorry that you are not worth knocking down!«
    My master glanced towards the passage, and signed me to fetch the men - he
had no intention of hazarding a personal encounter. I obeyed the hint; but Mrs.
Linton suspecting something, followed, and when I attempted to call them, she
pulled me back, slammed the door to, and locked it.
    »Fair means!« she said, in answer to her husband's look of angry surprise.
»If you have not courage to attack him, make an apology, or allow yourself to be
beaten. It will correct you of feigning more valour than you possess. No, I'll
swallow the key before you shall get it! I'm delightfully rewarded for my
kindness to each! After constant indulgence of one's weak nature, and the
other's bad one, I earn, for thanks, two samples of blind ingratitude, stupid to
absurdity! Edgar, I was defending you, and yours; and I wish Heathcliff may flog
you sick, for daring to think an evil thought of me!«
    It did not need the medium of a flogging to produce that effect on the
master. He tried to wrest the key from Catherine's grasp; and for safety she
flung it into the hottest part of the fire; whereupon Mr. Edgar was taken with a
nervous trembling, and his countenance grew deadly pale. For his life he could
not avert that access of emotion - mingled anguish and humiliation overcame him
completely. He leant on the back of a chair, and covered his face.
    »Oh! heavens! In old days this would win you knighthood!« exclaimed Mrs.
Linton. »We are vanquished! we are vanquished! Heathcliff would as soon lift a
finger at you as a king would march his army against a colony of mice. Cheer up,
you shan't be hurt! Your type is not a lamb, it's a sucking leveret.«
    »I wish you joy of the milk-blooded coward, Cathy!« said her friend. »I
compliment you on your taste: and that is the slavering, shivering thing you
preferred to me! I would not strike him with my fist, but I'd kick him with my
foot, and experience considerable satisfaction. Is he weeping, or is he going to
faint for fear?«
    The fellow approached and gave the chair on which Linton rested a push. He'd
better have kept his distance: my master quickly sprang erect, and struck him
full on the throat a blow that would have levelled a slighter man.
    It took his breath for a minute; and, while he choked, Mr. Linton walked out
by the back door into the yard, and from thence, to the front entrance.
    »There! you've done with coming here,« cried Catherine. »Get away, now -
he'll return with a brace of pistols, and half-a-dozen assistants. If he did
overhear us, of course, he'd never forgive you. You've played me an ill turn,
Heathcliff! But, go - make haste! I'd rather see Edgar at bay than you.«
    »Do you suppose I'm going with that blow burning in my gullet?« he
thundered. »By Hell, no! I'll crush his ribs in like a rotten hazel-nut, before
I cross the threshold! If I don't floor him now, I shall murder him some time,
so, as you value his existence, let me get at him!«
    »He is not coming,« I interposed, framing a bit of a lie. »There's the
coachman, and the two gardeners; you'll surely not wait to be thrust into the
road by them! Each has a bludgeon, and master will, very likely, be watching
from the parlour windows to see that they fulfil his orders.«
    The gardeners and coachman were there; but Linton was with them. They had
already entered the court - Heathcliff, on second thoughts resolved to avoid a
struggle against the three underlings; he seized the poker, smashed the lock
from the inner door, and made his escape as they tramped in.
    Mrs. Linton, who was very much excited, bid me accompany her upstairs. She
did not know my share in contributing to the disturbance, and I was anxious to
keep her in ignorance.
    »I'm nearly distracted, Nelly!« she exclaimed, throwing herself on the sofa.
»A thousand smiths' hammers are beating in my head! Tell Isabella to shun me -
this uproar is owing to her; and should she or any one else aggravate my anger
at present, I shall get wild. And, Nelly, say to Edgar, if you see him again
to-night, that I'm in danger of being seriously ill - I wish it may prove true.
He has startled and distressed me shockingly! I want to frighten him. Besides,
he might come and begin a string of abuse, or complainings; I'm certain I should
recriminate, and God knows where we should end! Will you do so, my good Nelly?
You are aware that I am no way blameable in this matter. What possessed him to
turn listener? Heathcliff's talk was outrageous, after you left us; but I could
soon have diverted him from Isabella, and the rest meant nothing. Now, all is
dashed wrong by the fool's-craving to hear evil of self that haunts some people
like a demon! Had Edgar never gathered our conversation, he would never have
been the worse for it. Really, when he opened on me in that unreasonable tone of
displeasure, after I had scolded Heathcliff till I was hoarse for him; I did not
care, hardly, what they did to each other, especially as I felt that, however
the scene closed, we should all be driven asunder for nobody knows how long!
Well, if I cannot keep Heathcliff for my friend - if Edgar will be mean and
jealous, I'll try to break their hearts by breaking my own. That will be a
prompt way of finishing all, when I am pushed to extremity! But it's a deed to
be reserved for a forlorn hope - I'd not take Linton by surprise with it. To
this point he has been discreet in dreading to provoke me; you must represent
the peril of quitting that policy; and remind him of my passionate temper,
verging, when kindled, on frenzy - I wish you could dismiss that apathy out of
your countenance, and look rather more anxious about me!«
    The stolidity with which I received these instructions was, no doubt, rather
exasperating; for they were delivered in perfect sincerity, but I believed a
person who could plan the turning of her fits of passion to account, beforehand,
might, by exerting her will, manage to control herself tolerably even while
under their influence; and I did not wish to frighten her husband, as she said,
and multiply his annoyances for the purpose of serving her selfishness.
Therefore I said nothing when I met the master coming towards the parlour; but I
took the liberty of turning back to listen whether they would resume their
quarrel together.
    He began to speak first.
    »Remain where you are, Catherine,« he said, without any anger in his voice,
but with much sorrowful despondency. »I shall not stay. I am neither come to
wrangle, nor be reconciled: but I wish just to learn whether, after this
evening's events, you intend to continue your intimacy with -«
    »Oh, for mercy's sake,« interrupted the mistress, stamping her foot, »for
mercy's sake, let us hear no more of it now! Your cold blood cannot be worked
into a fever - your veins are full of ice-water - but mine are boiling, and the
sight of such chilliness makes them dance.«
    »To get rid of me - answer my question,« persevered Mr. Linton. »You must
answer it; and that violence does not alarm me. I have found that you can be as
stoical as any one, when you please. Will you give up Heathcliff hereafter, or
will you give up me? It is impossible for you to be my friend, and his at the
same time; and I absolutely require to know which you choose.«
    »I require to be let alone!« exclaimed Catherine, furiously. »I demand it!
Don't you see I can scarcely stand? Edgar, you - you leave me!«
    She rung the bell till it broke with a twang: I entered leisurely. It was
enough to try the temper of a saint, such senseless, wicked rages! There she lay
dashing her head against the arm of the sofa, and grinding her teeth, so that
you might fancy she would crash them to splinters!
    Mr. Linton stood looking at her in sudden compunction and fear. He told me
to fetch some water. She had no breath for speaking.
    I brought a glass full; and as she would not drink, I sprinkled it on her
face. In a few seconds she stretched herself out stiff, and turned up her eyes,
while her cheeks, at once blanched and livid, assumed the aspect of death.
    Linton looked terrified.
    »There is nothing in the world the matter,« I whispered. I did not want him
to yield, though I could not help being afraid in my heart.
    »She has blood on her lips!« he said, shuddering.
    »Never mind!« I answered, tartly. And I told him how she had resolved,
previous to his coming, on exhibiting a fit of frenzy.
    I incautiously gave the account aloud, and she heard me, for she started up
- her hair flying over her shoulders, her eyes flashing, the muscles of her neck
and arms standing out preternaturally. I made up my mind for broken bones, at
least; but she only glared about for an instant, and then rushed from the room.
    The master directed me to follow; I did, to her chamber door; she hindered
me from going farther by securing it against me.
    As she never offered to descend to breakfast next morning, I went to ask
whether she would have some carried up.
    »No!« she replied, peremptorily.
    The same question was repeated at dinner, and tea; and again on the morrow
after, and received the same answer.
    Mr. Linton, on his part, spent his time in the library, and did not inquire
concerning his wife's occupations. Isabella and he had had an hour's interview,
during which he tried to elicit from her some sentiment of proper horror for
Heathcliff's advances; but he could make nothing of her evasive replies, and was
obliged to close the examination, unsatisfactorily; adding, however, a solemn
warning, that if she were so insane as to encourage that worthless suitor, it
would dissolve all bonds of relationship between herself and him.
 

                                  Chapter XII

While Miss Linton moped about the park and garden, always silent, and almost
always in tears; and her brother shut himself up among books that he never
opened; wearying, I guessed, with a continual vague expectation that Catherine,
repenting her conduct, would come of her own accord to ask pardon, and seek a
reconciliation; and she fasted pertinaciously, under the idea, probably, that at
every meal, Edgar was ready to choke for her absence, and pride alone held him
from running to cast himself at her feet; I went about my household duties,
convinced that the Grange had but one sensible soul in its walls, and that
lodged in my body.
    I wasted no condolences on miss, nor any expostulations on my mistress, nor
did I pay attention to the sighs of my master, who yearned to hear his lady's
name, since he might not hear her voice.
    I determined they should come about as they pleased for me; and though it
was a tiresomely slow process, I began to rejoice at length in a faint dawn of
its progress, as I thought at first.
    Mrs. Linton, on the third day, unbarred her door; and having finished the
water in her pitcher and decanter, desired a renewed supply, and a basin of
gruel, for she believed she was dying. That I set down as a speech meant for
Edgar's ears; I believed no such thing, so I kept it to myself, and brought her
some tea and dry toast.
    She eat and drank eagerly; and sank back on her pillow again clenching her
hands and groaning.
    »Oh, I will die,« she exclaimed, »since no one cares anything about me. I
wish I had not taken that.«
    Then a good while after I heard her murmur,
    »No, I'll not die - he'd be glad - he does not love me at all - he would
never miss me!«
    »Did you want anything, ma'am?« I enquired, still preserving my external
composure, in spite of her ghastly countenance, and strange exaggerated manner.
    »What is that apathetic being doing?« she demanded, pushing the thick
entangled locks from her wasted face. »Has he fallen into a lethargy, or is he
dead?«
    »Neither,« replied I; »if you mean Mr. Linton. He's tolerably well, I think,
though his studies occupy him rather more than they ought; he is continually
among his books, since he has no other society.«
    I should not have spoken so, if I had known her true condition, but I could
not get rid of the notion that she acted a part of her disorder.
    »Among his books!« she cried, confounded. »And I dying! I on the brink of
the grave! My God! does he know how I'm altered?« continued she, staring at her
reflection in a mirror, hanging against the opposite wall. »Is that Catherine
Linton? He imagines me in a pet - in play, perhaps. Cannot you inform him that
it is frightful earnest? Nelly, if it be not too late, as soon as I learn how he
feels, I'll choose between these two - either to starve, at once, that would be
no punishment unless he had a heart - or to recover and leave the country. Are
you speaking the truth about him now? Take care. Is he actually so utterly
indifferent for my life?«
    »Why, ma'am,« I answered, »the master has no idea of your being deranged;
and, of course, he does not fear that you will let yourself die of hunger.«
    »You think not? Cannot you tell him I will?« she returned; »persuade him -
speak of your own mind - say you are certain I will!«
    »No, you forget, Mrs. Linton,« I suggested, »that you have eaten some food
with a relish this evening, and to-morrow you will perceive its good effects.«
    »If I were only sure it would kill him,« she interrupted, »I'd kill myself
directly! These three awful nights, I've never closed my lids - and oh, I've
been tormented! I've been haunted, Nelly! But I begin to fancy you don't like
me. How strange! I thought, though everybody hated and despised each other, they
could not avoid loving me - and they have all turned to enemies in a few hours.
They have, I'm positive; the people here. How dreary to meet death, surrounded
by their cold faces! Isabella, terrified and repelled, afraid to enter the room,
it would be so dreadful to watch Catherine go. And Edgar standing solemnly by to
see it over; then offering prayers of thanks to God for restoring peace to his
house, and going back to his books! What in the name of all that feels, has he
to do with books, when I am dying?«
    She could not bear the notion which I had put into her head of Mr. Linton's
philosophical resignation. Tossing about, she increased her feverish
bewilderment to madness, and tore the pillow with her teeth, then raising
herself up all burning, desired that I would open the window. We were in the
middle of winter, the wind blew strong from the north-east, and I objected.
    Both the expressions flitting over her face, and the changes of her moods,
began to alarm me terribly; and brought to my recollection her former illness,
and the doctor's injunction that she should not be crossed.
    A minute previously she was violent; now, supported on one arm, and not
noticing my refusal to obey her, she seemed to find childish diversion in
pulling the feathers from the rents she had just made, and ranging them on the
sheet according to their different species: her mind had strayed to other
associations.
    »That's a turkey's,« she murmured to herself; »and this a wild duck's; and
this is a pigeon's. Ah, they put pigeons' feathers in the pillows - no wonder I
couldn't die! Let me take care to throw it on the floor when I lie down. And
here's a moor-cock's; and this - I should know it among a thousand - it's a
lapwing's. Bonny bird; wheeling over our heads in the middle of the moor. It
wanted to get to its nest, for the clouds touched the swells, and it felt rain
coming. This feather was picked up from the heath, the bird was not shot - we
saw its nest in the winter, full of little skeletons. Heathcliff set a trap over
it, and the old ones dare not come. I made him promise he'd never shoot a
lapwing, after that, and he didn't. Yes, here are more! Did he shoot my
lapwings, Nelly? Are they red, any of them? Let me look.«
    »Give over with that baby-work!« I interrupted, dragging the pillow away,
and turning the holes towards the mattress, for she was removing its contents by
handfuls. »Lie down and shut your eyes, you're wandering. There's a mess! The
down is flying about like snow!«
    I went here and there collecting it.
    »I see in you, Nelly,« she continued, dreamily, »an aged woman - you have
grey hair, and bent shoulders. This bed is the fairy cave under Peniston Crag,
and you are gathering elf-bolts to hurt our heifers; pretending, while I am
near, that they are only locks of wool. That's what you'll come to fifty years
hence; I know you are not so now. I'm not wandering, you are mistaken, or else I
should believe you really were that withered hag, and I should think I was under
Peniston Crag, and I'm conscious it's night, and there are two candles on the
table making the black press shine like jet.«
    »The black press? where is that?« I asked. »You are talking in your sleep!«
    »It's against the wall, as it always is,« she replied. »It does appear odd -
I see a face in it!«
    »There's no press in the room, and never was,« said I, resuming my seat, and
looping up the curtain that I might watch her.
    »Don't you see that face?« she enquired, gazing earnestly at the mirror.
    And say what I could, I was incapable of making her comprehend it to be her
own; so I rose and covered it with a shawl.
    »It's behind there still!« she pursued, anxiously. »And it stirred. Who is
it? I hope it will not come out when you are gone! Oh! Nelly, the room is
haunted! I'm afraid of being alone!«
    I took her hand in mine, and bid her be composed, for a succession of
shudders convulsed her frame, and she would keep straining her gaze towards the
glass.
    »There's nobody here!« I insisted. »It was yourself, Mrs. Linton; you knew
it a while since.«
    »Myself!« she gasped, »and the clock is striking twelve! It's true, then,
that's dreadful!«
    Her fingers clutched the clothes, and gathered them over her eyes. I
attempted to steal to the door with an intention of calling her husband; but I
was summoned back by a piercing shriek. The shawl had dropped from the frame.
    »Why what is the matter?« cried I. »Who is coward now? Wake up! That is the
glass - the mirror, Mrs. Linton; and you see yourself in it, and there am I too
by your side.«
    Trembling and bewildered, she held me fast, but the horror gradually passed
from her countenance; its paleness gave place to a glow of shame.
    »Oh, dear! I thought I was at home,« she sighed. »I thought I was lying in
my chamber at Wuthering Heights. Because I'm weak, my brain got confused, and I
screamed unconsciously. Don't say anything; but stay with me. I dread sleeping,
my dreams appal me.«
    »A sound sleep would do you good, ma'am,« I answered; »and I hope this
suffering will prevent your trying starving again.«
    »Oh, if I were but in my own bed in the old house!« she went on bitterly,
wringing her hands. »And that wind sounding in the firs by the lattice. Do let
me feel it - it comes straight down the moor - do let me have one breath!«
    To pacify her, I held the casement ajar, a few seconds. A cold blast rushed
through, I closed it, and returned to my post.
    She lay still now: her face bathed in tears - Exhaustion of body had
entirely subdued her spirit; our fiery Catherine was no better than a wailing
child!
    »How long is it since I shut myself in here?« she asked suddenly reviving.
    »It was Monday evening,« I replied, »and this is Thursday night, or rather
Friday morning, at present.«
    »What! of the same week?« she exclaimed. »Only that brief time?«
    »Long enough to live on nothing but cold water, and ill temper,« observed I.
    »Well, it seems a weary number of hours,« she muttered doubtfully, »it must
be more - I remember being in the parlour, after they had quarrelled; and Edgar
being cruelly provoking, and me running into this room desperate - As soon as
ever I had barred the door, utter blackness overwhelmed me, and I fell on the
floor - I couldn't explain to Edgar how certain I felt of having a fit, or going
raging mad, if he persisted in teasing me! I had no command of tongue, or brain,
and he did not guess my agony, perhaps; it barely left me sense to try to escape
from him and his voice - Before I recovered sufficiently to see, and hear, it
began to be dawn; and Nelly, I'll tell you what I thought, and what has kept
recurring and recurring till I feared for my reason - I thought as I lay there,
with my head against that table leg, and my eyes dimly discerning the grey
square of the window, that I was enclosed in the oak-panelled bed at home; and
my heart ached with some great grief which, just waking, I could not recollect -
I pondered, and worried myself to discover what it could be; and most strangely,
the whole last seven years of my life grew a blank! I did not recall that they
had been at all. I was a child; my father was just buried, and my misery arose
from the separation that Hindley had ordered between me, and Heathcliff - I was
laid alone, for the first time, and, rousing from a dismal dose after a night of
weeping - I lifted my hand to push the panels aside, it struck the table-top! I
swept it along the carpet, and then, memory burst in - my late anguish was
swallowed in a paroxysm of despair - I cannot say why I felt so wildly wretched
- it must have been temporary derangement for there is scarcely cause - But,
supposing at twelve years old, I had been wrenched from the Heights, and every
early association, and my all in all, as Heathcliff was at that time, and been
converted, at a stroke into Mrs. Linton, the lady of Thrushcross Grange, and the
wife of a stranger; an exile, and outcast, thenceforth, from what had been my
world - You may fancy a glimpse of the abyss where I grovelled! Shake your head,
as you will, Nelly, you have helped to unsettle me! You should have spoken to
Edgar, indeed you should, and compelled him to leave me quiet! Oh, I'm burning!
I wish I were out of doors - I wish I were a girl again, half savage and hardy,
and free ... and laughing at injuries, not maddening under them! Why am I so
changed? why does my blood rush into a hell of tumult at a few words? I'm sure I
should be myself were I once among the heather on those hills ... Open the
window again wide, fasten it open! Quick, why don't you move?«
    »Because, I won't give you your death of cold,« I answered.
    »You won't give me a chance of life, you mean,« she added sullenly.
»However, I'm not helpless yet, I'll open it myself.«
    And sliding from the bed before I could hinder her, she crossed the room,
walking very uncertainly, threw it back, and bent out, careless of the frosty
air that cut about her shoulders as keen as a knife.
    I entreated, and finally attempted to force her to retire. But I soon found
her delirious strength much surpassed mine; (she was delirious, I became
convinced by her subsequent actions, and ravings.)
    There was no moon, and everything beneath lay in misty darkness; not a light
gleamed from any house, far or near; all had been extinguished long ago; and
those at Wuthering Heights were never visible ... still she asserted she caught
their shining.
    »Look!« she cried eagerly, »that's my room, with the candle in it, and the
trees swaying before it ... and the other candle is in Joseph's garret ...
Joseph sits up late, doesn't't he? He's waiting till I come home that he may lock
the gate. Well, he'll wait a while yet. It's a rough journey, and a sad heart to
travel it; and we must pass by Gimmerton Kirk, to go that journey! We've braved
its ghosts often together, and dared each other to stand among the graves and
ask them to come ... But Heathcliff, if I dare you now, will you venture? If you
do, I'll keep you. I'll not lie there by myself: they may bury me twelve feet
deep, and throw the church down over me; but I won't rest till you are with me
... I never will!«
    She paused, and resumed with a strange smile. »He's considering ... he'd
rather I'd come to him! Find a way, then! not through that Kirkyard ... You are
slow! Be content, you always followed me!«
    Perceiving it vain to argue against her insanity, I was planning how I could
reach something to wrap about her, without quitting my hold of herself, for I
could not trust her alone by the gaping lattice, when, to my consternation, I
heard the rattle of the door-handle, and Mr. Linton entered. He had only then
come from the library; and, in passing through the lobby, had noticed our
talking and been attracted by curiosity, or fear, to examine what it signified,
at that late hour.
    »Oh, sir!« I cried, checking the exclamation risen to his lips at the sight
which met him, and the bleak atmosphere of the chamber.
    »My poor Mistress is ill, and she quite masters me; I cannot manage her at
all, pray, come and persuade her to go to bed. Forget your anger, for she's hard
to guide any way but her own.«
    »Catherine ill?« he said, hastening to us. »Shut the window, Ellen!
Catherine! why ...«
    He was silent; the haggardness of Mrs. Linton's appearance smote him
speechless, and he could only glance from her to me in horrified astonishment.
    »She's been fretting here,« I continued, »and eating scarcely anything, and
never complaining, she would admit none of us till this evening, and so we
couldn't inform you of her state, as we were not aware of it ourselves, but it
is nothing.«
    I felt I uttered my explanations awkwardly; the master frowned. »It is
nothing is it, Ellen Dean?« he said sternly. »You shall account more clearly for
keeping me ignorant of this!« And he took his wife in his arms, and looked at
her with anguish.
    At first she gave him no glance of recognition ... he was invisible to her
abstracted gaze. The delirium was not fixed, however; having weaned her eyes
from contemplating the outer darkness; by degrees, she centred her attention on
him, and discovered who it was that held her.
    »Ah! you are come, are you, Edgar Linton?« she said, with angry animation
... »You are one of those things that are ever found when least wanted, and when
you are wanted, never! I suppose we shall have plenty of lamentations, now ... I
see we shall ... but they can't keep me from my narrow home out yonder - My
resting place where I'm bound before Spring is over! There it is, not among the
Lintons, mind, under the chapel-roof; but in the open air with a head-stone, and
you may please yourself, whether you go to them, or come to me!«
    »Catherine, what have you done?« commenced the master. »Am I nothing to you,
any more? Do you love that wretch, Heath -«
    »Hush!« cried Mrs. Linton. »Hush, this moment! You mention that name &amp; I
end the matter, instantly by, a spring from the window! What you touch at
present, you may have; but my soul will be on that hill-top before you lay hands
on me again. I don't want you, Edgar; I'm past wanting you ... Return to your
books ... I'm glad you possess a consolation, for all you had in me is gone.«
    »Her mind wanders, sir,« I interposed. »She has been talking nonsense the
whole evening; but let her have quiet and proper attendance, and she'll rally
... Hereafter, we must be cautious how we vex her.«
    »I desire no further advice from you,« answered Mr. Linton. »You knew your
mistress's nature, and you encouraged me to harass her. And not to give me one
hint of how she has been these three days! It was heartless! months of sickness
could not cause such a change!«
    I began to defend myself, thinking it too bad to be blamed for another's
wicked waywardness!
    »I knew Mrs. Linton's nature to be headstrong and domineering,« cried I;
»but I didn't know that you wished to foster her fierce temper! I didn't know
that, to humour her, I should wink at Mr. Heathcliff. I performed the duty of a
faithful servant in telling you, and I have got a faithful servant's wages!
Well, it will teach me to be careful next time. Next time you may gather
intelligence for yourself!«
    »The next time you bring a tale to me, you shall quit my service, Ellen
Dean,« he replied.
    »You'd rather hear nothing about it, I suppose, then, Mr. Linton?« said I.
»Heathcliff has your permission to come a courting to Miss, and to drop in at
every opportunity your absence offers, on purpose to poison the mistress against
you?«
    Confused as Catherine was, her wits were alert at applying our conversation.
    »Ah! Nelly has played traitor,« she exclaimed, passionately. »Nelly is my
hidden enemy - you witch! So you do seek elf-bolts to hurt us! Let me go, and
I'll make her rue! I'll make her howl a recantation!«
    A maniac's fury kindled under her brows; she struggled desperately to
disengage herself from Linton's arms. I felt no inclination to tarry the event;
and resolving to seek medical aid on my own responsibility, I quitted the
chamber.
    In passing the garden to reach the road, at a place where a bridle hook is
driven into the wall, I saw something white moved irregularly, evidently by
another agent than the wind. Notwithstanding my hurry, I stayed to examine it,
lest ever after I should have the conviction impressed on my imagination that it
was a creature of the other world.
    My surprise and perplexity were great to discover, by touch more than
vision, Miss Isabella's springer Fanny, suspended to a handkerchief, and nearly
at its last gasp.
    I quickly released the animal, and lifted it into the garden. I had seen it
follow its mistress up-stairs, when she went to bed, and wondered much how it
could have got out there, and what mischievous person had treated it so.
    While untying the knot round the hook, it seemed to me that I repeatedly
caught the beat of horses' feet galloping at some distance; but there was such a
number of things to occupy my reflections that I hardly gave the circumstance a
thought, though it was a strange sound, in that place, at two o'clock in the
morning.
    Mr. Kenneth was fortunately just issuing from his house to see a patient in
the village as I came up the street; and my account of Catherine Linton's malady
induced him to accompany me back immediately.
    He was a plain rough man; and he made no scruple to speak his doubts of her
surviving this second attack; unless she were more submissive to his directions
than she had shown herself before.
    »Nelly Dean,« said he, »I can't help fancying there's an extra cause for
this. What has there been to do at the Grange? We've odd reports up here. A
stout, hearty lass like Catherine does not fall ill for a trifle; and that sort
of people should not either. It's hard work bringing them through fevers, and
such things. How did it begin?«
    »The master will inform you,« I answered; »but you are acquainted with the
Earnshaws' violent dispositions, and Mrs. Linton caps them all. I may say this;
it commenced in a quarrel. She was struck during a tempest of passion with a
kind of fit. That's her account, at least; for she flew off in the height of it,
and locked herself up. Afterwards, she refused to eat, and now she alternately
raves, and remains in a half dream, knowing those about her, but having her mind
filled with all sorts of strange ideas and illusions.«
    »Mr. Linton will be sorry?« observed Kenneth, interrogatively.
    »Sorry? he'll break his heart should anything happen!« I replied. »Don't
alarm him more than necessary.«
    »Well, I told him to beware,« said my companion, »and he must bide the
consequences of neglecting my warning! Hasn't he been thick with Mr. Heathcliff
lately?«
    »Heathcliff frequently visits at the Grange,« answered I, »though more on
the strength of the mistress having known him when a boy, than because the
master likes his company. At present, he's discharged from the trouble of
calling; owing to some presumptuous aspirations after Miss Linton which he
manifested. I hardly think he'll be taken in again.«
    »And does Miss Linton turn a cold shoulder on him?« was the doctor's next
question.
    »I'm not in her confidence,« returned I, reluctant to continue the subject.
    »No, she's a sly one,« he remarked, shaking his head. »She keeps her own
counsel! But she's a real little fool. I have it from good authority, that, last
night, and a pretty night it was! she and Heathcliff were walking in the
plantation at the back of your house, above two hours; and he pressed her not to
go in again, but just mount his horse and away with him! My informant said she
could only put him off by pledging her word of honour to be prepared on their
first meeting after that, when it was to be, he didn't hear, but you urge Mr.
Linton to look sharp!«
    This news filled me with fresh fears; I outstripped Kenneth, and ran most of
the way back. The little dog was yelping in the garden yet. I spared a minute to
open the gate for it, but instead of going to the house door, it coursed up and
down snuffing the grass, and would have escaped to the road, had I not seized
and conveyed it in with me.
    On ascending to Isabella's room, my suspicions were confirmed; it was empty.
Had I been a few hours sooner, Mrs. Linton's illness might have arrested her
rash step. But what could be done now? There was a bare possibility of
overtaking them if pursued instantly. I could not pursue them, however; and I
dare not rouse the family, and fill the place with confusion; still less unfold
the business to my master, absorbed as he was in his present calamity, and
having no heart to spare for a second grief!
    I saw nothing for it, but to hold my tongue, and suffer matters to take
their course: and Kenneth being arrived, I went with a badly composed
countenance to announce him.
    Catherine lay in a troubled sleep; her husband had succeeded in soothing the
access of frenzy; he now hung over her pillow, watching every shade, and every
change of her painfully expressive features.
    The doctor, on examining the case for himself, spoke hopefully to him of its
having a favourable termination, if we could only preserve around her perfect
and constant tranquillity. To me, he signified the threatening danger was, not
so much death, as permanent alienation of intellect.
    I did not close my eyes that night, nor did Mr. Linton; indeed, we never
went to bed: and the servants were all up long before the usual hour, moving
through the house with stealthy tread, and exchanging whispers as they
encountered each other in their vocations. Every one was active, but Miss
Isabella; and they began to remark how sound she slept - her brother too asked
if she had risen, and seemed impatient for her presence, and hurt that she
showed so little anxiety for her sister-in-law.
    I trembled lest he should send me to call her; but I was spared the pain of
being the first proclaimant of her flight. One of the maids, a thoughtless girl,
who had been on an early errand to Gimmerton, came panting up stairs,
open-mouthed, and dashed into the chamber, crying,
    »Oh, dear, dear! What mun we have next? Master, master, our young lady -«
    »Hold your noise!« cried I hastily, enraged at her clamorous manner.
    »Speak lower, Mary - What is the matter?« said Mr. Linton. »What ails your
young lady?«
    »She's gone, she's gone! Yon' Heathcliff's run off wi' her!« gasped the
girl.
    »That is not true!« exclaimed Linton, rising in agitation. »It cannot be -
how has the idea entered your head? Ellen Dean, go and seek her - it is
incredible - it cannot be.«
    As he spoke he took the servant to the door, and, then, repeated his demand
to know her reasons for such an assertion.
    »Why, I met on the road a lad that fetches milk here,« she stammered, »and
he asked whether we wern't in trouble at the Grange - I thought he meant for
Missis's sickness, so I answered, yes. Then says he, They's some body gone after
'em, I guess? I stared. He saw I knew naught about it, and he told how a
gentleman and lady had stopped to have a horse's shoe fastened at a blacksmith's
shop, two miles out of Gimmerton, not very long after midnight! and how the
blacksmith's lass had got up to spy who they were: she knew them both directly -
And she noticed the man, Heathcliff it was, she felt certain, nob'dy could
mistake him, besides - put a sovereign in her father's hand for payment. The
lady had a cloak about her face; but having desired a sup of water, while she
drank, it fell back, and she saw her very plain - Heathcliff held both bridles
as they rode on, and they set their faces from the village, and went as fast as
the rough roads would let them. The lass said nothing to her father, but she
told it all over Gimmerton this morning.«
    I ran and peeped, for form's sake into Isabella's room: confirming, when I
returned, the servant's statement - Mr. Linton had resumed his seat by the bed;
on my re-entrance, he raised his eyes, read the meaning of my blank aspect, and
dropped them without giving an order, or uttering a word.
    »Are we to try any measures for overtaking and bringing her back?« I
inquired. »How should we do?«
    »She went of her own accord,« answered the master; »she had a right to go if
she pleased - Trouble me no more about her - Hereafter she is only my sister in
name; not because I disown her, but because she has disowned me.«
    And that was all he said on the subject; he did not make a single inquiry
further, or mention her in any way, except directing me to send what property
she had in the house to her fresh home, wherever it was, when I knew it.
 

                                  Chapter XIII

For two months the fugitives remained absent; in those two months, Mrs. Linton
encountered and conquered the worst shock of what was denominated a brain fever.
No mother could have nursed an only child more devotedly than Edgar tended her.
Day and night, he was watching, and patiently enduring all the annoyances that
irritable nerves and a shaken reason could inflict: and, though Kenneth remarked
that what he saved from the grave would only recompense his care by forming the
source of constant future anxiety, in fact, that his health and strength were
being sacrificed to preserve a mere ruin of humanity, he knew no limits in
gratitude and joy, when Catherine's life was declared out of danger; and hour
after hour, he would sit beside her, tracing the gradual return to bodily
health, and flattering his too sanguine hopes with the illusion that her mind
would settle back to its right balance also, and she would soon be entirely her
former self.
    The first time she left her chamber, was at the commencement of the
following March. Mr. Linton had put on her pillow, in the morning, a handful of
golden crocuses; her eye, long stranger to any gleam of pleasure, caught them in
waking, and shone delighted as she gathered them eagerly together.
    »These are the earliest flowers at the Heights!« she exclaimed. »They remind
me of soft thaw winds, and warm sunshine, and nearly melted snow - Edgar, is
there not a south wind, and is not the snow almost gone?«
    »The snow is quite gone down here, darling!« replied her husband; »and I
only see two white spots on the whole range of moors - The sky is blue, and the
larks are singing, and the becks and brooks are all brim full. Catherine; last
spring at this time, I was longing to have you under this roof - now, I wish you
were a mile or two up those hills, the air blows so sweetly, I feel that it
would cure you.«
    »I shall never be there, but once more!« said the invalid; »and then you'll
leave me, and I shall remain, for ever. Next spring you'll long again to have me
under this roof, and you'll look back and think you were happy to-day.«
    Linton lavished on her the kindest caresses, and tried to cheer her by the
fondest words; but, vaguely regarding the flowers, she let the tears collect on
her lashes, and stream down her cheeks unheeding.
    We knew she was really better, and therefore, decided that long confinement
to a single place produced much of this despondency, and it might be partially
removed by a change of scene.
    The master told me to light a fire in the many-weeks deserted parlour, and
to set an easy-chair in the sunshine by the window; and then he brought her
down, and she sat a long while enjoying the genial heat, and, as we expected,
revived by the objects round her, which, though familiar, were free from the
dreary associations investing her hated sick-chamber. By evening, she seemed
greatly exhausted; yet no arguments could persuade her to return to that
apartment, and I had to arrange the parlour sofa for her bed, till another room
could be prepared.
    To obviate the fatigue of mounting and descending the stairs, we fitted up
this, where you lie at present; on the same floor with the parlour: and she was
soon strong enough to move from one to the other, leaning on Edgar's arm.
    Ah, I thought myself, she might recover, so waited on as she was. And there
was double cause to desire it, for on her existence depended that of another; we
cherished the hope that in a little while, Mr. Linton's heart would be
gladdened, and his lands secured from a stranger's gripe, by the birth of an
heir.
    I should mention that Isabella sent to her brother, some six weeks from her
departure a short note, announcing her marriage with Heathcliff. It appeared dry
and cold; but at the bottom, was dotted in with pencil, an obscure apology, and
an entreaty for kind remembrance, and reconciliation, if her proceeding had
offended him; asserting that she could not help it then, and being done, she had
now no power to repeal it.
    Linton did not reply to this, I believe; and in a fortnight more, I got a
long letter which I considered odd coming from the pen of a bride just out of
the honeymoon. I'll read it, for I keep it yet. Any relic of the dead is
precious, if they were valued living.
 
        Dear Ellen, it begins.
            I came last night to Wuthering Heights, and heard, for the first
        time, that Catherine has been, and is yet, very ill. I must not write to
        her I suppose, and my brother is either too angry, or too distressed to
        answer what I send him. Still, I must write to somebody, and the only
        choice left me is you.
            Inform Edgar that I'd give the world to see his face again - that my
        heart returned to Thrushcross Grange in twenty-four hours after I left
        it, and is there at this moment, full of warm feelings for him and
        Catherine! I can't follow it though - (those words are underlined) -
        they need not expect me, and they may draw what conclusions they please;
        taking care however, to lay nothing at the door of my weak will, or
        deficient affection.
            The remainder of the letter is for yourself alone. I want to ask you
        two questions: the first is,
            How did you contrive to preserve the common sympathies of human
        nature when you resided here? I cannot recognize any sentiment which
        those around, share with me.
            The second question, I have great interest in; it is this -
            Is Mr. Heathcliff a man? If so, is he mad? And if not, is he a
        devil? I shan't tell my reasons for making this inquiry; but, I beseech
        you to explain, if you can, what I have married - that is, when you call
        to see me; and you must call, Ellen, very soon. Don't write, but come,
        and bring me something from Edgar.
            Now, you shall hear how I have been received in my new home, as I am
        led to imagine the Heights will be. It is to amuse myself that I dwell
        on such subjects as the lack of external comforts; they never occupy my
        thoughts, except at the moment when I miss them - I should laugh and
        dance for joy, if I found their absence was the total of my miseries,
        and the rest was an unnatural dream!
            The sun set behind the Grange, as we turned on to the moors; by
        that, I judged it to be six o'clock; and my companion halted
        half-an-hour, to inspect the park, and the gardens, and, probably, the
        place itself, as well as he could; so it was dark when we dismounted in
        the paved yard of the farmhouse, and your old fellow- servant, Joseph,
        issued out to receive us by the light of a dip candle. He did it with a
        courtesy that redounded to his credit. His first act was to elevate his
        torch to a level with my face, squint malignantly, project his upper
        lip, and turn away.
            Then he took the two horses, and led them into the stables;
        reappearing for the purpose of locking the outer gate, as if we lived in
        an ancient castle.
            Heathcliff stayed to speak to him, and I entered the kitchen - a
        dingy, untidy hole; I dare say you would not know it, it is so changed
        since it was in your charge.
            By the fire stood a ruffianly child, strong in limb, and dirty in
        garb, with a look of Catherine in his eyes, and about his mouth.
            »This is Edgar's legal nephew,« I reflected - »mine in a manner; I
        must shake hands, and - yes - I must kiss him. It is right to establish
        a good understanding at the beginning.«
            I approached, and, attempting to take his chubby fist, said -
            »How do you do, my dear?«
            He replied in a jargon I did not comprehend.
            »Shall you and I be friends, Hareton?« was my next essay at
        conversation.
            An oath, and a threat to set Throttler on me if I did not frame off
        rewarded my perseverance.
            »Hey, Throttler, lad!« whispered the little wretch, rousing a
        half-bred bull-dog from its lair in a corner. »Now, wilt tuh be
        ganging?« he asked authoritatively.
            Love for my life urged a compliance; I stepped over the threshold to
        wait till the others should enter. Mr. Heathcliff was nowhere visible;
        and Joseph, whom I followed to the stables, and requested to accompany
        me in, after staring and muttering to himself, screwed up his nose and
        replied -
            »Mim! mim! mim! Did iver Christian body hear owt like it? Minching
        un' munching! Hah can aw tell whet ye say?«
            »I say, I wish you to come with me into the house!« I cried,
        thinking him deaf, yet highly disgusted at his rudeness.
            »Nor nuh me! Aw getten summut else to do,« he answered, and
        continued his work, moving his lantern jaws meanwhile, and surveying my
        dress and countenance (the former a great deal too fine, but the latter,
        I'm sure, as sad as he could desire) with sovereign contempt.
            I walked round the yard, and through a wicket, to another door, at
        which I took the liberty of knocking, in hopes some more civil servant
        might show himself.
            After a short suspense it was opened by a tall, gaunt man, without
        neckerchief, and otherwise extremely slovenly; his features were lost in
        masses of shaggy hair that hung on his shoulders; and his eyes, too,
        were like a ghostly Catherine's, with all their beauty annihilated.
            »What's your business here?« he demanded, grimly. »Who are you?«
            »My name was Isabella Linton,« I replied. »You've seen me before,
        sir. I'm lately married to Mr. Heathcliff; and he has brought me here -
        I suppose by your permission.«
            »Is he come back, then?« asked the hermit, glaring like a hungry
        wolf.
            »Yes - we came just now,« I said; »but he left me by the kitchen
        door; and when I would have gone in, your little boy played sentinel
        over the place, and frightened me off by the help of a bull-dog.«
            »It's well the hellish villain has kept his word!« growled my future
        host, searching the darkness beyond me in expectation of discovering
        Heathcliff, and then he indulged in a soliloquy of execrations, and
        threats of what he would have done had the fiend deceived him.
            I repented having tried this second entrance; and was almost
        inclined to slip away before he finished cursing, but ere I could
        execute that intention, he ordered me in, and shut and re- fastened the
        door.
            There was a great fire, and that was all the light in the huge
        apartment, whose floor had grown a uniform grey; and the once brilliant
        pewter dishes which used to attract my gaze when I was a girl partook of
        a similar obscurity, created by tarnish and dust.
            I inquired whether I might call the maid, and be conducted to a
        bed-room? Mr. Earnshaw vouchsafed no answer. He walked up and down, with
        his hands in his pockets, apparently quite forgetting my presence; and
        his abstraction was evidently so deep, and his whole aspect so
        misanthropical, that I shrank from disturbing him again.
            You'll not be surprised, Ellen, at my feeling particularly
        cheerless, seated in worse than solitude, on that inhospitable hearth,
        and remembering that four miles distant lay my delightful home,
        containing the only people I loved on earth: and there might as well be
        the Atlantic to part us, instead of those four miles, I could not
        overpass them!
            I questioned with myself - where must I turn for comfort? and - mind
        you don't tell Edgar, or Catherine - above every sorrow beside, this
        rose pre-eminent - despair at finding nobody who could or would be my
        ally against Heathcliff!
            I had sought shelter at Wuthering Heights, almost gladly, because I
        was secured by that arrangement from living alone with him; but he knew
        the people we were coming amongst, and he did not fear their
        intermeddling.
            I sat and thought a doleful time; the clock struck eight, and nine,
        and still my companion paced to and fro, his head bent on his breast,
        and perfectly silent, unless a groan, or a bitter ejaculation forced
        itself out at intervals.
            I listened to detect a woman's voice in the house, and filled the
        interim with wild regrets, and dismal anticipations, which, at last,
        spoke audibly in irrepressible sighing, and weeping.
            I was not aware how openly I grieved, till Earnshaw halted opposite,
        in his measured walk, and gave me a stare of newly awakened surprise.
        Taking advantage of his recovered attention, I exclaimed -
            »I'm tired with my journey, and I want to go to bed! Where is the
        maid-servant? Direct me to her, as she won't come to me!«
            »We have none,« he answered; »you must wait on yourself!«
            »Where must I sleep, then?« I sobbed - I was beyond regarding
        self-respect, weighed down by fatigue and wretchedness.
            »Joseph will show you Heathcliff's chamber,« said he; »open that
        door - he's in there.«
            I was going to obey, but he suddenly arrested me, and added in the
        strangest tone -
            »Be so good as to turn your lock, and draw your bolt - don't omit
        it!«
            »Well!« I said. »But why, Mr. Earnshaw?« I did not relish the notion
        of deliberately fastening my self in with Heathcliff.
            »Look here!« he replied, pulling from his waistcoat a curiously
        constructed pistol, having a double edged spring knife attached to the
        barrel. »That's a great tempter to a desperate man, is it not? I cannot
        resist going up with this every night, and trying his door. If once I
        find it open he's done for! I do it invariably, even though the minute
        before I have been recalling a hundred reasons that should make me
        refrain - it is some devil that urges me to thwart my own schemes by
        killing him - you fight against that devil, for love, as long as you
        may; when the time comes, not all the angels in heaven shall save him!«
            I surveyed the weapon inquisitively; - a hideous notion struck me.
        How powerful I should be possessing such an instrument! I took it from
        his hand, and touched the blade. He looked astonished at the expression
        my face assumed during a brief second. It was not horror, it was
        covetousness. He snatched the pistol back, jealously; shut the knife,
        and returned it to its concealment.
            »I don't care if you tell him,« said he. »Put him on his guard, and
        watch for him. You know the terms we are on, I see; his danger does not
        shock you.«
            »What has Heathcliff done to you?« I asked. »In what has he wronged
        you, to warrant this appalling hatred? Wouldn't it be wiser to bid him
        quit the house?«
            »No!« thundered Earnshaw, »should he offer to leave me, he's a dead
        man, persuade him to attempt it, and you are a murderess! Am I to lose
        all, without a chance of retrieval? Is Hareton to be a beggar? Oh,
        damnation! I will have it back; and I'll have his gold too; and then his
        blood; and hell shall have his soul! It will be ten times blacker with
        that guest than ever it was before!«
            You've acquainted me, Ellen, with your old master's habits. He is
        clearly on the verge of madness - he was so, last night, at least. I
        shuddered to be near him, and thought on the servant's ill-bred
        moroseness as comparatively agreeable.
            He now recommenced his moody walk, and I raised the latch, and
        escaped into the kitchen.
            Joseph was bending over the fire, peering into a large pan that
        swung above it; and a wooden bowl of oatmeal stood on the settle close
        by. The contents of the pan began to boil, and he turned to plunge his
        hand into the bowl; I conjectured that this preparation was probably for
        our supper, and, being hungry, I resolved it should be eatable - so,
        crying out, sharply - »I'll make the porridge!« I removed the vessel out
        of his reach, and proceeded to take off my hat and riding habit. »Mr.
        Earnshaw,« I continued, »directs me to wait on myself - I will - I'm not
        going to act the lady among you, for fear I should starve.«
            »Gooid Lord!« he muttered, sitting down, and stroking his ribbed
        stockings from the knee to the ankle. »If they's tuh be fresh ortherings
        - just when Aw getten used tuh two maisters, if aw mun have a mistress
        set o'er my heead, it's like time tuh be flitting. Aw niver did think
        tuh say t' day ut aw mud lave th' owld place - but aw daht it's nigh at
        hend!«
            This lamentation drew no notice from me; I went briskly to work;
        sighing to remember a period when it would have been all merry fun; but
        compelled speedily to drive off the remembrance. It racked me to recall
        past happiness, and the greater peril there was of conjuring up its
        apparition, the quicker the thible ran round, and the faster the
        handfuls of meal fell into the water.
            Joseph beheld my style of cookery with growing indignation.
            »Thear!« he ejaculated. »Hareton, thah willn't sup thy porridge tuh
        neeght; they'll be nowt bud lumps as big as maw nave. Thear, agean! Aw'd
        fling in bowl un all, if aw wer yah! Thear, pale t' guilp off, un' then
        yah'll hae done wi't. Bang, bang. It's a marcy t' bothom isn't deaved
        aht!«
            It was rather a rough mess, I own, when poured into the basins; four
        had been provided, and a gallon pitcher of new milk was brought from the
        dairy, which Hareton seized and commenced drinking and spilling from the
        expansive lip.
            I expostulated, and desired that he should have his in a mug;
        affirming that I could not taste the liquid treated so dirtily. The old
        cynic chose to be vastly offended at this nicety; assuring me,
        repeatedly, that »the barn was every bit as gooid« as I, »and every bit
        as wollsome,« and wondering how I could fashion to be so conceited;
        meanwhile, the infant ruffian continued sucking; and glowered up at me
        defyingly, as he slavered into the jug.
            »I shall have my supper in another room,« I said. »Have you no place
        you call a parlour?«
            »Parlour!« he echoed, sneeringly, »parlour! Nay, we've noa parlours.
        If yah dunnut like wer company, they's master's; un' if yah dunnut
        like master, they's us.«
            »Then I shall go up-stairs,« I answered; »show me a chamber.«
            I put my basin on a tray, and went myself to fetch some more milk.
            With great grumblings, the fellow rose, and preceded me in my
        ascent: we mounted to the garrets; he opening a door, now and then, to
        look into the apartments we passed.
            »Here's a rahm,« he said, at last, flinging back a cranky board on
        hinges. »It's well enough tuh ate a few porridge in. They's a pack uh
        corn i' t' corner, thear, meeterly clane; if yah're feared uh muckying
        yer grand silk cloes, spread yer hankerchir ut t' top on't.«
            The rahm was a kind of lumber-hole smelling strong of malt and
        grain; various sacks of which articles were piled around, leaving a
        wide, bare space in the middle.
            »Why, man!« I exclaimed, facing him angrily, »this is not a place to
        sleep in. I wish to see my bed-room.«
            »Bed-rume!« he repeated, in a tone of mockery. »Yah's see all t'
        bed-rumes thear is - yon's mine.«
            He pointed into the second garret, only differing from the first in
        being more naked about the walls, and having a large, low, curtainless
        bed, with an indigo-coloured quilt, at one end.
            »What do I want with yours?« I retorted. »I suppose Mr. Heathcliff
        does not lodge at the top of the house, does he?«
            »Oh! it's Maister Hathecliff's yah're wenting?« cried he, as if
        making a new discovery. »Couldn't ye uh said soa, at onst? un' then, aw
        mud ha' telled ye, baht all this wark, ut that's just one yah cannut sea
        - he allas keeps it locked, un' nob'dy iver mells on't but hisseln.«
            »You've a nice house, Joseph,« I could not refrain from observing,
        »and pleasant inmates; and I think the concentrated essence of all the
        madness in the world took up its abode in my brain the day I linked my
        fate with theirs! However, that is not to the present purpose - there
        are other rooms. For Heaven's sake, be quick, and let me settle
        somewhere!«
            He made no reply to this adjuration; only plodding doggedly down the
        wooden steps, and halting before an apartment which, from that halt, and
        the superior quality of its furniture, I conjectured to be the best one.
            There was a carpet, a good one; but the pattern was obliterated by
        dust; a fire-place hung with cut paper dropping to pieces; a handsome
        oak-bedstead with ample crimson curtains of rather expensive material,
        and modern make. But they had evidently experienced rough usage, the
        valances hung in festoons, wrenched from their rings; and the iron rod
        supporting them was bent in an arc, on one side, causing the drapery to
        trail upon the floor. The chairs were also damaged, many of them
        severely; and deep indentations deformed the panels of the walls.
            I was endeavouring to gather resolution for entering, and taking
        possession, when my fool of a guide announced -
            »This here is t' master's.«
            My supper by this time was cold, my appetite gone, and my patience
        exhausted. I insisted on being provided instantly with a place of
        refuge, and means of repose.
            »Whear the divil,« began the religious elder. »The Lord bless us!
        The Lord forgie us! Whear the hell, wold ye gang? ye marred, wearisome
        nowt! Yah seen all bud Hareton's bit uf a cham'er. There's nut another
        hoile tuh lig dahn in i' th' hahse!«
            I was so vexed, I flung my tray and its contents on the ground; and
        then seated myself at the stairs-head, hid my face in my hands, and
        cried.
            »Ech! ech!« exclaimed Joseph. »Weel done, Miss Cathy! well done,
        Miss Cathy! Hahsiver, t' master sall just tum'le o'er them brocken
        pots; un' then we's hear summut; we's hear hah it's tuh be.
        Gooid-fur-nowt madling! yah desarve pining froo this tuh Churstmas,
        flinging t' precious gifts uh God under fooit i' yer flaysome rages!
        Bud, aw'm mista'en if yah show yer sperrit long. Will Hathecliff bide
        such bonny ways, think ye? Aw nobbut wish he muh cotch ye i' that
        plisky. Aw nobbut wish he may.«
            And so he went scolding to his den beneath, taking the candle with
        him, and I remained in the dark.
            The period of reflection succeeding this silly action, compelled me
        to admit the necessity of smothering my pride, and choking my wrath, and
        bestirring myself to remove its effects.
            An unexpected aid presently appeared in the shape of Throttler, whom
        I now recognized as a son of our old Skulker; it had spent its whelphood
        at the Grange, and was given by my father to Mr. Hindley. I fancy it
        knew me - it pushed its nose against mine by way of salute, and then
        hastened to devour the porridge, while I groped from step to step,
        collecting the shattered earthenware, and drying the splatters of milk
        from the bannisters with my pocket-handkerchief.
            Our labours were scarcely over when I heard Earnshaw's tread in the
        passage; my assistant tucked in his tail, and pressed to the wall; I
        stole into the nearest doorway. The dog's endeavour to avoid him was
        unsuccessful; as I guessed by a scutter down stairs, and a prolonged,
        piteous yelping. I had better luck. He passed on, entered his chamber,
        and shut the door.
            Directly after Joseph came up with Hareton, to put him to bed. I had
        found shelter in Hareton's room, and the old man on seeing me, said -
            »They's rahm fur boath yah, un' yer pride, nah, aw sud think i' th'
        hahse. It's empty; yah muh have it all tuh yerseln, un Him as allas makes
        a third, i' such ill company!«
            Gladly did I take advantage of this intimation; and the minute I
        flung myself into a chair, by the fire, I nodded, and slept.
            My slumber was deep, and sweet; though over far too soon. Mr.
        Heathcliff awoke me; he had just come in, and demanded, in his loving
        manner, what I was doing there.
            I told him the cause of my staying up so late - that he had the key
        of our room in his pocket.
            The adjective our gave mortal offence. He swore it was not, nor ever
        should be mine; and he'd - but I'll not repeat his language, nor
        describe his habitual conduct; he is ingenious and unresting in seeking
        to gain my abhorrence! I sometimes wonder at him with an intensity that
        deadens my fear: yet, I assure you, a tiger, or a venomous serpent could
        not rouse terror in me equal to that which he wakens. He told me of
        Catherine's illness, and accused my brother of causing it; promising
        that I should be Edgar's proxy in suffering, till he could get a hold of
        him.
            I do hate him - I am wretched - I have been a fool! Beware of
        uttering one breath of this to any one at the Grange. I shall expect you
        every day - don't disappoint me!
                                                                       ISABELLA.
 

                                  Chapter XIV

As soon as I had perused this epistle, I went to the master, and informed him
that his sister had arrived at the Heights, and sent me a letter expressing her
sorrow for Mrs. Linton's situation, and her ardent desire to see him; with a
wish that he would transmit to her, as early as possible, some token of
forgiveness by me.
    »Forgiveness?« said Linton, »I have nothing to forgive her, Ellen - you may
call at Wuthering Heights this afternoon, if you like, and say that I am not
angry, but I'm sorry to have lost her: especially as I can never think she'll be
happy. It is out of the question my going to see her, however; we are eternally
divided; and should she really wish to oblige me, let her persuade the villain
she has married to leave the country.«
    »And you won't write her a little note, sir?« I asked, imploringly.
    »No,« he answered. »It is needless. My communication with Heathcliff's
family shall be as sparing as his with mine. It shall not exist!«
    Mr. Edgar's coldness depressed me exceedingly; and all the way from the
Grange, I puzzled my brains how to put more heart into what he said, when I
repeated it; and how to soften his refusal of even a few lines to console
Isabella.
    I dare say she had been on the watch for me since morning: I saw her looking
through the lattice, as I came up the garden causeway, and I nodded to her; but
she drew back, as if afraid of being observed.
    I entered without knocking. There never was such a dreary, dismal scene as
the formerly cheerful house presented! I must confess that, if I had been in the
young lady's place, I would, at least, have swept the hearth, and wiped the
tables with a duster. But she already partook of the pervading spirit of neglect
which encompassed her. Her pretty face was wan and listless; her hair uncurled;
some locks hanging lankly down, and some carelessly twisted round her head.
Probably she had not touched her dress since yester evening.
    Hindley was not there. Mr. Heathcliff sat at a table, turning over some
papers in his pocket-book; but he rose when I appeared, asked me how I did,
quite friendly, and offered me a chair.
    He was the only thing there that seemed decent, and I thought he never
looked better. So much had circumstances altered their positions, that he would
certainly have struck a stranger as a born and bred gentleman, and his wife as a
thorough little slattern!
    She came forward eagerly to greet me; and held out one hand to take the
expected letter.
    I shook my head. She wouldn't understand the hint, but followed me to a
sideboard, where I went to lay my bonnet, and importuned me in a whisper to give
her directly what I had brought.
    Heathcliff guessed the meaning of her manoeuvres, and said -
    »If you have got anything for Isabella, as no doubt you have, Nelly, give it
to her. You needn't make a secret of it; we have no secrets between us.«
    »Oh, I have nothing,« I replied, thinking it best to speak the truth at
once. »My master bid me tell his sister that she must not expect either a letter
or a visit from him at present. He sends his love, ma'am, and his wishes for
your happiness, and his pardon for the grief you have occasioned; but he thinks
that after this time, his household, and the household here, should drop
intercommunication; as nothing good could come of keeping it up.«
    Mrs. Heathcliff's lip quivered slightly, and she returned to her seat in the
window. Her husband took his stand on the hearthstone, near me, and began to put
questions concerning Catherine.
    I told him as much as I thought proper of her illness, and he extorted from
me, by cross-examination, most of the facts connected with its origin.
    I blamed her, as she deserved, for bringing it all on herself; and ended by
hoping that he would follow Mr. Linton's example, and avoid future interference
with his family, for good or evil.
    »Mrs. Linton is now just recovering,« I said, »she'll never be like she was,
but her life is spared, and if you really have a regard for her, you'll shun
crossing her way again. Nay, you'll move out of this country entirely; and that
you may not regret it, I'll inform you Catherine Linton is as different now,
from your old friend Catherine Earnshaw, as that young lady is different from
me! Her appearance is changed greatly, her character much more so; and the
person, who is compelled, of necessity, to be her companion, will only sustain
his affection hereafter, by the remembrance of what she once was, by common
humanity, and a sense of duty!«
    »That is quite possible,« remarked Heathcliff, forcing himself to seem calm,
»quite possible that your master should have nothing but common humanity, and a
sense of duty to fall back upon. But do you imagine that I shall leave Catherine
to his duty and humanity? and can you compare my feelings respecting Catherine,
to his? Before you leave this house, I must exact a promise from you, that
you'll get me an interview with her - consent, or refuse, I will see her! What
do you say?«
    »I say, Mr. Heathcliff,« I replied, »you must not - you never shall through
my means. Another encounter between you and the master, would kill her
altogether!«
    »With your aid, that may be avoided;« he continued, »and should there be
danger of such an event - should he be the cause of adding a single trouble more
to her existence - Why, I think, I shall be justified in going to extremes! I
wish you had sincerity enough to tell me whether Catherine would suffer greatly
from his loss. The fear that she would restrains me: and there you see the
distinction between our feelings - Had he been in my place, and I in his, though
I hated him with a hatred that turned my life to gall, I never would have raised
a hand against him. You may look incredulous, if you please! I never would have
banished him from her society, as long as she desired his. The moment her regard
ceased, I would have torn his heart out, and drunk his blood! But, till then, if
you don't believe me, you don't know me - till then, I would have died by inches
before I touched a single hair of his head!«
    »And yet,« I interrupted, »you have no scruples in completely ruining all
hopes of her perfect restoration, by thrusting yourself in to her remembrance,
now, when she has nearly forgotten you, and involving her in a new tumult of
discord, and distress.«
    »You suppose she has nearly forgotten me?« he said. »Oh! Nelly you know she
has not! You know as well as I do, that for every thought she spends on Linton,
she spends a thousand on me! At a most miserable period of my life, I had a
notion of the kind, it haunted me on my return to the neighbourhood, last
summer, but only her own assurance, could make me admit the horrible idea again.
And then, Linton would be nothing, nor Hindley, nor all the dreams that ever I
dreamt. Two words would comprehend my future - death and hell - existence, after
losing her, would be hell.
    Yet I was a fool to fancy for a moment that she valued Edgar Linton's
attachment more than mine - If he loved with all the powers of his puny being,
he couldn't love as much in eighty years, as I could in a day. And Catherine has
a heart as deep as I have; the sea could be as readily contained in that
horse-trough, as her whole affection be monopolized by him - Tush! He is
scarcely a degree dearer to her than her dog, or her horse - It is not in him to
be loved like me, how can she love in him what he has not?«
    »Catherine and Edgar are as fond of each other, as any two people can be!«
cried Isabella with sudden vivacity. »No one has a right to talk in that manner,
and I won't hear my brother depreciated in silence!«
    »Your brother is wondrous fond of you too, isn't he?« observed Heathcliff
scornfully. »He turns you adrift on the world with surprising alacrity.«
    »He is not aware of what I suffer,« she replied. »I didn't tell him that.«
    »You have been telling him something, then - you have written, have you?«
    »To say that I was married, I did write - you saw the note.«
    »And nothing since?«
    »No.«
    »My young lady is looking sadly the worse for her change of condition,« I
remarked. »Somebody's love comes short in her case, obviously - whose I may
guess; but, perhaps, I shouldn't say.«
    »I should guess it was her own,« said Heathcliff. »She degenerates into a
mere slut! She is tired of trying to please me, uncommonly early - You'd hardly
credit it, but the very morrow of our wedding, she was weeping to go home.
However, she'll suit this house so much the better for not being over nice, and
I'll take care she does not disgrace me by rambling abroad.«
    »Well, sir;« returned I, »I hope you'll consider that Mrs. Heathcliff is
accustomed to be looked after, and waited on; and that she has been brought up
like an only daughter whom every one was ready to serve - You must let her have
a maid to keep things tidy about her, and you must treat her kindly - Whatever
be your notion of Mr. Edgar, you cannot doubt that she has a capacity for strong
attachments or she wouldn't have abandoned the elegancies, and comforts, and
friends of her former home, to fix contentedly, in such a wilderness as this,
with you.«
    »She abandoned them under a delusion;« he answered; »picturing in me a hero
of romance, and expecting unlimited indulgences from my chivalrous devotion. I
can hardly regard her in the light of a rational creature, so obstinately has
she persisted in forming a fabulous notion of my character, and acting on the
false impressions she cherished. But at last, I think she begins to know me - I
don't perceive the silly smiles and grimaces that provoked me, at first; and the
senseless incapability of discerning that I was in earnest when I gave her my
opinion of her infatuation, and herself - It was a marvellous effort of
perspicacity to discover that I did not love her. I believed at one time, no
lessons could teach her that! and yet it is poorly learnt; for this morning she
announced, as a piece of appalling intelligence, that I had actually succeeded
in making her hate me! A positive labour of Hercules, I assure you! If it be
achieved, I have cause to return thanks - Can I trust your assertion, Isabella?
are you sure you hate me? If I let you alone for half-a-day, won't you come
sighing and wheedling to me again? I dare say she would rather I had seemed all
tenderness before you; it wounds her vanity to have the truth exposed. But, I
don't care who knows that the passion was wholly on one side, and I never told
her a lie about it. She cannot accuse me of showing a bit of deceitful softness.
The first thing she saw me do, on coming out of the Grange, was to hang up her
little dog, and when she pleaded for it, the first words I uttered, were a wish
that I had the hanging of every being belonging to her, except one: possibly,
she took that exception for herself - But no brutality disgusted her - I
suppose, she has an innate admiration of it, if only her precious person were
secure from injury! Now, was it not the depth of absurdity - of genuine idiocy,
for that pitiful, slavish, mean-minded brach to dream that I could love her?
Tell your master, Nelly, that I never, in all my life, met with such an abject
thing as she is. - She even disgraces the name of Linton; and I've sometimes
relented, from pure lack of invention, in my experiments on what she could
endure, and still creep shamefully cringing back! But tell him also, to set his
fraternal and magisterial heart at ease, that I keep strictly within the limits
of the law - I have avoided, up to this period, giving her the slightest right
to claim a separation; and what's more, she'd thank nobody for dividing us - if
she desired to go she might - the nuisance of her presence outweighs the
gratification to be derived from tormenting her!«
    »Mr. Heathcliff,« said I, »this is the talk of a madman, and your wife, most
likely is convinced you are mad; and, for that reason, she has borne with you
hitherto: but now that you say she may go, she'll doubtless avail herself of the
permission - You are not so bewitched, ma'am, are you, as to remain with him of
your own accord?«
    »Take care, Ellen!« answered Isabella, her eyes sparkling irefully - there
was no misdoubting by their expression the full success of her partner's
endeavours to make himself detested. »Don't put faith in a single word he
speaks. He's a lying fiend, a monster, and not a human being! I've been told I
might leave him before; and I've made the atempt, but I dare not repeat it! Only
Ellen, promise you'll not mention a syllable of his infamous conversation to my
brother or Catherine - whatever he may pretend, he wishes to provoke Edgar to
desperation - he says he has married me on purpose to obtain power over him; and
he shan't obtain it - I'll die first! I just hope, I pray that he may forget his
diabolical prudence, and kill me! The single pleasure I can imagine is to die,
or to see him dead!«
    »There - that will do for the present!« said Heathcliff. »If you are called
upon in a court of law, you'll remember her language, Nelly! And take a good
look at that countenance - she's near the point which would suit me. No, you're
not fit to be your own guardian, Isabella, now; and I, being your legal
protector, must retain you in my custody, however distasteful the obligation may
be - Go upstairs; I have something to say to Ellen Dean, in private. That's not
the way - up-stairs, I tell you! Why this is the road up-stairs, child!«
    He seized, and thrust her from the room; and returned muttering,
    »I have no pity! I have no pity! The more the worms writhe, the more I yearn
to crush out their entrails! It is a moral teething, and I grind with greater
energy, in proportion to the increase of pain.«
    »Do you understand what the word pity means?« I said hastening to resume my
bonnet. »Did you ever feel a touch of it in your life?«
    »Put that down!« he interrupted, perceiving my intention to depart. »You are
not going yet - Come here now, Nelly - I must either persuade, or compel you to
aid me in fulfilling my determination to see Catherine, and that without delay -
I swear that I meditate no harm; I don't desire to cause any disturbance, or to
exasperate, or insult Mr. Linton; I only wish to hear from herself how she is,
and why she has been ill; and to ask, if anything that I could do would be of
use to her. Last night, I was in the Grange garden six hours, and I'll return
there to-night; and every night I'll haunt the place, and every day, till I find
an opportunity of entering. If Edgar Linton meets me, I shall not hesitate to
knock him down, and give him enough to insure his quiescence while I stay - If
his servants oppose me, I shall threaten them off with these pistols - But
wouldn't it be better to prevent my coming in contact with them, or their
master? And you could do it so easily! I'd warn you when I came, and then you
might let me in unobserved, as soon as she was alone, and watch till I departed
- your conscience quite calm, you would be hindering mischief.«
    I protested against playing that treacherous part in my employer's house;
and besides, I urged the cruelty, and selfishness of his destroying Mrs.
Linton's tranquillity, for his satisfaction.
    »The commonest occurrence startles her painfully,« I said. »She's all
nerves, and she couldn't bear the surprise, I'm positive - Don't persist, sir!
or else, I shall be obliged to inform my master of your designs, and he'll take
measures to secure his house and its inmates from any such unwarrantable
intrusions!«
    »In that case, I'll take measures to secure you, woman!« exclaimed
Heathcliff, »you shall not leave Wuthering Heights till to-morrow morning. It is
a foolish story to assert that Catherine could not bear to see me; and as to
surprising her, I don't desire it, you must prepare her - ask her if I may come.
You say she never mentions my name, and that I am never mentioned to her. To
whom should she mention me if I am a forbidden topic in the house? She thinks
you are all spies for her husband - Oh, I've no doubt she's in hell among you! I
guess, by her silence as much as anything, what she feels. You say she is often
restless, and anxious-looking - is that a proof of tranquillity? You talk of her
mind being unsettled - How the devil could it be otherwise, in her frightful
isolation. And that insipid, paltry creature attending her from duty and
humanity! From pity and charity. He might as well plant an oak in a flower-pot,
and expect it to thrive, as imagine he can restore her to vigour in the soil of
his shallow cares! Let us settle it at once; will you stay here, and am I to
fight my way to Catherine over Linton, and his footmen? Or will you be my
friend, as you have been hitherto, and do what I request? Decide! because there
is no reason for my lingering another minute, if you persist in your stubborn
ill-nature!«
    Well, Mr. Lockwood, I argued, and complained, and flatly refused him fifty
times; but in the long run he forced me to an agreement - I engaged to carry a
letter from him to my mistress; and, should she consent, I promised to let him
have intelligence of Linton's next absence from home, when he might come, and
get in as he was able - I wouldn't be there, and my fellow servants should be
equally out of the way.
    Was it right, or wrong? I fear it was wrong, though expedient. I thought I
prevented another explosion by my compliance; and I thought too, it might create
a favourable crisis in Catherine's mental illness: and then I remembered Mr.
Edgar's stern rebuke of my carrying tales; and I tried to smooth away all
disquietude on the subject, by affirming, with frequent iteration, that, that
betrayal of trust, if it merited so harsh an appellation, should be the last.
    Notwithstanding, my journey homeward was sadder than my journey thither; and
many misgivings I had, ere I could prevail on myself to put the missive in Mrs.
Linton's hand.
    But here is Kenneth - I'll go down, and tell him how much better you are. My
history is dree, as we say, and will serve to wile away another morning.
 
Dree, and dreary! I reflected as the good woman descended to receive the doctor;
and not exactly of the kind which I should have chosen to amuse me; but never
mind! I'll extract wholesome medicines from Mrs. Dean's bitter herbs; and
firstly, let me beware of the fascination that lurks in Catherine Heathcliff's
brilliant eyes. I should be in a curious taking if I surrendered my heart to
that young person, and the daughter turned out a second edition of the mother!
 

                                   Chapter XV

Another week over - and I am so many days nearer health, and spring! I have now
heard all my neighbour's history, at different sittings, as the housekeeper
could spare time from more important occupations. I'll continue it in her own
words, only a little condensed. She is, on the whole, a very fair narrator and I
don't think I could improve her style.
    In the evening, she said, the evening of my visit to the Heights, I knew as
well as if I saw him, that Mr. Heathcliff was about the place; and I shunned
going out, because I still carried his letter in my pocket, and didn't want to
be threatened, or teased any more.
    I had made up my mind not to give it till my master went somewhere; as I
could not guess how its receipt would affect Catherine. The consequence was,
that it did not reach her before the lapse of three days. The fourth was Sunday,
and I brought it into her room, after the family were gone to church.
    There was a man servant left to keep the house with me, and we generally
made a practice of locking the doors during the hours of service; but on that
occasion, the weather was so warm and pleasant that I set them wide open; and to
fulfil my engagement, as I knew who would be coming, I told my companion that
the mistress wished very much for some oranges, and he must run over to the
village, and get a few, to be paid for on the morrow. He departed, and I went
up-stairs.
    Mrs. Linton sat in a loose, white dress, with a light shawl over her
shoulders, in the recess of the open window, as usual. Her thick, long hair had
been partly removed at the beginning of her illness; and now, she wore it simply
combed in its natural tresses over her temples and neck. Her appearance was
altered, as I had told Heathcliff, but when she was calm, there seemed unearthly
beauty in the change.
    The flash of her eyes had been succeeded by a dreamy and melancholy
softness: they no longer gave the impression of looking at the objects around
her; they appeared always to gaze beyond, and far beyond - you would have said
out of this world - Then, the paleness of her face, its haggard aspect having
vanished as she recovered flesh, and the peculiar expression arising from her
mental state, though painfully suggestive of their causes, added to the touching
interest, which she awakened, and invariably to me, I know, and to any person
who saw her, I should think, refuted more tangible proofs of convalescence and
stamped her as one doomed to decay.
    A book lay spread on the sill before her, and the scarcely perceptible wind
fluttered its leaves at intervals. I believe Linton had laid it there, for she
never endeavoured to divert herself with reading, or occupation of any kind; and
he would spend many an hour in trying to entice her attention to some subject
which had formerly been her amusement.
    She was conscious of his aim, and in her better moods, endured his efforts
placidly; only showing their uselessness by now and then suppressing a wearied
sigh, and restraining him at last with the saddest of smiles and kisses. At
other times, she would turn petulantly away, and hide her face in her hands, or
even push him off angrily; and then he took care to let her alone, for he was
certain of doing no good.
    Gimmerton chapel bells were still ringing; and the full, mellow flow of the
beck in the valley, came soothingly on the ear. It was a sweet substitute for
the yet absent murmur of the summer foliage which drowned that music about the
Grange, when the trees were in leaf. At Wuthering Heights it always sounded on
quiet days, following a great thaw, or a season of steady rain - and, of
Wuthering Heights, Catherine was thinking as she listened; that is, if she
thought, or listened, at all; but she had the vague, distant look I mentioned
before, which expressed no recognition of material things either by ear or eye.
    »There's a letter for you, Mrs. Linton,« I said, gently inserting it in one
hand that rested on her knee. »You must read it immediately, because it wants an
answer. Shall I break the seal?«
    »Yes,« she answered, without altering the direction of her eyes.
    I opened it - it was very short.
    »Now,« I continued, »read it.«
    She drew away her hand, and let it fall. I replaced it in her lap, and stood
waiting till it should please her to glance down; but that movement was so long
delayed that at last I resumed -
    »Must I read it, ma'am? It is from Mr. Heathcliff.«
    There was a start, and a troubled gleam of recollection, and a struggle to
arrange her ideas. She lifted the letter, and seemed to peruse it; and when she
came to the signature she sighed; yet still I found she had not gathered its
import; for upon my desiring to hear her reply she merely pointed to the name,
and gazed at me with mournful and questioning eagerness.
    »Well, he wishes to see you,« said I, guessing her need of an interpreter.
»He's in the garden by this time, and impatient to know what answer I shall
bring.«
    As I spoke, I observed a large dog lying on the sunny grass beneath, raise
its ears, as if about to bark; and then smoothing them back, announce by a wag
of the tail that someone approached whom it did not consider a stranger.
    Mrs. Linton bent forward, and listened breathlessly. The minute after a step
traversed the hall; the open house was too tempting for Heathcliff to resist
walking in: most likely he supposed that I was inclined to shirk my promise, and
so resolved to trust to his own audacity.
    With straining eagerness Catherine gazed towards the entrance of her
chamber. He did not hit the right room directly; she motioned me to admit him;
but he found it out, ere I could reach the door, and in a stride or two was at
her side, and had her grasped in his arms.
    He neither spoke, nor loosed his hold, for some five minutes, during which
period he bestowed more kisses than ever he gave in his life before, I dare say;
but then my mistress had kissed him first, and I plainly saw that he could
hardly bear, for downright agony, to look into her face! The same conviction had
stricken him as me, from the instant he beheld her, that there was no prospect
of ultimate recovery there - she was fated, sure to die.
    »Oh, Cathy! Oh my life! how can I bear it?« was the first sentence he
uttered, in a tone that did not seek to disguise his despair.
    And now he stared at her so earnestly that I thought the very intensity of
his gaze would bring tears into his eyes; but they burned with anguish, they did
not melt.
    »What now?« said Catherine, leaning back, and returning his look with a
suddenly clouded brow - her humour was a mere vane for constantly varying
caprices. »You and Edgar have broken my heart, Heathcliff! And you both come to
bewail the deed to me, as if you were the people to be pitied! I shall not pity
you, not I. You have killed me - and thriven on it, I think. How strong you are!
How many years do you mean to live after I am gone?«
    Heathcliff had knelt on one knee to embrace her; he attempted to rise, but
she seized his hair, and kept him down.
    »I wish I could hold you,« she continued, bitterly, »till we were both dead!
I shouldn't care what you suffered. I care nothing for your sufferings. Why
shouldn't you suffer? I do! Will you forget me - will you be happy when I am in
the earth? Will you say twenty years hence, That's the grave of Catherine
Earnshaw. I loved her long ago, and was wretched to lose her; but it is past.
I've loved many others since - my children are dearer to me than she was, and,
at death, I shall not rejoice that I am going to her, I shall be sorry that I
must lose them! Will you say so, Heathcliff?«
    »Don't torture me till I'm as mad as yourself,« cried he, wrenching his head
free, and grinding his teeth.
    The two, to a cool spectator, made a strange and fearful picture. Well might
Catherine deem that heaven would be a land of exile to her, unless, with her
mortal body, she cast away her mortal character also. Her present countenance
had a wild vindictiveness in its white cheek, and a bloodless lip, and
scintillating eye; and she retained, in her closed fingers, a portion of the
locks she had been grasping. As to her companion, while raising himself with one
hand, he had taken her arm with the other; and so inadequate was his stock of
gentleness to the requirements of her condition, that on his letting go, I saw
four distinct impressions left blue in the colourless skin.
    »Are you possessed with a devil,« he pursued, savagely, »to talk in that
manner to me, when you are dying? Do you reflect that all those words will be
branded in my memory, and eating deeper eternally, after you have left me? You
know you lie to say I have killed you; and, Catherine, you know that I could as
soon forget you, as my existence! Is it not sufficient for your infernal
selfishness, that while you are at peace I shall writhe in the torments of
hell?«
    »I shall not be at peace,« moaned Catherine, recalled to a sense of physical
weakness by the violent, unequal throbbing of her heart, which beat visibly, and
audibly under this excess of agitation.
    She said nothing further till the paroxysm was over; then she continued,
more kindly -
    »I'm not wishing you greater torment than I have, Heathcliff! I only wish us
never to be parted - and should a word of mine distress you hereafter, think I
feel the same distress underground, and for my own sake, forgive me! Come here
and kneel down again! You never harmed me in your life. Nay, if you nurse anger,
that will be worse to remember than my harsh words! Won't you come here again?
Do!«
    Heathcliff went to the back of her chair, and leant over, but not so far as
to let her see his face, which was livid with emotion. She bent round to look at
him; he would not permit it; turning abruptly, he walked to the fire-place,
where he stood, silent, with his back towards us.
    Mrs. Linton's glance followed him suspiciously: every movement woke a new
sentiment in her. After a pause, and a prolonged gaze, she resumed, addressing
me in accents of indignant disappointment.
    »Oh, you see, Nelly! he would not relent a moment, to keep me out of the
grave! That is how I'm loved! Well, never mind! That is not my Heathcliff. I
shall love mine yet; and take him with me - he's in my soul. And,« added she,
musingly, »the thing that irks me most is this shattered prison, after all. I'm
tired, tired of being enclosed here. I'm wearying to escape into that glorious
world, and to be always there; not seeing it dimly through tears, and yearning
for it through the walls of an aching heart; but really with it, and in it.
Nelly, you think you are better and more fortunate than I; in full health and
strength - you are sorry for me - very soon that will be altered. I shall be
sorry for you. I shall be incomparably beyond and above you all. I wonder he
won't be near me!« She went on to herself. »I thought he wished it. Heathcliff
dear! you should not be sullen now. Do come to me, Heathcliff.«
    In her eagerness she rose, and supported herself on the arm of the chair. At
that earnest appeal, he turned to her, looking absolutely desperate. His eyes
wide, and wet, at last, flashed fiercely on her; his breast heaved convulsively.
An instant they held asunder; and then how they met I hardly saw, but Catherine
made a spring, and he caught her, and they were locked in an embrace from which
I thought my mistress would never be released alive. In fact, to my eyes, she
seemed directly insensible. He flung himself into the nearest seat, and on my
approaching hurriedly to ascertain if she had fainted, he gnashed at me, and
foamed like a mad dog, and gathered her to him with greedy jealousy. I did not
feel as if I were in the company of a creature of my own species; it appeared
that he would not understand, though I spoke to him; so, I stood off, and held
my tongue, in great perplexity.
    A movement of Catherine's relieved me a little presently: she put up her
hand to clasp his neck, and bring her cheek to his, as he held her: while he, in
return, covering her with frantic caresses, said wildly -
    »You teach me now how cruel you've been - cruel and false. Why did you
despise me? Why did you betray your own heart, Cathy? I have not one word of
comfort - you deserve this. You have killed yourself. Yes, you may kiss me, and
cry; and wring out my kisses and tears. They'll blight you - they'll damn you.
You loved me - then what right had you to leave me? What right - answer me - for
the poor fancy you felt for Linton? Because misery, and degradation, and death,
and nothing that God or satan could inflict would have parted us, you, of your
own will, did it. I have not broken your heart - you have broken it - and in
breaking it, you have broken mine. So much the worse for me, that I am strong.
Do I want to live? What kind of living will it be when you - oh God! would you
like to live with your soul in the grave?«
    »Let me alone. Let me alone,« sobbed Catherine. »If I've done wrong, I'm
dying for it. It is enough! You left me too; but I won't upbraid you! I forgive
you. Forgive me!«
    »It is hard to forgive, and to look at those eyes, and feel those wasted
hands,« he answered. »Kiss me again; and don't let me see your eyes! I forgive
what you have done to me. I love my murderer - but yours! How can I?«
    They were silent - their faces hid against each other, and washed by each
other's tears. At least, I suppose the weeping was on both sides; as it seemed
Heathcliff could weep on a great occasion like this.
    I grew very uncomfortable, meanwhile; for the afternoon wore fast away, the
man whom I had sent off returned from his errand, and I could distinguish, by
the shine of the westering sun up the valley, a concourse thickening outside
Gimmerton chapel porch.
    »Service is over,« I announced. »My master will be here in half-an-hour.«
    Heathcliff groaned a curse, and strained Catherine closer - she never moved.
    Ere long I perceived a group of the servants passing up the road towards the
kitchen wing. Mr. Linton was not far behind; he opened the gate himself, and
sauntered slowly up, probably enjoying the lovely afternoon that breathed as
soft as summer.
    »Now he is here,« I exclaimed. »For Heaven's sake, hurry down! You'll not
meet any one on the front stairs. Do be quick; and stay among the trees till he
is fairly in.«
    »I must go, Cathy,« said Heathcliff, seeking to extricate himself from his
companion's arms. »But, if I live, I'll see you again before you are asleep. I
won't stray five yards from your window.«
    »You must not go!« she answered, holding him as firmly as her strength
allowed. »You shall not, I tell you.«
    »For one hour,« he pleaded earnestly.
    »Not for one minute,« she replied.
    »I must - Linton will be up immediately,« persisted the alarmed intruder.
    He would have risen, and unfixed her fingers by the act - she clung fast
gasping; there was mad resolution in her face.
    »No!« she shrieked. »Oh, don't, don't go. It is the last time! Edgar will
not hurt us. Heathcliff, I shall die! I shall die!«
    »Damn the fool! There he is,« cried Heathcliff, sinking back into his seat.
»Hush, my darling! Hush, hush, Catherine! I'll stay. If he shot me so, I'd
expire with a blessing on my lips.«
    And there they were fast again. I heard my master mounting the stairs - the
cold sweat ran from my forehead; I was horrified.
    »Are you going to listen to her ravings?« I said, passionately. »She does
not know what she says. Will you ruin her, because she has not wit to help
herself? Get up! You could be free instantly. That is the most diabolical deed
that ever you did. We are all done for - master, mistress, and servant.«
    I wrung my hands, and cried out; and Mr. Linton hastened his step at the
noise. In the midst of my agitation, I was sincerely glad to observe that
Catherine's arms had fallen relaxed, and her head hung down.
    »She's fainted or dead,« I thought, »so much the better. Far better that she
should be dead, than lingering a burden, and a misery-maker to all about her.«
    Edgar sprang to his unbidden guest, blanched with astonishment and rage.
What he meant to do, I cannot tell; however, the other stopped all
demonstrations, at once, by placing the lifeless-looking form in his arms.
    »Look there,« he said, »unless you be a fiend, help her first - then you
shall speak to me!«
    He walked into the parlour, and sat down. Mr. Linton summoned me, and with
great difficulty, and after resorting to many means, we managed to restore her
to sensation; but she was all bewildered; she sighed, and moaned, and knew
nobody. Edgar, in his anxiety for her, forgot her hated friend. I did not. I
went, at the earliest opportunity, and besought him to depart, affirming that
Catherine was better, and he should hear from me in the morning, how she passed
the night.
    »I shall not refuse to go out of doors,« he answered; »but I shall stay in
the garden; and, Nelly, mind you keep your word to-morrow. I shall be under
those larch trees, mind! or I pay another visit, whether Linton be in or not.«
    He sent a rapid glance through the half-open door of the chamber, and
ascertaining that what I stated was apparently true, delivered the house of his
luckless presence.
 

                                  Chapter XVI

About twelve o'clock, that night, was born the Catherine you saw at Wuthering
Heights, a puny, seven months' child; and two hours after the mother died,
having never recovered sufficient consciousness to miss Heathcliff or know
Edgar.
    The latter's distraction at his bereavement is a subject too painful to be
dwelt on; its after effects showed how deep the sorrow sunk.
    A great addition, in my eyes, was his being left without an heir. I bemoaned
that, as I gazed on the feeble orphan; and I mentally abused old Linton for,
what was only natural partiality, the securing his estate to his own daughter,
instead of his son's.
    An unwelcomed infant it was, poor thing! It might have wailed out of life,
and nobody cared a morsel, during those first hours of existence. We redeemed
the neglect afterwards; but its beginning was as friendless as its end is likely
to be.
    Next morning - bright and cheerful out of doors - stole softened in through
the blinds of the silent room, and suffused the couch and its occupant with a
mellow, tender glow.
    Edgar Linton had his head laid on the pillow, and his eyes shut. His young
and fair features were almost as deathlike as those of the form beside him, and
almost as fixed; but his was the hush of exhausted anguish, and hers of perfect
peace. Her brow smooth, her lids closed, her lips wearing the expression of a
smile. No angel in heaven could be more beautiful than she appeared; and I
partook of the infinite calm in which she lay. My mind was never in a holier
frame, than while I gazed on that untroubled image of Divine rest. I
instinctively echoed the words she had uttered, a few hours before.
»Incomparably beyond, and above us all! Whether still on earth or now in heaven
her spirit is at home with God!«
    I don't know if it be a peculiarity in me, but I am seldom otherwise than
happy while watching in the chamber of death, should no frenzied or despairing
mourner share the duty with me. I see a repose that neither earth nor hell can
break; and I feel an assurance of the endless and shadowless hereafter - the
Eternity they have entered - where life is boundless in its duration, and love
in its sympathy, and joy in its fullness. I noticed on that occasion how much
selfishness there is even in a love like Mr. Linton's, when he so regretted
Catherine's blessed release!
    To be sure one might have doubted, after the wayward and impatient existence
she had led, whether she merited a haven of peace at last. One might doubt in
seasons of cold reflection, but not then, in the presence of her corpse. It
asserted its own tranquillity, which seemed a pledge of equal quiet to its
former inhabitant.
    »Do you believe such people are happy in the other world, sir? I'd give a
great deal to know.«
    I declined answering Mrs. Dean's question, which struck me as something
heterodox. She proceeded:
    »Retracing the course of Catherine Linton, I fear we have no right to think
she is: but we'll leave her with her Maker.«
    The master looked asleep, and I ventured soon after sunrise to quit the room
and steal out to the pure, refreshing air. The servants thought me gone to shake
off the drowsiness of my protracted watch; in reality my chief motive was seeing
Mr. Heathcliff. If he had remained among the larches all night he would have
heard nothing of the stir at the Grange, unless, perhaps, he might catch the
gallop of the messenger going to Gimmerton. If he had come nearer he would
probably be aware, from the lights flitting to and fro, and the opening and
shutting of the outer doors, that all was not right within.
    I wished yet feared to find him. I felt the terrible news must be told, and
I longed to get it over, but how to do it I did not know.
    He was there - at least a few yards further in the park; leant against an
old ash tree, his hat off, and his hair soaked with the dew that had gathered on
the budded branches, and fell pattering round him. He had been standing a long
time in that position, for I saw a pair of ousels passing and repassing,
scarcely three feet from him, busy in building their nest, and regarding his
proximity no more than that of a piece of timber. They flew off at my approach,
and he raised his eyes and spoke:
    »She's dead!« he said; »I've not waited for you to learn that. Put your
handkerchief away - don't snivel before me. Damn you all! she wants none of your
tears!«
    I was weeping as much for him as her: we do sometimes pity creatures that
have none of the feeling either for themselves or others; and when I first
looked into his face I perceived that he had got intelligence of the
catastrophe; and a foolish notion struck me that his heart was quelled, and he
prayed, because his lips moved, and his gaze was bent on the ground.
    »Yes, she's dead!« I answered, checking my sobs, and drying my cheeks. »Gone
to heaven, I hope, where we may, every one, join her, if we take due warning,
and leave our evil ways to follow good!«
    »Did she take due warning, then?« asked Heathcliff, attempting a sneer. »Did
she die like a saint? Come, give me a true history of the event. How did -«
    He endeavoured to pronounce the name, but could not manage it; and
compressing his mouth, he held a silent combat with his inward agony, defying,
meanwhile, my sympathy with an unflinching, ferocious stare.
    »How did she die?« he resumed, at last - fain, notwithstanding his
hardihood, to have a support behind him, for, after the struggle, he trembled,
in spite of himself, to his very finger-ends.
    »Poor wretch!« I thought; »you have a heart and nerves the same as your
brother men! Why should you be anxious to conceal them? your pride cannot blind
God! You tempt him to wring them, till he forces a cry of humiliation!«
    »Quietly as a lamb!« I answered, aloud. »She drew a sigh, and stretched
herself, like a child reviving, and sinking again to sleep; and five minutes
after I felt one little pulse at her heart, and nothing more!«
    »And - did she ever mention me?« he asked, hesitating, as if he dreaded the
answer to his question would introduce details that he could not bear to hear.
    »Her senses never returned - she recognized nobody from the time you left
her,« I said. »She lies with a sweet smile on her face; and her latest ideas
wandered back to pleasant early days. Her life closed in a gentle dream - may
she wake as kindly in the other world!«
    »May she wake in torment!« he cried, with frightful vehemence, stamping his
foot, and groaning in a sudden paroxysm of ungovernable passion. »Why, she's a
liar to the end! Where is she? Not there - not in heaven - not perished - where?
Oh! you said you cared nothing for my sufferings! And I pray one prayer - I
repeat it till my tongue stiffens - Catherine Earnshaw, may you not rest, as
long as I am living! You said I killed you - haunt me then! The murdered do
haunt their murderers. I believe - I know that ghosts have wandered on earth. Be
with me always - take any form - drive me mad! only do not leave me in this
abyss, where I cannot find you! Oh, God! it is unutterable! I cannot live
without my life! I cannot live without my soul!«
    He dashed his head against the knotted trunk; and, lifting up his eyes,
howled, not like a man, but like a savage beast getting goaded to death with
knives and spears.
    I observed several splashes of blood about the bark of the tree, and his
hand and forehead were both stained; probably the scene I witnessed was a
repetition of others acted during the night. It hardly moved my compassion - it
appalled me; still I felt reluctant to quit him so. But the moment he
recollected himself enough to notice me watching, he thundered a command for me
to go, and I obeyed. He was beyond my skill to quiet or console!
    Mrs. Linton's funeral was appointed to take place on the Friday following
her decease; and till then her coffin remained uncovered, and strewn with
flowers and scented leaves, in the great drawing-room. Linton spent his days and
nights there, a sleepless guardian; and - a circumstance concealed from all but
me - Heathcliff spent his nights, at least, outside, equally a stranger to
repose.
    I held no communication with him; still I was conscious of his design to
enter, if he could; and on the Tuesday, a little after dark, when my master from
sheer fatigue, had been compelled to retire a couple of hours, I went and opened
one of the windows, moved by his perseverance to give him a chance of bestowing
on the fading image of his idol one final adieu.
    He did not omit to avail himself of the opportunity, cautiously and briefly;
too cautiously to betray his presence by the slightest noise; indeed, I
shouldn't have discovered that he had been there, except for the disarrangement
of the drapery about the corpse's face, and for observing on the floor a curl of
light hair, fastened with a silver thread, which, on examination, I ascertained
to have been taken from a locket hung round Catherine's neck. Heathcliff had
opened the trinket, and cast out its contents, replacing them by a black lock of
his own. I twisted the two, and enclosed them together.
    Mr. Earnshaw was, of course, invited to attend the remains of his sister to
the grave; and he sent no excuse, but he never came; so that besides her
husband, the mourners were wholly composed of tenants and servants. Isabella was
not asked.
    The place of Catherine's interment, to the surprise of the villagers, was
neither in the chapel, under the carved monument of the Lintons, nor yet by the
tombs of her own relations, outside. It was dug on a green slope, in a corner of
the kirkyard, where the wall is so low that heath and bilberry plants have
climbed over it from the moor; and peat mould almost buries it. Her husband lies
in the same spot, now; and they have each a simple headstone, above, and a plain
grey block at their feet, to mark the graves.
 

                                  Chapter XVII

That Friday made the last of our fine days, for a month. In the evening, the
weather broke; the wind shifted from south to north-east, and brought rain,
first, and then sleet, and snow.
    On the morrow one could hardly imagine that there had been three weeks of
summer: the primroses and crocuses were hidden under wintry drifts: the larks
were silent, the young leaves of the early trees smitten and blackened - And
dreary, and chill, and dismal that morrow did creep over! My master kept his
room - I took possession of the lonely parlour, converting it into a nursery;
and there I was sitting, with the moaning doll of a child laid on my knee;
rocking it to and fro, and watching, meanwhile, the still driving flakes build
up the uncurtained window, when the door opened, and some person entered out of
breath, and laughing!
    My anger was greater than my astonishment for a minute; I supposed it one of
the maids, and I cried,
    »Have done! How dare you show your giddiness, here? What would Mr. Linton
say if he heard you?«
    »Excuse me!« answered a familiar voice, »but I know Edgar is in bed, and I
cannot stop myself.«
    With that, the speaker came forward to the fire, panting and holding her
hand, to her side.
    »I have run the whole way from Wuthering Heights!« she continued, after a
pause. »Except where I've flown - I couldn't count the number of falls I've had
- Oh, I'm aching all over! Don't be alarmed - There shall be an explanation as
soon as I can give it - only just have the goodness to step out, and order the
carriage to take me on to Gimmerton, and tell a servant to seek up a few clothes
in my wardrobe.«
    The intruder was Mrs. Heathcliff - she certainly seemed in no laughing
predicament: her hair streamed on her shoulders dripping with snow and water;
she was dressed in the girlish dress she commonly wore, befitting her age more
than her position; a low frock, with short sleeves, and nothing on either head,
or neck. The frock was of light silk, and clung to her with wet; and her feet
were protected merely by thin slippers; add to this a deep cut under one ear,
which only the cold prevented from bleeding profusely, a white face scratched
and bruised, and a frame hardly able to support itself through fatigue, and you
may fancy my first fright was not much allayed when I had leisure to examine
her.
    »My dear young lady,« I exclaimed, »I'll stir no-where, and hear nothing,
till you have removed every article of your clothes, and put on dry things; and
certainly you shall not go to Gimmerton to-night; so it is needless to order the
carriage.«
    »Certainly, I shall;« she said; »walking or riding - yet I've no objection
to dress myself decently; and - ah, see how it flows down my neck now! The fire
does make it smart.«
    She insisted on my fulfilling her directions, before she would let me touch
her; and not till after the coachman had been instructed to get ready, and a
maid set to pack up some necessary attire, did I obtain her consent for binding
the wound, and helping to change her garments.
    »Now, Ellen,« she said when my task was finished, and she was seated in an
easy chair on the hearth, with a cup of tea before her, »You sit down opposite
me, and put poor Catherine's baby away - I don't like to see it! You mustn't
think I care little for Catherine, because I behaved so foolishly on entering -
I've cried too, bitterly - yes, more than any one else has reason to cry - we
parted unreconciled, you remember, and I shan't forgive myself. But for all
that, I was not going to sympathise with him - the brute beast! O give me the
poker! This is the last thing of his I have about me,« she slipped the gold ring
from her third finger, and threw it on the floor. »I'll smash it!« she continued
striking with childish spite. »And then I'll burn it!« and she took and dropped
the misused article among the coals. »There! he shall buy another, if he gets me
back again. He'd be capable of coming to seek me, to tease Edgar - I dare not
stay, lest that notion should possess his wicked head! And besides, Edgar has
not been kind, has he? And I won't come suing for his assistance; nor will I
bring him into more trouble - Necessity compelled me to seek shelter here;
though if I had not learnt he was out of the way, I'd have halted at the
kitchen, washed my face, warmed myself, got you to bring what I wanted, and
departed again to anywhere out of reach of my accursed - of that incarnate
goblin! Ah, he was in such a fury - if he had caught me! It's a pity, Earnshaw
is not his match in strength - I wouldn't have run, till I'd seen him all but
demolished, had Hindley been able to do it!«
    »Well, don't talk so fast, Miss!« I interrupted, »you'll disorder the
handkerchief I have tied round your face, and make the cut bleed again - Drink
your tea, and take breath and give over laughing - Laughter is sadly out of
place under this roof, and in your condition!«
    »An undeniable truth,« she replied, »Listen to that child! It maintains a
constant wail - send it out of my hearing, for an hour; I shan't stay any
longer.«
    I rang the bell, and committed it to a servant's care; and then I inquired
what had urged her to escape from Wuthering Heights in such an unlikely plight -
and where she meant to go, as she refused remaining with us?
    »I ought, and I wish to remain;« answered she; »to cheer Edgar, and take
care of the baby, for two things, and because the Grange is my right home - but
I tell you, he wouldn't let me! Do you think he could bear to see me grow fat,
and merry; and could bear to think that we were tranquil, and not resolve on
poisoning our comfort? Now, I have the satisfaction of being sure that he
detests me to the point of its annoying him seriously to have me within earshot,
or eye-sight - I notice, when I enter his presence, the muscles of his
countenance are involuntarily distorted into an expression of hatred; partly
arising from his knowledge of the good causes I have to feel that sentiment for
him, and partly from original aversion - It is strong enough to make me feel
pretty certain that he would not chase me over England, supposing I contrived a
clear escape; and therefore I must get quite away. I've recovered from my first
desire to be killed by him. I'd rather he'd kill himself! He has extinguished my
love effectually, and so I'm at my ease. I can recollect yet how I loved him;
and can dimly imagine that I could still be loving him, if - No, no! Even, if he
had doted on me, the devilish nature would have revealed its existence, somehow.
Catherine had an awfully perverted taste to esteem him so dearly, knowing him so
well - Monster! would that he could be blotted out of creation, and out of my
memory!«
    »Hush, hush! He's a human being,« I said. »Be more charitable; there are
worse men than he is yet!«
    »He's not a human being:« she retorted; »and he has no claim on my charity -
I gave him my heart, and he took and pinched it to death; and flung it back to
me - people feel with their hearts, Ellen, and since he has destroyed mine, I
have not power to feel for him, and I would not, though he groaned from this, to
his dying day; and wept tears of blood for Catherine! No, indeed, indeed, I
wouldn't!« And here Isabella began to cry; but, immediately dashing the water
from her lashes, she recommenced.
    »You asked, what has driven me to flight at last? I was compelled to attempt
it, because I had succeeded in rousing his rage a pitch above his malignity.
Pulling out the nerves with red hot pincers, requires more coolness than
knocking on the head. He was worked up to forget the fiendish prudence he
boasted of, and proceeding to murderous violence: I experienced pleasure in
being able to exasperate him: the sense of pleasure woke my instinct of
self-preservation; so, I fairly broke free, and if ever I come into his hands
again he is welcome to a signal revenge.
    Yesterday, you know, Mr. Earnshaw should have been at the funeral. He kept
himself sober, for the purpose - tolerably sober; not going to-bed mad, at six
o'clock and getting up drunk, at twelve. Consequently, he rose, in suicidal low
spirits; as fit for the church, as for a dance; and instead, he sat down by the
fire, and swallowed gin or brandy by tumblerfuls.
    Heathcliff - I shudder to name him! has been a stranger in the house from
last Sunday till to-day - Whether the angels have fed him, or his kin beneath, I
cannot tell; but, he has not eaten a meal with us for nearly a week - He has
just come home at dawn, and gone upstairs to his chamber; locking himself in -
as if anybody dreamt of coveting his company! There he has continued, praying
like a methodist; only the deity he implored is senseless dust and ashes; and
God, when addressed, was curiously confounded with his own black father! After
concluding these precious orisons - and they lasted generally till he grew
hoarse, and his voice was strangled in his throat, he would be off again; always
straight down to the Grange! I wonder Edgar did not send for a constable, and
give him into custody! For me, grieved as I was about Catherine, it was
impossible to avoid regarding this season of deliverance from degrading
oppression as a holiday.
    I recovered spirits sufficient to hear Joseph's eternal lectures without
weeping; and to move up and down the house, less with the foot of a frightened
thief, than formerly. You wouldn't think that I should cry at anything Joseph
could say, but he and Hareton are detestable companions. I'd rather sit with
Hindley, and hear his awful talk, than with t' little master, and his staunch
supporter, that odious old man!
    When Heathcliff is in, I'm often obliged to seek the kitchen, and their
society, or starve among the damp, uninhabited chambers; when he is not, as was
the case this week, I establish a table, and chair, at one corner of the house
fire, and never mind how Mr. Earnshaw may occupy himself; and he does not
interfere with my arrangements: he is quieter, now, than he used to be, if no
one provokes him; more sullen and depressed, and less furious. Joseph affirms
he's sure he's an altered man; that the Lord has touched his heart, and he is
saved so as by fire. I'm puzzled to detect signs of the favourable change, but
it is not my business.
    Yester-evening, I sat in my nook reading some old books, till late on
towards twelve. It seemed so dismal to go up-stairs, with the wild snow blowing
outside, and my thoughts continually reverting to the kirkyard, and the new made
grave! I dared hardly lift my eyes from the page before me, that melancholy
scene so instantly usurped its place.
    Hindley sat opposite; his head leant on his hand, perhaps meditating on the
same subject. He had ceased drinking at a point below irrationality, and had
neither stirred, nor spoken during two or three hours. There was no sound
through the house, but the moaning wind which shook the windows every now and
then: the faint crackling of the coals; and the click of my snuffers as I
removed at intervals the long wick of the candle. Hareton and Joseph were
probably fast asleep in bed. It was very, very sad, and while I read, I sighed,
for it seemed as if all joy had vanished from the world, never to be restored.
    The doleful silence was broken, at length, by the sound of the kitchen latch
- Heathcliff had returned from his watch earlier than usual, owing, I suppose,
to the sudden storm.
    That entrance was fastened; and we heard him coming round to get in by the
other. I rose with an irrepressible expression of what I felt on my lips, which
induced my companion, who had been staring towards the door, to turn and look at
me.
    I'll keep him out five minutes, he exclaimed. You won't object?
    No, you may keep him out the whole night, for me, I answered. Do! put the
key in the lock, and draw the bolts.
    Earnshaw accomplished this, ere his guest reached the front; he then came,
and brought his chair to the other side of my table; leaning over it, and
searching in my eyes, a sympathy with the burning hate that gleamed from his: as
he both looked, and felt like an assassin, he couldn't exactly find that; but he
discovered enough to encourage him to speak.
    You, and I, he said, have each a great debt to settle with the man out
yonder! If we were neither of us cowards, we might combine to discharge it. Are
you as soft as your brother? Are you willing to endure to the last, and not once
attempt a repayment?
    I'm weary of enduring now; I replied, and I'd be glad of a retaliation that
wouldn't recoil on myself; but treachery, and violence, are spears pointed at
both ends - they wound those who resort to them, worse than their enemies.
    Treachery and violence are a just return for treachery and violence! cried
Hindley. Mrs. Heathcliff, I'll ask you to do nothing, but sit still, and be dumb
- Tell me now, can you? I'm sure you would have as much pleasure as I, in
witnessing the conclusion of the fiend's existence, he'll be your death unless
you overreach him - and he'll be my ruin - Damn the hellish villain! He knocks
at the door, as if he were master here, already! Promise to hold your tongue,
and before that clock strikes - it wants three minutes of one - you're a free
woman!
    He took the implements which I described to you in my letter from his
breast, and would have turned down the candle - I snatched it away, however, and
seized his arm.
    I'll not hold my tongue! I said, You mustn't touch him ... Let the door
remain shut and be quiet!
    No! I've formed my resolution, and by God, I'll execute it! cried the
desperate being, I'll do you a kindness, in spite of yourself, and Hareton
justice! And you needn't trouble your head to screen me, Catherine is gone -
Nobody alive would regret me, or be ashamed though I cut my throat, this minute
- and it's time to make an end!
    I might as well have struggled with a bear; or reasoned with a lunatic. The
only resource left me was to run to a lattice, and warn his intended victim of
the fate which awaited him.
    You'd better seek shelter somewhere else to-night! I exclaimed in a rather
triumphant tone. Mr. Earnshaw has a mind to shoot you, if you persist in
endeavouring to enter.
    You'd better open the door, you -- he answered, addressing me by some
elegant term that I don't care to repeat.
    I shall not meddle in the matter, I retorted again. Come in, and get shot,
if you please! I've done my duty.
    With that I shut the window, and returned to my place by the fire; having
too small a stock of hypocrisy at my command to pretend any anxiety for the
danger that menaced him.
    Earnshaw swore passionately at me; affirming that I loved the villain yet:
and calling me all sorts of names for the base spirit I evinced. And I, in my
secret heart, (and conscience never reproached me) thought what a blessing it
would be for him, should Heathcliff put him out of misery: and what a blessing
for me, should he send Heathcliff to his right abode! As I sat nursing these
reflections, the casement behind me, was banged on to the floor by a blow from
the latter individual; and his black countenance looked blightingly through. The
stanchions stood too close to suffer his shoulders to follow; and I smiled,
exulting in my fancied security. His hair and clothes were whitened with snow,
and his sharp cannibal teeth, revealed by cold and wrath, gleamed through the
dark.
    Isabella, let me in, or I'll make you repent! he girned, as Joseph calls it.
    I cannot commit murder; I replied. Mr. Hindley stands sentinel with a knife,
and loaded pistol.
    Let me in by the kitchen door! he said.
    Hindley will be there before me, I answered. And that's a poor love of
yours, that cannot bear a shower of snow! We were left at peace in our beds, as
long as the summer moon shone, but the moment a blast of winter returns, you
must run for shelter! Heathcliff, if I were you, I'd go stretch myself over her
grave, and die like a faithful dog ... The world is surely not worth living in
now, is it? You had distinctly impressed on me, the idea that Catherine was the
whole joy of your life - I can't imagine how you think of surviving her loss.
    He's there ... is he? exclaimed my companion, rushing to the gap. If I can
get my arm out I can hit him!
    I'm afraid, Ellen, you'll set me down, as really wicked - but you don't know
all, so don't judge! I wouldn't have aided or abetted an attempt on even his
life, for anything - Wish that he were dead, I must; and therefore, I was
fearfully disappointed, and unnerved by terror for the consequences of my
taunting speech when he flung himself on Earnshaw's weapon and wrenched it from
his grasp.
    The charge exploded, and the knife, in springing back, closed into its
owner's wrist. Heathcliff pulled it away by main force, slitting up the flesh as
it passed on, and thrust it dripping into his pocket. He then took a stone,
struck down the division between two windows and sprung in. His adversary had
fallen senseless with excessive pain, and the flow of blood that gushed from an
artery, or a large vein.
    The ruffian kicked and trampled on him, and dashed his head repeatedly
against the flags; holding me with one hand, meantime, to prevent me summoning
Joseph.
    He exerted preter-human self-denial in abstaining from finishing him,
completely; but getting out of breath, he finally desisted, and dragged the
apparently inanimate body onto the settle.
    There he tore off the sleeve of Earnshaw's coat, and bound up the wound with
brutal roughness, spitting and cursing, during the operation, as energetically
as he had kicked before.
    Being at liberty, I lost no time in seeking the old servant; who, having
gathered by degrees the purport of my hasty tale, hurried below, gasping, as he
descended the steps two at once.
    Whet is thur tuh do, nah? whet is thur tuh do, nah?
    There's this to do, thundered Heathcliff, that your master's mad; and should
he last another month, I'll have him to an asylum. And how the devil did you
come to fasten me out, you toothless hound? Don't stand muttering and mumbling
there. Come, I'm not going to nurse him. Wash that stuff away; and mind the
sparks of your candle - it is more than half brandy!
    And soa, yah been murthering on him? exclaimed Joseph, lifting his hands and
eyes in horror. If iver Aw seed a seeght like this! May the Lord -
    Heathcliff gave him a push onto his knees, in the middle of the blood; and
flung a towel to him; but instead of proceeding to dry it up, he joined his
hands, and began a prayer which excited my laughter from its odd phraseology. I
was in the condition of mind to be shocked at nothing; in fact, I was as
reckless as some malefactors show themselves at the foot of the gallows.
    Oh, I forgot you, said the tyrant, you shall do that. Down with you. And you
conspire with him against me, do you, viper? There, that is work fit for you!
    He shook me till my teeth rattled, and pitched me beside Joseph, who
steadily concluded his supplications, and then rose, vowing he would set off for
the Grange directly. Mr. Linton was a magistrate, and though he had fifty wives
dead, he should inquire into this.
    He was so obstinate in his resolution that Heathcliff deemed it expedient to
compel, from my lips, a recapitulation of what had taken place; standing over
me, heaving with malevolence, as I reluctantly delivered the account in answer
to his questions.
    It required a great deal of labour to satisfy the old man that he was not
the aggressor; especially with my hardly wrung replies. However, Mr. Earnshaw
soon convinced him that he was alive still; he hastened to administer a dose of
spirits, and by their succour his master presently regained motion and
consciousness.
    Heathcliff, aware that he was ignorant of the treatment received while
insensible, called him deliriously intoxicated; and said he should not notice
his atrocious conduct further; but advised him to get to bed. To my joy, he left
us after giving this judicious counsel, and Hindley stretched himself on the
hearth-stone. I departed to my own room, marvelling that I had escaped so
easily.
    This morning, when I came down, about half-an-hour before noon, Mr. Earnshaw
was sitting by the fire, deadly sick; his evil genius almost as gaunt and
ghastly, leant against the chimney. Neither appeared inclined to dine; and
having waited till all was cold on the table, I commenced alone.
    Nothing hindered me from eating heartily; and I experienced a certain sense
of satisfaction and superiority, as, at intervals, I cast a look towards my
silent companions, and felt the comfort of a quiet conscience within me.
    After I had done, I ventured on the unusual liberty of drawing near the
fire; going round Earnshaw's seat, and kneeling in the corner beside him.
    Heathcliff did not glance my way, and I gazed up, and contemplated his
features, almost as confidently as if they had been turned to stone. His
forehead, that I once thought so manly, and that I now think so diabolical, was
shaded with a heavy cloud; his basilisk eyes were nearly quenched by
sleeplessness - and weeping, perhaps, for the lashes were wet then: his lips
devoid of their ferocious sneer, and sealed in an expression of unspeakable
sadness. Had it been another, I would have covered my face, in the presence of
such grief. In his case, I was gratified: and ignoble as it seems to insult a
fallen enemy, I couldn't miss this chance of sticking in a dart; his weakness
was the only time when I could taste the delight of paying wrong for wrong.«
    »Fie, fie, Miss!« I interrupted. »One might suppose you had never opened a
Bible in your life. If God afflict your enemies, surely that ought to suffice
you. It is both mean and presumptuous to add your torture to his!«
    »In general, I'll allow that it would be, Ellen,« she continued. »But what
misery laid on Heathcliff could content me, unless I have a hand in it? I'd
rather he suffered less, if I might cause his sufferings, and he might know that
I was the cause. Oh, I owe him so much. On only one condition can I hope to
forgive him. It is, if I may take an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, for
every wrench of agony, return a wrench, reduce him to my level. As he was the
first to injure, make him the first to implore pardon; and then - why then,
Ellen, I might show you some generosity. But it is utterly impossible I can ever
be revenged, and therefore I cannot forgive him. Hindley wanted some water, and
I handed him a glass, and asked him how he was.
    Not as ill as I wish, he replied. But leaving out my arm, every inch of me
is as sore as if I had been fighting with a legion of imps!
    Yes, no wonder, was my next remark. Catherine used to boast that she stood
between you and bodily harm - she meant that certain persons would not hurt you,
for fear of offending her. It's well people don't really rise from their grave,
or, last night, she might have witnessed a repulsive scene! Are not you bruised,
and cut over your chest and shoulders?
    I can't say, he answered; but what do you mean? Did he dare to strike me
when I was down?
    He trampled on, and kicked you, and dashed you on the ground, I whispered.
And his mouth watered to tear you with his teeth; because, he's only half a man
- not so much.
    Mr. Earnshaw looked up, like me, to the countenance of our mutual foe; who,
absorbed in his anguish, seemed insensible to anything around him; the longer he
stood, the plainer his reflections revealed their blackness through his
features.
    Oh, if God would but give me strength to strangle him in my last agony, I'd
go to hell with joy, groaned the impatient man writhing to rise, and sinking
back in despair, convinced of his inadequacy for the struggle.
    Nay, it's enough that he has murdered one of you, I observed aloud. At the
Grange, every one knows your sister would have been living now, had it not been
for Mr. Heathcliff. After all, it is preferable to be hated, than loved by him.
When I recollect how happy we were - how happy Catherine was before he came -
I'm fit to curse the day.
    Most likely, Heathcliff noticed more the truth of what was said, than the
spirit of the person who said it. His attention was roused, I saw, for his eyes
rained down tears among the ashes, and he drew his breath in suffocating sighs.
    I stared full at him, and laughed scornfully. The clouded windows of hell
flashed, a moment towards me; the fiend which usually looked out, however, was
so dimmed and drowned that I did not fear to hazard another sound of derision.
    Get up, and begone out of my sight, said the mourner.
    I guessed he uttered those words, at least, though his voice was hardly
intelligible.
    I beg your pardon, I replied. But I loved Catherine too; and her brother
requires attendance which, for her sake, I shall supply. Now that she's dead, I
see her in Hindley; Hindley has exactly her eyes, if you had not tried to gouge
them out, and made them black and red, and her -
    Get up, wretched idiot, before I stamp you to death! he cried, making a
movement that caused me to make one also.
    But then, I continued, holding myself ready to flee; if poor Catherine had
trusted you, and assumed the ridiculous, contemptible, degrading title of Mrs.
Heathcliff, she would soon have presented a similar picture! She wouldn't have
borne your abominable behaviour quietly; her detestation and disgust must have
found voice.
    The back of the settle, and Earnshaw's person interposed between me and him;
so instead of endeavouring to reach me, he snatched a dinner knife from the
table, and flung it at my head. It struck beneath my ear, and stopped the
sentence I was uttering; but pulling it out, I sprang to the door, and delivered
another which I hope went a little deeper than his missile.
    The last glimpse I caught of him was a furious rush, on his part, checked by
the embrace of his host; and both fell locked together on the hearth.
    In my flight through the kitchen I bid Joseph speed to his master; I knocked
over Hareton, who was hanging a litter of puppies from a chairback in the
doorway; and, blessed as a soul escaped from purgatory, I bounded, leaped, and
flew down the steep road: then, quitting its windings, shot direct across the
moor, rolling over banks, and wading through marshes; precipitating myself, in
fact, towards the beacon light of the Grange. And far rather would I be
condemned to a perpetual dwelling in the infernal regions, than even for one
night abide beneath the roof of Wuthering Heights again.«
    Isabella ceased speaking, and took a drink of tea; then she rose, and
bidding me put on her bonnet, and a great shawl I had brought, and turning a
deaf ear to my entreaties for her to remain another hour, she stepped onto a
chair, kissed Edgar's and Catherine's portraits, bestowed a similar salute on
me, and descended to the carriage accompanied by Fanny, who yelped wild with joy
at recovering her mistress. She was driven away, never to revisit this
neighbourhood; but a regular correspondence was established between her and my
master when things were more settled.
    I believe her new abode was in the south, near London there she had a son
born, a few months subsequent to her escape. He was christened Linton, and, from
the first, she reported him to be an ailing, peevish creature.
    Mr. Heathcliff, meeting me one day in the village, inquired where she lived.
I refused to tell. He remarked that it was not of any moment, only she must
beware of coming to her brother: she should not be with him, if he had to keep
her himself.
    Though I would give no information, he discovered, through some of the other
servants, both her place of residence, and the existence of the child. Still he
didn't molest her; for which forbearance she might thank his aversion, I
suppose.
    He often asked about the infant, when he saw me; and on hearing its name,
smiled grimly, and observed:
    »They wish me to hate it too, do they?«
    »I don't think they wish you to know anything about it,« I answered.
    »But I'll have it,« he said, »when I want it. They may reckon on that!«
    Fortunately, its mother died before the time arrived, some thirteen years
after the decease of Catherine, when Linton was twelve, or a little more.
    On the day succeeding Isabella's unexpected visit, I had no opportunity of
speaking to my master: he shunned conversation, and was fit for discussing
nothing. When I could get him to listen, I saw it pleased him that his sister
had left her husband, whom he abhorred with an intensity which the mildness of
his nature would scarcely seem to allow. So deep and sensitive was his aversion,
that he refrained from going anywhere where he was likely to see or hear of
Heathcliff. Grief, and that together, transformed him into a complete hermit: he
threw up his office of magistrate, ceased even to attend church, avoided the
village on all occasions, and spent a life of entire seclusion within the limits
of his park and grounds: only varied by solitary rambles on the moors, and
visits to the grave of his wife, mostly at evening, or early morning, before
other wanderers were abroad.
    But he was too good to be thoroughly unhappy long. He didn't pray for
Catherine's soul to haunt him: Time brought resignation, and a melancholy
sweeter than common joy. He recalled her memory with ardent, tender love, and
hopeful aspiring to the better world, where, he doubted not she was gone.
    And he had earthly consolation and affections, also. For a few days, I said,
he seemed regardless of the puny successor to the departed: that coldness melted
as fast as snow in April, and ere the tiny thing could stammer a word or totter
a step, it wielded a despot's sceptre in his heart.
    It was named Catherine, but he never called it the name in full, as he had
never called the first Catherine short, probably because Heathcliff had a habit
of doing so. The little one was always Cathy, it formed to him a distinction
from the mother, and yet, a connection with her; and his attachment sprang from
its relation to her, far more than from its being his own.
    I used to draw a comparison between him, and Hindley Earnshaw and perplex
myself to explain satisfactorily, why their conduct was so opposite in similar
circumstances. They had both been fond husbands, and were both attached to their
children; and I could not see how they shouldn't both have taken the same road,
for good or evil. But, I thought in my mind, Hindley with apparently the
stronger head, has shown himself sadly the worse and the weaker man. When his
ship struck, the captain abandoned his post; and the crew, instead of trying to
save her, rushed into riot, and confusion, leaving no hope for their luckless
vessel. Linton, on the contrary, displayed the true courage of a loyal and
faithful soul: he trusted God; and God comforted him. One hoped, and the other
despaired; they chose their own lots, and were righteously doomed to endure
them.
    But you'll not want to hear my moralizing, Mr. Lockwood: you'll judge as
well as I can, all these things; at least, you'll think you will and that's the
same.
    The end of Earnshaw was what might have been expected: it followed fast on
his sister's, there was scarcely six months between them. We, at the Grange,
never got a very succinct account of his state preceding it; all that I did
learn, was on occasion of going to aid in the preparations for the funeral. Mr.
Kenneth came to announce the event to my master.
    »Well, Nelly;« said he, riding into the yard, one morning, too early not to
alarm me with an instant presentiment of bad news. »It's yours, and my turn to
go into mourning at present. Who's given us the slip, now do you think?«
    »Who?« I asked in a flurry.
    »Why, guess!« he returned, dismounting, and slinging his bridle on a hook by
the door. »And nip up the corner of your apron; I'm certain you'll need it.«
    »Not Mr. Heathcliff, surely?« I exclaimed.
    »What! would you have tears for him?« said the doctor. »No, Heathcliff's a
tough young fellow; he looks blooming to-day - I've just seen him. He's rapidly
regaining flesh since he lost his better half.«
    »Who is it, then, Mr. Kenneth?« I repeated impatiently.
    »Hindley Earnshaw! Your old friend Hindley -« he replied. »And my wicked
gossip; though he's been too wild for me this long while. There! I said we
should draw water - But cheer up! He died true to his character drunk as a lord
- Poor lad; I'm sorry too. One can't help missing an old companion; though he
had the worst tricks with him that ever man imagined; and has done me many a
rascally turn - He's barely twenty-seven, it seems; that's your own age; who
would have thought you were born in one year?«
    I confess this blow was greater to me than the shock of Mrs. Linton's death:
ancient associations lingered round my heart; I sat down in the porch, and wept
as for a blood relation, desiring Kenneth to get another servant to introduce
him to the master.
    I could not hinder myself from pondering on the question - »Had he had fair
play?« Whatever I did that idea would bother me: it was so tiresomely
pertinacious that I resolved on requesting leave to go to Wuthering Heights, and
assist in the last duties to the dead. Mr. Linton was extremely reluctant to
consent, but I pleaded eloquently for the friendless condition in which he lay;
and I said my old master, and foster brother had a claim on my services as
strong as his own. Besides, I reminded him that the child, Hareton, was his
wife's nephew; and, in the absence of nearer kin, he ought to act as its
guardian; and he ought to and must inquire how the property was left, and look
over the concerns of his brother-in-law.
    He was unfit for attending to such matters then, but he bid me speak to his
lawyer; and at length, permitted me to go. His lawyer had been Earnshaw's also:
I called at the village, and asked him to accompany me. He shook his head, and
advised that Heathcliff should be let alone; affirming, if the truth were known,
Hareton would be found little else than a beggar.
    »His father died in debt;« he said, »the whole property is mortgaged, and
the sole chance for the natural heir is to allow him an opportunity of creating
some interest in the creditor's heart, that he may be inclined to deal leniently
towards him.«
    When I reached the Heights, I explained that I had come to see everything
carried on decently, and Joseph, who appeared in sufficient distress, expressed
satisfaction at my presence. Mr. Heathcliff said he did not perceive that I was
wanted, but I might stay and order the arrangements for the funeral, if I chose.
    »Correctly,« he remarked, »that fool's body should be buried at the
cross-roads, without ceremony of any kind - I happened to leave him ten minutes,
yesterday afternoon; and, in that interval, he fastened the two doors of the
house against me, and he has spent the night in drinking himself to death
deliberately! We broke in this morning, for we heard him snorting like a horse;
and there he was, laid over the settle - flaying and scalping would not have
wakened him - I sent for Kenneth, and he came; but not till the beast had
changed into carrion - he was both dead and cold, and stark; and so you'll
allow, it was useless making more stir about him!«
    The old servant confirmed this statement, but muttered,
    »Aw'd rather he'd goan hisseln fur t' doctor! Aw sud uh taken tent uh t'
master better nur him - un he warn't deead when Aw left, nowt uh t' soart!«
    I insisted on the funeral being respectable - Mr. Heathcliff said I might
have my own way there too; only, he desired me to remember, that the money for
the whole affair came out of his pocket.
    He maintained a hard, careless deportment, indicative of neither joy nor
sorrow; if anything, it expressed a flinty gratification at a piece of difficult
work, successfully executed. I observed once, indeed, something like exultation
in his aspect. It was just when the people were bearing the coffin from the
house; he had the hypocrisy to represent a mourner; and previous to following
with Hareton he lifted the unfortunate child on to the table, and muttered with
peculiar gusto,
    »Now my bonny lad, you are mine! And we'll see if one tree won't grow as
crooked as another, with the same wind to twist it!«
    The unsuspecting thing was pleased at this speech; he played with
Heathcliff's whiskers, and stroked his cheek, but I divined its meaning and
observed tartly,
    »That boy must go back with me to Thrushcross Grange, Sir - There is nothing
in the world less yours than he is!«
    »Does Linton say so?« he demanded.
    »Of course - he has ordered me to take him,« I replied.
    »Well,« said the scoundrel, »We'll not argue the subject now; but I have a
fancy to try my hand at rearing a young one, so intimate to your master, that I
must supply the place of this with my own, if he attempt to remove it; I don't
engage to let Hareton go, undisputed; but, I'll be pretty sure to make the other
come! remember to tell him.«
    This hint was enough to bind our hands. I repeated its substance on my
return, and Edgar Linton, little interested at the commencement, spoke no more
of interfering. I'm not aware that he could have done it to any purpose, had he
been ever so willing.
    The guest was now the master of Wuthering Heights: he held firm possession,
and proved to the attorney, who, in his turn, proved it to Mr. Linton, that
Earnshaw had mortgaged every yard of land he owned for cash to supply his mania
for gaming: and he, Heathcliff, was the mortgagee.
    In that manner, Hareton, who should now be the first gentleman in the
neighbourhood, was reduced to a state of complete dependence on his father's
inveterate enemy; and lives in his own house as a servant deprived of the
advantages of wages, and quite unable to right himself, because of his
friendlessness, and his ignorance that he has been wronged.
 

                                 Chapter XVIII

The twelve years, continued Mrs. Dean, following that dismal period, were the
happiest of my life: my greatest troubles, in their passage, rose from our
little lady's trifling illnesses which she had to experience in common with all
children, rich and poor.
    For the rest, after the first six months, she grew like a larch; and could
walk and talk too, in her own way, before the heath blossomed a second time over
Mrs. Linton's dust.
    She was the most winning thing that ever brought sunshine into a desolate
house - a real beauty in face - with the Earnshaws' handsome dark eyes, but the
Lintons' fair skin, and small features, and yellow curling hair. Her spirit was
high, though not rough, and qualified by a heart, sensitive and lively to excess
in its affections. That capacity for intense attachments reminded me of her
mother; still she did not resemble her; for she could be soft and mild as a
dove, and she had a gentle voice, and pensive expression: her anger was never
furious; her love never fierce; it was deep and tender.
    However, it must be acknowledged, she had faults to foil her gifts. A
propensity to be saucy was one; and a perverse will that indulged children
invariably acquire, whether they be good tempered or cross. If a servant chanced
to vex her, it was always: »I shall tell papa!« And if he reproved her, even by
a look, you would have thought it a heart-breaking business: I don't believe he
ever did speak a harsh word to her.
    He took her education entirely on himself, and made it an amusement:
fortunately, curiosity, and a quick intellect urged her into an apt scholar; she
learnt rapidly and eagerly, and did honour to his teaching.
    Till she reached the age of thirteen, she had not once been beyond the range
of the park by herself. Mr. Linton would take her with him, a mile or so
outside, on rare occasions; but he trusted her to no one else. Gimmerton was an
unsubstantial name in her ears; the chapel, the only building she had
approached, or entered, except her own home; Wuthering Heights and Mr.
Heathcliff did not exist for her; she was a perfect recluse; and, apparently,
perfectly contented. Sometimes, indeed, while surveying the country from her
nursery window, she would observe -
    »Ellen, how long will it be before I can walk to the top of those hills? I
wonder what lies on the other side - is it the sea?«
    »No, Miss Cathy,« I would answer, »it is hills again just like these.«
    »And what are those golden rocks like, when you stand under them?« she once
asked.
    The abrupt descent of Penistone Craggs particularly attracted her notice,
especially when the setting sun shone on it, and the topmost Heights; and the
whole extent of landscape besides lay in shadow.
    I explained that they were bare masses of stone, with hardly enough earth in
their clefts to nourish a stunted tree.
    »And why are they bright so long after it is evening here?« she pursued.
    »Because they are a great deal higher up than we are,« replied I; »you could
not climb them, they are too high and steep. In winter the frost is always there
before it comes to us; and, deep into summer, I have found snow under that black
hollow on the north-east side!«
    »Oh, you have been on them!« she cried, gleefully. »Then I can go, too, when
I am a woman. Has papa been, Ellen?«
    »Papa would tell you, Miss,« I answered, hastily, »that they are not worth
the trouble of visiting. The moors, where you ramble with him, are much nicer;
and Thrush-cross park is the finest place in the world.«
    »But I know the park, and I don't know those,« she murmured to herself. »And
I should delight to look round me, from the brow of that tallest point - my
little pony, Minny, shall take me sometime.«
    One of the maids mentioning the Fairy cave, quite turned her head with a
desire to fulfil this project; she teased Mr. Linton about it; and he promised
she should have the journey when she got older: but Miss Catherine measured her
age by months, and -
    »Now, am I old enough to go to Penistone Craggs?« was the constant question
in her mouth.
    The road thither wound close by Wuthering Heights. Edgar had not the heart
to pass it; so she received as constantly the answer,
    »Not yet, love, not yet.«
    I said Mrs. Heathcliff lived above a dozen years after quitting her husband.
Her family were of a delicate constitution: she and Edgar both lacked the ruddy
health that you will generally meet in these parts. What her last illness was, I
am not certain; I conjecture, they died of the same thing, a kind of fever, slow
at its commencement, but incurable, and rapidly consuming life towards the
close.
    She wrote to inform her brother of the probable conclusion of a four months'
indisposition, under which she had suffered; and entreated him to come to her,
if possible, for she had much to settle, and she wished to bid him adieu, and
deliver Linton safely into his hands. Her hope was, that Linton might be left
with him, as he had been with her; his father, she would fain convince herself,
had no desire to assume the burden of his maintenance or education.
    My master hesitated not a moment in complying with her request; reluctant as
he was to leave home at ordinary calls, he flew to answer this; commending
Catherine to my peculiar vigilance, in his absence; with reiterated orders that
she must not wander out of the park, even under my escort; he did not calculate
on her going unaccompanied.
    He was away three weeks: the first day or two, my charge sat in a corner of
the library, too sad for either reading or playing: in that quiet state she
caused me little trouble; but it was succeeded by an interval of impatient,
fretful weariness; and being too busy, and too old then, to run up and down
amusing her, I hit on a method by which she might entertain herself.
    I used to send her on her travels round the grounds - now on foot, and now
on a pony; indulging her with a patient audience of all her real and imaginary
adventures, when she returned.
    The summer shone in full prime; and she took such a taste for this solitary
rambling that she often contrived to remain out from breakfast till tea; and
then the evenings were spent in recounting her fanciful tales. I did not fear
her breaking bounds, because the gates were generally locked, and I thought she
would scarcely venture forth alone, if they had stood wide open.
    Unluckily, my confidence proved misplaced. Catherine came to me, one
morning, at eight o'clock, and said she was that day an Arabian merchant, going
to cross the Desert with his caravan; and I must give her plenty of provision
for herself, and beasts, a horse, and three camels, personated by a large hound,
and a couple of pointers.
    I got together good store of dainties, and slung them in a basket on one
side of the saddle; and she sprang up as gay as a fairy, sheltered by her
wide-brimmed hat and gauze veil from the July sun, and trotted off with a merry
laugh, mocking my cautious counsel to avoid galloping, and come back early.
    The naughty thing never made her appearance at tea. One traveller, the
hound, being an old dog, and fond of its ease, returned; but neither Cathy, nor
the pony, nor the two pointers were visible in any direction; and I despatched
emissaries down this path, and that path, and, at last, went wandering in search
of her myself.
    There was a labourer working at a fence round a plantation, on the borders
of the grounds. I enquired of him if he had seen our young lady?
    »I saw her at morn,« he replied, »she would have me to cut her a hazel
switch; and then she leapt her galloway over the hedge yonder, where it is
lowest, and galloped out of sight.«
    You may guess how I felt at hearing this news. It struck me directly she
must have started for Penistone Craggs.
    »What will become of her?« I ejaculated, pushing through a gap which the man
was repairing, and making straight to the high road.
    I walked as if for a wager, mile after mile, till a turn brought me in view
of the Heights, but no Catherine could I detect, far or near.
    The Craggs lie about a mile and a half beyond Mr. Heathcliff's place, and
that is four from the Grange, so I began to fear night would fall ere I could
reach them.
    »And what if she should have slipped in clambering among them,« I reflected,
»and been killed, or broken some of her bones?«
    My suspense was truly painful; and, at first, it gave me delightful relief
to observe, in hurrying by the farm-house, Charlie, the fiercest of the
pointers, lying under a window, with swelled head, and bleeding ear.
    I opened the wicket, and ran to the door, knocking vehemently for
admittance. A woman whom I knew, and who formerly lived at Gimmerton, answered -
she had been servant there since the death of Mr. Earnshaw.
    »Ah,« said she, »you are come a seeking your little mistress! don't be
frightened. She's here safe - but I'm glad it isn't the master.«
    »He is not at home then, is he?« I panted, quite breathless with quick
walking and alarm.
    »No, no,« she replied: »both he and Joseph are off, and I think they won't
return this hour or more. Step in and rest you a bit.«
    I entered, and beheld my stray lamb, seated on the hearth, rocking herself
in a little chair that had been her mother's, when a child. Her hat was hung
against the wall, and she seemed perfectly at home, laughing and chattering, in
the best spirits imaginable, to Hareton, now a great, strong lad of eighteen,
who stared at her with considerable curiosity and astonishment; comprehending
precious little of the fluent succession of remarks and questions which her
tongue never ceased pouring forth.
    »Very well, Miss,« I exclaimed, concealing my joy under an angry
countenance. »This is your last ride, till papa comes back. I'll not trust you
over the threshold again, you naughty, naughty girl.«
    »Aha, Ellen!« she cried, gaily, jumping up, and running to my side. »I shall
have a pretty story to tell to-night - and so you've found me out. Have you ever
been here in your life before?«
    »Put that hat on, and home at once,« said I. »I'm dreadfully grieved at you,
Miss Cathy, you've done extremely wrong! It's no use pouting and crying; that
won't repay the trouble I've had, scouring the country after you. To think how
Mr. Linton charged me to keep you in; and you stealing off so; it shows you are
a cunning little fox, and nobody will put faith in you any more.«
    »What have I done?« sobbed she, instantly checked. »Papa charged me nothing
- he'll not scold me, Ellen - he's never cross, like you!«
    »Come, come!« I repeated. »I'll tie the riband. Now, let us have no
petulance. Oh, for shame. You thirteen years old, and such a baby!«
    This exclamation was caused by her pushing the hat from her head, and
retreating to the chimney out of my reach.
    »Nay,« said the servant, »don't be hard on the bonny lass, Mrs. Dean. We
made her stop - she'd fain have ridden forwards, afraid you should be uneasy.
But Hareton offered to go with her, and I thought he should. It's a wild road
over the hills.«
    Hareton, during the discussion, stood with his hands in his pockets, too
awkward to speak, though he looked as if he did not relish my intrusion.
    »How long am I to wait?« I continued, disregarding the woman's interference.
»It will be dark in ten minutes. Where is the pony, Miss Cathy? And where is
Phenix? I shall leave you, unless you be quick, so please yourself.«
    »The pony is in the yard,« she replied, »and Phenix is shut in there. He's
bitten - and so is Charlie. I was going to tell you all about it; but you are in
a bad temper, and don't deserve to hear.«
    I picked up her hat, and approached to reinstate it; but perceiving that the
people of the house took her part, she commenced capering round the room; and,
on my giving chase, ran like a mouse, over and under, and behind the furniture,
rendering it ridiculous for me to pursue.
    Hareton and the woman laughed; and she joined them, and waxed more
impertinent still; till I cried, in great irritation,
    »Well, Miss Cathy, if you were aware whose house this is, you'd be glad
enough to get out.«
    »It's your father's, isn't it?« said she, turning to Hareton.
    »Nay,« he replied, looking down, and blushing bashfully.
    He could not stand a steady gaze from her eyes, though they were just his
own.
    »Whose then - your master's?« she asked.
    He coloured deeper, with a different feeling, muttered an oath, and turned
away.
    »Who is his master?« continued the tiresome girl, appealing to me. »He
talked about our house, and our folk. I thought he had been the owner's son. And
he never said, Miss; he should have done, shouldn't he, if he's a servant?«
    Hareton grew black as a thunder-cloud, at this childish speech. I silently
shook my questioner, and, at last, succeeded in equipping her for departure.
    »Now, get my horse,« she said, addressing her unknown kinsman as she would
one of the stable-boys at the Grange. »And you may come with me. I want to see
where the goblin hunter rises in the marsh, and to hear about the fairishes, as
you call them - but, make haste! What's the matter? Get my horse, I say.«
    »I'll see thee damned, before I be thy servant!« growled the lad.
    »You'll see me what?« asked Catherine in surprise.
    »Damned - thou saucy witch!« he replied.
    »There, Miss Cathy! you see you have got into pretty company,« I interposed.
»Nice words to be used to a young lady! Pray don't begin to dispute with him -
Come, let us seek for Minny ourselves, and begone.«
    »But, Ellen,« cried she, staring, fixed in astonishment. »How dare he speak
so to me? Mustn't he be made to do as I ask him? You wicked creature, I shall
tell papa what you said - Now then!«
    Hareton did not appear to feel this threat; so the tears sprung into her
eyes with indignation. »You bring the pony,« she exclaimed, turning to the
woman, »and let my dog free this moment!«
    »Softly, Miss,« answered the addressed. »You'll lose nothing, by being
civil. Though Mr. Hareton, there, be not the master's son, he's your cousin; and
I was never hired to serve you.«
    »He my cousin!« cried Cathy with a scornful laugh.
    »Yes, indeed,« responded her reprover.
    »Oh, Ellen! don't let them say such things,« she pursued in great trouble.
»Papa is gone to fetch my cousin from London - my cousin is a gentleman's son -
That my -« she stopped, and wept outright; upset at the bare notion of
relationship with such a clown.
    »Hush, hush!« I whispered, »people can have many cousins and of all sorts,
Miss Cathy, without being any the worse for it; only they needn't keep their
company, if they be disagreeable, and bad.«
    »He's not, he's not my cousin, Ellen!« she went on, gathering fresh grief
from reflection, and flinging herself into my arms for refuge from the idea.
    I was much vexed at her and the servant for their mutual revelations; having
no doubt of Linton's approaching arrival, communicated by the former, being
reported to Mr. Heathcliff; and feeling as confident that Catherine's first
thought on her father's return, would be to seek an explanation of the latter's
assertion, concerning her rude-bred kindred.
    Hareton, recovering from his disgust at being taken for a servant, seemed
moved by her distress; and, having fetched the pony round to the door, he took,
to propitiate her, a fine crooked-legged terrier whelp from the kennel; and
putting it into her hand, bid her wisht! for he meant naught.
    Pausing in her lamentations, she surveyed him with a glance of awe, and
horror, then burst forth anew.
    I could scarcely refrain from smiling at this antipathy to the poor fellow;
who was a well-made, athletic youth, good looking in features, and stout and
healthy, but attired in garments befitting his daily occupations of working on
the farm, and lounging among the moors after rabbits and game. Still, I thought
I could detect in his physiognomy a mind owning better qualities than his father
ever possessed. Good things lost amid a wilderness of weeds, to be sure, whose
rankness far over-topped their neglected growth; yet notwithstanding, evidence
of a wealthy soil that might yield luxuriant crops, under other and favourable
circumstances. Mr. Heathcliff, I believe, had not treated him physically ill;
thanks to his fearless nature which offered no temptation to that course of
oppression; it had none of the timid susceptibility that would have given zest
to ill-treatment, in Heathcliff's judgment. He appeared to have bent his
malevolence on making him a brute: he was never taught to read or write; never
rebuked for any bad habit which did not annoy his keeper; never led a single
step towards virtue, or guarded by a single precept against vice. And from what
I heard, Joseph contributed much to his deterioration by a narrow minded
partiality which prompted him to flatter, and pet him, as a boy, because he was
the head of the old family. And as he had been in the habit of accusing
Catherine Earnshaw, and Heathcliff, when children, of putting the master past
his patience, and compelling him to seek solace in drink, by what he termed,
their offalld ways, so at present, he laid the whole burden of Hareton's faults
on the shoulders of the usurper of his property.
    If the lad swore he wouldn't correct him; nor however culpably he behaved.
It gave Joseph satisfaction, apparently, to watch him go the worst lengths. He
allowed that he was ruined; that his soul was abandoned to perdition; but then,
he reflected that Heathcliff must answer for it. Hareton's blood would be
required at his hands; and there lay immense consolation in that thought.
    Joseph had instilled into him a pride of name, and of his lineage; he would
had he dared, have fostered hate between him and the present owner of the
Heights, but his dread of that owner amounted to superstition; and he confined
his feelings, regarding him, to muttered inuendos and private comminations.
    I don't pretend to be intimately acquainted with the mode of living
customary in those days, at Wuthering Heights. I only speak from hearsay; for I
saw little. The villagers affirmed Mr. Heathcliff was near, and a cruel hard
landlord to his tenants; but the house, inside, had regained its ancient aspect
of comfort under female management; and the scenes of riot common in Hindley's
time, were not now enacted within its walls. The master was too gloomy to seek
companionship with any people, good or bad, and he is yet -
    This, however, is not making progress with my story. Miss Cathy rejected the
peace-offering of the terrier, and demanded her own dogs, Charlie and Phenix.
They came limping, and hanging their heads; and we set out for home, sadly out
of sorts, every one of us.
    I could not wring from my little lady how she had spent the day; except
that, as I supposed, the goal of her pilgrimage was Penistone Crags; and she
arrived without adventure to the gate of the farmhouse, when Hareton happened to
issue forth, attended by some canine followers who attacked her train.
    They had a smart battle, before their owners could separate them: that
formed an introduction. Catherine told Hareton who she was, and where she was
going; and asked him to show her the way; finally, beguiling him to accompany
her.
    He opened the mysteries of the Fairy cave, and twenty other queer places;
but being in disgrace, I was not favoured with the description of the
interesting objects she saw.
    I could gather however, that her guide had been a favourite till she hurt
his feelings by addressing him as a servant, and Heathcliff's housekeeper hurt
hers, by calling him her cousin.
    Then the language he had held to her rankled in her heart; she who was
always love, and darling, and queen, and angel, with everybody at the Grange; to
be insulted so shockingly by a stranger! She did not comprehend it; and hard
work I had, to obtain a promise that she would not lay the grievance before her
father.
    I explained how he objected to the whole household at the Heights, and how
sorry he would be to find she had been there; but, I insisted most on the fact,
that if she revealed my negligence of his orders, he would perhaps, be so angry
that I should have to leave; and Cathy couldn't bear that prospect: she pledged
her word, and kept it, for my sake - after all, she was a sweet little girl.
 

                                  Chapter XIX

A letter, edged with black, announced the day of my master's return. Isabella
was dead; and he wrote to bid me get mourning for his daughter, and arrange a
room, and other accommodations, for his youthful nephew.
    Catherine ran wild with joy at the idea of welcoming her father back: and
indulged most sanguine anticipations of the innumerable excellencies of her real
cousin.
    The evening of their expected arrival came. Since early morning, she had
been busy, ordering her own small affairs; and now, attired in her new black
frock - poor thing! her aunt's death impressed her with no definite sorrow - she
obliged me, by constant worrying, to walk with her, down through the grounds, to
meet them.
    »Linton is just six months younger than I am,« she chattered as we strolled
leisurely over the swells and hollows of mossy turf, under shadow of the trees.
»How delightful it will be to have him for a playfellow! Aunt Isabella sent papa
a beautiful lock of his hair; it was lighter than mine - more flaxen, and quite
as fine. I have it carefully preserved in a little glass box; and I've often
thought what pleasure it would be to see its owner - Oh! I am happy - and papa,
dear, dear papa! come, Ellen, let us run! come run.«
    She ran, and returned and ran again, many times before my sober footsteps
reached the gate, and then she seated herself on the grassy bank beside the
path, and tried to wait patiently; but that was impossible; she couldn't be
still a minute.
    »How long they are!« she exclaimed. »Ah, I see some dust on the road - they
are coming! No! When will they be here? May we not go a little way - half a
mile, Ellen, only just half a mile? Do say yes, to that clump of birches at the
turn!«
    I refused staunchily: and, at length, her suspense was ended: the travelling
carriage rolled in sight.
    Miss Cathy shrieked, and stretched out her arms, as soon as she caught her
father's face, looking from the window. He descended, nearly as eager as
herself; and a considerable interval elapsed, ere they had a thought to spare
for any but themselves.
    While they exchanged caresses, I took a peep in to see after Linton. He was
asleep, in a corner, wrapped in a warm, fur-lined cloak, as if it had been
winter. A pale, delicate, effeminate boy, who might have been taken for my
master's younger brother, so strong was the resemblance, but there was a sickly
peevishness in his aspect, that Edgar Linton never had.
    The latter saw me looking; and having shaken hands, advised me to close the
door, and leave him undisturbed; for the journey had fatigued him.
    Cathy would fain have taken one glance; but her father told her to come on,
and they walked together up the park, while I hastened before, to prepare the
servants.
    »Now, darling,« said Mr. Linton, addressing his daughter, as they halted at
the bottom of the front steps. »Your cousin is not so strong, or so merry as you
are, and he has lost his mother, remember, a very short time since, therefore,
don't expect him to play, and run about with you directly. And don't harass him
much by talking - let him be quiet this evening, at least, will you?«
    »Yes, yes, papa,« answered Catherine; »but I do want to see him; and he
hasn't once looked out.«
    The carriage stopped; and the sleeper, being roused, was lifted to the
ground by his uncle.
    »This is your cousin Cathy, Linton,« he said, putting their little hands
together. »She's fond of you already; and mind you don't grieve her by crying
to-night. Try to be cheerful now; the travelling is at an end, and you have
nothing to do but rest and amuse yourself as you please.«
    »Let me go to bed then,« answered the boy, shrinking from Catherine's
salute; and he put his fingers to his eyes to remove incipient tears.
    »Come, come, there's a good child,« I whispered, leading him in. »You'll
make her weep too - see how sorry she is for you!«
    I do not know whether it were sorrow for him, but his cousin put on as sad a
countenance as himself, and returned to her father. All three entered, and
mounted to the library where tea was laid ready.
    I proceeded to remove Linton's cap, and mantle, and placed him on a chair by
the table; but he was no sooner seated than he began to cry afresh. My master
inquired what was the matter.
    »I can't sit on a chair,« sobbed the boy.
    »Go to the sofa then; and Ellen shall bring you some tea,« answered his
uncle, patiently.
    He had been greatly tried during the journey, I felt convinced, by his
fretful, ailing charge.
    Linton slowly trailed himself off, and lay down. Cathy carried a foot-stool
and her cup to his side.
    At first she sat silent; but that could not last; she had resolved to make a
pet of her little cousin, as she would have him to be; and she commenced
stroking his curls, and kissing his cheek, and offering him tea in her saucer,
like a baby. This pleased him, for he was not much better; he dried his eyes,
and lightened into a faint smile.
    »Oh, he'll do very well,« said the master to me, after watching them a
minute. »Very well, if we can keep him, Ellen. The company of a child of his own
age will instil new spirit into him soon: and by wishing for strength he'll gain
it.«
    »Aye, if we can keep him!« I mused to myself; and sore misgivings came over
me that there was slight hope of that. And then, I thought, however will that
weakling live at Wuthering Heights, between his father and Hareton? what
playmates and instructors they'll be.
    Our doubts were presently decided; even earlier than I expected. I had just
taken the children up stairs, after tea was finished; and seen Linton asleep -
he would not suffer me to leave him, till that was the case - I had come down,
and was standing by the table in the hall, lighting a bedroom candle for Mr.
Edgar, when a maid stepped out of the kitchen, and informed me that Mr.
Heathcliff's servant, Joseph, was at the door, and wished to speak with the
master.
    »I shall ask him what he wants first,« I said, in considerable trepidation.
»A very unlikely hour to be troubling people, and the instant they have returned
from a long journey. I don't think the master can see him.«
    Joseph had advanced through the kitchen, as I uttered these words, and now
presented himself in the hall. He was donned in his Sunday garments, with his
most sanctimonious and sourest face; and holding his hat in one hand, and his
stick in the other, he proceeded to clean his shoes on the mat.
    »Good evening, Joseph,« I said, coldly. »What business brings you here
to-night?«
    »It's Maister Linton Aw mun spoke tull,« he answered, waving me disdainfully
aside.
    »Mr. Linton is going to bed; unless you have something particular to say,
I'm sure he won't hear it now,« I continued. »You had better sit down in there,
and entrust your message to me.«
    »Which is his rahm?« pursued the fellow, surveying the range of closed
doors.
    I perceived he was bent on refusing my mediation; so very reluctantly, I
went up to the library, and announced the unseasonable visitor; advising that he
should be dismissed till next day.
    Mr. Linton had no time to empower me to do so, for he mounted close at my
heels, and pushing into the apartment, planted himself at the far side of the
table, with his two fists clapped on the head of his stick, and began in an
elevated tone, as if anticipating opposition.
    »Hathecliff has send me for his lad, un Aw 'munn't goa back 'baht him.«
    Edgar Linton was silent a minute; an expression of exceeding sorrow overcast
his features; he would have pitied the child on his own account; but, recalling
Isabella's hopes and fears, and anxious wishes for her son, and her
commendations of him to his care, he grieved bitterly at the prospect of
yielding him up, and searched in his heart how it might be avoided. No plan
offered itself: the very exhibition of any desire to keep him would have
rendered the claimant more peremptory: there was nothing left but to resign him.
However, he was not going to rouse him from his sleep.
    »Tell Mr. Heathcliff,« he answered, calmly, »that his son shall come to
Wuthering Heights to-morrow. He is in bed, and too tired to go the distance now.
You may also tell him that the mother of Linton desired him to remain under my
guardianship; and, at present, his health is very precarious.«
    »Noa!« said Joseph, giving a thud with his prop on the floor, and assuming
an authoritative air. »Noa! that manes nowt - Hathecliff maks noa 'cahnt uh t'
mother, nur yah norther - bud he'll have his lad; und Aw mun take him - soa nah
yah knaw!«
    »You shall not to-night!« answered Linton, decisively. »Walk down stairs at
once, and repeat to your master what I have said. Ellen, show him down. Go -«
    And, aiding the indignant elder with a lift by the arm, he rid the room of
him, and closed the door.
    »Varrah well!« shouted Joseph, as he slowly drew off. »Tuh morn, he's come
hisseln, and thrust him aht, if yah darr!«
 

                                   Chapter XX

To obviate the danger of this threat being fulfilled, Mr. Linton commissioned me
to take the boy home early, on Catherine's pony, and, said he -
    »As we shall now have no influence over his destiny, good or bad, you must
say nothing of where he is gone to my daughter; she cannot associate with him
hereafter; and it is better for her to remain in ignorance of his proximity,
lest she should be restless, and anxious to visit the Heights - merely tell her,
his father sent for him suddenly, and he has been obliged to leave us.«
    Linton was very reluctant to be roused from his bed, at five o'clock, and
astonished to be informed that he must prepare for further travelling: but I
softened off the matter by stating that he was going to spend some time with his
father, Mr. Heathcliff, who wished to see him so much, he did not like to defer
the pleasure till he should recover from his late journey.
    »My father?« he cried, in strange perplexity. »Mamma never told me I had a
father. Where does he live? I'd rather stay with uncle.«
    »He lives a little distance from the Grange,« I replied, »just beyond those
hills - not so far, but you may walk over here, when you get hearty. And you
should be glad to go home, and to see him. You must try to love him, as you did
your mother, and then he will love you.«
    »But why have I not heard of him before?« asked Linton; »why didn't mamma,
and he live together as other people do?«
    »He had business to keep him in the north,« I answered; »and your mother's
health required her to reside in the south.«
    »And why didn't mamma speak to me about him?« persevered the child. »She
often talked of uncle, and I learnt to love him long ago. How am I to love papa?
I don't know him.«
    »Oh, all children love their parents,« I said. »Your mother, perhaps,
thought you would want to be with him, if she mentioned him often to you. Let us
make haste. An early ride on such a beautiful morning is much preferable to an
hour's more sleep.«
    »Is she to go with us,« he demanded. »The little girl I saw yesterday?«
    »Not now,« replied I.
    »Is uncle?« he continued.
    »No, I shall be your companion there,« I said.
    Linton sank back on his pillow, and fell into a brown study.
    »I won't go without uncle;« he cried at length; »I can't tell where you mean
to take me.«
    I attempted to persuade him of the naughtiness of showing reluctance to meet
his father: still he obstinately resisted any progress towards dressing; and I
had to call for my master's assistance, in coaxing him out of bed.
    The poor thing was finally got off with several delusive assurances that his
absence should be short; that Mr. Edgar and Cathy would visit him; and other
promises, equally ill-founded, which I invented and reiterated, at intervals,
throughout the way.
    The pure heather-scented air, and the bright sunshine, and the gentle canter
of Minny relieved his despondency, after a while. He began to put questions
concerning his new home, and its inhabitants, with greater interest, and
liveliness.
    »Is Wuthering Heights as pleasant a place as Thrush-cross Grange?« he
inquired, turning to take a last glance into the valley, whence a light mist
mounted, and formed fleecy cloud, on the skirts of the blue.
    »It is not so buried in trees,« I replied, »and it is not quite so large,
but you can see the country beautifully, all round; and the air is healthier for
you - fresher, and dryer. You will, perhaps, think the building old and dark, at
first - though it is a respectable house, the next best in the neighbourhood.
And you will have such nice rambles on the moors! Hareton Earnshaw - that is
Miss Cathy's other cousin; and so yours in a manner - will show you all the
sweetest spots; and you can bring a book in fine weather, and make a green
hollow your study; and, now and then, your uncle may join you in a walk; he
does, frequently, walk out on the hills.«
    »And what is my father like?« he asked. »Is he as young and handsome as
uncle?«
    »He's as young,« said I »but he has black hair, and eyes; and looks sterner,
and he is taller and bigger altogether. He'll not seem to you so gentle and kind
at first, perhaps, because, it is not his way - still, mind you be frank and
cordial with him; and naturally, he'll be fonder of you than any uncle, for you
are his own.«
    »Black hair and eyes!« mused Linton. »I can't fancy him. Then I am not like
him, am I?«
    »Not much,« I answered ... Not a morsel, I thought: surveying with regret
the white complexion, and slim frame of my companion, and his large languid eyes
... his mother's eyes save that, unless a morbid touchiness kindled them, a
moment, they had not a vestige of her sparkling spirit.
    »How strange that he should never come to see mama, and me« he murmured.
»Has he ever seen me? If he have, I must have been a baby - I remember not a
single thing about him!«
    »Why, Master Linton,« said I, »three hundred miles is a great distance: and
ten years seem very different in length, to a grown up person, compared with
what they do to you. It is probable Mr. Heathcliff proposed going, from summer
to summer, but never found a convenient opportunity: and now it is too late -
Don't trouble him with questions on the subject: it will disturb him for no
good.«
    The boy was fully occupied with his own cogitations for the remainder of the
ride, till we halted before the farmhouse garden gate. I watched to catch his
impressions in his countenance. He surveyed the carved front, and low-browed
lattices; the straggling gooseberry bushes, and crooked firs, with solemn
intentness, and then shook his head: his private feelings entirely disapproved
of the exterior of his new abode; but he had sense to postpone complaining -
there might be compensation within.
    Before he dismounted, I went and opened the door. It was half-past six; the
family had just finished breakfast; the servant was clearing and wiping down the
table: Joseph stood by his master's chair telling some tale concerning a lame
horse; and Hareton was preparing for the hay-field.
    »Hallo, Nelly!« cried Mr. Heathcliff, when he saw me. »I feared I should
have to come down and fetch my property, myself - You've brought it have you?
Let us see what we can make of it.«
    He got up and strode to the door: Hareton and Joseph followed in gaping
curiosity. Poor Linton ran a frightened eye over the faces of the three.
    »Sure-ly,« said Joseph after a grave inspection, »he's swopped wi' ye,
master, an' yon's his lass!«
    Heathcliff having stared his son into an ague of confusion, uttered a
scornful laugh.
    »God! what a beauty! what a lovely, charming thing!« he exclaimed. »Haven't
they reared it on snails, and sour milk, Nelly? Oh, damn my soul! but that's
worse than I expected - and the devil knows I was not sanguine!«
    I bid the trembling and bewildered child get down, and enter. He did not
thoroughly comprehend the meaning of his father's speech, or whether it were
intended for him: indeed, he was not yet certain that the grim, sneering
stranger was his father; but he clung to me with growing trepidation; and on Mr.
Heathcliff's taking a seat, and bidding him come hither, he hid his face on my
shoulder, and wept.
    »Tut, tut!« said Heathcliff, stretching out a hand and dragging him roughly
between his knees, and then holding up his head by the chin. »None of that
nonsense! We're not going to hurt thee, Linton - isn't that thy name? Thou art
thy mother's child, entirely! Where is my share in thee, puling chicken?«
    He took off the boy's cap and pushed back his thick flaxen curls, felt his
slender arms, and his small fingers; during which examination, Linton ceased
crying, and lifted his great blue eyes to inspect the inspector.
    »Do you know me?« asked Heathcliff, having satisfied himself that the limbs
were all equally frail and feeble.
    »No!« said Linton, with a gaze of vacant fear.
    »You've heard of me, I dare say?«
    »No,« he replied again.
    »No? What a shame of your mother, never to waken your filial regard for me!
You are my son, then, I'll tell you; and your mother was a wicked slut to leave
you in ignorance of the sort of father you possessed - Now, don't wince, and
colour up! Though it is something to see you have not white blood - Be a good
lad; and I'll do for you - Nelly, if you be tired you may sit down, if not get
home again - I guess you'll report what you hear, and see, to the cipher at the
Grange; and this thing won't be settled while you linger about it.«
    »Well,« replied I, »I hope you'll be kind to the boy, Mr. Heathcliff, or
you'll not keep him long, and he's all you have akin, in the wide world that you
will ever know - remember.«
    »I'll be very kind to him you needn't fear!« he said laughing. »Only nobody
else must be kind to him - I'm jealous of monopolizing his affection - And, to
begin my kindness, Joseph! bring the lad some breakfast - Hareton, you infernal
calf, begone to your work. Yes, Nell,« he added when they were departed, »my son
is prospective owner of your place, and I should not wish him to die till I was
certain of being his successor. Besides, he's mine, and I want the triumph of
seeing my descendent fairly lord of their estates; my child hiring their
children, to till their fathers' lands for wages - That is the sole
consideration which can make me endure the whelp - I despise him for himself,
and hate him for the memories he revives! But, that consideration is sufficient;
he's as safe with me, and shall be tended as carefully, as your master tends his
own - I have a room up-stairs, furnished for him, in handsome style - I've
engaged a tutor, also, to come three times a week, from twenty miles distance,
to teach him what he pleases to learn. I've ordered Hareton to obey him: and in
fact, I've arranged everything with a view to preserve the superior, and the
gentleman in him, above his associates - I do regret however, that he so little
deserves the trouble - if I wished any blessing in the world, it was to find him
a worthy object of pride, and I'm bitterly disappointed with the whey-faced
whining wretch!«
    While he was speaking, Joseph returned, bearing a basin of milk-porridge,
and placed it before Linton. He stirred round the homely mess with a look of
aversion, and affirmed he could not eat it.
    I saw the old man servant shared largely in his master's scorn of the child,
though he was compelled to retain the sentiment in his heart, because Heathcliff
plainly meant his underlings to hold him in honour.
    »Cannot ate it?« repeated he, peering in Linton's face, and subduing his
voice to a whisper, for fear of being overheard. »But Maister Hareton nivir ate
nowt else, when he wer a little un: und what wer gooid enough fur him's gooid
enough fur yah, Aw's rather think!«
    »I shan't eat it!« answered Linton, snappishly. »Take it away.«
    Joseph snatched up the food indignantly, and brought it to us.
    »Is there owt ails th' victuals?« he asked, thrusting the tray under
Heathcliff's nose.
    »What should ail them?« he said.
    »Wah!« answered Joseph, »yon dainty chap says he can-nut ate 'em. Bud Aw
guess it's raight! His mother wer just soa - we wer a'most too mucky tuh sow t'
corn for makking her breead.«
    »Don't mention his mother to me,« said the master, angrily. »Get him
something that he can eat, that's all. What is his usual food, Nelly?«
    I suggested boiled milk or tea; and the housekeeper received instructions to
prepare some.
    Come, I reflected, his father's selfishness may contribute to his comfort.
He perceives his delicate constitution, and the necessity of treating him
tolerably. I'll console Mr. Edgar by acquainting him with the turn Heathcliff's
humour has taken.
    Having no excuse for lingering longer, I slipped out, while Linton was
engaged in timidly rebuffing the advances of a friendly sheep-dog. But he was
too much on the alert to be cheated - as I closed the door, I heard a cry, and a
frantic repetition of the words -
    »Don't leave me! I'll not stay here! I'll not stay here!«
    Then the latch was raised and fell - they did not suffer him to come forth.
I mounted Minny, and urged her to a trot; and so my brief guardianship ended.
 

                                  Chapter XXI

We had sad work with little Cathy that day: she rose in high glee, eager to join
her cousin; and such passionate tears and lamentations followed the news of his
departure, that Edgar, himself, was obliged to soothe her, by affirming he
should come back soon; he added, however, »if I can get him;« and there were no
hopes of that.
    This promise poorly pacified her; but time was more potent; and though
still, at intervals, she inquired of her father, when Linton would return;
before she did see him again, his features had waxed so dim in her memory that
she did not recognise him.
    When I chanced to encounter the housekeeper of Wuthering Heights, in paying
business-visits to Gimmerton, I used to ask how the young master got on; for he
lived almost as secluded as Catherine herself, and was never to be seen. I could
gather from her that he continued in weak health, and was a tiresome inmate. She
said Mr. Heathcliff seemed to dislike him ever longer and worse, though he took
some trouble to conceal it. He had an antipathy to the sound of his voice, and
could not do at all with his sitting in the same room with him many minutes
together.
    There seldom passed much talk between them; Linton learnt his lessons, and
spent his evenings in a small apartment, they called the parlour; or else lay in
bed all day; for he was constantly getting coughs, and colds, and aches, and
pains of some sort.
    »And I never knew such a faint-hearted creature,« added the woman; »nor one
so careful of hisseln. He will go on, if I leave the window open, a bit late in
the evening. Oh! it's killing, a breath of night air! And he must have a fire in
the middle of summer; and Joseph's bacca pipe is poison; and he must always have
sweets and dainties, and always milk, milk for ever - heeding naught how the
rest of us are pinched in winter - and there he'll sit, wrapped in his furred
cloak in his chair by the fire, and some toast and water, or other slop on the
hob to sip at; and if Hareton, for pity, comes to amuse him - Hareton is not
bad-natured, though he's rough - they're sure to part, one swearing, and the
other crying. I believe the master would relish Earnshaw's thrashing him to a
mummy, if he were not his son: and, I'm certain, he would be fit to turn him out
of doors, if he knew half the nursing he gives hisseln. But then, he won't go
into danger of temptation; he never enters the parlour, and should Linton show
those ways in the house where he is, he sends him up stairs directly.«
    I divined, from this account, that utter lack of sympathy had rendered young
Heathcliff selfish and disagreeable, if he were not so originally; and my
interest in him, consequently, decayed; though still I was moved by a sense of
grief at his lot, and a wish that he had been left with us.
    Mr. Edgar encouraged me to gain information; he thought a great deal about
him, I fancy, and would have run some risk to see him; and he told me once to
ask the housekeeper whether he ever came into the village?
    She said he had only been twice, on horseback, accompanying his father: and
both times he pretended to be quite knocked up for three or four days
afterwards.
    That housekeeper left, if I recollect rightly, two years after he came; and
another, whom I did not know, was her successor: she lives there still.
    Time wore on at the Grange in its former pleasant way, till Miss Cathy
reached sixteen. On the anniversary of her birth we never manifested any signs
of rejoicing, because it was, also, the anniversary of my late mistress's death.
Her father invariably spent that day alone in the library; and walked, at dusk,
as far as Gimmerton kirkyard, where he would frequently prolong his stay beyond
midnight. Therefore Catherine was thrown on her own resources for amusement.
    This twentieth of March was a beautiful spring day, and when her father had
retired, my young lady came down dressed for going out, and said she had asked
to have a ramble on the edge of the moors with me; and Mr. Linton had given her
leave, if we went only a short distance, and were back within the hour.
    »So make haste, Ellen!« she cried. »I know where I wish to go; where a
colony of moor game are settled; I want to see whether they have made their
nests yet.«
    »That must be a good distance up,« I answered; »they don't breed on the edge
of the moor.«
    »No, it's not,« she said. »I've gone very near with papa.«
    I put on my bonnet, and sallied out; thinking nothing more of the matter.
She bounded before me, and returned to my side, and was off again like a young
greyhound; and, at first, I found plenty of entertainment in listening to the
larks singing far and near; and enjoying the sweet, warm sunshine; and watching
her, my pet, and my delight, with her golden ringlets flying loose behind, and
her bright cheek, as soft and pure in its bloom, as a wild rose, and her eyes
radiant with cloudless pleasure. She was a happy creature, and an angel, in
those days. It's a pity she could not be content.
    »Well,« said I, »where are your moor-game, Miss Cathy? We should be at them
- the Grange park-fence is a great way off now.«
    »Oh, a little further - only a little further, Ellen,« was her answer,
continually. »Climb to that hillock, pass that bank, and by the time you reach
the other side, I shall have raised the birds.«
    But there were so many hillocks and banks to climb and pass, that, at
length, I began to be weary, and told her we must halt, and retrace our steps.
    I shouted to her, as she had outstripped me, a long way; she either did not
hear, or did not regard, for she still sprang on, and I was compelled to follow.
Finally, she dived into a hollow; and before I came in sight of her again, she
was two miles nearer Wuthering Heights than her own home; and I beheld a couple
of persons arrest her, one of whom I felt convinced was Mr. Heathcliff himself.
    Cathy had been caught in the act of plundering, or, at least, hunting out
the nests of the grouse.
    The Heights were Heathcliff's land, and he was reproving the poacher.
    »I've neither taken any nor found any,« she said, as I toiled to them,
expanding her hands in corroboration of the statement. »I didn't mean to take
them; but papa told me there were quantities up here, and I wished to see the
eggs.«
    Heathcliff glanced at me with an ill-meaning smile, expressing his
acquaintance with the party, and, consequently, his malevolence towards it, and
demanded who papa was.
    »Mr. Linton of Thrushcross Grange,« she replied. »I thought you did not know
me, or you wouldn't have spoken in that way.«
    »You suppose papa is highly esteemed and respected then?« he said,
sarcastically.
    »And what are you?« inquired Catherine, gazing curiously on the speaker.
»That man I've seen before. Is he your son?«
    She pointed to Hareton, the other individual; who had gained nothing but
increased bulk and strength by the addition of two years to his age: he seemed
as awkward and rough as ever.
    »Miss Cathy,« I interrupted, »it will be three hours instead of one, that we
are out, presently. We really must go back.«
    »No, that man is not my son,« answered Heathcliff, pushing me aside. »But I
have one, and you have seen him before too; and, though your nurse is in a
hurry, I think both you and she would be the better for a little rest. Will you
just turn this nab of heath, and walk into my house? You'll get home earlier for
the ease; and you shall receive a kind welcome.«
    I whispered Catherine, that she mustn't, on any account, accede to the
proposal; it was entirely out of the question.
    »Why?« she asked, aloud. »I'm tired of running, and the ground is dewy - I
can't sit here. Let us go, Ellen! Besides, he says I have seen his son. He's
mistaken, I think; but I guess where he lives, at the farm-house I visited in
coming from Penistone Craggs. Don't you?«
    »I do. Come, Nelly, hold your tongue - it will be a treat for her to look in
on us. Hareton get forwards with the lass. You shall walk with me, Nelly.«
    »No, she's not going to any such place,« I cried, struggling to release my
arm which he had seized; but she was almost at the door-stones already,
scampering round the brow at full speed. Her appointed companion did not pretend
to escort her; he shyed off by the road side, and vanished.
    »Mr. Heathcliff, it's very wrong,« I continued, »you know you mean no good;
and there she'll see Linton, and all will be told, as soon as ever we return;
and I shall have the blame.«
    »I want her to see Linton,« he answered: »he's looking better these few
days; it's not often he's fit to be seen. And we'll soon persuade her to keep
the visit secret - where is the harm of it?«
    »The harm of it is, that her father would hate me, if he found I suffered
her to enter your house; and I am convinced you have a bad design in encouraging
her to do so,« I replied.
    »My design is as honest as possible. I'll inform you of its whole scope,« he
said. »That the two cousins may fall in love, and get married. I'm acting
generously to your master; his young chit has no expectations, and should she
second my wishes, she'll be provided for, at once, as joint successor with
Linton.«
    »If Linton died,« I answered, »and his life is quite uncertain, Catherine
would be the heir.«
    »No, she would not,« he said. »There is no clause in the will to secure it
so; his property would go to me; but, to prevent disputes, I desire their union,
and am resolved to bring it about.«
    »And I'm resolved she shall never approach your house with me again,« I
returned, as we reached the gate, where Miss Cathy waited our coming.
    Heathcliff bid me be quiet; and preceding us up the path, hastened to open
the door. My young lady gave him several looks, as if she could not exactly make
up her mind what to think of him; but now he smiled when he met her eye, and
softened his voice in addressing her, and I was foolish enough to imagine the
memory of her mother might disarm him from desiring her injury.
    Linton stood on the hearth. He had been out, walking in the fields; for his
cap was on, and he was calling to Joseph to bring him dry shoes.
    He had grown tall of his age, still wanting some months of sixteen. His
features were pretty yet, and his eye and complexion brighter than I remembered
them, though with merely temporary lustre borrowed from the salubrious air and
genial sun.
    »Now, who is that?« asked Mr. Heathcliff, turning to Cathy. »Can you tell?«
    »Your son?« she said, having doubtfully surveyed, first one, and then the
other.
    »Yes, yes,« answered he; »but is this the only time you have beheld him?
Think! Ah! you have a short memory. Linton, don't you recall your cousin, that
you used to tease us so, with wishing to see?«
    »What, Linton!« cried Cathy, kindling into joyful surprise at the name. »Is
that little Linton? He's taller than I am! Are you, Linton?«
    The youth stepped forward, and acknowledged himself: she kissed him
fervently, and they gazed with wonder at the change time had wrought in the
appearance of each.
    Catherine had reached her full height; her figure was both plump and
slender, elastic as steel, and her whole aspect sparkling with health and
spirits. Linton's looks and movements were very languid, and his form extremely
slight; but there was a grace in his manner that mitigated these defects, and
rendered him not unpleasing.
    After exchanging numerous marks of fondness with him, his cousin went to Mr.
Heathcliff, who lingered by the door, dividing his attention between the objects
inside, and those that lay without, pretending, that is, to observe the latter,
and really noting the former alone.
    »And you are my uncle, then!« she cried, reaching up to salute him. »I
thought I liked you, though you were cross, at first. Why don't you visit at the
Grange with Linton? To live all these years such close neighbours, and never see
us, is odd; what have you done so for?«
    »I visited it once or twice too often before you were born,« he answered.
»There - damn it! If you have any kisses to spare, give them to Linton - they
are thrown away on me.«
    »Naughty Ellen!« exclaimed Catherine, flying to attack me next with her
lavish caresses. »Wicked Ellen! to try to hinder me from entering. But, I'll
take this walk every morning in future - may I, uncle - and sometimes bring
papa? Won't you be glad to see us?«
    »Of course!« replied the uncle, with a hardly suppressed grimace, resulting
from his deep aversion to both the proposed visitors. »But stay,« he continued,
turning towards the young lady. »Now I think of it, I'd better tell you. Mr.
Linton has a prejudice against me; we quarrelled at one time of our lives, with
unchristian ferocity; and, if you mention coming here to him, he'll put a veto
on your visits altogether. Therefore, you must not mention it, unless you be
careless of seeing your cousin hereafter - you may come, if you will, but you
must not mention it.«
    »Why did you quarrel?« asked Catherine, considerably crest-fallen.
    »He thought me too poor to wed his sister,« answered Heathcliff, »and was
grieved that I got her - his pride was hurt, and he'll never forgive it.«
    »That's wrong!« said the young lady: »some time, I'll tell him so; but
Linton and I have no share in your quarrel. I'll not come here, then, he shall
come to the Grange.«
    »It will be too far for me,« murmured her cousin, »to walk four miles would
kill me. No, come here, Miss Catherine, now and then, not every morning, but
once or twice a week.«
    The father launched towards his son a glance of bitter contempt.
    »I am afraid, Nelly, I shall lose my labour,« he muttered to me. »Miss
Catherine, as the ninny calls her, will discover his value, and send him to the
devil. Now, if it had been Hareton - do you know that, twenty times a day, I
covet Hareton, with all his degradation? I'd have loved the lad had he been some
one else. But I think he's safe from her love. I'll pit him against that paltry
creature, unless it bestir itself briskly. We calculate it will scarcely last
till it is eighteen. Oh, confound the vapid thing. He's absorbed in drying his
feet, and never looks at her - Linton!«
    »Yes, father,« answered the boy.
    »Have you nothing to show your cousin, anywhere about; not even a rabbit, or
a weasel's nest? Take her into the garden, before you change your shoes; and
into the stable to see your horse.«
    »Wouldn't you rather sit here?« asked Linton, addressing Cathy in a tone
which expressed reluctance to move again.
    »I don't know,« she replied, casting a longing look to the door, and
evidently eager to be active.
    He kept his seat, and shrank closer to the fire.
    Heathcliff rose, and went into the kitchen, and from thence to the yard,
calling out for Hareton.
    Hareton responded, and presently the two re-entered. The young man had been
washing himself, as was visible by the glow on his cheeks, and his wetted hair.
    »Oh, I'll ask you, uncle;« cried Miss Cathy, recollecting the housekeeper's
assertion. »That's not my cousin, is he?«
    »Yes,« he replied, »your mother's nephew. Don't you like him?«
    Catherine looked queer.
    »Is he not a handsome lad?« he continued.
    The uncivil little thing stood on tiptoe, and whispered a sentence in
Heathcliff's ear.
    He laughed; Hareton darkened; I perceived he was very sensitive to suspected
slights, and had obviously a dim notion of his inferiority. But his master or
guardian chased the frown by exclaiming -
    »You'll be the favourite among us, Hareton! She says you are a - What was
it? Well, something very flattering - Here! you go with her round the farm. And
behave like a gentleman, mind! Don't use any bad words; and don't stare, when
the young lady is not looking at you, and be ready to hide your face when she
is; and, when you speak, say your words slowly, and keep your hands out of your
pockets. Be off, and entertain her as nicely as you can.«
    He watched the couple walking past the window. Earnshaw had his countenance
completely averted from his companion. He seemed studying the familiar landscape
with a stranger's, and an artist's interest.
    Catherine took a sly look at him, expressing small admiration. She then
turned her attention to seeking out objects of amusement for herself, and
tripped merrily on, lilting a tune to supply the lack of conversation.
    »I have tied his tongue,« observed Heathcliff. »He'll not venture a single
syllable, all the time! Nelly, you recollect me at his age - nay, some years
younger - Did I ever look so stupid, so gaumless, as Joseph calls it?«
    »Worse,« I replied, »because more sullen with it.«
    »I've a pleasure in him!« he continued reflecting aloud. »He has satisfied
my expectations - If he were a born fool I should not enjoy it half so much -
But he's no fool; and I can sympathize with all his feelings, having felt them
myself - I know what he suffers now, for instance, exactly - it is merely a
beginning of what he shall suffer, though. And he'll never be able to emerge
from his bathos of coarseness, and ignorance. I've got him faster than his
scoundrel of a father secured me, and lower; for he takes a pride in his
brutishness. I've taught him to scorn everything, extra-animal, as silly and
weak - Don't you think Hindley would be proud of his son, if he could see him?
almost as proud as I am of mine - But there's this difference, one is gold put
to the use of paving stones; and the other is tin polished to ape a service of
silver - Mine has nothing valuable about it; yet I shall have the merit, of
making it go as far as such poor stuff can go. His had first-rate qualities, and
they are lost - rendered worse than unavailing - I have nothing to regret; he
would have more than any, but I, are aware of - And the best of it is, Hareton
is damnably fond of me! You'll own that I've out-matched Hindley there - If the
dead villain could rise from his grave to abuse me for his offspring's wrongs, I
should have the fun of seeing the said offspring fight him back again, indignant
that he should dare to rail at the one friend he has in the world!«
    Heathcliff chuckled a fiendish laugh at the idea; I made no reply, because I
saw that he expected none.
    Meantime, our young companion, who sat too removed from us to hear what was
said, began to evince symptoms of uneasiness: probably repenting that he had
denied himself the treat of Catherine's society, for fear of a little fatigue.
    His father remarked the restless glances wandering to the window, and the
hand irresolutely extended towards his cap.
    »Get up, you idle boy!« he exclaimed with assumed heartiness. »Away after
them ... they are just at the corner, by the stand of hives.«
    Linton gathered his energies, and left the hearth. The lattice was open and,
as he stepped out, I heard Cathy inquiring of her unsociable attendant, what was
that inscription over the door?
    Hareton stared up, and scratched his head like a true clown.
    »It's some damnable writing;« he answered. »I cannot read it.«
    »Can't read it?« cried Catherine, »I can read it ... It's English ... but I
want to know, why it is there.«
    Linton giggled - the first appearance of mirth he had exhibited.
    »He does not know his letters,« he said to his cousin. »Could you believe in
the existence of such a colossal dunce?«
    »Is he all as he should be?« asked Miss Cathy seriously, »or is he simple
... not right? I've questioned him twice now, and each time he looked so stupid,
I think he does not understand me; I can hardly understand him I'm sure!«
    Linton repeated his laugh, and glanced at Hareton tauntingly, who certainly,
did not seem quite clear of comprehension at that moment.
    »There's nothing the matter, but laziness, is there, Earnshaw?« he said. »My
cousin fancies you are an idiot ... There you experience the consequence of
scorning book-larning, as you would say ... Have you noticed, Catherine, his
frightful Yorkshire pronunciation?«
    »Why, where the devil is the use on't?« growled Hareton, more ready in
answering his daily companion. He was about to enlarge further, but the two
youngsters broke into a noisy fit of merriment; my giddy Miss being delighted to
discover that she might turn his strange talk to matter of amusement.
    »Where is the use of the devil in that sentence?« tittered Linton. »Papa
told you not to say any bad words, and you can't open your mouth without one ...
Do try to behave like a gentleman, now do!«
    »If thou weren't more a lass than a lad, I'd fell thee this minute, I would;
pitiful lath of a crater!« retorted the angry boor retreating, while his face
burnt with mingled rage, and mortification; for he was conscious of being
insulted, and embarrassed how to resent it.
    Mr. Heathcliff having overheard the conversation, as well as I, smiled when
he saw him go, but immediately afterwards, cast a look of singular aversion on
the flippant pair, who remained chattering in the door-way. The boy finding
animation enough while discussing Hareton's faults, and deficiencies, and
relating anecdotes of his goings on; and the girl relishing his pert and
spiteful sayings, without considering the ill-nature they evinced: but I began
to dislike, more than to compassionate, Linton, and to excuse his father, in
some measure, for holding him cheap.
    We staid till afternoon: I could not tear Miss Cathy away, before: but
happily my master had not quitted his apartment, and remained ignorant of our
prolonged absence.
    As we walked home, I would fain have enlightened my charge on the characters
of the people we had quitted; but she got it into her head that I was prejudiced
against them.
    »Aha!« she cried, »you take papa's side, Ellen - you are partial ... I know,
or else you wouldn't have cheated me so many years, into the notion that Linton
lived a long way from here. I'm really extremely angry, only, I'm so pleased, I
can't show it! But you must hold your tongue about my uncle ... he's my uncle
remember, and I'll scold papa for quarrelling with him.«
    And so she ran on, till I dropped endeavouring to convince her of her
mistake.
    She did not mention the visit that night, because she did not see Mr.
Linton. Next day it all came out, sadly to my chagrin; and still I was not
altogether sorry: I thought the burden of directing and warning would be more
efficiently borne by him than me, but he was too timid in giving satisfactory
reasons for his wish that she would shun connection with the household of the
Heights, and Catherine liked good reasons for every restraint that harassed her
petted will.
    »Papa!« she exclaimed after the morning's salutations, »guess whom I saw
yesterday, in my walk on the moors ... Ah, papa, you started! you've not done
right, have you, now? I saw - But listen, and you shall hear how I found you
out, and Ellen, who is in league with you, and yet pretended to pity me so, when
I kept hoping, and was always disappointed about Linton's coming back!«
    She gave a faithful account of her excursion and its consequences; and my
master, though he cast more than one reproachful look at me, said nothing, till
she had concluded. Then he drew her to him, and asked if she knew why he had
concealed Linton's near neighbourhood from her? Could she think it was to deny
her a pleasure that she might harmlessly enjoy?
    »It was because you disliked Mr. Heathcliff,« she answered.
    »Then you believe I care more for my own feelings than yours, Cathy?« he
said. »No, it was not because I disliked Mr. Heathcliff; but because Mr.
Heathcliff dislikes me; and is a most diabolical man, delighting to wrong and
ruin those he hates, if they give him the slightest opportunity. I knew that you
could not keep up an acquaintance with your cousin, without being brought into
contact with him; and I knew he would detest you, on my account; so, for your
own good, and nothing else, I took precautions that you should not see Linton
again - I meant to explain this sometime as you grew older, and I'm sorry I
delayed it!«
    »But Mr. Heathcliff was quite cordial, papa,« observed Catherine, not at all
convinced; »and he didn't object to our seeing each other: he said I might come
to his house, when I pleased, only I must not tell you, because you had
quarrelled with him, and would not forgive him for marrying Aunt Isabella. And
you won't - you are the one to be blamed - he is willing to let us be friends,
at least; Linton and I - and you are not.«
    My master, perceiving that she would not take his word for her
uncle-in-law's evil disposition, gave a hasty sketch of his conduct to Isabella,
and the manner in which Wuthering Heights became his property. He could not bear
to discourse long upon the topic, for though he spoke little of it, he still
felt the same horror, and detestation of his ancient enemy that had occupied his
heart ever since Mrs. Linton's death. »She might have been living yet, if it had
not been for him!« was his constant bitter reflection; and, in his eyes,
Heathcliff seemed a murderer.
    Miss Cathy, conversant with no bad deeds except her own slight acts of
disobedience, injustice and passion, rising from hot temper, and
thoughtlessness, and repented of on the day they were committed, was amazed at
the blackness of spirit that could brood on, and cover revenge for years; &amp;
deliberately prosecute its plans, without a visitation of remorse. She appeared
so deeply impressed and shocked at this new view of human nature - excluded from
all her studies and all her ideas till now - that Mr. Edgar deemed it
unnecessary to pursue the subject. He merely added,
    »You will know hereafter, darling, why I wish you to avoid his house and
family - now, return to your old employments and amusements, and think no more
about them!«
    Catherine kissed her father, and sat down quietly to her lessons for a
couple of hours, according to custom: then she accompanied him into the grounds,
and the whole day passed as usual: but in the evening, when she had retired to
her room, and I went to help her to undress, I found her crying, on her knees by
the bedside.
    »Oh, fie, silly child!« I exclaimed. »If you had any real griefs, you'd be
ashamed to waste a tear on this little contrariety. You never had one shadow of
substantial sorrow, Miss Catherine. Suppose, for a minute, that master and I
were dead, and you were by yourself in the world - how would you feel, then?
Compare the present occasion with such an affliction as that, and be thankful
for the friends you have, instead of coveting more.«
    »I'm not crying for myself, Ellen,« she answered, »it's for him - He
expected to see me again, to-morrow, and there, he'll be so disappointed - and
he'll wait for me, and I shan't come!«
    »Nonsense,« said I: »do you imagine he has thought as much of you, as you
have of him? Hasn't he Hareton, for a companion? Not one in a hundred would weep
at losing a relation they had just seen twice, for two afternoons - Linton will
conjecture how it is, and trouble himself no further about you.«
    »But may I not write a note to tell him why I cannot come?« she asked rising
to her feet. »And just send those books, I promised to lend him - his books are
not as nice as mine, and he wanted to have them extremely, when I told him how
interesting they were - May I not, Ellen?«
    »No, indeed, no indeed!« replied I with decision. »Then he would write to
you, and there'd never be an end of it - No, Miss Catherine, the acquaintance
must be dropped entirely - so papa expects, and I shall see that it is done.«
    »But how can one little note -« she recommenced, putting on an imploring
countenance.
    »Silence!« I interrupted. »We will not begin with your little notes - Get
into bed!«
    She threw at me a very naughty look, so naughty that I would not kiss her
good-night at first: I covered her up, and shut her door, in great displeasure -
but, repenting half-way, I returned softly, and lo! there was Miss, standing at
the table with a bit of blank paper before her, and a pencil in her hand, which
she guiltily slipped out of sight, on my re-entrance.
    »You'll get nobody to take that, Catherine,« I said, »if you write it; and
at present I shall put out your candle.«
    I set the extinguisher on the flame, receiving as I did so, a slap on my
hand, and a petulant cross thing! I then quitted her again, and she drew the
bolt in one of her worst, most peevish humours.
    The letter was finished and forwarded to its destination by a milk-fetcher
who came from the village, but that I didn't learn till some time afterwards.
Weeks passed on, and Cathy recovered her temper, though she grew wondrous fond
of stealing off to corners by herself, and often, if I came near her suddenly
while reading she would start, and bend over the book, evidently desirous to
hide it; and I detected edges of loose paper sticking out beyond the leaves.
    She also got a trick of coming down early in the morning, and lingering
about the kitchen, as if she were expecting the arrival of something; and she
had a small drawer in a cabinet in the library which she would trifle over for
hours, and whose key she took special care to remove when she left it.
    One day, as she inspected this drawer, I observed that the play-things, and
trinkets which recently formed its contents, were transmuted into bits of folded
paper.
    My curiosity and suspicions were roused; I determined to take a peep at her
mysterious treasures; so, at night, as soon as she and my master were safe up
stairs, I searched and readily found among my house keys, one that would fit the
lock. Having opened, I emptied the whole contents into my apron, and took them
with me to examine at leisure in my own chamber.
    Though I could not but suspect, I was still surprised to discover that they
were a mass of correspondence, daily almost, it must have been, from Linton
Heathcliff, answers to documents forwarded by her. The earlier dated were
embarrassed and short; gradually however they expanded into copious love
letters, foolish as the age of the writer rendered natural, yet with touches,
here and there, which I thought, were borrowed from a more experienced source.
    Some of them struck me as singularly odd compounds of ardour, and flatness;
commencing in strong feeling, and concluding in the affected, wordy way that a
school-boy might use to a fancied, incorporeal sweetheart.
    Whether they satisfied Cathy, I don't know, but they appeared very worthless
trash to me.
    After turning over as many as I thought proper, I tied them in a
handkerchief, and set them aside, re-locking the vacant drawer.
    Following her habit, my young lady descended early, and visited the kitchen:
I watched her go to the door, on the arrival of a certain little boy; and, while
the dairy maid filled his can, she tucked something into his jacket pocket, and
plucked something out.
    I went round by the garden, and laid wait for the messenger; who fought
valorously to defend his trust, and we spilt the milk between us; but I
succeeded in abstracting the epistle; and threatening serious consequences if he
did not look sharp home, I remained under the wall, and perused Miss Cathy's
affectionate composition. It was more simple and more eloquent than her
cousin's, very pretty and very silly. I shook my head, and went meditating into
the house.
    The day being wet, she could not divert herself with rambling about the
park; so, at the conclusion of her morning studies, she resorted to the solace
of the drawer. Her father sat reading at the table; and I, on purpose, had
sought a bit of work in some unripped fringes of the window curtain, keeping my
eye steadily fixed on her proceedings.
    Never did any bird flying back to a plundered nest which it had left
brim-ful of chirping young ones, express more complete despair in its anguished
cries, and flutterings, than she by her single »Oh!« and the change that
transfigured her late happy countenance. Mr. Linton looked up.
    »What is the matter, love? Have you hurt yourself?« he said.
    His tone and look, assured her he had not been the discoverer of the hoard.
    »No, papa -« she gasped. »Ellen! Ellen! come up-stairs - I'm sick!«
    I obeyed her summons, and accompanied her out.
    »Oh, Ellen! you have got them,« she commenced immediately, dropping on her
knees, when we were enclosed alone. »O, give them to me, and I'll never never do
so again! Don't tell papa - You have not told papa, Ellen, say you have not!
I've been exceedingly naughty, but I won't do it any more!«
    With a grave severity in my manner, I bid her stand up.
    »So,« I exclaimed, »Miss Catherine, you are tolerably far on, it seems - you
may well be ashamed of them! A fine bundle of trash you study in your leisure
hours, to be sure - Why it's good enough to be printed! And what do you suppose
the master will think, when I display it before him? I haven't shown it yet, but
you needn't imagine I shall keep your ridiculous secrets - For shame! And you
must have led the way in writing such absurdities, he would not have thought of
beginning, I'm certain.«
    »I didn't! I didn't!« sobbed Cathy, fit to break her heart. »I didn't once
think of loving him till -«
    »Loving!« cried I, as scornfully as I could utter the word. »Loving! Did
anybody ever hear the like! I might just as well talk of loving the miller who
comes once a year to buy our corn. Pretty loving, indeed, and both times
together you have seen Linton hardly four hours, in your life! Now here is the
babyish trash. I'm going with it to the library; and we'll see what your father
says to such loving.«
    She sprang at her precious epistles, but I held them above my head; and then
she poured out further frantic entreaties that I would burn them - do anything
rather than show them. And being really fully as inclined to laugh as scold, for
I esteemed it all girlish vanity, I at length, relented in a measure, and asked,
    »If I consent to burn them, will you promise faithfully, neither to send,
nor receive a letter again, nor a book, for I perceive you have sent him books,
nor locks of hair, nor rings, nor playthings?«
    »We don't send playthings!« cried Catherine, her pride overcoming her shame.
    »Nor anything at all, then, my lady!« I said. »Unless you will, here I go.«
    »I promise, Ellen!« she cried catching my dress. »Oh, put them in the fire,
do, do!«
    But when I proceeded to open a place with the poker, the sacrifice was too
painful to be borne - She earnestly supplicated that I would spare her one or
two.
    »One or two, Ellen, to keep for Linton's sake!«
    I unknotted the handkerchief, and commenced dropping them in from an angle,
and the flame curled up the chimney.
    »I will have one, you cruel wretch!« she screamed, darting her hand into the
fire, and drawing forth some half consumed fragments, at the expense of her
fingers.
    »Very well - and I will have some to exhibit to papa!« I answered shaking
back the rest into the bundle, and turning anew to the door.
    She emptied her blackened pieces into the flames, and motioned me to finish
the immolation. It was done; I stirred up the ashes, and interred them under a
shovel full of coals; and she mutely, and with a sense of intense injury,
retired to her private apartment. I descended to tell my master that the young
lady's qualm of sickness was almost gone, but I judged it best for her to lie
down a while.
    She wouldn't dine; but she re-appeared at tea, pale and red about the eyes,
and marvellously subdued in outward aspect.
    Next morning I answered the letter by a slip of paper inscribed, »Master
Heathcliff is requested to send no more notes to Miss Linton as she will not
receive them.« And, thenceforth the little boy came with vacant pockets.
 

                                  Chapter XXII

Summer drew to an end, and early Autumn - it was past Michaelmas, but the
harvest was late that year, and a few of our fields were still uncleared.
    Mr. Linton and his daughter would frequently walk out among the reapers: at
the carrying of the last sheaves, they stayed till dusk, and the evening
happening to be chill and damp, my master caught a bad cold, that settling
obstinately on his lungs, confined him indoors throughout the whole of the
winter, nearly without intermission.
    Poor Cathy, frightened from her little romance, had been considerably sadder
and duller since its abandonment: and her father insisted on her reading less,
and taking more exercise. She had his companionship no longer; I esteemed it a
duty to supply its lack, as much as possible, with mine; an inefficient
substitute, for I could only spare two or three hours, from my numerous diurnal
occupations, to follow her footsteps, and then, my society was obviously less
desirable than his.
    On an afternoon in October, or the beginning of November, a fresh watery
afternoon, when the turf and paths were rustling with moist, withered leaves,
and the cold, blue sky was half hidden by clouds, dark grey streamers, rapidly
mounting from the west, and boding abundant rain; I requested my young lady to
forego her ramble because I was certain of showers. She refused; and I
unwillingly donned a cloak, and took my umbrella to accompany her on a stroll to
the bottom of the park; a formal walk which she generally affected if
low-spirited; and that she invariably was when Mr. Edgar had been worse than
ordinary; a thing never known from his confession, but guessed both by her and
me from his increased silence, and the melancholy of his countenance.
    She went sadly on; there was no running or bounding now; though the chill
wind might well have tempted her to a race. And often, from the side of my eye,
I could detect her raising a hand, and brushing something off her cheek.
    I gazed round for a means of diverting her thoughts. On one side of the road
rose a high, rough bank, where hazels and stunted oaks, with their roots half
exposed, held uncertain tenor: the soil was too loose for the latter; and
strong winds had blown some nearly horizontal. In summer, Miss Catherine
delighted to climb along these trunks, and sit in the branches, swinging twenty
feet above the ground; and I pleased with her agility, and her light, childish
heart, still considered it proper to scold every time I caught her at such an
elevation; but so that she knew there was no necessity for descending. From
dinner to tea she would lie in her breeze-rocked cradle, doing nothing except
singing old songs - my nursery lore - to herself, or watching the birds, joint
tenants, feed and entice their young ones to fly, or nestling with closed lids,
half thinking, half dreaming, happier than words can express.
    »Look, Miss!« I exclaimed, pointing to a nook under the roots of one twisted
tree. »Winter is not here yet. There's a little flower, up yonder, the last bud
from the multitude of blue-bells that clouded those turf steps in July with a
lilac mist. Will you clamber up, and pluck it to show to papa?«
    Cathy stared a long time at the lonely blossom trembling in its earthy
shelter, and replied, at length -
    »No, I'll not touch it - but it looks melancholy, does it not, Ellen?«
    »Yes,« I observed, »about as starved and sackless as you - your cheeks are
bloodless; let us take hold of hands and run. You're so low, I dare say I shall
keep up with you.«
    »No,« she repeated, and continued sauntering on, pausing, at intervals, to
muse over a bit of moss, or a tuft of blanched grass, or a fungus spreading its
bright orange among the heaps of brown foliage; and, ever and anon, her hand was
lifted to her averted face.
    »Catherine, why are you crying, love?« I asked, approaching and putting my
arm over her shoulder. »You mustn't cry, because papa has a cold; be thankful it
is nothing worse.«
    She now put no further restraint on her tears; her breath was stifled by
sobs.
    »Oh, it will be something worse,« she said. »And what shall I do when papa
and you leave me, and I am by myself? I can't forget your words, Ellen, they are
always in my ear. How life will be changed, how dreary the world will be, when
papa and you are dead.«
    »None can tell, whether you wont die before us,« I replied. »It's wrong to
anticipate evil - we'll hope there are years and years to come before any of us
go - master is young, and I am strong, and hardly forty-five. My mother lived
till eighty, a canty dame to the last. And suppose Mr. Linton were spared till
he saw sixty, that would be more years than you have counted, Miss. And would it
not be foolish to mourn a calamity above twenty years beforehand?«
    »But Aunt Isabella was younger than papa,« she remarked, gazing up with
timid hope to seek further consolation.
    »Aunt Isabella had not you and me to nurse her,« I replied. »She wasn't't as
happy as master; she hadn't as much to live for. All you need do, is to wait
well on your father, and cheer him by letting him see you cheerful; and avoid
giving him anxiety on any subject - mind that, Cathy! I'll not disguise, but you
might kill him, if you were wild and reckless, and cherished a foolish, fanciful
affection for the son of a person who would be glad to have him in his grave -
and allowed him to discover that you fretted over the separation, he has judged
it expedient to make.«
    »I fret about nothing on earth except papa's illness,« answered my
companion. »I care for nothing in comparison with papa. And I'll never - never -
oh, never, while I have my senses, do an act, or say a word to vex him. I love
him better than myself, Ellen; and I know it by this - I pray every night that I
may live after him; because I would rather be miserable than that he should be -
that proves I love him better than myself.«
    »Good words,« I replied. »But deeds must prove it also; and after he is
well, remember you don't forget resolutions formed in the hour of fear.«
    As we talked, we neared a door that opened on the road: and my young lady,
lightening into sunshine again, climbed up, and seated herself on the top of the
wall, reaching over to gather some hips that bloomed scarlet on the summit
branches of the wild rose trees, shadowing the highway side, the lower fruit had
disappeared, but only birds could touch the upper, except from Cathy's present
station.
    In stretching to pull them, her hat fell off; and as the door was locked,
she proposed scrambling down to recover it. I bid her be cautious lest she got a
fall, and she nimbly disappeared.
    But the return was no such easy matter; the stones were smooth and neatly
cemented, and the rosebushes, and blackberry stragglers could yield no
assistance in re-ascending. I, like a fool, didn't recollect that till I heard
her laughing, and exclaiming -
    »Ellen! you'll have to fetch the key, or else I must run round to the
porter's lodge. I can't scale the ramparts on this side!«
    »Stay where you are,« I answered, »I have my bundle of keys in my pocket;
perhaps I may manage to open it, if not, I'll go.«
    Catherine amused herself with dancing to and fro before the door, while I
tried all the large keys in succession. I had applied the last, and found that
none would do; so, repeating my desire that she would remain there, I was about
to hurry home as fast as I could, when an approaching sound arrested me. It was
the trot of a horse; Cathy's dance stopped; and in a minute the horse stopped
also.
    »Who is that?« I whispered.
    »Ellen, I wish you could open the door,« whispered back my companion,
anxiously.
    »Ho, Miss Linton!« cried a deep voice, (the rider's.) »I'm glad to meet you.
Don't be in haste to enter, for I have an explanation to ask and obtain.«
    »I shant speak to you, Mr. Heathcliff!« answered Catherine. »Papa says you
are a wicked man, and you hate both him and me; and Ellen says the same.«
    »That is nothing to the purpose,« said Heathcliff. (He it was.) »I don't
hate my son, I suppose, and it is concerning him, that I demand your attention.
Yes! you have cause to blush. Two or three months since, were you not in the
habit of writing to Linton? making love in play, eh? You deserved, both of you,
flogging for that! You especially, the elder, and less sensitive, as it turns
out. I've got your letters, and if you give me any pertness, I'll send them to
your father. I presume you grew weary of the amusement, and dropped it, didn't
you? Well, you dropped Linton with it, into a Slough of Despond. He was in
earnest - in love - really. As true as I live, he's dying for you - breaking his
heart at your fickleness, not figuratively, but actually. Though Hareton has
made him a standing jest for six weeks, and I have used more serious measures,
and attempted to frighten him out of his idiocy, he gets worse daily, and he'll
be under the sod before summer, unless you restore him!«
    »How can you lie so glaringly to the poor child!« I called from the inside.
»Pray ride on! How can you deliberately get up such paltry falsehoods? Miss
Cathy, I'll knock the lock off with a stone, you wont believe that vile
nonsense. You can feel in yourself, it is impossible that a person should die
for love of a stranger.«
    »I was not aware there were eaves-droppers,« muttered the detected villain.
»Worthy Mrs. Dean, I like you, but I don't like your double dealing,« he added,
aloud. »How could you lie so glaringly, as to affirm I hated the poor child? And
invent bugbear stories to terrify her from my door-stones? Catherine Linton,
(the very name warms me), my bonny lass, I shall be from home all this week, go
and see if I have not spoken truth; do, there's a darling! Just imagine your
father in my place, and Linton in yours; then think how you would value your
careless lover, if he refused to stir a step to comfort you, when your father,
himself, entreated him; and don't, from pure stupidity, fall into the same
error. I swear, on my salvation, he's going to his grave, and none but you can
save him!«
    The lock gave way, and I issued out.
    »I swear Linton is dying,« repeated Heathcliff, looking hard at me. »And
grief and disappointment are hastening his death. Nelly, if you wont let her go,
you can walk over yourself. But I shall not return till this time next week; and
I think your master himself would scarcely object to her visiting her cousin!«
    »Come in,« said I, taking Cathy by the arm and half forcing her to re-enter,
for she lingered, viewing, with troubled eyes, the features of the speaker, too
stern to express his inward deceit.
    He pushed his horse close, and, bending down, observed -
    »Miss Catherine, I'll own to you that I have little patience with Linton -
and Hareton and Joseph have less. I'll own he's with a harsh set. He pines for
kindness, as well as love; and a kind word from you would be his best medicine.
Don't mind Mrs. Dean's cruel cautions, but be generous, and contrive to see him.
He dreams of you day and night, and cannot be persuaded that you don't hate him,
since you neither write nor call.«
    I closed the door, and rolled a stone to assist the loosened lock in holding
it; and spreading my umbrella, I drew my charge underneath, for the rain began
to drive through the moaning branches of the trees, and warned us to avoid
delay.
    Our hurry prevented any comment on the encounter with Heathcliff, as we
stretched towards home; but I divined instinctively that Catherine's heart was
clouded now in double darkness. Her features were so sad, they did not seem
hers: she evidently regarded what she had heard as every syllable true.
    The master had retired to rest before we came in. Cathy stole to his room to
inquire how he was; he had fallen asleep. She returned, and asked me to sit with
her in the library. We took our tea together; and afterwards she lay down on the
rug, and told me not to talk for she was weary.
    I got a book, and pretended to read. As soon as she supposed me absorbed in
my occupation, she recommenced her silent weeping: it appeared, at present, her
favourite diversion. I suffered her to enjoy it a while; then, I expostulated;
deriding and ridiculing all Mr. Heathcliff's assertions about his son; as if I
were certain she would coincide. Alas! I hadn't skill to counteract the effect
his account had produced; it was just what he intended.
    »You may be right, Ellen,« she answered; »but I shall never feel at ease
till I know - and I must tell Linton it is not my fault that I don't write; and
convince him that I shall not change.«
    What use were anger and protestations against her silly credulity? We parted
that night hostile - but next day beheld me on the road to Wuthering Heights, by
the side of my wilful young mistress's pony. I couldn't bear to witness her
sorrow, to see her pale, dejected countenance, and heavy eyes; and I yielded in
the faint hope that Linton himself might prove by his reception of us, how
little of the tale was founded on fact.
 

                                 Chapter XXIII

The rainy night had ushered in a misty morning - half frost, half drizzle - and
temporary brooks crossed our path, gurgling from the uplands. My feet were
thoroughly wetted; I was cross and low, exactly the humour suited for making the
most of these disagreeable things.
    We entered the farm-house by the kitchen way to ascertain whether Mr.
Heathcliff were really absent; because I put slight faith in his own
affirmation.
    Joseph seemed sitting in a sort of elysium alone, beside a roaring fire; a
quart of ale on the table near him, bristling with large pieces of toasted oat
cake; and his black, short pipe in his mouth.
    Catherine ran to the hearth to warm herself. I asked if the master were in?
    My question remained so long unanswered, that I thought the old man had
grown deaf, and repeated it louder.
    »Na - ay!« he snarled, or rather screamed through his nose. »Na - ay! yah
mun goa back whear yah come frough.«
    »Joseph,« cried a peevish voice, simultaneously with me, from the inner
room. »How often am I to call you? There are only a few red ashes now. Joseph!
come this moment.«
    Vigorous puffs, and a resolute stare into the grate declared he had no ear
for this appeal. The housekeeper and Hareton were invisible; one gone on an
errand, and the other at his work, probably. We knew Linton's tones and entered.
    »Oh, I hope you'll die in a garret! starved to death,« said the boy,
mistaking our approach for that of his negligent attendant.
    He stopped, on observing his error; his cousin flew to him.
    »Is that you, Miss Linton?« he said, raising his head from the arm of the
great chair, in which he reclined. »No - don't kiss me. It takes my breath -
dear me! Papa said you would call,« continued he, after recovering a little from
Catherine's embrace; while she stood by looking very contrite. »Will you shut
the door, if you please? you left it open - and those - those detestable
creatures won't bring coals to the fire. It's so cold!«
    I stirred up the cinders, and fetched a scuttle full myself. The invalid
complained of being covered with ashes; but he had a tiresome cough, and looked
feverish and ill, so I did not rebuke his temper.
    »Well, Linton,« murmured Catherine, when his corrugated brow relaxed. »Are
you glad to see me? Can I do you any good?«
    »Why didn't you come before?« he said. »You should have come, instead of
writing. It tired me dreadfully, writing those long letters. I'd far rather have
talked to you. Now, I can neither bear to talk, nor anything else. I wonder
where Zillah is! will you (looking at me,) step into the kitchen and see?«
    I had received no thanks for my other service; and being unwilling to run to
and fro at his behest, I replied -
    »Nobody is out there but Joseph.«
    »I want to drink,« he exclaimed, fretfully, turning away. »Zillah is
constantly gadding off to Gimmerton since papa went. It's miserable! And I'm
obliged to come down here - they resolved never to hear me up stairs.«
    »Is your father attentive to you, Master Heathcliff?« I asked, perceiving
Catherine to be checked in her friendly advances.
    »Attentive? He makes them a little more attentive, at least,« he cried. »The
wretches! Do you know, Miss Linton, that brute Hareton laughs at me - I hate him
- indeed, I hate them all - they are odious beings.«
    Cathy began searching for some water; she lighted on a pitcher in the
dresser; filled a tumbler, and brought it. He bid her add a spoonful of wine
from a bottle on the table; and having swallowed a small portion, appeared more
tranquil, and said she was very kind.
    »And are you glad to see me?« asked she, reiterating her former question,
and pleased to detect the faint dawn of a smile.
    »Yes, I am - It's something new to hear a voice like yours!« he replied,
»But I have been vexed, because you wouldn't come - And papa swore it was owing
to me; he called me a pitiful, shuffling, worthless thing; and said you despised
me; and if he had been in my place, he would be more the master of the Grange
than your father, by this time. But you don't despise me, do you Miss -«
    »I wish you would say Catherine, or Cathy!« interrupted my young lady.
»Despise you? No! Next to papa, and Ellen, I love you better than anybody
living. I don't love Mr. Heathcliff, though; and I dare not come when he
returns; will he stay away many days?«
    »Not many:« answered Linton, »but he goes onto the moors frequently, since
the shooting season commenced, and you might spend an hour or two with me, in
his absence - Do! say you will! I think I should not be peevish with you; you'd
not provoke me, and you'd always be ready to help me, wouldn't you?«
    »Yes,« said Catherine, stroking his long soft hair, »if I could only get
papa's consent, I'd spend half my time with you - Pretty Linton! I wish you were
my brother!«
    »And then you would like me as well as your father?« observed he more
cheerfully. »But papa says you would love me better than him, and all the world,
if you were my wife - so I'd rather you were that!«
    »No! I should never love anybody better than papa,« she returned gravely.
»And people hate their wives, sometimes; but not their sisters and brothers, and
if you were the latter, you would live with us, and papa would be as fond of
you, as he is of me.«
    Linton denied that people ever hated their wives; but Cathy affirmed they
did, and in her wisdom, instanced his own father's aversion to her aunt.
    I endeavoured to stop her thoughtless tongue - I couldn't succeed, till
everything she knew was out. Master Heathcliff, much irritated, asserted her
relation was false.
    »Papa told me; and papa does not tell falsehoods!« she answered pertly.
    »My papa scorns yours!« cried Linton. »He calls him a sneaking fool!«
    »Yours is a wicked man,« retorted Catherine, »and you are very naughty to
dare to repeat what he says - He must be wicked, to have made Aunt Isabella
leave him as she did!«
    »She didn't leave him,« said the boy, »you shan't contradict me!«
    »She did!« cried my young lady.
    »Well, I'll tell you something!« said Linton. »Your mother hated your
father, now then.«
    »Oh!« exclaimed Catherine, too enraged to continue.
    »And she loved mine!« added he.
    »You little liar! I hate you now,« she panted, and her face grew red with
passion.
    »She did! she did!« sang Linton sinking into the recess of his chair, and
leaning back his head to enjoy the agitation of the other disputant who stood
behind.
    »Hush, Master Heathcliff!« I said, »that's your father's tale too, I
suppose.«
    »It isn't - you hold your tongue!« he answered, »she did, she did,
Catherine, she did, she did!«
    Cathy, beside herself, gave the chair a violent push, and caused him to fall
against one arm. He was immediately seized by a suffocating cough that soon
ended his triumph.
    It lasted so long, that it frightened even me. As to his cousin, she wept
with all her might, aghast at the mischief she had done, though she said
nothing.
    I held him, till the fit exhausted itself. Then he thrust me away; and leant
his head down, silently - Catherine quelled her lamentations also, took a seat
opposite, and looked solemnly into the fire.
    »How do you feel now, Master Heathcliff,« I inquired after waiting ten
minutes.
    »I wish she felt as I do,« he replied, »spiteful, cruel thing! Hareton never
touches me, he never struck me in his life - And I was better to-day - and there
-« his voice died in a whimper.
    »I didn't strike you!« muttered Cathy chewing her lip to prevent another
burst of emotion.
    He sighed and moaned like one under great suffering; and kept it up for a
quarter of an hour, on purpose to distress his cousin, apparently, for whenever
he caught a stifled sob from her, he put renewed pain and pathos into the
inflexions of his voice.
    »I'm sorry I hurt you, Linton!« she said at length, racked beyond endurance.
»But I couldn't have been hurt by that little push; and I had no idea that you
could, either - you're not much, are you, Linton? Don't let me go home, thinking
I've done you harm! answer, speak to me.«
    »I can't speak to you,« he murmured, »you've hurt me so, that I shall lie
awake all night, choking with this cough! If you had it you'd know what it was -
but you'll be comfortably asleep, while I'm in agony - and nobody near me! I
wonder how you would like to pass those fearful nights!« And he began to wail
aloud for very pity of himself.
    »Since you are in the habit of passing dreadful nights,« I said, »it won't
be Miss who spoils your ease; you'd be the same, had she never come - However,
she shall not disturb you, again - and perhaps, you'll get quieter when we leave
you.«
    »Must I go?« asked Catherine dolefully, bending over him. »Do you want me to
go, Linton?«
    »You can't alter what you've done,« he replied pettishly, shrinking from
her, »unless you alter it for the worse, by teasing me into a fever!«
    »Well, then I must go?« she repeated.
    »Let me alone, at least,« said he »I can't bear your talking!«
    She lingered, and resisted my persuasions to departure, a tiresome while,
but as he neither looked up, nor spoke, she finally made a movement to the door,
and I followed.
    We were recalled by a scream - Linton had slid from his seat on to the
hearthstone, and lay writhing in the mere perverseness of an indulged plague of
a child, determined to be as grievous and harassing as it can.
    I thoroughly guaged his disposition from his behaviour, and saw at once it
would be folly to attempt humouring him. Not so my companion, she ran back in
terror, knelt down, and cried, and soothed, and entreated, till he grew quiet
from lack of breath, by no means from compunction at distressing her.
    »I shall lift him on to the settle,« I said, »and he may roll about as he
pleases; we can't stop to watch him - I hope you are satisfied, Miss Cathy, that
you are not the person to benefit him, and that his condition of health is not
occasioned by attachment to you. Now then, there he is! Come away, as soon as he
knows there is nobody by to care for his nonsense, he'll be glad to lie still!«
    She placed a cushion under his head, and offered him some water, he rejected
the latter, and tossed uneasily on the former, as if it were a stone, or a block
of wood.
    She tried to put it more comfortably.
    »I can't do with that,« he said, »it's not high enough!«
    Catherine brought another to lay above it.
    »That's too high!« murmured the provoking thing.
    »How must I arrange it, then?« she asked despairingly.
    He twined himself up to her, as she half knelt by the settle, and converted
her shoulder into a support.
    »No, that won't do!« I said. »You'll be content with the cushion, Master
Heathcliff! Miss has wasted too much time on you, already; we cannot remain five
minutes longer.«
    »Yes, yes, we can!« replied Cathy. »He's good and patient, now - He's
beginning to think I shall have far greater misery than he will, to-night, if I
believe he is the worse for my visit; and then, I dare not come again - Tell the
truth about it, Linton - for I mustn't come, if I have hurt you.«
    »You must come, to cure me,« he answered. »You ought to come because you
have hurt me - You know you have, extremely! I was not as ill, when you entered,
as I am at present - was I?«
    »But you've made yourself ill by crying, and being in a passion.«
    »I didn't do it all,« said his cousin. »However, we'll be friends now. And
you want me - you would wish to see me sometimes, really?«
    »I told you, I did!« he replied impatiently. »Sit on the settle and let me
lean on your knee - That's as mamma used to do, whole afternoons together - Sit
quite still, and don't talk, but you may sing a song if you can sing, or you may
say a nice, long interesting ballad - one of those you promised to teach me, or
a story - I'd rather have a ballad though, begin.«
    Catherine repeated the longest she could remember. The employment pleased
both mightily. Linton would have another, and after that another;
notwithstanding my strenuous objections; and so, they went on, until the clock
struck twelve, and we heard Hareton in the court, returning for his dinner.
    »And to-morrow, Catherine, will you be here to-morrow?« asked young
Heathcliff, holding her frock, as she rose reluctantly.
    »No!« I answered, »nor next day neither.« She, however, gave a different
response, evidently, for his forehead cleared as she stooped, and whispered in
his ear.
    »You won't go to-morrow, recollect, Miss!« I commenced when we were out of
the house. »You are not dreaming of it, are you?«
    She smiled.
    »Oh, I'll take good care!« I continued, »I'll have that lock mended, and you
can escape by no way else.«
    »I can get over the wall,« she said laughing. »The Grange is not a prison,
Ellen, and you are not my jailer. And besides I'm almost seventeen. I'm a woman
- and I'm certain Linton would recover quickly if he had me to look after him -
I'm older than he is, you know, and wiser, less childish, am I not? And he'll
soon do as I direct him with some slight coaxing - He's a pretty little darling
when he's good. I'd make such a pet of him, if he were mine - We should never
quarrel, should we, after we were used to each other? Don't you like him,
Ellen?«
    »Like him?« I exclaimed. »The worst tempered bit of a sickly slip that ever
struggled into its teens! Happily, as Mr. Heathcliff conjectured, he'll not win
twenty! I doubt whether he'll see spring indeed - and small loss to his family,
whenever he drops off; and lucky it is for us that his father took him - The
kinder he was treated, the more tedious and selfish he'd be! I'm glad you have
no chance of having him for a husband, Miss Catherine!«
    My companion waxed serious at hearing this speech - To speak of his death so
regardlessly wounded her feelings.
    »He's younger than I,« she answered, after a protracted pause of meditation,
»and he ought to live the longest, he will - he must live as long as I do. He's
as strong now as when he first came into the North, I'm positive of that! It's
only a cold that ails him, the same as papa has - You say papa will get better,
and why shouldn't he?«
    »Well, well,« I cried, »after all, we needn't trouble ourselves; for listen,
Miss, and mind, I'll keep my word - If you attempt going to Wuthering Heights
again, with, or without me, I shall inform Mr. Linton, and unless he allow it,
the intimacy with your cousin must not be revived.«
    »It has been revived!« muttered Cathy sulkily.
    »Must not be continued, then!« I said.
    »We'll see!« was her reply, and she set off at a gallop, leaving me to toil
in the rear.
    We both reached home before our dinner-time: my master supposed we had been
wandering through the park, and therefore, he demanded no explanation of our
absence. As soon as I entered, I hastened to change my soaked shoes, and
stockings; but sitting such a while at the Heights, had done the mischief. On
the succeeding morning, I was laid up; and during three weeks I remained
incapacitated for attending to my duties - a calamity never experienced prior to
that period, and, never I am thankful to say since.
    My little mistress behaved like an angel in coming to wait on me, and cheer
my solitude: the confinement brought me exceedingly low - It is wearisome, to a
stirring active body - but few have slighter reasons for complaint than I had.
The moment Catherine left Mr. Linton's room, she appeared at my bed-side. Her
day was divided between us; no amusement usurped a minute: she neglected her
meals, her studies, and her play; and she was the fondest nurse that ever
watched: she must have had a warm heart, when she loved her father so, to give
so much to me!
    I said her days were divided between us; but the master retired early, and I
generally needed nothing after six o'clock, thus the evening was her own.
    Poor thing, I never considered what she did with herself after tea. And
though frequently, when she looked in to bid me good night I remarked a fresh
colour in her cheeks, and a pinkness over her slender fingers; instead of
fancying the hue borrowed from a cold ride across the moors, I laid it to the
charge of a hot fire in the library.
 

                                  Chapter XXIV

At the close of three weeks, I was able to quit my chamber, and move about the
house. And on the first occasion of my sitting up in the evening, I asked
Catherine to read to me, because my eyes were weak. We were in the library, the
master having gone to bed: she consented, rather unwillingly, I fancied; and
imagining my sort of books did not suit her, I bid her please herself in the
choice of what she perused.
    She selected one of her own favourites, and got forward steadily about an
hour; then came frequent questions.
    »Ellen, are not you tired? Hadn't you better lie down now? You'll be sick,
keeping up so long, Ellen.«
    »No, no, dear, I'm not tired,« I returned, continually.
    Perceiving me immovable, she essayed another method of showing her
dis-relish for her occupation. It changed to yawning, and stretching, and -
    »Ellen, I'm tired.«
    »Give over then and talk,« I answered.
    That was worse; she fretted and sighed, and looked at her watch till eight;
and finally went to her room, completely overdone with sleep, judging by her
peevish, heavy look, and the constant rubbing she inflicted on her eyes.
    The following night she seemed more impatient still; and on the third from
recovering my company, she complained of a head-ache, and left me.
    I thought her conduct odd; and having remained alone a long while, I was
resolved on going, and inquiring whether she were better, and asking her to come
and lie on the sofa, instead of up stairs, in the dark.
    No Catherine could I discover up stairs, and none below. The servants
affirmed they had not seen her. I listened at Mr. Edgar's door - all was
silence. I returned to her apartment, extinguished my candle, and seated myself
in the window.
    The moon shone bright; a sprinkling of snow covered the ground, and I
reflected that she might, possibly, have taken it into her head to walk about
the garden, for refreshment. I did detect a figure creeping along the inner
fence of the park; but it was not my young mistress; on its emerging into the
light, I recognized one of the grooms.
    He stood a considerable period, viewing the carriage road through the
grounds; then started off at a brisk pace, as if he had detected something, and
reappeared, presently, leading Miss's pony; and there she was, just dismounted,
and walking by its side.
    The man took his charge stealthily across the grass towards the stable.
Cathy entered by the casement-window of the drawing-room, and glided noiselessly
up to where I awaited her.
    She put the door gently to, slipped off her snowy shoes, untied her hat, and
was proceeding, unconscious of my espionage, to lay aside her mantle, when I
suddenly rose, and revealed myself. The surprise petrified her an instant: she
uttered an inarticulate exclamation, and stood fixed.
    »My dear Miss Catherine,« I began, too vividly impressed by her recent
kindness to break into a scold, »where have you been riding out at this hour?
And why should you try to deceive me, by telling a tale. Where have you been?
Speak!«
    »To the bottom of the park,« she stammered. »I didn't tell a tale.«
    »And no where else?« I demanded.
    »No,« was the muttered reply.
    »Oh, Catherine,« I cried, sorrowfully. »You know you have been doing wrong,
or you wouldn't be driven to uttering an untruth to me. That does grieve me. I'd
rather be three months ill, than hear you frame a deliberate lie.«
    She sprang forward, and bursting into tears, threw her arms round my neck.
    »Well Ellen, I'm so afraid of you being angry,« she said. »Promise not to be
angry, and you shall know the very truth. I hate to hide it.«
    We sat down in the window-seat; I assured her I would not scold, whatever
her secret might be, and I guessed it, of course, so she commenced -
    »I've been to Wuthering Heights, Ellen, and I've never missed going a day
since you fell ill; except thrice before, and twice after you left your room. I
gave Michael books and pictures to prepare Minny every evening, and to put her
back in the stable; you mustn't scold him either, mind. I was at the Heights by
half-past six, and generally stayed till half-past eight, and then gallopped
home. It was not to amuse myself that I went; I was often wretched all the time.
Now and then, I was happy, once in a week perhaps. At first, I expected there
would be sad work persuading you to let me keep my word to Linton, for I had
engaged to call again next day, when we quitted him; but, as you stayed up
stairs on the morrow, I escaped that trouble; and while Michael was refastening
the lock of the park door in the afternoon, I got possession of the key, and
told him how my cousin wished me to visit him, because he was sick, and couldn't
come to the Grange: and how papa would object to my going. And then I negotiated
with him about the pony. He is fond of reading, and he thinks of leaving soon to
get married, so he offered, if I would lend him books out of the library, to do
what I wished; but I preferred giving him my own, and that satisfied him better.
    On my second visit, Linton seemed in lively spirits; and Zillah, that is
their housekeeper, made us a clean room, and a good fire, and told us that as
Joseph was out at a prayer-meeting, and Hareton Earnshaw was off with his dogs,
robbing our woods of pheasants, as I heard afterwards, we might do what we
liked.
    She brought me some warm wine and gingerbread; and appeared exceedingly
good-natured; and Linton sat in the arm-chair, and I in the little rocking
chair, on the hearthstone, and we laughed and talked so merrily, and found so
much to say; we planned where we would go, and what we would do in summer. I
needn't repeat that, because you would call it silly.
    One time, however, we were near quarrelling. He said the pleasantest manner
of spending a hot July day was lying from morning till evening on a bank of
heath in the middle of the moors, with the bees humming dreamily about among the
bloom, and the larks singing high up over head, and the blue sky, and bright sun
shining steadily and cloudlessly. That was his most perfect idea of heaven's
happiness - mine was rocking in a rustling green tree, with a west wind blowing,
and bright, white clouds flitting rapidly above; and not only larks, but
throstles, and blackbirds, and linnets, and cuckoos pouring out music on every
side, and the moors seen at a distance, broken into cool dusky dells; but close
by great swells of long grass undulating in waves to the breeze; and woods and
sounding water, and the whole world awake and wild with joy. He wanted all to
lie in an ecstasy of peace; I wanted all to sparkle, and dance in a glorious
jubilee.
    I said his heaven would be only half alive, and he said mine would be drunk;
I said I should fall asleep in his, and he said he could not breathe in mine,
and began to grow very snappish. At last, we agreed to try both as soon as the
right weather came; and then we kissed each other and were friends. After
sitting still an hour, I looked at the great room with its smooth, uncarpeted
floor; and thought how nice it would be to play in, if we removed the table; and
I asked Linton to call Zillah in to help us - and we'd have a game at
blind-man's buff - she should try to catch us - you used to, you know, Ellen. He
wouldn't, there was no pleasure in it, he said; but he consented to play ball
with me. We found two, in a cupboard, among a heap of old toys; tops, and hoops,
and battledoors, and shuttlecocks. One was marked C., and the other H; I wished
to have the C., because that stood for Catherine, and the H. might be for
Heathcliff, his name; but the bran came out of H., and Linton didn't like it.
    I beat him constantly; and he got cross again, and coughed, and returned to
his chair: that night, though, he easily recovered his good humour; he was
charmed with two or three pretty songs - your songs, Ellen; and when I was
obliged to go, he begged and entreated me to come the following evening, and I
promised.
    Minny and I went flying home as light as air: and I dreamt of Wuthering
Heights, and my sweet, darling cousin, till morning.
    On the morrow, I was sad; partly because you were poorly, and partly that I
wished my father knew, and approved of my excursions: but it was beautiful
moonlight after tea; and, as I rode on, the gloom cleared.
    I shall have another happy evening, I thought to myself; and what delights
me more, my pretty Linton will.
    I trotted up their garden, and was turning round to the back, when that
fellow Earnshaw met me, took my bridle, and bid me go in by the front entrance.
He patted Minny's neck, and said she was a bonny beast, and appeared as if he
wanted me to speak to him. I only told him to leave my horse alone, or else it
would kick him.
    He answered in his vulgar accent.
    It wouldn't do mitch hurt if it did; and surveyed its legs with a smile.
    I was half inclined to make it try; however, he moved off to open the door,
and, as he raised the latch, he looked up to the inscription above, and said,
with a stupid mixture of awkwardness, and elation:
    Miss Catherine! I can read yon, nah.
    Wonderful, I exclaimed. Pray let us hear you - you are grown clever!
    He spelt, and drawled over by syllables, the name -
    Hareton Earnshaw.
    And the figures? I cried, encouragingly, perceiving that he came to a dead
halt.
    I cannot tell them yet, he answered.
    Oh, you dunce! I said, laughing heartily at his failure.
    The fool stared, with a grin hovering about his lips, and a scowl gathering
over his eyes, as if uncertain whether he might not join in my mirth; whether it
were not pleasant familiarity, or what it really was, contempt.
    I settled his doubts by suddenly retrieving my gravity, and desiring him to
walk away, for I came to see Linton not him.
    He reddened - I saw that by the moonlight - dropped his hand from the latch,
and skulked off, a picture of mortified vanity. He imagined himself to be as
accomplished as Linton, I suppose, because he could spell his own name; and was
marvellously discomfited that I didn't think the same.«
    »Stop Miss Catherine, dear!« I interrupted. »I shall not scold, but I don't
like your conduct there. If you had remembered that Hareton was your cousin, as
much as Master Heathcliff, you would have felt how improper it was to behave in
that way. At least, it was praiseworthy ambition for him to desire to be as
accomplished as Linton: and probably he did not learn merely to show off; you
had made him ashamed of his ignorance, before: I have no doubt; and he wished to
remedy it and please you. To sneer at his imperfect attempt was very bad
breeding - had you been brought up in his circumstances, would you be less rude?
he was as quick and as intelligent a child as ever you were, and I'm hurt that
he should be despised now, because that base Heathcliff has treated him so
unjustly.«
    »Well, Ellen, you won't cry about it, will you?« she exclaimed, surprised at
my earnestness. »But wait, and you shall hear if he conned his a b c, to please
me; and if it were worth while being civil to the brute. I entered, Linton was
lying on the settle and half got up to welcome me.
    I'm ill to-night, Catherine, love; he said, and you must have all the talk,
and let me listen. Come, and sit by me - I was sure you wouldn't break your
word, and I'll make you promise again, before you go.
    I knew now that I mustn't tease him, as he was ill; and I spoke softly and
put no questions, and avoided irritating him in any way. I had brought some of
my nicest books for him; he asked me to read a little of one, and I was about to
comply, when Earnshaw burst the door open, having gathered venom with
reflection. He advanced direct to us; seized Linton by the arm, and swung him
off the seat.
    Get to thy own room! he said, in a voice almost inarticulate with passion,
and his face looked swelled and furious. Take her there if she comes to see thee
- thou shalln't keep me out of this. Begone, wi' ye both!
    He swore at us, and left Linton no time to answer, nearly throwing him into
the kitchen; and he clenched his fist, as I followed, seemingly longing to knock
me down. I was afraid, for a moment, and I let one volume fall; he kicked it
after me, and shut us out.
    I heard a malignant, crackly laugh by the fire, and turning beheld that
odious Joseph, standing rubbing his bony hands, and quivering.
    Aw wer sure he'd starve ye eht! He's a grand lad! He's getten t' raight
sperrit in him! He knaws - Aye, he knaws, as well as Aw do, who sud be t'
master yonder - Ech, ech, ech! He made ye skift properly! Ech, ech, ech!
    Where must we go? I said to my cousin, disregarding the old wretch's
mockery.
    Linton was white and trembling. He was not pretty then - Ellen, Oh! no, he
looked frightful! for his thin face, and large eyes were wrought into an
expression of frantic, powerless fury. He grasped the handle of the door, and
shook it - it was fastened inside.
    If you don't let me in I'll kill you; If you don't let me in I'll kill you!
he rather shrieked than said. Devil! devil! I'll kill you, I'll kill you!
    Joseph uttered his croaking laugh again.
    Thear, that's t' father! he cried. That's father! We've allas summat uh
orther side in us - Niver heed Hareton, lad - dunnut be 'feard - he cannot get
at thee!
    I took hold of Linton's hands, and tried to pull him away; but he shrieked
so shockingly that I dared not proceed. At last, his cries were choked by a
dreadful fit of coughing; blood gushed from his mouth, and he fell on the
ground.
    I ran into the yard, sick with terror; and called for Zillah, as loud as I
could. She soon heard me; she was milking the cows in a shed behind the barn;
and hurrying from her work, she inquired what there was to do?
    I hadn't breath to explain; dragging her in, I looked about for Linton.
Earnshaw had come out to examine the mischief he had caused, and he was then
conveying the poor thing up-stairs. Zillah and I ascended after him; but, he
stopped me, at the top of the steps, and said I shouldn't go in, I must go home.
    I exclaimed that he had killed Linton and I would enter.
    Joseph locked the door, and declared I should do no such stuff, and asked me
whether I were bahn to be as mad as him.
    I stood crying, till the housekeeper re-appeared; she affirmed that he would
be better in a bit; but he couldn't do with that shrieking, and din, and she
took me, and nearly, carried me into the house.
    Ellen, I was ready to tear my hair off my head! I sobbed and wept so that my
eyes were almost blind: and the ruffian you have such sympathy with, stood
opposite; presuming every now and then, to bid me wisht, and denying that it was
his fault; and finally, frightened by my assertions that I would tell papa, and
that he should be put in prison, and hanged, he commenced blubbering himself,
and hurried out to hide his cowardly agitation.
    Still, I was not rid of him: when at length they compelled me to depart, and
I had got some hundred yards off the premises, he suddenly issued from the
shadow of the road-side, and checked Minny and took hold of me.
    Miss Catherine, I'm ill grieved, he began, but it's rather too bad -
    I gave him a cut with my whip, thinking, perhaps he would murder me - He let
go, thundering one of his horrid curses, and I gallopped home more than half out
of my senses.
    I didn't bid you good-night, that evening; and I didn't go to Wuthering
Heights, the next - I wished to, exceedingly; but I was strangely excited, and
dreaded to hear that Linton was dead, sometimes; and sometimes shuddered at the
thought of encountering Hareton.
    On the third day I took courage; at least, I couldn't bear longer suspense
and stole off, once more. I went at five o'clock, and walked, fancying I might
manage to creep into the house, and up to Linton's room, unobserved. However,
the dogs gave notice of my approach: Zillah received me, and saying the lad was
mending nicely, showed me into a small, tidy, carpeted apartment, where, to my
inexpressible joy, I beheld Linton laid on a little sofa, reading one of my
books. But he would neither speak to me, nor look at me, through a whole hour,
Ellen - He has such an unhappy temper - and what quite confounded me, when he
did open his mouth it was to utter the falsehood, that I had occasioned the
uproar, and Hareton was not to blame!«
    »Unable to reply, except passionately, I got up, and walked from the room.
He sent after me a faint Catherine! he did not reckon on being answered so - but
I wouldn't turn back; and the morrow was the second day on which I stayed at
home, nearly determined to visit him no more.
    But it was so miserable going to bed, and getting up, and never hearing
anything about him, that my resolution again melted into air, before it was
properly formed. It had appeared wrong to take the journey once; now it seemed
wrong to refrain. Michael came to ask if he must saddle Minny; I said Yes, and
considered myself doing a duty as she bore me over the hills.
    I was forced to pass the front windows to get to the court; it was no use
trying to conceal my presence.
    Young master is in the house, said Zillah, as she saw me making for the
parlour.
    I went in, Earnshaw was there also, but he quitted the room directly. Linton
sat in the great arm chair half asleep; walking up to the fire, I began in a
serious tone, partly meaning it to be true.
    As you don't like me Linton, and as you think I come on purpose to hurt you,
and pretend that I do so every time, this is our last meeting - let us say
goodbye; and tell Mr. Heathcliff that you have no wish to see me, and that he
mustn't invent any more falsehoods on the subject.
    Sit down and take your hat off, Catherine, he answered. You are so much
happier than I am, you ought to be better. Papa talks enough of my defects, and
shows enough scorn of me, to make it natural I should doubt myself - I doubt
whether I am not altogether as worthless as he calls me, frequently; and then I
feel so cross and bitter, I hate everybody! I am worthless, and bad in temper,
and bad in spirit, almost always - and if you choose, you may say good-bye -
you'll get rid of an annoyance - Only, Catherine, do me this justice; believe
that if I might be as sweet, and as kind, and as good as you are, I would be, as
willingly, and more so, than as happy and as healthy. And, believe that your
kindness has made me love you deeper than if I deserved your love, and though I
couldn't, and cannot help showing my nature to you, I regret it, and repent it,
and shall regret, and repent it, till I die!
    I felt he spoke the truth; and I felt I must forgive him; and, though he
should quarrel the next moment, I must forgive him again. We were reconciled,
but we cried, both of us, the whole time I stayed. Not entirely for sorrow, yet
I was sorry Linton had that distorted nature. He'll never let his friends be at
ease, and he'll never be at ease himself!
    I have always gone to his little parlour, since that night; because his
father returned the day after. About three times, I think, we have been merry,
and hopeful, as we were the first evening; the rest of my visits were dreary and
troubled - now, with his selfishness and spite; and now with his sufferings: but
I've learned to endure the former with nearly as little resentment as the
latter.
    Mr. Heathcliff purposely avoids me. I have hardly seen him at all. Last
Sunday, indeed, coming earlier than usual, I heard him abusing poor Linton,
cruelly, for his conduct of the night before. I can't tell how he knew of it,
unless he listened. Linton had certainly behaved provokingly; however, it was
the business of nobody but me; and I interrupted Mr. Heathcliff's lecture, by
entering, and telling him so. He burst into a laugh, and went away, saying he
was glad I took that view of the matter. Since then, I've told Linton he must
whisper his bitter things.
    Now, Ellen, you have heard all; and I can't be prevented from going to
Wuthering Heights, except by inflicting misery on two people - whereas, if
you'll only not tell papa, my going need disturb the tranquillity of none.
You'll not tell, will you? It will be very heartless if you do.«
    »I'll make up my mind on that point by to-morrow, Miss Catherine,« I
replied. »It requires some study; and so I'll leave you to your rest, and go
think it over.«
    I thought it over aloud, in my master's presence; walking straight from her
room to his, and relating the whole story, with the exception of her
conversations with her cousin, and any mention of Hareton.
    Mr. Linton was alarmed and distressed more than he would acknowledge to me.
In the morning, Catherine learnt my betrayal of her confidence, and she learnt
also that her secret visits were to end.
    In vain she wept and writhed against the interdict; and implored her father
to have pity on Linton: all she got to comfort her was a promise that he would
write, and give him leave to come to the Grange when he pleased; but explaining
that he must no longer expect to see Catherine at Wuthering Heights. Perhaps,
had he been aware of his nephew's disposition and state of health, he would have
seen fit to withhold even that slight consolation.
 

                                  Chapter XXV

»These things happened last winter, sir,« said Mrs. Dean; »hardly more than a
year ago. Last winter, I did not think, at another twelve months' end, I should
be amusing a stranger to the family with relating them! Yet, who knows how long
you'll be a stranger? You're too young to rest always contented, living by
yourself; and I some way fancy, no one could see Catherine Linton, and not love
her. You smile; but why do you look so lively and interested, when I talk about
her - and why have you asked me to hang her picture over your fireplace? and why
-«
    »Stop, my good friend!« I cried. »It may be very possible that I should love
her; but would she love me? I doubt it too much to venture my tranquillity, by
running into temptation; and then my home is not here. I'm of the busy world,
and to its arms I must return. Go on. Was Catherine obedient to her father's
commands?«
    »She was,« continued the housekeeper. »Her affection for him was still the
chief sentiment in her heart; and he spoke without anger; he spoke in the deep
tenderness of one about to leave his treasure amid perils and foes, where his
remembered words would be the only aid that he could bequeath to guide her.«
    He said to me, a few days afterwards,
    »I wish my nephew would write, Ellen, or call. Tell me, sincerely, what you
think of him - is he changed for the better, or is there a prospect of
improvement, as he grows a man?«
    »He's very delicate, sir,« I replied; »and scarcely likely to reach manhood;
but this I can say, he does not resemble his father; and if Miss Catherine had
the misfortune to marry him, he would not be beyond her control, unless she were
extremely and foolishly indulgent. However, master, you'll have plenty of time
to get acquainted with him, and see whether he would suit her - it wants four
years and more to his being of age.«
    Edgar sighed; and, walking to the window, looked out towards Gimmerton Kirk.
It was a misty afternoon, but the February sun shone dimly, and we could just
distinguish the two fir trees in the yard, and the sparely scattered
gravestones.
    »I've prayed often,« he half soliloquized, »for the approach of what is
coming; and now I begin to shrink, and fear it. I thought the memory of the hour
I came down that glen a bridegroom, would be less sweet than the anticipation
that I was soon, in a few months, or, possibly, weeks, to be carried up, and
laid in its lonely hollow! Ellen, I've been very happy with my little Cathy.
Through winter nights and summer days she was a living hope at my side - but
I've been as happy musing by myself among those stones, under that old church -
lying, through the long June evenings, on the green mound of her mother's grave,
and wishing, yearning for the time when I might lie beneath it. What can I do
for Cathy? How must I quit her? I'd not care one moment for Linton being
Heathcliff's son; nor for his taking her from me, if he could console her for my
loss. I'd not care that Heathcliff gained his ends, and triumphed in robbing me
of my last blessing! But should Linton be unworthy - only a feeble tool to his
father - I cannot abandon her to him! And, hard though it be to crush her
buoyant spirit, I must persevere in making her sad while I live, and leaving her
solitary when I die. Darling! I'd rather resign her to God, and lay her in the
earth before me.«
    »Resign her to God, as it is, sir,« I answered, »and if we should lose you -
which may He forbid - under His providence, I'll stand her friend and counsellor
to the last. Miss Catherine is a good girl; I don't fear that she will go
wilfully wrong; and people who do their duty are always finally rewarded.«
    Spring advanced; yet my master gathered no real strength, though he resumed
his walks in the grounds, with his daughter. To her inexperienced notions, this
itself was a sign of convalescence; and then his cheek was often flushed, and
his eyes were bright, she felt sure of his recovering.
    On her seventeenth birthday, he did not visit the churchyard, it was
raining, and I observed -
    »You'll surely not go out to-night, sir?«
    He answered -
    »No, I'll defer it, this year, a little longer.«
    He wrote again to Linton, expressing his great desire to see him; and, had
the invalid been presentable, I've no doubt his father would have permitted him
to come. As it was, being instructed, he returned an answer, intimating that Mr.
Heathcliff objected to his calling at the Grange; but his uncle's kind
remembrance delighted him, and he hoped to meet him, sometimes, in his rambles,
and personally to petition that his cousin and he might not remain long so
utterly divided.
    That part of his letter was simple, and, probably his own. Heathcliff knew
he could plead eloquently enough for Catherine's company, then -
    »I do not ask,« he said, »that she may visit here; but, am I never to see
her, because my father forbids me to go to her home, and you forbid her to come
to mine? Do, now and then, ride with her towards the Heights; and let us
exchange a few words, in your presence! we have done nothing to deserve this
separation; and you are not angry with me - you have no reason to dislike me -
you allow yourself. Dear uncle! send me a kind note to-morrow; and leave to join
you anywhere you please, except at Thrushcross Grange. I believe an interview
would convince you that my father's character is not mine; he affirms I am more
your nephew than his son; and though I have faults which render me unworthy of
Catherine, she has excused them, and, for her sake, you should also. You inquire
after my health - it is better; but while I remain cut off from all hope, and
doomed to solitude, or the society of those who never did, and never will like
me, how can I be cheerful and well?«
    Edgar, though he felt for the boy, could not consent to grant his request;
because he could not accompany Catherine.
    He said, in summer, perhaps, they might meet: meantime, he wished him to
continue writing at intervals, and engaged to give him what advice and comfort
he was able by letter; being well aware of his hard position in his family.
    Linton complied; and had he been unrestrained, would probably have spoiled
all by filling his epistles with complaints and lamentations; but his father
kept a sharp watch over him; and, of course, insisted on every line that my
master sent being shown; so, instead of penning his peculiar personal
sufferings, and distresses, the themes constantly uppermost in his thoughts, he
harped on the cruel obligation of being held asunder from his friend and love;
and gently intimated that Mr. Linton must allow an interview soon, or he should
fear he was purposely deceiving him with empty promises.
    Cathy was a powerful ally at home: and, between them, they, at length,
persuaded my master to acquiesce in their having a ride or a walk together,
about once a week, under my guardianship, and on the moors nearest the Grange;
for June found him still declining; and, though he had set aside, yearly, a
portion of his income for my young lady's fortune, he had a natural desire that
she might retain, or, at least, return, in a short time, to the house of her
ancestors; and he considered her only prospect of doing that was by a union with
his heir: he had no idea that the latter was failing almost as fast as himself;
nor had any one, I believe; no doctor visited the Heights, and no one saw Master
Heathcliff to make report of his condition, among us.
    I, for my part, began to fancy my forebodings were false, and that he must
be actually rallying, when he mentioned riding and walking on the moors, and
seemed so earnest in pursuing his object.
    I could not picture a father treating a dying child as tyrannically and
wickedly as I afterwards learnt Heathcliff had treated him, to compel this
apparent eagerness; his efforts redoubling the more imminently his avaricious
and unfeeling plans were threatened with defeat by death.
 

                                  Chapter XXVI

Summer was already past its prime, when Edgar reluctantly yielded his assent to
their entreaties, and Catherine and I set out on our first ride to join her
cousin.
    It was a close, sultry day; devoid of sunshine, but with a sky too dappled
and hazy to threaten rain; and our place of meeting had been fixed at the
guide-stone, by the cross-roads. On arriving there, however, a little herd-boy,
despatched as a messenger, told us that -
    »Maister Linton wer just ut this side th' Heights: and he'd be mitch
obliged to us to gang on a bit further.«
    »Then Master Linton has forgot the first injunction of his uncle,« I
observed: »he bid us keep on the Grange land, and here we are, off at once.«
    »Well, we'll turn our horses' heads round, when we reach him,« answered my
companion, »our excursion shall lie towards home.«
    But when we reached him, and that was scarcely a quarter of a mile from his
own door, we found he had no horse, and we were forced to dismount, and leave
ours to graze.
    He lay on the heath, awaiting our approach, and did not rise till we came
within a few yards. Then, he walked so feebly, and looked so pale, that I
immediately exclaimed -
    »Why, Master Heathcliff, you are not fit for enjoying a ramble, this
morning. How ill you do look!«
    Catherine surveyed him with grief and astonishment; and changed the
ejaculation of joy on her lips, to one of alarm; and the congratulation on their
long postponed meeting, to an anxious inquiry, whether he were worse than usual?
    »No - better - better!« he panted, trembling, and retaining her hand as if
he needed its support, while his large blue eyes wandered timidly over her; the
hollowness round them, transforming to haggard wildness, the languid expression
they once possessed.
    »But you have been worse,« persisted his cousin, »worse than when I saw you
last - you are thinner, and -«
    »I'm tired,« he interrupted, hurriedly. »It is too hot for walking, let us
rest here. And, in the morning, I often feel sick - papa says I grow so fast.«
    Badly satisfied, Cathy sat down, and he reclined beside her.
    »This is something like your paradise,« said she, making an effort at
cheerfulness. »You recollect the two days we agreed to spend, in the place and
way, each thought pleasantest? This is nearly yours, only there are clouds; but
then, they are so soft and mellow, it is nicer than sunshine. Next week, if you
can, we'll ride down to the Grange Park, and try mine.«
    Linton did not appear to remember what she talked of; and he had evidently
great difficulty in sustaining any kind of conversation. His lack of interest in
the subjects she started, and his equal incapacity to contribute to her
entertainment were so obvious, that she could not conceal her disappointment. An
indefinite alteration had come over his whole person and manner. The pettishness
that might be caressed into fondness, had yielded to a listless apathy; there
was less of the peevish temper of a child which frets and teases on purpose to
be soothed, and more of the self-absorbed moroseness of a confirmed invalid,
repelling consolation, and ready to regard the good-humoured mirth of others, as
an insult.
    Catherine perceived, as well as I did, that he held it rather a punishment,
than a gratification, to endure our company; and she made no scruple of
proposing, presently, to depart.
    That proposal, unexpectedly, roused Linton from his lethargy, and threw him
into a strange state of agitation. He glanced fearfully towards the Heights,
begging she would remain another half-hour, at least.
    »But, I think,« said Cathy, »you'd be more comfortable at home than sitting
here; and I cannot amuse you to-day, I see, by my tales, and songs, and chatter;
you have grown wiser than I, in these six months; you have little taste for my
diversions now; or else, if I could amuse you, I'd willingly stay.«
    »Stay to rest yourself,« he replied. »And, Catherine, don't think, or say
that I'm very unwell - it is the heavy weather, and heat that make me dull; and
I walked about, before you came, a great deal, for me. Tell uncle, I'm in
tolerable health, will you?«
    »I'll tell him that you say so, Linton. I couldn't affirm that you are,«
observed my young lady, wondering at his pertinacious assertion of what was
evidently an untruth.
    »And be here again next Thursday,« continued he, shunning her puzzled gaze.
»And give him my thanks for permitting you to come - my best thanks, Catherine.
And - and, if you did meet my father, and he asked you about me, don't lead him
to suppose that I've been extremely silent and stupid - don't look silent and
downcast, as you are doing - he'll be angry.«
    »I care nothing for his anger,« exclaimed Cathy, imagining she would be its
object.
    »But I do,« said her cousin, shuddering. »Don't provoke him against me,
Catherine, for he is very hard.«
    »Is he severe to you, Master Heathcliff?« I inquired. »Has he grown weary of
indulgence, and passed from passive, to active hatred?«
    Linton looked at me, but did not answer; and, after keeping her seat by his
side, another ten minutes, during which his head fell drowsily on his breast,
and he uttered nothing except suppressed moans of exhaustion, or pain, Cathy
began to seek solace in looking for bilberries, and sharing the produce of her
researches with me: she did not offer them to him, for she saw further notice
would only weary and annoy.
    »Is it half an hour now, Ellen!« she whispered in my ear, at last. »I can't
tell why we should stay. He's asleep, and papa will be wanting us back.«
    »Well, we must not leave him asleep,« I answered; »wait till he wakes and be
patient. You are mighty eager to set off, but your longing to see poor Linton
has soon evaporated!«
    »Why did he wish to see me?« returned Catherine. »In his crossest humours,
formerly, I liked him better than I do in his present curious mood. It's just as
if it were a task he was compelled to perform - this interview - for fear his
father should scold him. But, I'm hardly going to come to give Mr. Heathcliff
pleasure; whatever reason he may have for ordering Linton to undergo this
penance. And, though I'm glad he's better in health, I'm sorry he's so much less
pleasant, and so much less affectionate to me.«
    »You think he is better in health, then?« I said.
    »Yes,« she answered; »because he always made such a great deal of his
sufferings, you know. He is not tolerably well, as he told me to tell papa, but
he's better, very likely.«
    »There you differ with me, Miss Cathy,« I remarked; »I should conjecture him
to be far worse.«
    Linton here started from his slumber in bewildered terror, and asked if
anyone had called his name.
    »No,« said Catherine; »unless in dreams. I cannot conceive how you manage to
dose, out of doors, in the morning.«
    »I thought I heard my father,« he gasped, glancing up to the frowning nab
above us. »You are sure nobody spoke?«
    »Quite sure,« replied his cousin. »Only Ellen and I were disputing
concerning your health. Are you truly stronger, Linton, than when we separated
in winter? If you be, I'm certain one thing is not stronger - your regard for me
- speak, are you?«
    The tears gushed from Linton's eyes as he answered -
    »Yes, yes, I am!«
    And, still under the spell of the imaginary voice, his gaze wandered up and
down to detect its owner.
    Cathy rose.
    »For to-day we must part,« she said. »And I won't conceal that I have been
sadly disappointed with our meeting, though I'll mention it to nobody but you -
not that I stand in awe of Mr. Heathcliff!«
    »Hush,« murmured Linton; »for God's sake, hush! He's coming.« And he clung
to Catherine's arm, striving to detain her; but, at that announcement, she
hastily disengaged herself, and whistled to Minny, who obeyed her like a dog.
    »I'll be here next Thursday,« she cried, springing to the saddle. »Goodbye.
Quick, Ellen!«
    And so we left him, scarcely conscious of our departure, so absorbed was he
in anticipating his father's approach.
    Before we reached home, Catherine's displeasure softened into a perplexed
sensation of pity and regret, largely blended with vague, uneasy doubts about
Linton's actual circumstances, physical and social; in which I partook, though I
counselled her not to say much, for a second journey would make us better
judges.
    My master requested an account of our ongoings: his nephew's offering of
thanks was duly delivered, Miss Cathy gently touching on the rest: I also, threw
little lights on his inquiries, for I hardly knew what to hide, and what to
reveal.
 

                                 Chapter XXVII

Seven days glided away, every one marking its course by the henceforth rapid
alteration of Edgar Linton's state. The havoc that months had previously
wrought, was now emulated by the inroads of hours.
    Catherine, we would fain have deluded, yet, but her own quick spirit refused
to delude her. It divined, in secret, and brooded on the dreadful probability,
gradually ripening into certainty.
    She had not the heart to mention her ride, when Thursday came round; I
mentioned it for her; and obtained permission to order her out of doors; for the
library, where her father stopped a short time daily - the brief period he could
bear to sit up, and his chamber had become her whole world. She grudged each
moment that did not find her bending over his pillow, or seated by his side. Her
countenance grew wan with watching and sorrow, and my master gladly dismissed
her to what he flattered himself would be a happy change of scene and society,
drawing comfort from the hope that she would not now be left entirely alone
after his death.
    He had a fixed idea, I guessed by several observations he let fall, that as
his nephew resembled him in person, he would resemble him in mind; for Linton's
letters bore few, or no indications of his defective character. And I through
pardonable weakness refrained from correcting the error; asking myself what good
there would be in disturbing his last moments with information that he had
neither power nor opportunity to turn to account.
    We deferred our excursion till the afternoon; a golden afternoon of August -
every breath from the hills so full of life, that it seemed whoever respired it,
though dying, might revive.
    Catherine's face was just like the landscape - shadows and sunshine flitting
over it, in rapid succession; but the shadows rested longer and the sunshine was
more transient, and her poor little heart reproached itself for even that
passing forgetfulness of its cares.
    We discerned Linton watching at the same spot he had selected before. My
young mistress alighted, and told me that as she was resolved to stay a very
little while, I had better hold the pony and remain on horseback; but I
dissented, I wouldn't risk losing sight of the charge committed to me a minute;
so we climbed the slope of heath, together.
    Master Heathcliff received us with greater animation on this occasion; not
the animation of high spirits though, nor yet of joy; it looked more like fear.
    »It is late!« he said, speaking short, and with difficulty. »Is not your
father very ill? I thought you wouldn't come.«
    »Why won't you be candid?« cried Catherine, swallowing her greeting. »Why
cannot you say at once, you don't want me? It is strange Linton, that for the
second time, you have brought me here on purpose, apparently, to distress us
both, and for no reason besides!«
    Linton shivered, and glanced at her, half supplicating, half ashamed, but
his cousin's patience was not sufficient to endure this enigmatic behaviour.
    »My father is very ill,« she said, »and why am I called from his bedside -
why didn't you send to absolve me from my promise, when you wished I wouldn't
keep it? Come! I desire an explanation - playing and trifling are completely
banished out of my mind: and I can't dance attendance on your affectations,
now!«
    »My affectations!« he murmured, »what are they? For Heaven's sake Catherine,
don't look so angry! Despise me as much as you please; I am a worthless,
cowardly wretch - I can't be scorned enough! but I'm too mean for your anger -
hate my father, and spare me, for contempt!«
    »Nonsense!« cried Catherine in a passion. »Foolish, silly boy! And there! he
trembles, as if I were really going to touch him! You needn't bespeak contempt,
Linton; anybody will have it spontaneously, at your service. Get off! I shall
return home - it is folly dragging you from the hearthstone, and pretending -
what do we pretend? Let go my frock - if I pitied you for crying, and looking so
very frightened, you should spurn such pity! Ellen, tell him how disgraceful
this conduct is. Rise, and don't degrade yourself into an abject reptile -
don't.«
    With streaming face and an expression of agony, Linton had thrown his
nerveless frame along the ground; he seemed convulsed with exquisite terror.
    »Oh!« he sobbed, »I cannot bear it! Catherine, Catherine, I'm a traitor too,
and I dare not tell you! But leave me and I shall be killed! Dear Catherine, my
life is in your hands; and you have said you loved me - and if you did, it
wouldn't harm you. You'll not go, then? kind, sweet, good Catherine! And perhaps
you will consent - and he'll let me die with you!«
    My young lady, on witnessing his intense anguish, stooped to raise him. The
old feeling of indulgent tenderness overcame her vexation, and she grew
thoroughly moved and alarmed.
    »Consent to what?« she asked. »To stay? Tell me the meaning of this strange
talk, and I will. You contradict your own words, and distract me! Be calm and
frank, and confess at once, all that weighs on your heart. You wouldn't injure
me, Linton, would you? You wouldn't let any enemy hurt me, if you could prevent
it? I'll believe you are a coward, for yourself, but not a cowardly betrayer of
your best friend.«
    »But my father threatened me,« gasped the boy, clasping his attenuated
fingers, »and I dread him - I dread him! I dare not tell!«
    »Oh well!« said Catherine, with scornful compassion, »keep your secret, I'm
no coward - save yourself, I'm not afraid!«
    Her magnanimity provoked his tears; he wept wildly, kissing her supporting
hands, and yet could not summon courage to speak out.
    I was cogitating what the mystery might be, and determined Catherine should
never suffer to benefit him or anyone else, by my good will. When hearing a
rustle among the ling, I looked up, and saw Mr. Heathcliff almost close upon us,
descending the Heights. He didn't cast a glance towards my companions, though
they were sufficiently near for Linton's sobs to be audible; but hailing me in
the almost hearty tone he assumed to none besides, and the sincerity of which, I
couldn't avoid doubting, he said.
    »It is something to see you so near to my house, Nelly! How are you at the
Grange? Let us hear! The rumour goes,« he added in a lower tone, »that Edgar
Linton is on his death-bed - perhaps they exaggerate his illness?«
    »No; my master is dying,« I replied, »it is true enough. A sad thing it will
be for us all, but a blessing for him!«
    »How long will he last, do you think?« he asked.
    »I don't know,« I said.
    »Because,« he continued, looking at the two young people, who were fixed
under his eye - Linton appeared as if he could not venture to stir, or raise his
head, and Catherine could not move, on his account - »Because that lad yonder,
seems determined to beat me - and I'd thank his uncle to be quick, and go before
him - Hallo! Has the whelp been playing that game long? I did give him some
lessons about snivelling. Is he pretty lively with Miss Linton generally?«
    »Lively? no - he has shown the greatest distress;« I answered. »To see him,
I should say, that instead of rambling with his sweetheart on the hills, he
ought to be in bed, under the hands of a doctor.«
    »He shall be, in a day or two,« muttered Heathcliff. »But first - get up,
Linton! Get up!« he shouted. »Don't grovel on the ground there - up this
moment!«
    Linton had sunk prostrate again in another paroxysm of helpless fear, caused
by his father's glance towards him, I suppose, there was nothing else to produce
such humiliation. He made several efforts to obey, but his little strength was
annihilated, for the time, and he fell back again with a moan.
    Mr. Heathcliff advanced, and lifted him to lean against a ridge of turf.
    »Now,« said he with curbed ferocity, »I'm getting angry - and if you don't
command that paltry spirit of yours - Damn you! Get up, directly!«
    »I will, father!« he panted. »Only, let me alone, or I shall faint! I've
done as you wished - I'm sure. Catherine will tell you that I - that I - have
been cheerful. Ah! keep by me Catherine; give me your hand.«
    »Take mine,« said his father, »stand on your feet! There now - she'll lend
you her arm ... that's right, look at her. You would imagine I was the devil
himself, Miss Linton, to excite such horror. Be so kind as to walk home with
him, will you? He shudders, if I touch him.«
    »Linton, dear!« whispered Catherine, »I can't go to Wuthering Heights ...
papa has forbidden me ... He'll not harm you, why are you so afraid?«
    »I can never re-enter that house,« he answered. »I am not to re-enter it
without you!«
    »Stop ...« cried his father. »We'll respect Catherine's filial scruples.
Nelly, take him in, and I'll follow your advice concerning the doctor, without
delay.«
    »You'll do well,« replied I, »but I must remain with my mistress. To mind
your son is not my business.«
    »You are very stiff!« said Heathcliff, »I know that - but you'll force me to
pinch the baby, and make it scream, before it moves your charity. Come then, my
hero. Are you willing to return, escorted by me?«
    He approached once more, and made as if he would seize the fragile being;
but shrinking back, Linton clung to his cousin, and implored her to accompany
him with a frantic importunity that admitted no denial.
    However I disapproved, I couldn't hinder her; indeed how could she have
refused him herself? What was filling him with dread, we had no means of
discerning, but there he was, powerless under its gripe, and any addition seemed
capable of shocking him into idiocy.
    We reached the threshold; Catherine walked in; and I stood waiting till she
had conducted the invalid to a chair, expecting her out, immediately; when Mr.
Heathcliff pushing me forward, exclaimed -
    »My house is not stricken with the plague, Nelly; and I have a mind to be
hospitable to-day; sit down, and allow me to shut the door.«
    He shut and locked it also, I started.
    »You shall have tea, before you go home,« he added. »I am by myself. Hareton
is gone with some cattle to the Lees - and Zillah and Joseph are off on a
journey of pleasure. And, though I'm used to being alone, I'd rather have some
interesting company, if I can get it. Miss Linton, take your seat by him. I give
you what I have; the present is hardly worth accepting; but, I have nothing else
to offer. It is Linton, I mean. How she does stare! It's odd what a savage
feeling I have to anything that seems afraid of me! Had I been born where laws
are less strict, and tastes less dainty, I should treat myself to a slow
vivifisection of those two, as an evening's amusement.«
    He drew in his breath, struck the table, and swore to himself.
    »By hell! I hate them.«
    »I'm not afraid of you!« exclaimed Catherine, who could not hear the latter
part of his speech.
    She stepped close up; her black eyes flashing with passion and resolution.
    »Give me that key - I will have it!« she said. »I wouldn't eat or drink
here, if I were starving.«
    Heathcliff had the key in his hand that remained on the table. He looked up,
seized with a sort of surprise at her boldness, or, possibly, reminded by her
voice and glance, of the person from whom she inherited it.
    She snatched at the instrument, and half succeeded in getting it out of his
loosened fingers; but her action re-called him to the present; he recovered it
speedily.
    »Now, Catherine Linton,« he said, »stand off, or I shall knock you down; and
that will make Mrs. Dean mad.«
    Regardless of this warning, she captured his closed hand, and its contents
again.
    »We will go!« she repeated, exerting her utmost efforts to cause the iron
muscles to relax; and finding that her nails made no impression, she applied her
teeth pretty sharply.
    Heathcliff glanced at me a glance that kept me from interfering a moment.
Catherine was too intent on his fingers to notice his face. He opened them,
suddenly, and resigned the object of dispute; but, ere she had well secured it,
he seized her with the liberated hand, and, pulling her on his knee,
administered, with the other, a shower of terrific slaps on both sides of the
head, each sufficient to have fulfilled his threat, had she been able to fall.
    At this diabolical violence, I rushed on him furiously.
    »You villain!« I began to cry, »you villain!«
    A touch on the chest silenced me; I am stout, and soon put out of breath;
and, what with that and the rage, I staggered dizzily back, and felt ready to
suffocate, or to burst a blood-vessel.
    The scene was over in two minutes; Catherine, released, put her two hands to
her temples, and looked just as if she were not sure whether her ears were off
or on. She trembled like a reed, poor thing, and leant against the table
perfectly bewildered.
    »I know how to chastise children, you see,« said the scoundrel, grimly, as
he stooped to repossess himself of the key, which had dropped to the floor. »Go
to Linton now, as I told you; and cry at your ease! I shall be your father
to-morrow - all the father you'll have in a few days - and you shall have plenty
of that - you can bear plenty - you're no weakling - you shall have a daily
taste, if I catch such a devil of a temper in your eyes again!«
    Cathy ran to me instead of Linton, and knelt down, and put her burning cheek
on my lap, weeping aloud. Her cousin had shrunk into a corner of the settle, as
quiet as a mouse, congratulating himself, I dare say, that the correction had
lighted on another than him.
    Mr. Heathcliff, perceiving us all confounded, rose, and expeditiously made
the tea himself. The cups and saucers were laid ready. He poured it out, and
handed me a cup.
    »Wash away your spleen,« he said. »And help your own naughty pet and mine.
It is not poisoned, though I prepared it. I'm going out to seek your horses.«
    Our first thought, on his departure, was to force an exit somewhere. We
tried the kitchen door, but that was fastened outside; we looked at the windows
- they were too narrow for even Cathy's little figure.
    »Master Linton,« I cried, seeing we were regularly imprisoned. »You know
what your diabolical father is after, and you shall tell us, or I'll box your
ears, as he has done your cousin's.«
    »Yes, Linton; you must tell,« said Catherine. »It was for your sake I came;
and it will be wickedly ungrateful if you refuse.«
    »Give me some tea, I'm thirsty, and then I'll tell you,« he answered. »Mrs.
Dean, go away. I don't like you standing over me. Now, Catherine, you are
letting your tears fall into my cup! I wont drink that. Give me another.«
    Catherine pushed another to him, and wiped her face. I felt disgusted at the
little wretch's composure, since he was no longer in terror for himself. The
anguish he had exhibited on the moor subsided as soon as ever he entered
Wuthering Heights; so, I guessed he had been menaced with an awful visitation of
wrath, if he failed in decoying us there; and, that accomplished, he had no
further immediate fears.
    »Papa wants us to be married,« he continued, after sipping some of the
liquid. »And he knows your papa wouldn't let us marry now; and he's afraid of my
dying, if we wait; so we are to be married in the morning, and you are to stay
here all night; and, if you do as he wishes, you shall return home next day, and
take me with you.«
    »Take you with her, pitiful changeling?« I exclaimed. »You marry? Why, the
man is mad, or he thinks us fools, every one. And, do you imagine that beautiful
young lady, that healthy, hearty girl, will tie herself to a little perishing
monkey like you? Are you cherishing the notion that anybody, let alone Miss
Catherine Linton, would have you for a husband? You want whipping for bringing
us in here at all, with your dastardly, puling tricks; and - don't look so silly
now! I've a very good mind to shake you severely, for your contemptible
treachery, and your imbecile conceit.«
    I did give him a slight shaking, but it brought on the cough, and he took to
his ordinary resource of moaning and weeping, and Catherine rebuked me.
    »Stay all night? No!« she said, looking slowly round. »Ellen, I'll burn that
door down, but I'll get out.«
    And she would have commenced the execution of her threat directly, but
Linton was up in alarm, for his dear self, again. He clasped her in his two
feeble arms, sobbing -
    »Won't you have me, and save me - not let me come to the Grange? Oh! darling
Catherine! you mustn't go, and leave me, after all. You must obey my father, you
must!«
    »I must obey my own,« she replied, »and relieve him from this cruel
suspense. The whole night! What would he think? he'll be distressed already.
I'll either break or burn a way out of the house. Be quiet! You're in no danger
- but, if you hinder me - Linton, I love papa better than you!«
    The mortal terror he felt of Mr. Heathcliff's anger, restored to the boy his
coward's eloquence. Catherine was near distraught - still, she persisted that
she must go home, and tried entreaty, in her turn, persuading him to subdue his
selfish agony.
    While they were thus occupied, our jailer re-entered.
    »Your beasts have trotted off;« he said, »and - Now, Linton! snivelling
again? What has she been doing to you? Come, come - have done, and get to bed.
In a month or two, my lad, you'll be able to pay her back her present tyrannies,
with a vigorous hand - you're pining for pure love, are you not? nothing else in
the world - and she shall have you! There, to bed! Zillah wont be here to-night;
you must undress yourself. Hush! hold your noise! Once in your own room, I'll
not come near you, you needn't fear. By chance, you've managed tolerably. I'll
look to the rest.«
    He spoke these words, holding the door open for his son to pass; and the
latter achieved his exit exactly as a spaniel might which suspected the person
who attended on it of designing a spiteful squeeze.
    The lock was re-secured. Heathcliff approached the fire, where my mistress
and I stood silent. Catherine looked up, and instinctively raised her hand to
her cheek - his neighbourhood revived a painful sensation. Anybody else would
have been incapable of regarding the childish act with sternness, but he scowled
on her, and muttered -
    »Oh, you are not afraid of me? Your courage is well disguised - you seem
damnably afraid!«
    »I am afraid now,« she replied; »because if I stay, papa will be miserable;
and how can I endure making him miserable - when he - when he - Mr. Heathcliff,
let me go home! I promise to marry Linton - papa would like me to, and I love
him - and why should you wish to force me to do what I'll willingly do of
myself?«
    »Let him dare to force you!« I cried. »There's law in the land, thank God,
there is! though we be in an out-of-the-way place. I'd inform, if he were my own
son, and it's felony without benefit of clergy!«
    »Silence!« said the ruffian. »To the devil with your clamour! I don't want
you to speak. Miss Linton, I shall enjoy myself remarkably in thinking your
father will be miserable; I shall not sleep for satisfaction. You could have hit
on no surer way of fixing your residence under my roof, for the next twenty-four
hours, than informing me that such an event would follow. As to your promise to
marry Linton; I'll take care you shall keep it, for you shall not quit the place
till it is fulfilled.«
    »Send Ellen then, to let papa know I'm safe!« exclaimed Catherine, weeping
bitterly. »Or marry me now. Poor papa! Ellen, he'll think we're lost. What shall
we do?«
    »Not he! He'll think you are tired of waiting on him, and run off, for a
little amusement,« answered Heathcliff. »You cannot deny that you entered my
house of your own accord, in contempt of his injunctions to the contrary. And it
is quite natural that you should desire amusement at your age; and that you
should weary of nursing a sick man, and that man, only your father. Catherine,
his happiest days were over when your days began. He cursed you, I dare say, for
coming into the world, (I did, at least). And it would just do if he cursed you
as he went out of it. I'd join him. I don't love you! How should I? Weep away.
As far as I can see, it will be your chief diversion hereafter: unless Linton
make amends for other losses; and your provident parent appears to fancy he may.
His letters of advice and consolation entertained me vastly. In his last, he
recommended my jewel to be careful of his; and kind to her when he got her.
Careful and kind - that's paternal! But Linton requires his whole stock of care
and kindness for himself. Linton can play the little tyrant well. He'll
undertake to torture any number of cats if their teeth be drawn, and their claws
pared. You'll be able to tell his uncle fine tales of his kindness, when you get
home again, I assure you.«
    »You're right there!« I said, »explain your son's character. Show his
resemblance to yourself; and then, I hope, Miss Cathy will think twice, before
she takes the cockatrice!«
    »I don't much mind speaking of his amiable qualities now,« he answered,
»because she must either accept him, or remain a prisoner, and you along with
her, till your master dies. I can detain you both, quite concealed, here. If you
doubt, encourage her to retract her word, and you'll have an opportunity of
judging!«
    »I'll not retract my word,« said Catherine. »I'll marry him, within this
hour, if I may go to Thrushcross Grange afterwards. Mr. Heathcliff, you're a
cruel man, but you're not a fiend; and you wont, from mere malice, destroy,
irrevocably, all my happiness. If papa thought I had left him, on purpose; and
if he died before I returned, could I bear to live? I've given over crying; but
I'm going to kneel here, at your knee; and I'll not get up, and I'll not take my
eyes from your face, till you look back at me! No, don't turn away! do look!
You'll see nothing to provoke you. I don't hate you. I'm not angry that you
struck me. Have you never loved anybody, in all your life, uncle? never? Ah! you
must look once - I'm so wretched - you can't help being sorry and pitying me.«
    »Keep your eft's fingers off; and move, or I'll kick you!« cried Heathcliff,
brutally repulsing her. »I'd rather be hugged by a snake. How the devil can you
dream of fawning on me? I detest you!«
    He shrugged his shoulders - shook himself, indeed, as if his flesh crept
with aversion; and thrust back his chair: while I got up, and opened my mouth,
to commence a downright torrent of abuse; but I was rendered dumb in the middle
of the first sentence, by a threat that I should be shown into a room by myself,
the very next syllable I uttered.
    It was growing dark - we heard a sound of voices at the garden gate. Our
host hurried out, instantly; he had his wits about him; we had not. There was a
talk of two or three minutes, and he returned alone.
    »I thought it had been your cousin Hareton,« I observed to Catherine. »I
wish he would arrive! Who knows but he might take our part?«
    »It was three servants sent to seek you from the Grange,« said Heathcliff,
overhearing me. »You should have opened a lattice, and called out; but I could
swear that chit is glad you didn't. She's glad to be obliged to stay, I'm
certain.«
    At learning the chance we had missed, we both gave vent to our grief without
control; and he allowed us to wail on till nine o'clock; then he bid us go up
stairs, through the kitchen, to Zillah's chamber; and I whispered my companion
to obey; perhaps, we might contrive to get through the window there, or into a
garret, and out by its skylight.
    The window, however, was narrow like those below, and the garret trap was
safe from our attempts; for we were fastened in as before.
    We neither of us lay down: Catherine took her station by the lattice, and
watched anxiously for morning - a deep sigh being the only answer I could obtain
to my frequent entreaties that she would try to rest.
    I seated myself in a chair, and rocked, to and fro, passing harsh judgment
on my many derelictions of duty; from which, it struck me then, all the
misfortunes of all my employers sprang. It was not the case, in reality, I am
aware; but it was, in my imagination, that dismal night, and I thought
Heathcliff himself less guilty than I.
    At seven o'clock he came, and inquired if Miss Linton had risen.
    She ran to the door immediately, and answered -
    »Yes.«
    »Here then,« he said, opening it, and pulling her out.
    I rose to follow, but he turned the lock again. I demanded my release.
    »Be patient,« he replied; »I'll send up your breakfast in a while.«
    I thumped on the panels, and rattled the latch angrily; and Catherine asked
why I was still shut up? He answered, I must try to endure it another hour, and
they went away.
    I endured it two or three hours; at length, I heard a footstep, not
Heathcliff's.
    »I've brought you something to eat,« said a voice; »oppen t' door!«
    Complying eagerly, I beheld Hareton, laden with food enough to last me all
day.
    »Tak it!« he added, thrusting the tray into my hand.
    »Stay one minute,« I began.
    »Nay!« cried he, and retired, regardless of any prayers I could pour forth
to detain him.
    And there I remained enclosed, the whole day, and the whole of the next
night; and another, and another. Five nights and four days I remained,
altogether, seeing nobody but Hareton, once every morning, and he was a model of
a jailer - surly, and dumb, and deaf to every attempt at moving his sense of
justice or compassion.
 

                                 Chapter XXVIII

On the fifth morning, or rather afternoon, a different step approached - lighter
and shorter - and, this time, the person entered the room. It was Zillah; donned
in her scarlet shawl, with a black silk bonnet on her head, and a willow basket
swung to her arm.
    »Eh, dear! Mrs. Dean,« she exclaimed. »Well! there is a talk about you at
Gimmerton. I never thought, but you were sunk in the Blackhorse marsh, and Missy
with you, till master told me you'd been found, and he'd lodged you here! What,
and you must have got on an island, sure? And how long were you in the hole? Did
master save you, Mrs. Dean? But you're not so thin - you've not been so poorly,
have you?«
    »Your master is a true scoundrel!« I replied. »But he shall answer for it.
He needn't have raised that tale - it shall all be laid bare!«
    »What do you mean?« asked Zillah. »It's not his tale - they tell that in the
village - about your being lost in the marsh; and I calls to Earnshaw, when I
come in -«
    »'Eh, they's queer things, Mr. Hareton, happened since I went off. It's a
sad pity of that likely young lass, and cant Nelly Dean.«
    »He stared, I thought he had not heard aught, so I told him the rumour.
    The master listened, and he just smiled to himself, and said -
    If they have been in the marsh, they are out now, Zillah. Nelly Dean is
lodged, at this minute, in your room. You can tell her to flit, when you go up;
here is the key. The bog-water got into her head, and she would have run home,
quite flighty, but I fixed her, till she came round to her senses. You can bid
her go to the Grange, at once, if she be able, and carry a message from me, that
her young lady will follow in time to attend the squire's funeral.«
    »Mr. Edgar is not dead?« I gasped. »Oh! Zillah, Zillah!«
    »No, no - sit you down, my good mistress,« she replied, »you're right sickly
yet. He's not dead: Dr Kenneth thinks he may last another day - I met him on the
road and asked.«
    Instead of sitting down, I snatched my outdoor things, and hastened below,
for the way was free.
    On entering the house, I looked about for some one to give information of
Catherine.
    The place was filled with sunshine, and the door stood wide open, but nobody
seemed at hand.
    As I hesitated whether to go off at once, or return and seek my mistress, a
slight cough drew my attention to the hearth.
    Linton lay on the settle, sole tenant, sucking a stick of sugar-candy, and
pursuing my movements with apathetic eyes.
    »Where is Miss Catherine?« I demanded, sternly, supposing I could frighten
him into giving intelligence, by catching him thus alone.
    He sucked on like an innocent.
    »Is she gone?« I said.
    »No,« he replied; »she's up stairs - she's not to go; we wont let her.«
    »You won't let her, little idiot!« I exclaimed. »Direct me to her room
immediately, or I'll make you sing out sharply.«
    »Papa would make you sing out, if you attempted to get there,« he answered.
»He says I'm not to be soft with Catherine - she's my wife, and it's shameful
that she should wish to leave me! He says, she hates me, and wants me to die,
that she may have my money, but she shan't have it; and she shan't go home! she
never shall! she may cry, and be sick as much as she pleases!«
    He resumed his former occupation, closing his lids, as if he meant to drop
asleep.
    »Master Heathcliff,« I resumed, »have you forgotten all Catherine's kindness
to you, last winter, when you affirmed you loved her, and when she brought you
books, and sung you songs, and came many a time through wind and snow to see
you? She wept to miss one evening, because you would be disappointed; and you
felt then, that she was a hundred times too good to you; and now you believe the
lies your father tells, though you know he detests you both! And you join him
against her. That's fine gratitude, is it not?«
    The corner, of Linton's mouth, fell, and he took the sugar-candy from his
lips.
    »Did she come to Wuthering Heights, because she hated you?« I continued.
»Think for yourself! As to your money, she does not even know that you will have
any. And you say she's sick; and yet, you leave her alone, up there in a strange
house! You, who have felt what it is to be so neglected! You could pity your own
sufferings, and she pitied them, too, but you won't pity hers! I shed tears
Master Heathcliff, you see - an elderly woman, and a servant merely - and you,
after pretending such affection, and having reason to worship her, almost, store
every tear you have for yourself, and lie there quite at ease. Ah! you're a
heartless, selfish boy!«
    »I can't stay with her,« he answered crossly. »I'll not stay, by myself. She
cries so I can't bear it. And she won't give over, though I say I'll call my
father - I did call him once; and he threatened to strangle her, if she was not
quiet, but she began again, the instant he left the room; moaning and grieving,
all night long, though I screamed for vexation that I couldn't sleep.«
    »Is Mr. Heathcliff out,« I inquired, perceiving that the wretched creature
had no power to sympathise with his cousin's mental tortures.
    »He's in the court,« he replied, »talking to Doctor Kenneth who says uncle
is dying, truly, at last - I'm glad for I shall be master of the Grange after
him - and Catherine always spoke of it, as her house. It isn't hers! It's mine -
papa says everything she has is mine, All her nice books are mine - she offered
to give me them, and her pretty birds, and her pony Minny, if I would get the
key of our room, and let her out: but I told her she had nothing to give, they
were all, all mine. And then she cried, and took a little picture from her neck,
and said I should have that - two pictures in a gold case - on one side her
mother, and on the other, uncle, when they were young. That was yesterday - I
said they were mine, too; and tried to get them from her. The spiteful thing
wouldn't let me; she pushed me off, and hurt me. I shrieked out - that frightens
her - she heard papa coming, and she broke the hinges, and divided the case and
gave me her mother's portrait; the other she attempted to hide; but papa asked
what was the matter and I explained it. He took the one I had away; and ordered
her to resign hers to me; she refused, and he - he struck her down, and wrenched
it off the chain, and crushed it with his foot.«
    »And you were pleased to see her struck?« I asked: having my designs in
encouraging his talk.
    »I winked,« he answered. »I wink to see my father strike a dog, or a horse,
he does it so hard - yet I was glad at first - she deserved punishing for
pushing me: but when papa was gone, she made me come to the window and showed me
her cheek cut on the inside, against her teeth, and her mouth filling with
blood: and then she gathered up the bits of the picture, and went and sat down
with her face to the wall, and she has never spoken to me since; and I sometimes
think she can't speak for pain. I don't like to think so! but she's a naughty
thing for crying continually; and she looks so pale and wild, I'm afraid of
her!«
    »And you can get the key if you choose?« I said.
    »Yes, when I am up-stairs,« he answered; »but I can't walk up-stairs now.«
    »In what apartment is it?« I asked.
    »Oh,« he cried, »I shant tell you where it is! It is our secret. Nobody,
neither Hareton, nor Zillah are to know. There! you've tired me - go away, go
away!« And he turned his face onto his arm, and shut his eyes, again.
    I considered it best to depart without seeing Mr. Heathcliff; and bring a
rescue for my young lady, from the Grange.
    On reaching it the astonishment of my fellow servants to see me, and their
joy also, was intense; and when they heard that their little mistress was safe,
two or three were about to hurry up, and shout the news at Mr. Edgar's door: but
I bespoke the announcement of it, myself.
    How changed I found him, even in those few days! He lay an image of sadness,
and resignation, waiting his death. Very young he looked: though his actual age
was thirty-nine; one would have called him ten years younger, at least. He
thought of Catherine for he murmured her name. I touched his hand, and spoke.
    »Catherine is coming, dear master!« I whispered, »she is alive, and well;
and will be here I hope to-night.«
    I trembled at the first effects of this intelligence: he half rose up,
looked eagerly round the apartment, and then sunk back in a swoon.
    As soon as he recovered, I related our compulsory visit, and detention at
the Heights: I said Heathcliff forced me to go in, which was not quite true; I
uttered as little as possible against Linton; nor did I describe all his
father's brutal conduct - my intentions being to add no bitterness, if I could
help it, to his already overflowing cup.
    He divined that one of his enemy's purposes was to secure the personal
property, as well as the estate to his son, or rather himself; yet why he did
not wait till his decease, was a puzzle to my master; because ignorant how
nearly he, and his nephew would quit the world together.
    However, he felt that his will had better be altered - instead of leaving
Catherine's fortune at her own disposal, he determined to put it in the hands of
trustees, for her use during life; and for her children, if she had any, after
her. By that means, it could not fall to Mr. Heathcliff should Linton die.
    Having received his orders, I despatched a man to fetch the attorney, and
four more, provided with serviceable weapons, to demand my young lady of her
jailer. Both parties were delayed very late. The single servant returned first.
    He said Mr. Green, the lawyer, was out when he arrived at his house, and he
had to wait two hours for his re-entrance: and then Mr. Green told him he had a
little business in the village, that must be done, but he would be at
Thrushcross Grange before morning.
    The four men came back unaccompanied, also. They brought word that Catherine
was ill, too ill to quit her room, and Heathcliff would not suffer them to see
her.
    I scolded the stupid fellows well, for listening to that tale, which I would
not carry to my master; resolving to take a whole bevy up to the Heights, at
daylight, and storm it, literally, unless the prisoner were quietly surrendered
to us.
    Her father shall see her, I vowed, and vowed again, if that devil be killed
on his own doorstones, in trying to prevent it!
    Happily, I was spared the journey, and the trouble.
    I had gone downstairs at three o'clock to fetch a jug of water; and was
passing through the hall, with it in my hand, when a sharp knock, at the front
door, made me jump.
    »Oh! it is Green - I said recollecting myself - only Green,« and I went on,
intending to send someone else to open it; but the knock was repeated, not loud,
and still importunately.
    I put the jug on the bannister, and hastened to admit him, myself.
    The harvest moon shone clear outside. It was not the attorney. My own sweet
little mistress sprung on my neck sobbing,
    »Ellen! Ellen! is papa alive?«
    »Yes!« I cried, »yes, my angel, he is! God be thanked, you are safe with us
again!«
    She wanted to run, breathless as she was, up-stairs to Mr. Linton's room;
but I compelled her to sit down on a chair, and made her drink, and washed her
paleface, chafing it into a faint colour with my apron. Then I said I must go
first, and tell of her arrival; imploring her to say, she should be happy, with
young Heathcliff. She stared, but soon comprehended why I counselled her to
utter the falsehood, she assured me she would not complain.
    I couldn't abide to be present at their meeting. I stood outside the
chamber-door, a quarter of an hour, and hardly ventured near the bed, then.
    All was composed, however; Catherine's despair was as silent as her father's
joy. She supported him calmly, in appearance; and he fixed on her features his
raised eyes that seemed dilating with ecstasy.
    He died blissfully, Mr. Lockwood; he died so, kissing her cheek, he
murmured,
    »I am going to her, and you darling child shall come to us;« and never
stirred or spoke again, but continued that rapt, radiant gaze, till his pulse
imperceptibly stopped, and his soul departed. None could have noticed the exact
minute of his death, it was so entirely without a struggle.
    Whether Catherine had spent her tears, or whether the grief were too weighty
to let them flow, she sat there dry-eyed till the sun rose - she sat till noon,
and would still have remained, brooding over that death-bed, but I insisted on
her coming away, and taking some repose.
    It was well I succeeded in removing her, for at dinner-time appeared the
lawyer, having called at Wuthering Heights to get his instructions how to
behave. He had sold himself to Mr. Heathcliff, and that was the cause of his
delay in obeying my master's summons. Fortunately, no thought of worldly affairs
crossed the latter's mind, to disturb him, after his daughter's arrival.
    Mr. Green took upon himself to order everything and everybody about the
place. He gave all the servants but me, notice to quit. He would have carried
his delegated authority to the point of insisting that Edgar Linton should not
be buried beside his wife, but in the chapel, with his family. There was the
will however, to hinder that, and my loud protestations against any infringement
of its directions.
    The funeral was hurried over; Catherine, Mrs. Linton Heathcliff now, was
suffered to stay at the Grange, till her father's corpse had quitted it.
    She told me that her anguish had at last spurred Linton to incur the risk of
liberating her. She heard the men I sent, disputing at the door, and she
gathered the sense of Heathcliff's answer. It drove her desperate - Linton, who
had been conveyed up to the little parlour soon after I left, was terrified into
fetching the key before his father re-ascended.
    He had the cunning to unlock, and re-lock the door, without shutting it; and
when he should have gone to bed, he begged to sleep with Hareton, and his
petition was granted, for once.
    Catherine stole out before break of day. She dare not try the doors, lest
the dogs should raise an alarm; she visited the empty chambers, and examined
their windows; and, luckily, lighting on her mother's, she got easily out of its
lattice, and onto the ground, by means of the fir tree, close by. Her accomplice
suffered for his share in the escape, notwithstanding his timid contrivances.
 

                                  Chapter XXIX

The evening after the funeral, my young lady and I were seated in the library;
now musing mournfully, one of us despairingly, on our loss; now venturing
conjectures as to the gloomy future.
    We had just agreed the best destiny which could await Catherine, would be a
permission to continue resident at the Grange, at least, during Linton's life:
he being allowed to join her there, and I to remain as housekeeper. That seemed
rather too favourable an arrangement to be hoped for, and yet I did hope, and
began to cheer up under the prospect of retaining my home, and my employment,
and, above all, my beloved young mistress, when a servant - one of the discarded
ones, not yet departed - rushed hastily in, and said, »that devil Heathcliff«
was coming through the court, should he fasten the door in his face?
    If we had been mad enough to order that proceeding, we had not time. He made
no ceremony of knocking, or announcing his name; he was master, and availed
himself of the master's privilege to walk straight in, without saying a word.
    The sound of our informant's voice directed him to the library: he entered;
and motioning him out, shut the door.
    It was the same room into which he had been ushered, as a guest, eighteen
years before: the same moon shone through the window; and the same autumn
landscape lay outside. We had not yet lighted a candle, but all the apartment
was visible, even to the portraits on the wall - the splendid head of Mrs.
Linton, and the graceful one of her husband.
    Heathcliff advanced to the hearth. Time had little altered his person
either. There was the same man; his dark face rather sallower, and more
composed, his frame a stone or two heavier, perhaps, and no other difference.
    Catherine had risen with an impulse to dash out, when she saw him.
    »Stop!« he said, arresting her by the arm. »No more runnings away! Where
would you go? I'm come to fetch you home; and I hope you'll be a dutiful
daughter, and not encourage my son to further disobedience. I was embarrassed
how to punish him, when I discovered his part in the business - he's such a
cobweb, a pinch would annihilate him - but, you'll see by his look that he has
received his due! I brought him down one evening, the day before yesterday, and
just set him in a chair, and never touched him afterwards. I sent Hareton out,
and we had the room to ourselves. In two hours, I called Joseph to carry him up
again; and, since then, my presence is as potent on his nerves, as a ghost; and
I fancy he sees me often, though I am not near, Hareton says he wakes and
shrieks in the night by the hour together; and calls you to protect him from me;
and, whether you like your precious mate or not, you must come - he's your
concern now; I yield all my interest in him to you.«
    »Why not let Catherine continue here?« I pleaded, »and send Master Linton to
her. As you hate them both, you'd not miss them - they can only be a daily
plague to your unnatural heart.«
    »I'm seeking a tenant for the Grange,« he answered; »and I want my children
about me, to be sure - besides that lass owes me her services for her bread; I'm
not going to nurture her in luxury and idleness after Linton is gone. Make haste
and get ready now. And don't oblige me to compel you.«
    »I shall,« said Catherine. »Linton is all I have to love in the world, and,
though you have done what you could to make him hateful to me, and me to him,
you cannot make us hate each other! and I defy you to hurt him when I am by, and
I defy you to frighten me!«
    »You are a boastful champion!« replied Heathcliff; »but I don't like you
well enough to hurt him - you shall get the full benefit of the torment, as long
as it lasts. It is not I who will make him hateful to you - it is his own sweet
spirit. He's as bitter as gall at your desertion, and its consequences - don't
expect thanks for this noble devotion. I heard him draw a pleasant picture to
Zillah of what he would do, if he were as strong as I - the inclination is
there, and his very weakness will sharpen his wits to find a substitute for
strength.«
    »I know he has a bad nature,« said Catherine; »he's your son. But I'm glad
I've a better, to forgive it; and I know he loves me and for that reason I love
him. Mr. Heathcliff, you have nobody to love you; and, however miserable you
make us, we shall still have the revenge of thinking that your cruelty rises
from your greater misery! You are miserable, are you not? Lonely, like the
devil, and envious like him? Nobody loves you - nobody will cry for you, when
you die! I wouldn't be you!«
    Catherine spoke with a kind of dreary triumph: she seemed to have made up
her mind to enter into the spirit of her future family, and draw pleasure from
the griefs of her enemies.
    »You shall be sorry to be yourself presently,« said her father-in-law, »if
you stand there another minute. Begone, witch, and get your things.«
    She scornfully withdrew.
    In her absence, I began to beg for Zillah's place at the Heights, offering
to resign her mine; but he would suffer it on no account. He bid me be silent,
and then, for the first time, allowed himself a glance round the room, and a
look at the pictures. Having studied Mrs. Linton, he said -
    »I shall have that at home. Not because I need it, but -«
    He turned abruptly to the fire, and continued, with what, for lack of a
better word, I must call a smile -
    »I'll tell you what I did yesterday! I got the sexton, who was digging
Linton's grave, to remove the earth off her coffin lid, and I opened it. I
thought, once, I would have stayed there, when I saw her face again - it is hers
yet - he had hard work to stir me; but he said it would change, if the air blew
on it, and so I struck one side of the coffin loose - and covered it up - not
Linton's side, damn him! I wish he'd been soldered in lead - and I bribed the
sexton to pull it away, when I'm laid there, and slide mine out too, I'll have
it made so, and then, by the time Linton gets to us, he'll not know which is
which!«
    »You were very wicked, Mr. Heathcliff!« I exclaimed; »were you not ashamed
to disturb the dead?«
    »I disturbed nobody, Nelly,« he replied; »and I gave some ease to myself. I
shall be a great deal more comfortable now; and you'll have a better chance of
keeping me underground, when I get there. Disturbed her? No! she has disturbed
me, night and day, through eighteen years - incessantly - remorselessly - till
yesternight - and yesternight, I was tranquil. I dreamt I was sleeping the last
sleep, by that sleeper, with my heart stopped, and my cheek frozen against
hers.«
    »And if she had been dissolved into earth, or worse, what would you have
dreamt of then?« I said.
    »Of dissolving with her, and being more happy still!« he answered. »Do you
suppose I dread any change of that sort? I expected such a transformation on
raising the lid, but I'm better pleased that it should not commence till I share
it. Besides, unless I had received a distinct impression of her passionless
features, that strange feeling would hardly have been removed. It began oddly.
You know, I was wild after she died, and eternally, from dawn to dawn, praying
her to return to me - her spirit - I have a strong faith in ghosts; I have a
conviction that they can, and do exist, among us!
    The day she was buried there came a fall of snow. In the evening I went to
the churchyard. It blew bleak as winter - all round was solitary: I didn't fear
that her fool of a husband would wander up the den so late - and no one else had
business to bring them there.
    Being alone, and conscious two yards of loose earth was the sole barrier
between us, I said to myself -
    I'll have her in my arms again! If she be cold, I'll think it is this north
wind that chills me; and if she be motionless, it is sleep.
    I got a spade from the toolhouse, and began to delve with all my might - it
scraped the coffin; I fell to work with my hands; the wood commenced cracking
about the screws, I was on the point of attaining my object, when it seemed that
I heard a sigh from some one above, close at the edge of the grave, and bending
down. - If I can only get this off, I muttered, I wish they may shovel in the
earth over us both! and I wrenched at it more desperately still. There was
another sigh, close at my ear. I appeared to feel the warm breath of it
displacing the sleet-laden wind. I knew no living thing in flesh and blood was
by - but as certainly as you perceive the approach to some substantial body in
the dark, though it cannot be discerned, so certainly I felt that Cathy was
there, not under me, but on the earth.
    A sudden sense of relief flowed, from my heart, through every limb. I
relinquished my labour of agony, and turned consoled at once, unspeakably
consoled. Her presence was with me; it remained while I re-filled the grave, and
led me home. You may laugh, if you will, but I was sure I should see her there.
I was sure she was with me, and I could not help talking to her.
    Having reached the Heights, I rushed eagerly to the door. It was fastened;
and, I remember, that accursed Earnshaw and my wife opposed my entrance. I
remember stopping to kick the breath out of him, and then hurrying up stairs, to
my room, and hers - I looked round impatiently - I felt her by me - I could
almost see her, and yet I could not! I ought to have sweat blood then, from the
anguish of my yearning, from the fervour of my supplications to have but one
glimpse! I had not one. She showed herself, as she often was in life, a devil to
me! And, since then, sometimes more, and sometimes less, I've been the sport of
that intolerable torture! Infernal - keeping my nerves at such a stretch, that,
if they had not resembled catgut, they would, long ago, have relaxed to the
feebleness of Linton's.
    When I sat in the house with Hareton, it seemed that on going out, I should
meet her; when I walked on the moors I should meet her coming in. When I went
from home, I hastened to return, she must be somewhere at the Heights, I was
certain! And when I slept in her chamber - I was beaten out of that - I couldn't
lie there; for the moment I closed my eyes, she was either outside the window,
or sliding back the panels, or entering the room, or even resting her darling
head on the same pillow as she did when a child. And I must open my lids to see.
And so I opened and closed them a hundred times a-night - to be always
disappointed! It racked me! I've often groaned aloud, till that old rascal
Joseph, no doubt believed that my conscience was playing the fiend inside of me.
    Now since I've seen her, I'm pacified - a little. It was a strange way of
killing, not by inches, but by fractions of hair-breadths, to beguile me with
the spectre of a hope, through eighteen years!«
    Mr. Heathcliff paused and wiped his forehead - his hair clung to it, wet
with perspiration; his eyes were fixed on the red embers of the fire; the brows
not contracted, but raised next the temples, diminishing the grim aspect of his
countenance, but imparting a peculiar look of trouble, and a painful appearance
of mental tension towards one absorbing subject. He only half addressed me, and
I maintained silence - I didn't like to hear him talk!
    After a short period, he resumed his meditation on the picture, took it
down, and leant it against the sofa to contemplate it at better advantage; and
while so occupied Catherine entered, announcing that she was ready, when her
pony should be saddled.
    »Send that over to-morrow,« said Heathcliff to me, then turning to her he
added, »You may do without your pony - it is a fine evening, and you'll need no
ponies at Wuthering Heights, for what journies you take, your own feet will
serve you - Come along.«
    »Good-bye, Ellen!« whispered my dear little mistress. As she kissed me, her
lips felt like ice. »Come and see me Ellen, don't forget.«
    »Take care you do no such thing, Mrs. Dean!« said her new father. »When I
wish to speak to you I'll come here. I want none of your prying at my house!«
    He signed her to precede him; and casting back a look that cut my heart, she
obeyed.
    I watched them, from the window, walk down the garden. Heathcliff fixed
Catherine's arm under his, though she disputed the act, at first, evidently, and
with rapid strides, he hurried her into the alley, whose trees concealed them.
 

                                  Chapter XXX

I have paid a visit to the Heights, but I have not seen her since she left;
Joseph held the door in his hand, when I called to ask after her, and wouldn't
let me pass. He said Mrs. Linton was thrang, and the master was not in. Zillah
has told me something of the way they go on, otherwise I should hardly know who
was dead, and who living.
    She thinks Catherine, haughty, and does not like her, I can guess by her
talk. My young lady asked some aid of her, when she first came, but Mr.
Heathcliff told her to follow her own business, and let his daughter-in-law look
after herself, and Zillah willingly acquiesced, being a narrow-minded selfish
woman. Catherine evinced a child's annoyance at this neglect; repaid it with
contempt, and thus enlisted my informant among her enemies, as securely as if
she had done her some great wrong.
    I had a long talk with Zillah, about six weeks ago, a little before you
came, one day, when we foregathered on the moor; and this is what she told me.
    »The first thing Mrs. Linton did,« she said, »on her arrival at the Heights,
was to run upstairs without even wishing good-evening to me and Joseph; she shut
herself into Linton's room, and remained till morning - then, while the master
and Earnshaw were at breakfast, she entered the house and asked all in a quiver
if the doctor might be sent for? her cousin was very ill.«
    »We know that!« answered Heathcliff, »but his life is not worth a farthing,
and I won't spend a farthing on him.«
    »But I cannot tell how to do,« she said; »and if nobody will help me, he'll
die!«
    »Walk out of the room!« cried the master, »and let me never hear a word more
about him! None here care what becomes of him; if you do, act the nurse; if you
do not, lock him up and leave him.«
    Then she began to bother me, and I said I'd had enough plague with the
tiresome thing; we each had our tasks, and her's was to wait on Linton, Mr.
Heathcliff bid me leave that labour to her.
    How they managed together, I can't tell. I fancy he fretted a great deal,
and moaned hisseln, night and day; and she had precious little rest, one could
guess by her white face, and heavy eyes - she sometimes came into the kitchen
all wildered like, and looked as if she would fain beg assistance: but I was not
going to disobey the master - I never dare disobey him, Mrs. Dean, and though I
thought it wrong that Kenneth should not be sent for, it was no concern of mine,
either to advise or complain; and I always refused to meddle.
    Once or twice, after we had gone to bed, I've happened to open my door
again, and seen her sitting crying, on the stairs' top; and then I've shut
myself in, quick, for fear of being moved to interfere. I did pity her then, I'm
sure; still I didn't wish to lose my place, you know!
    At last, one night she came boldly into my chamber, and frightened me out of
my wits, by saying:
    »Tell Mr. Heathcliff that his son is dying - I'm sure he is, this time. -
Get up, instantly, and tell him!«
    Having uttered this speech, she vanished again. I lay a quarter of an hour
listening and trembling - Nothing stirred - the house was quiet.
    »She's mistaken, I said to myself. He's got over it. I needn't disturb
them.« And I began to dose. But my sleep was marred a second time, by a sharp
ringing of the bell - the only bell we have, put up on purpose for Linton, and
the master called to me, to see what was the matter, and inform them that he
wouldn't have that noise repeated.
    I delivered Catherine's message. He cursed to himself, and in a few minutes,
came out with a lighted candle, and proceeded to their room. I followed - Mrs.
Heathcliff was seated by the bedside, with her hands folded on her knees. Her
father-in-law went up, held the light to Linton's face, looked at him, and
touched him, afterwards he turned to her.
    »Now - Catherine, he said, how do you feel?
    She was dumb.
    How do you feel, Catherine? he repeated.
    He's safe, and I'm free, she answered, I should feel well - but, she
continued with a bitterness she couldn't conceal, You have left me so long to
struggle against death, alone, that I feel and see only death! I feel like
death!
    And she looked like it, too! I gave her a little wine. Hareton and Joseph
who had been wakened by the ringing, and the sound of feet, and heard our talk
from outside, now entered. Joseph was fain, I believe, of the lad's removal:
Hareton seemed a thought bothered, though he was more taken up with staring at
Catherine than thinking of Linton. But the master bid him get off to bed again -
we didn't want his help. He afterwards made Joseph remove the body to his
chamber, and told me to return to mine, and Mrs. Heathcliff remained by herself.
    In the morning, he sent me to tell her she must come down to breakfast - she
had undressed, and appeared going to sleep; and said she was ill; at which I
hardly wondered. I informed Mr. Heathcliff, and he replied,
    Well, let her be till after the funeral; and go up now and then to get her
what is needful; and as soon as she seems better, tell me.«
    Cathy stayed up-stairs a fortnight, according to Zillah, who visited her
twice a-day, and would have been rather more friendly, but her attempts at
increasing kindness were proudly and promptly repelled.
    Heathcliff went up once, to show her Linton's will. He had bequeathed the
whole of his, and what had been her moveable property to his father. The poor
creature was threatened, or coaxed into that act, during her week's absence,
when his uncle died. The lands, being a minor he could not meddle with. However,
Mr. Heathcliff has claimed, and kept them in his wife's right, and his also - I
suppose legally, at any rate Catherine, destitute of cash and friends, cannot
disturb his possession.
    »Nobody,« said Zillah, »ever approached her door, except that once, but I
... and nobody asked anything about her. The first occasion of her coming down
into the house, was on a Sunday afternoon.
    She had cried out, when I carried up her dinner that she couldn't bear any
longer being in the cold; and I told her the master was going to Thrushcross
Grange; and Earnshaw and I needn't hinder her from descending; so, as soon as
she heard Heathcliff's horse trot off, she made her appearance, donned in black,
and her yellow curls combed back behind her ears, as plain as a quaker, she
couldn't comb them out.«
    »Joseph, and I generally go to chapel on Sundays, (the Kirk, you know, has
no minister, now, explained Mrs. Dean, and they call the Methodists' or
Baptists' place, I can't say which it is, at Gimmerton, a chapel.)« »Joseph had
gone,« she continued, »but I thought proper to bide at home. Young folks are
always the better for an elder's over-looking, and Hareton with all his
bashfulness, isn't a model of nice behaviour. I let him know that his cousin
would very likely sit with us, and she had been always used to see the Sabbath
respected, so he had as good leave his guns, and bits of in-door work alone,
while she stayed.
    He coloured up at the news; and cast his eyes over his hands and clothes.
The train-oil, and gunpowder were shoved out of sight in a minute. I saw he
meant to give her his company; and I guessed, by his way, he wanted to be
presentable; so, laughing, as I durst not laugh when the master is by, I offered
to help him, if he would, and joked at his confusion. He grew sullen, and began
to swear.
    Now, Mrs. Dean,« she went on, seeing me not pleased by her manner, »you
happen think your young lady too fine for Mr. Hareton, and happen you're right -
but, I own, I should love well to bring her pride a peg lower. And what will all
her learning and her daintiness do for her, now? She's as poor as you, or I -
poorer - I'll be bound, you're saving - and I'm doing my little all, that road.«
    Hareton allowed Zillah to give him her aid; and she flattered him into a
good humour; so, when Catherine came, half forgetting her former insults, he
tried to make himself agreeable, by the house-keeper's account.
    »Missis walked in,« she said, »as chill as an icicle, and as high as a
princess. I got up and offered her my seat in the arm-chair. No, she turned up
her nose at my civility. Earnshaw rose too, and bid her come to the settle, and
sit close by the fire; he was sure she was starved.
    I've been starved a month and more, she answered, resting on the word, as
scornful as she could.
    And she got a chair for herself, and placed it at a distance from both of
us.
    Having sat till she was warm, she began to look round, and discovered a
number of books in the dresser; she was instantly upon her feet again,
stretching to reach them, but they were too high up.
    Her cousin, after watching her endeavours a while, at last summoned courage
to help her; she held her frock, and he filled it with the first that came to
hand.
    That was a great advance for the lad - she didn't thank him; still, he felt
gratified that she had accepted his assistance, and ventured to stand behind as
she examined them, and even to stoop and point out what struck his fancy in
certain old pictures which they contained - nor was he daunted by the saucy
style in which she jerked the page from his finger; he contented himself with
going a bit farther back, and looking at her, instead of the book.
    She continued reading, or seeking for something to read. His attention
became, by degrees, quite centred in the study of her thick, silky curls - her
face he couldn't see, and she couldn't see him. And, perhaps, not quite awake to
what he did, but attracted like a child to a candle, at last, he proceeded from
staring to touching; he put out his hand and stroked one curl, as gently as if
it were a bird. He might have stuck a knife into her neck, she started round in
such a taking.
    Get away, this moment! How dare you touch me? Why are you stopping there?
she cried, in a tone of disgust. (I can't endure you! I'll go up stairs again,
if you come near me.
    Mr. Hareton recoiled, looking as foolish as he could do; he sat down in the
settle, very quiet, and she continued turning over her volumes, another half
hour - finally, Earnshaw crossed over, and whispered to me.
    Will you ask her to read to us, Zillah? I'm stalled of doing naught - and I
do like - I could like to hear her! dunnot say I wanted it, but ask of yourseln.
    Mr. Hareton wishes you would read to us, ma'am, I said, immediately. He'd
take it very kind - he'd be much obliged.
    She frowned; and, looking up, answered,
    Mr. Hareton, and the whole set of you will be good enough to understand that
I reject any pretence at kindness you have the hypocrisy to offer! I despise
you, and will have nothing to say to any of you! When I would have given my life
for one kind word, even to see one of your faces, you all kept off. But I won't
complain to you! I'm driven down here by the cold, not either to amuse you, or
enjoy your society.
    What could I ha' done? began Earnshaw. How was I to blame?
    Oh! you are an exception, answered Mrs. Heathcliff. I never missed such a
concern as you.
    But, I offered more than once, and asked, he said, kindling up at her
pertness, I asked Mr. Heathcliff to let me wake for you -
    Be silent! I'll go out of doors, or anywhere, rather than have your
disagreeable voice in my ear! said my lady.
    Hareton muttered, she might go to hell, for him! and unslinging his gun,
restrained himself from his Sunday occupations, no longer.
    He talked now, freely enough; and she presently saw fit to retreat to her
solitude: but the frost had set in, and, in spite of her pride, she was forced
to condescend to our company, more and more. However, I took care there should
be no further scorning at my good nature - ever since, I've been as stiff as
herself - and she has no lover, or liker among us - and she does not deserve one
- for, let them say the least word to her, and she'll curl back without respect
of any one! She'll snap at the master himself; and, as good as dares him to
thrash her; and the more hurt she gets, the more venomous she grows.«
    At first, on hearing this account from Zillah, I determined to leave my
situation, take a cottage, and get Catherine to come and live with me; but Mr.
Heathcliff would as soon permit that, as he would set up Hareton in an
independent house; and I can see no remedy, at present, unless she could marry
again; and that scheme, it does not come within my province to arrange.
 
Thus ended Mrs. Dean's story. Notwithstanding the doctor's prophecy, I am
rapidly recovering strength, and, though it be only the second week in January,
I propose getting out on horseback, in a day or two, and riding over to
Wuthering Heights, to inform my landlord that I shall spend the next six months
in London; and, if he likes, he may look out for another tenant to take the
place, after October - I would not pass another winter here, for much.
 

                                  Chapter XXXI

Yesterday was bright, calm, and frosty. I went to the Heights as I proposed; my
housekeeper entreated me to bear a little note from her to her young lady, and I
did not refuse, for the worthy woman was not conscious of anything odd in her
request.
    The front door stood open, but the jealous gate was fastened, as at my last
visit; I knocked and invoked Earnshaw from among the garden beds; he unchained
it, and I entered. The fellow is as handsome a rustic as need be seen. I took
particular notice of him this time; but then, he does his best, apparently, to
make the least of his advantages.
    I asked if Mr. Heathcliff were at home? He answered, no; but he would be in
at dinner-time. It was eleven o'clock, and I announced my intention of going in,
and waiting for him, at which he immediately flung down his tools and
accompanied me, in the office of watchdog, not as a substitute for the host.
    We entered together; Catherine was there, making herself useful in preparing
some vegetables for the approaching meal; she looked more sulky, and less
spirited than when I had seen her first. She hardly raised her eyes to notice
me, and continued her employment with the same disregard to common forms of
politeness, as before; never returning my bow and good morning, by the slightest
acknowledgement.
    »She does not seem so amiable,« I thought, »as Mrs. Dean would persuade me
to believe. She's a beauty, it is true; but not an angel.«
    Earnshaw surlily bid her remove her things to the kitchen.
    »Remove them yourself,« she said; pushing them from her, as soon as she had
done; and retiring to a stool by the window, where she began to carve figures of
birds and beasts, out of the turnip parings in her lap.
    I approached her, pretending to desire a view of the garden; and, as I
fancied, adroitly dropped Mrs. Dean's note onto her knee, unnoticed by Hareton -
but she asked aloud -
    »What is that?« And chucked it off.
    »A letter from your old acquaintance, the housekeeper at the Grange,« I
answered, annoyed at her exposing my kind deed, and fearful lest it should be
imagined a missive of my own.
    She would gladly have gathered it up, at this information, but Hareton beat
her; he seized, and put it in his waistcoat, saying Mr. Heathcliff should look
at it first.
    Thereat, Catherine silently turned her face from us, and, very stealthily,
drew out her pocket-handkerchief and applied it to her eyes; and her cousin,
after struggling a while to keep down his softer feelings, pulled out the letter
and flung it on the floor beside her as ungraciously as he could.
    Catherine caught, and perused it eagerly; then she put a few questions to me
concerning the inmates, rational and irrational, of her former home; and gazing
towards the hills, murmured in soliloquy.
    »I should like to be riding Minny down there! I should like to be climbing
up there - Oh! I'm tired - I'm stalled, Hareton!«
    And she leant her pretty head back against the sill, with half a yawn and
half a sigh, and lapsed into an aspect of abstracted sadness, neither caring,
nor knowing whether we remarked her.
    »Mrs. Heathcliff,« I said, after sitting some time mute, »you are not aware
that I am an acquaintance of yours? so intimate, that I think it strange you
won't come and speak to me. My housekeeper never wearies of talking about and
praising you; and she'll be greatly disappointed if I return with no news of, or
from you, except that you received her letter, and said nothing!«
    She appeared to wonder at this speech and asked,
    »Does Ellen like you?«
    »Yes, very well,« I replied unhesitatingly.
    »You must tell her,« she continued, »that I would answer her letter, but I
have no materials for writing, not even a book from which I might tear a leaf.«
    »No books!« I exclaimed. »How do you contrive to live here without them? If
I may take the liberty to enquire - Though provided with a large library, I'm
frequently very dull at the Grange - take my books away, and I should be
desperate!«
    »I was always reading, when I had them;« said Catherine, »and Mr. Heathcliff
never reads; so he took it into his head to destroy my books. I have not had a
glimpse of one, for weeks. Only once, I searched through Joseph's store of
theology; to his great irritation: and once, Hareton, I came upon a secret stock
in your room ... some Latin and Greek, and some tales and poetry; all old
friends - I brought the last here - and you gathered them, as a magpie gathers
silver spoons, for the mere love of stealing! They are of no use to you - or
else you concealed them in the bad spirit, that as you cannot enjoy them, nobody
else shall. Perhaps your envy counselled Mr. Heathcliff to rob me of my
treasures? But, I've most of them written on my brain and printed in my heart,
and you cannot deprive me of those!«
    Earnshaw blushed crimson, when his cousin made this revelation of his
private literary accumulations, and stammered an indignant denial of her
accusations.
    »Mr. Hareton is desirous of increasing his amount of knowledge,« I said,
coming to the rescue. »He is not envious but emulous of your attainments - He'll
be a clever scholar in a few years!«
    »And he wants me to sink into a dunce, meantime,« answered Catherine. »Yes,
I hear him trying to spell and read to himself, and pretty blunders he makes! I
wish you would repeat Chevy Chase, as you did yesterday - It was extremely
funny! I heard you ... and I heard you turning over the dictionary, to seek out
the hard words, and then cursing, because you couldn't read their explanations!«
    The young man evidently thought it too bad that he should be laughed at for
his ignorance, and then laughed at for trying to remove it. I had a similar
notion, and, remembering Mrs. Dean's anecdote of his first attempt at
enlightening the darkness in which he had been reared, I observed,
    »But, Mrs. Heathcliff, we have each had a commencement, and each stumbled
and tottered on the threshold, and had our teachers scorned, instead of aiding
us, we should stumble and totter yet.«
    »Oh!« she replied, »I don't wish to limit his acquirements ... still, he has
no right to appropriate what is mine, and make it ridiculous to me with his vile
mistakes and mispronunciations! Those books, both prose and verse, were
consecrated to me by other associations, and I hate to have them debased and
profaned in his mouth! Besides, of all, he has selected my favourite pieces that
I love the most to repeat, as if out of deliberate malice!«
    Hareton's chest heaved in silence a minute; he laboured under a severe sense
of mortification and wrath, which it was no easy task to suppress.
    I rose, and from a gentlemanly idea of relieving his embarrassment, took up
my station in the door-way surveying the external prospect, as I stood.
    He followed my example, and left the room, but presently re-appeared,
bearing half-a-dozen volumes in his hands, which he threw into Catherine's lap,
exclaiming,
    »Take them! I never want to hear, or read, or think of them again!«
    »I won't have them, now!« she answered. »I shall connect them with you, and
hate them.«
    She opened one that had obviously been often turned over, and read a portion
in the drawling tone of a beginner; then laughed, and threw it from her.
    »And listen!« she continued provokingly, commencing a verse of an old ballad
in the same fashion.
    But his self-love would endure no further torment - I heard, and not
altogether disapprovingly, a manual check given to her saucy tongue - The little
wretch had done her utmost to hurt her cousin's sensitive though uncultivated
feelings, and a physical argument was the only mode he had of balancing the
account, and repaying its effects on the inflicter.
    He afterwards gathered the books and hurled them on the fire. I read in his
countenance what anguish it was to offer that sacrifice to spleen - I fancied
that as they consumed, he recalled the pleasure they had already imparted; and
the triumph, and ever increasing pleasure he had anticipated from them - and I
fancied, I guessed the incitement to his secret studies, also. He had been
content with daily labour and rough animal enjoyments, till Catherine crossed
his path - Shame at her scorn, and hope of her approval were his first prompters
to higher pursuits; and instead of guarding him from one, and winning him the
other, his endeavours to raise himself produced just the contrary result.
    »Yes, that's all the good such a brute as you can get from them!« cried
Catherine, sucking her damaged lip, and watching the conflagration with
indignant eyes.
    »You'd better hold your tongue, now!« he answered fiercely.
    And his agitation precluding further speech, he advanced hastily to the
entrance, where I made way for him to pass. But, ere he had crossed the door-
Mr. Heathcliff, coming up the causeway, encountered him, and laying hold of his
shoulder, asked,
    »What's to do now, my lad?«
    »Naught, naught!« he said, and broke away, to enjoy his grief and anger in
solitude.
    Heathcliff gazed after him, and sighed.
    »It will be odd, if I thwart myself!« he muttered, unconscious that I was
behind him. »But, when I look for his father in his face, I find her every day
more! How the devil is he so like? I can hardly bear to see him.«
    He bent his eyes to the ground, and walked moodily in. There was a restless,
anxious expression in his countenance, I had never remarked there before, and he
looked sparer in person.
    His daughter-in-law on perceiving him through the window, immediately
escaped to the kitchen, so that I remained alone.
    »I'm glad to see you out of doors again, Mr. Lockwood,« he said in reply to
my greeting, »from selfish motives partly, I don't think I could readily supply
your loss in this desolation. I've wondered, more than once, what brought you
here.«
    »An idle whim, I fear, sir,« was my answer, »or else an idle whim is going
to spirit me away - I shall set out for London, next week, and I must give you
warning, that I feel no disposition to retain Thrushcross Grange, beyond the
twelvemonths I agreed to rent it. I believe I shall not live there any more.«
    »Oh, indeed! you're tired of being banished from the world, are you?« he
said. »But, if you be coming to plead off paying for a place, you won't occupy,
your journey is useless - I never relent in exacting my due, from any one.«
    »I'm coming to plead off nothing about it!« I exclaimed, considerably
irritated. »Should you wish it, I'll settle with you now,« and I drew my
notebook from my pocket.
    »No, no,« he replied coolly, »you'll leave sufficient behind, to cover your
debts, if you fail to return ... I'm not in such a hurry - sit down and take
your dinner with us - a guest that is safe from repeating his visit, can
generally be made welcome - Catherine! bring the things in - where are you?«
    Catherine re-appeared, bearing a tray of knives and forks.
    »You may get your dinner with Joseph,« muttered Heathcliff aside, »and
remain in the kitchen till he is gone.«
    She obeyed his directions very punctually - perhaps she had no temptation to
transgress. Living among clowns and misanthropists, she probably cannot
appreciate a better class of people, when she meets them.
    With Mr. Heathcliff, grim and saturnine, on the one hand, and Hareton
absolutely dumb, on the other, I made a somewhat cheerless meal, and bid adieu
early - I would have departed by the back way to get a last glimpse of
Catherine, and annoy old Joseph; but Hareton received orders to lead up my
horse, and my host himself escorted me to the door, so I could not fulfil my
wish.
    »How dreary life gets over in that house!« I reflected, while riding down
the road. »What a realization of something more romantic than a fairy tale it
would have been for Mrs. Linton Heathcliff, had she and I struck up an
attachment, as her good nurse desired, and migrated together, into the stirring
atmosphere of the town!«
 

                                 Chapter XXXII

1802. - This September, I was invited to devastate the moors of a friend, in the
North; and, on my journey to his abode, I unexpectedly came within fifteen miles
of Gimmerton. The hostler, at a roadside public-house, was holding a pail of
water to refresh my horses, when a cart of very green oats, newly reaped, passed
by, and he remarked -
    »Yon's frough Gimmerton, nah! They're alias three wick' after other folk wi'
there harvest.«
    »Gimmerton?« I repeated, my residence in that locality had already grown dim
and dreamy. »Ah! I know! How far is it from this?«
    »Happen fourteen mile' o'er th' hills, and a rough road,« he answered.
    A sudden impulse seized me to visit Thrushcross Grange. It was scarcely
noon, and I conceived that I might as well pass the night under my own roof, as
in an inn. Besides, I could spare a day easily, to arrange matters with my
landlord, and thus save myself the trouble of invading the neighbourhood again.
    Having rested a while, I directed my servant to inquire the way to the
village; and, with great fatigue to our beasts, we managed the distance in some
three hours.
    I left him there, and proceeded down the valley alone. The grey church
looked greyer, and the lonely churchyard lonelier. I distinguished a moor sheep
cropping the short turf on the graves. It was sweet, warm weather - too warm for
travelling; but the heat did not hinder me from enjoying the delightful scenery
above and below; had I seen it nearer August, I'm sure it would have tempted me
to waste a month among its solitudes. In winter, nothing more dreary, in summer,
nothing more divine, than those glens shut in by hills, and those bluff, bold
swells of heath.
    I reached the Grange before sunset, and knocked for admittance; but the
family had retreated into the back premises, I judged by one thin, blue wreath
curling from the kitchen chimney, and they did not hear.
    I rode into the court. Under the porch, a girl of nine or ten, sat knitting,
and an old woman reclined on the horse-steps, smoking a meditative pipe.
    »Is Mrs. Dean within?« I demanded of the dame.
    »Mistress Dean? Nay!« she answered, »shoo doesn't't bide here; shoo's up at
th' Heights.«
    »Are you the housekeeper, then?« I continued.
    »Eea, Aw keep th' hause,« she replied.
    »Well, I'm Mr. Lockwood, the master - Are there any rooms to lodge me in, I
wonder? I wish to stay here all night.«
    »T' master!« she cried in astonishment, »Whet, whoiver knew yah wur coming?
Yah sud ha' send word. They's now't norther dry - nor mensful abaht t' place -
nowt there is n't!«
    She threw down her pipe and bustled in, the girl followed, and I entered
too; soon perceiving that her report was true, and, moreover, that I had almost
upset her wits by my unwelcome apparition.
    I bid her be composed - I would go out for a walk; and, meantime, she must
try to prepare a corner of a sitting-room for me to sup in, and a bed-room to
sleep in - No sweeping and dusting, only good fires and dry sheets were
necessary.
    She seemed willing to do her best; though she thrust the hearth-brush into
the grates in mistake for the poker; and mal-appropriated several other articles
of her craft; but I retired, confiding in her energy for a resting-place against
my return.
    Wuthering Heights was the goal of my proposed excursion. An after-thought
brought me back, when I had quitted the court.
    »All well at the Heights?« I inquired of the woman.
    »Eea, f'r owt Ee knaw!« she answered, skurrying away with a pan of hot
cinders.
    I would have asked why Mrs. Dean had deserted the Grange; but it was
impossible to delay her at such a crisis, so, I turned away and made my exit,
rambling leisurely along with the glow of a sinking sun behind, and the mild
glory of a rising moon in front; one fading, and the other brightening, as I
quitted the park, and climbed the stony by-road branching off to Mr.
Heathcliff's dwelling.
    Before I arrived in sight of it, all that remained of day was a beamless,
amber light along the west; but I could see every pebble on the path, and every
blade of grass by that splendid moon.
    I had neither to climb the gate, nor to knock - it yielded to my hand.
    That is an improvement! I thought. And I noticed another, by the aid of my
nostrils; a fragrance of stocks and wall flowers, wafted on the air, from
amongst the homely fruit trees.
    Both doors and lattices were open; and, yet, as is usually the case in a
coal district, a fine, red fire illumined the chimney; the comfort which the eye
derives from it, renders the extra heat endurable. But the house of Wuthering
Heights is so large, that the inmates have plenty of space for withdrawing out
of its influence; and, accordingly, what inmates there were had stationed
themselves not far from one of the windows. I could both see them and hear them
talk before I entered; and looked and listened in consequence, being moved
thereto by a mingled sense of curiosity, and envy that grew as I lingered.
    »Con-trary!« said a voice, as sweet as a silver bell - »That for the third
time, you dunce! I'm not going to tell you, again - Recollect, or I'll pull your
hair!«
    »Contrary, then,« answered another, in deep, but softened tones. »And now,
kiss me, for minding so well.«
    »No, read it over first correctly, without a single mistake.«
    The male speaker began to read - he was a young man, respectably dressed,
and seated at a table, having a book before him. His handsome features glowed
with pleasure, and his eyes kept impatiently wandering from the page to a small
white hand over his shoulder, which recalled him by a smart slap on the cheek,
whenever its owner detected such signs of inattention.
    Its owner stood behind; her light shining ringlets blending, at intervals,
with his brown locks, as she bent to superintend his studies; and her face - it
was lucky he could not see her face, or he would never have been so steady - I
could, and I bit my lip, in spite, at having thrown away the chance I might have
had, of doing something else besides staring at its smiting beauty.
    The task was done, not free from further blunders, but the pupil claimed a
reward and received at least five kisses, which, however, he generously
returned. Then, they came to the door, and from their conversation, I judged
they were about to issue out and have a walk on the moors. I supposed I should
be condemned in Hareton Earnshaw's heart, if not by his mouth, to the lowest pit
in the infernal regions if I showed my unfortunate person in his neighbourhood
then, and feeling very mean and malignant, I skulked round to seek refuge in the
kitchen.
    There was unobstructed admittance on that side also; and, at the door, sat
my old friend, Nelly Dean, sewing and singing a song, which was often
interrupted from within, by harsh words of scorn and intolerance, uttered in far
from musical accents.
    »Aw'd rather, by th' haulf, have 'em swearing i' my lugs frough morn tuh
neeght, nur hearken yah, hahsiver!« said the tenant of the kitchen, in answer to
an unheard speech of Nelly's. »It's a blazing shaime, ut Aw cannut oppen t'
Blessed Book, bud yah set up them glories tuh sattan, un' all t' flaysome
wickednesses ut iver wer born intuh t' warld! Oh! yah're a raight nowt; un'
shoo's another; un' that poor lad' ull be lost atween ye. Poor lad!« he added,
with a groan; »he's witched, Aw'm sartin on't! O, Lord, judge 'em, fur they's
norther law nur justice amang wer rullers!«
    »No! or we should be sitting in flaming fagots, I suppose,« retorted the
singer. »But wisht, old man, and read your Bible like a christian, and never
mind me. This is Fairy Annie's Wedding - a bonny tune - it goes to a dance.«
    Mrs. Dean was about to recommence, when I advanced, and recognizing me
directly, she jumped to her feet, crying -
    »Why, bless you, Mr. Lockwood! How could you think of returning in this way?
All's shut up at Thrushcross Grange. You should have given us notice!«
    »I've arranged to be accommodated there, for as long as I shall stay,« I
answered. »I depart again to-morrow. And how are you transplanted here, Mrs.
Dean? tell me that.«
    »Zillah left, and Mr. Heathcliff wished me to come, soon after you went to
London, and stay till you returned. But, step in, pray! Have you walked from
Gimmerton this evening?«
    »From the Grange,« I replied; »and, while they make me lodging room there, I
want to finish my business with your master, because I don't think of having
another opportunity in a hurry.«
    »What business, sir?« said Nelly, conducting me into the house. »He's gone
out, at present, and wont return soon.«
    »About the rent,« I answered.
    »Oh! then it is with Mrs. Heathcliff you must settle,« she observed, »or
rather with me. She has not learnt to manage her affairs yet, and I act for her;
there's nobody else.«
    I looked surprised.
    »Ah! you have not heard of Heathcliff's death, I see!« she continued.
    »Heathcliff dead?« I exclaimed, astonished. »How long ago?«
    »Three months since - but, sit down, and let me take your hat, and I'll tell
you all about it. Stop, you have had nothing to eat, have you?«
    »I want nothing. I have ordered supper at home. You sit down too. I never
dreamt of his dying! Let me hear how it came to pass. You say you don't expect
them back for some time - the young people?«
    »No - I have to scold them every evening, for their late rambles - but they
don't care for me. At least, have a drink of our old ale - it will do you good -
you seem weary.«
    She hastened to fetch it, before I could refuse, and I heard Joseph asking,
whether »it warn't a crying scandal that she should have fellies at her time of
life? And then, to get them jocks out uh t' Maister's cellar! He fair shaamed to
'bide still and see it.«
    She did not stay to retaliate, but re-entered, in a minute, bearing a
reaming, silver pint, whose contents I lauded with becoming earnestness. And
afterwards she furnished me with the sequel of Heathcliff's history. He had a
queer end, as she expressed it.
 
I was summoned to Wuthering Heights, within a fortnight of your leaving us, she
said; and I obeyed joyfully, for Catherine's sake.
    My first interview with her grieved and shocked me! she had altered so much
since our separation. Mr. Heathcliff did not explain his reasons for taking a
new mind about my coming here; he only told me he wanted me, and he was tired of
seeing Catherine, I must make the little parlour my sitting room, and keep her
with me. It was enough if he were obliged to see her once or twice a day.
    She seemed pleased at this arrangement; and, by degrees, I smuggled over a
great number of books, and other articles, that had formed her amusement at the
Grange; and flattered myself we should get on in tolerable comfort.
    The delusion did not last long. Catherine, contented at first, in a brief
space grew irritable and restless. For one thing, she was forbidden to move out
of the garden, and it fretted her sadly to be confined to its narrow bounds, as
Spring drew on - for another, in following the house, I was forced to quit her
frequently, and she complained of loneliness; she preferred quarrelling with
Joseph in the kitchen, to sitting at peace in her solitude.
    I did not mind their skirmishes; but Hareton was often obliged to seek the
kitchen also, when the master wanted to have the house to himself; and, though,
in the beginning, she either left it at his approach, or quietly joined in my
occupations, and shunned remarking, or addressing him - and though he was always
as sullen and silent, as possible - after a while, she changed her behaviour,
and became incapable of letting him alone. Talking at him; commenting on his
stupidity and idleness; expressing her wonder how he could endure the life he
lived - how he could sit a whole evening staring into the fire, and dozing.
    »He's just like a dog, is he not, Ellen?« she once observed, »or a
cart-horse? He does his work, eats his food, and sleeps, eternally! What a
blank, dreary mind he must have! Do you ever dream, Hareton? And, if you do,
what is it about? But, you can't speak to me!«
    Then she looked at him; but he would neither open his mouth, nor look again.
    »He's perhaps, dreaming now,« she continued. »He twitched his shoulder as
Juno twitches hers. Ask him, Ellen.«
    »Mr. Hareton will ask the master to send you up stairs, if you don't
behave!« I said. He had not only twitched his shoulder, but clenched his fist,
as if tempted to use it.
    »I know why Hareton never speaks, when I am in the kitchen,« she exclaimed,
on another occasion. »He is afriad I shall laugh at him. Ellen, what do you
think? He began to teach himself to read once; and, because I laughed, he burned
his books, and dropped it - was he not a fool?«
    »Were not you naughty?« I said; »answer me that.«
    »Perhaps I was,« she went on, »but I did not expect him to be so silly.
Hareton, if I gave you a book, would you take it now? I'll try!«
    She placed one she had been perusing on his hand; he flung it off, and
muttered, if she did not give over, he would break her neck.
    »Well, I shall put it here,« she said, »in the table drawer, and I'm going
to bed.«
    Then she whispered me to watch whether he touched it, and departed. But he
would not come near it, and so I informed her in the morning, to her great
disappointment. I saw she was sorry for his persevering sulkiness and indolence
- her conscience reproved her for frightening him off improving himself - she
had done it effectually.
    But her ingenuity was at work to remedy the injury; while I ironed, or
pursued other stationary employments I could not well do in the parlour - she
would bring some pleasant volume, and read it aloud to me. When Hareton was
there, she generally paused in an interesting part, and left the book lying
about - that she did repeatedly; but he was as obstinate as a mule, and, instead
of snatching at her bait, in wet weather he took to smoking with Joseph, and
they sat like automatons, one on each side of the fire, the elder happily too
deaf to understand her wicked nonsense, as he would have called it, the younger
doing his best to seem to disregard it. On fine evenings the latter followed his
shooting expeditions, and Catherine yawned and sighed, and teased me to talk to
her, and ran off into the court or garden, the moment I began; and, as a last
resource, cried, and said, she was tired of living, her life was useless.
    Mr. Heathcliff, who grew more and more disinclined to society, had almost
banished Earnshaw out of his apartment. Owing to an accident, at the
commencement of March, he became for some days a fixture in the kitchen. His gun
burst, while out on the hills, by himself; a splinter cut his arm, and he lost a
good deal of blood before he could reach home. The consequence was, that,
perforce, he was condemned to the fire-side and tranquillity, till he made it up
again.
    It suited Catherine to have him there: at any rate, it made her hate her
room up stairs, more than ever; and she would compel me to find out business
below, that she might accompany me.
    On Easter Monday, Joseph went to Gimmerton fair with some cattle; and, in
the afternoon, I was busy getting up linen in the kitchen - Earnshaw sat, morose
as usual, at the chimney corner, and my little mistress was beguiling an idle
hour with drawing pictures on the window panes, varying her amusement by
smothered bursts of songs, and whispered ejaculations, and quick glances of
annoyance and impatience in the direction of her cousin, who steadfastly smoked,
and looked into the grate.
    At a notice that I could do with her no longer, intercepting my light, she
removed to the hearthstone. I bestowed little attention on her proceedings, but,
presently, I heard her begin -
    »I've found out, Hareton, that I want - that I'm glad - that I should like
you to be my cousin, now, if you had not grown so cross to me, and so rough.«
    Hareton returned no answer.
    »Hareton, Hareton, Hareton! do you hear?« she continued.
    »Get off wi' ye!« he growled, with uncompromising gruffness.
    »Let me take that pipe,« she said, cautiously advancing her hand, and
abstracting it from his mouth.
    Before he could attempt to recover it, it was broken, and behind the fire.
He swore at her and seized another.
    »Stop,« she cried, »you must listen to me, first; and I can't speak while
those clouds are floating in my face.«
    »Will you go to the devil!« he exclaimed, ferociously, »and let me be!«
    »No,« she persisted, »I won't - I can't tell what to do to make you talk to
me, and you are determined not to understand. When I call you stupid, I don't
mean anything - I don't mean that I despise you. Come you shall take notice of
me, Hareton - you are my cousin, and you shall own me.«
    »I shall have naught to do wi' you, and your mucky pride, and your damned,
mocking tricks!« he answered. »I'll go to hell, body and soul, before I look
sideways after you again! Side out of t' gait, now; this minute!«
    Catherine frowned, and retreated to the window-seat, chewing her lip, and
endeavouring, by humming an eccentric tune, to conceal a growing tendency to
sob.
    »You should be friends with your cousin, Mr. Hareton,« I interrupted, »since
she repents of her sauciness! it would do you a great deal of good - it would
make you another man, to have her for a companion.«
    »A companion?« he cried; »when she hates me, and does not think me fit to
wipe her shoon! Nay, if it made me a king, I'd not be scorned for seeking her
goodwill any more.«
    »It is not I who hate you, it is you who hate me!« wept Cathy, no longer
disguising her trouble. »You hate me as much as Mr. Heathcliff does, and more.«
    »You are a damned liar,« began Earnshaw; »why have I made him angry, by
taking your part then, a hundred times? and that, when you sneered at, and
despised me, and - Go on plaguing me, and I'll step in yonder, and say you
worried me out of the kitchen!«
    »I didn't know you took my part,« she answered, drying her eyes; »and I was
miserable and bitter at every body; but, now I thank you, and beg you to forgive
me, what can I do besides?«
    She returned to the hearth, and frankly extended her hand.
    He blackened, and scowled like a thunder cloud, and kept his fists
resolutely clenched, and his gaze fixed on the ground.
    Catherine, by instinct, must have divined it was obdurate perversity, and
not dislike, that prompted this dogged conduct; for, after remaining an instant,
undecided, she stooped, and impressed on his cheek a gentle kiss.
    The little rogue thought I had not seen her, and, drawing back, she took her
former station by the window, quite demurely.
    I shook my head reprovingly; and then she blushed, and whispered -
    »Well, what should I have done, Ellen? He wouldn't shake hands, and he
wouldn't look - I must show him some way that I like him, that I want to be
friends.«
    Whether the kiss convinced Hareton, I cannot tell; he was very careful, for
some minutes, that his face should not be seen; and when he did raise it, he was
sadly puzzled where to turn his eyes.
    Catherine employed herself in wrapping a handsome book neatly in white
paper; and having tied it with a bit of ribband, and addressed it to Mr. Hareton
Earnshaw, she desired me to be her ambassadress, and convey the present to its
destined recipient.
    »And tell him, if he'll take it, I'll come and teach him to read it right,«
she said, and, »if he refuse it, I'll go upstairs, and never tease him again.«
    I carried it, and repeated the message, anxiously watched by my employer.
Hareton would not open his fingers, so I laid it on his knee. He did not strike
it off either. I returned to my work: Catherine leaned her head and arms on the
table, till she heard the slight rustle of the covering being removed, then she
stole away, and quietly seated herself beside her cousin. He trembled, and his
face glowed - all his rudeness, and all his surly harshness had deserted him -
he could not summon courage, at first, to utter a syllable, in reply to her
questioning look, and her murmured petition.
    »Say you forgive me, Hareton, do! You can make me so happy, by speaking that
little word.«
    He muttered something inaudible.
    »And you'll be my friend?« added Catherine interrogatively.
    »Nay! you'll be ashamed of me every day of your life,« he answered. »And the
more, the more you know me, and I cannot bide it.«
    »So, you won't be my friend?« she said, smiling as sweet as honey, and
creeping close up.
    I overheard no further distinguishable talk; but on looking round again, I
perceived two such radiant countenances bent over the page of the accepted book,
that I did not doubt the treaty had been ratified, on both sides, and the
enemies were, thenceforth, sworn allies.
    The work they studied was full of costly pictures; and those, and their
position had charm enough to keep them unmoved, till Joseph came home. He, poor
man, was perfectly aghast at the spectacle of Catherine seated on the same bench
with Hareton Earnshaw, leaning her hand on his shoulder; and confounded at his
favourite's endurance of her proximity. It affected him too deeply to allow an
observation on the subject that night. His emotion was only revealed by the
immense sighs he drew, as he solemnly spread his large bible on the table, and
overlaid it with dirty bank-notes from his pocket-book, the produce of the day's
transactions. At length, he summoned Hareton from his seat.
    »Tak' these in tuh t' master, lad,« he said, »un' bide theare; Aw's gang up
tuh my awn rahm. This hoile's norther mensful, nor seemly fur us - we mun side
aht, and seearch another!«
    »Come, Catherine,« I said, »we must side out, too - I've done my ironing,
are you ready to go?«
    »It is not eight o'clock!« she answered, rising unwillingly, »Hareton, I'll
leave this book on the chimney-piece, and I'll bring some more to-morrow.«
    »Ony books ut yah leave, Aw shall take' intuh th' hahse,« said Joseph, »un'
it 'ull be mitch if yah find 'em agean; soa, yah muh plase yourseln!«
    Cathy threatened that his library should pay for hers; and, smiling as she
passed Hareton, went singing up stairs, lighter of heart, I venture to say, than
ever she had been under that roof before; except, perhaps, during her earliest
visits to Linton.
    The intimacy, thus commenced, grew rapidly; though it encountered temporary
interruptions, Earnshaw was not to be civilized with a wish; and my young lady
was no philosopher, and no paragon of patience; but both their minds tending to
the same point - one loving and desiring to esteem; and the other loving and
desiring to be esteemed - they contrived in the end, to reach it.
    You see, Mr. Lockwood, it was easy enough to win Mrs. Heathcliff's heart;
but now, I'm glad you did not try - the crown of all my wishes will be the union
of those two; I shall envy no one on their wedding-day - there won't be a
happier woman than myself in England!
 

                                 Chapter XXXIII

On the morrow of that Monday, Earnshaw being still unable to follow his ordinary
employments, and, therefore, remaining about the house, I speedily found it
would be impracticable to retain my charge beside me, as heretofore.
She got downstairs before me, and out into the garden; where she had seen her
cousin performing some easy work; and when I went to bid them come to breakfast,
I saw she had persuaded him to clear a large space of ground from currant and
gooseberry bushes, and they were busy planning together an importation of plants
from the Grange.
    I was terrified at the devastation which had been accomplished in a brief
half hour; the black currant trees were the apple of Joseph's eye, and she had
just fixed her choice of a flower bed in the midst of them!
    »There! That will be all shown to the master,« I exclaimed, »the minute it
is discovered. And what excuse have you to offer for taking such liberties with
the garden? We shall have a fine explosion on the head of it: see if we don't!
Mr. Hareton, I wonder you should have no more wit, than to go and make that mess
at her bidding!«
    »I'd forgotten they were Joseph's,« answered Earnshaw, rather puzzled, »but
I'll tell him I did it.«
    We always ate our meals with Mr. Heathcliff. I held the mistress's post in
making tea and carving; so I was indispensable at table. Catherine usually sat
by me; but to-day, she stole nearer to Hareton, and I presently saw she would
have no more discretion in her friendship, than she had in her hostility.
    »Now, mind you don't talk with and notice your cousin too much,« were my
whispered instructions as we entered the room; »It will certainly annoy Mr.
Heathcliff, and he'll be mad at you both.«
    »I'm not going to,« she answered.
    The minute after, she had sidled to him, and was sticking primroses in his
plate of porridge.
    He dared not speak to her, there; he dared hardly look; and yet she went on
teasing, till he was twice on the point of being provoked to laugh; and I
frowned, and then she glanced towards the master, whose mind was occupied on
other subjects than his company, as his countenance evinced, and she grew
serious for an instant, scrutinizing him with deep gravity. Afterwards she
turned, and re-commenced her nonsense; at last, Hareton uttered a smothered
laugh.
    Mr. Heathcliff started; his eye rapidly surveyed our faces. Catherine met it
with her accustomed look of nervousness, and yet defiance, which he abhorred.
    »It is well you are out of my reach;« he exclaimed. »What fiend possesses
you to stare back at me, continually, with those infernal eyes? Down with them!
and don't remind me of your existence again. I thought I had cured you of
laughing!«
    »It was me,« muttered Hareton.
    »What do you say?« demanded the master.
    Hareton looked at his plate, and did not repeat the confession.
    Mr. Heathcliff looked at him a bit, and then silently resumed his breakfast,
and his interrupted musing.
    We had nearly finished, and the two young people prudently shifted wider
asunder, so I anticipated no further disturbance during that sitting; when
Joseph appeared at the door, revealing by his quivering lip, and furious eyes,
that the outrage committed on his precious shrubs was detected.
    He must have seen Cathy, and her cousin about the spot, before he examined
it, for while his jaws worked like those of a cow chewing its cud, and rendered
his speech difficult to understand, he began:
    »Aw mun have my wage, and Aw mun goa! Aw hed aimed tuh dee, wheare Aw'd
sarved fur sixty year; un' Aw thowt Aw'd lug my books up intuh t' garret, un'
all my bits uh stuff, un' they sud have t' kitchen tuh theirseln; fur t' sake uh
quietness. It wur hard tuh give up my awn hearthstun, bud Aw thowt Aw could do
that! Bud, nah, shoo's taan my garden frough me, un' by th' heart! Maister, Aw
cannot stand it! Yah muh bend tuh th' yoak, an ye will - Aw' noan used to 't and
an ow'd man doesn't't sooin get used tuh new barthens - Aw'd rather arn my bite,
an' my sup, wi' a hammer in th' road!«
    »Now, now, idiot!« interrupted Heathcliff, »cut it short! What's your
grievance? I'll interfere in no quarrels between you, and Nelly - She may thrust
you into the coal-hole for anything I care.«
    »It's noan Nelly!« answered Joseph. »Aw sudn't shift fur Nelly - Nasty, ill
nowt as shoo is, Thank God! shoo cannot stale t' sowl uh nob'dy! Shoo wer niver
soa handsome, bud whet a body mud look at her 'baht winking. It's yon flaysome,
graceless queen, ut's witched ahr lad, wi' her bold een, un' her forward ways -
till - Nay! it fair brusts my heart! He's forgetten all E done for him, un' made
on him, un' goan un' riven up a whole row ut t' grandest currant trees i' t'
garden!« And here he lamented outright, unmanned by a sense of his bitter
injuries, and Earnshaw's ingratitude and dangerous condition.
    »Is the fool drunk?« asked Mr. Heathcliff. »Hareton is it you he's finding
fault with?«
    »I've pulled up two or three bushes,« replied the young man, »but I'm going
to set 'em again.«
    »And why have you pulled them up?« said the master.
    Catherine wisely put in her tongue.
    »We wanted to plant some flowers there,« she cried. »I'm the only person to
blame, for I wished him to do it.«
    »And who the devil gave you leave to touch a stick about the place?«
demanded her father-in-law, much surprised. »And who ordered you to obey her?«
he added turning to Hareton.
    The latter was speechless; his cousin replied -
    »You shouldn't grudge a few yards of earth, for me to ornament, when you
have taken all my land!«
    »Your land, insolent slut? You never had any!« said Heathcliff.
    »And my money,« she continued, returning his angry glare, and meantime,
biting a piece of crust, the remnant of her breakfast.
    »Silence!« he exclaimed. »Get done, and begone!«
    »And Hareton's land, and his money,« pursued the reckless thing. »Hareton,
and I are friends now; and I shall tell him all about you!«
    The master seemed confounded a moment, he grew pale, and rose up, eyeing her
all the while, with an expression of mortal hate.
    »If you strike me, Hareton will strike you!« she said, »so you may as well
sit down.«
    »If Hareton does not turn you out of the room, I'll strike him to Hell,«
thundered Heathcliff. »Damnable witch! dare you pretend to rouse him against me?
Off with her! Do you hear? Fling her into the kitchen! I'll kill her, Ellen
Dean, if you let her come into my sight again!«
    Hareton tried under his breath to persuade her to go.
    »Drag her away!« he cried savagely. »Are you staying to talk?« And he
approached to execute his own command.
    »He'll not obey you, wicked man, any more!« said Catherine, »and he'll soon
detest you, as much as I do.«
    »Wisht! wisht!« muttered the young man reproachfully. »I will not hear you
speak so to him - Have done!«
    »But you won't let him strike me?« she cried.
    »Come then!« he whispered earnestly.
    It was too late - Heathcliff had caught hold of her.
    »Now you go!« he said to Earnshaw. »Accursed witch! this time she has
provoked me, when I could not bear it; and I'll make her repent it for ever!«
    He had his hand in her hair; Hareton attempted to release the locks,
entreating him not to hurt her that once. His black eyes flashed, he seemed
ready to tear Catherine in pieces, and I was just worked up to risk coming to
the rescue, when of a sudden, his fingers relaxed, he shifted his grasp from her
head, to her arm, and gazed intently in her face - Then, he drew his hand over
his eyes, stood a moment to collect himself apparently, and turning anew to
Catherine, said with assumed calmness,
    »You must learn to avoid putting me in a passion, or I shall really murder
you, sometime! go with Mrs. Dean, and keep with her, and confine your insolence
to her ears. As to Hareton Earnshaw if I see him listen to you, I'll send him
seeking his bread where he can get it! your love will make him an outcast, and a
beggar - Nelly, take her, and leave me, all of you! Leave me!«
    I led my young lady out; she was too glad of her escape, to resist; the
other followed, and Mr. Heathcliff had the room to himself, till dinner.
    I had counselled Catherine to get hers up-stairs; but, as soon as he
perceived her vacant seat, he sent me to call her. He spoke to none of us, eat
very little, and went out directly afterwards, intimating that he should not
return before evening.
    The two new friends established themselves in the house, during his absence,
where I heard Hareton sternly check his cousin, on her offering a revelation of
her father-in-law's conduct to his father.
    He said he wouldn't suffer a word to be uttered to him, in his
disparagement; if he were the devil, it didn't signify; he would stand by him;
and he'd rather she would abuse himself, as she used to, than begin on Mr.
Heathcliff.
    Catherine was waxing cross at this; but he found means to make her hold her
tongue, by asking, how she would like him to speak ill of her father? and then
she comprehended that Earnshaw took the master's reputation home to himself: and
was attached by ties stronger than reason could break - chains, forged by habit,
which it would be cruel to attempt to loosen.
    She showed a good heart, thenceforth, in avoiding both complaints and
expressions of antipathy concerning Heathcliff; and confessed to me her sorrow
that she had endeavoured to raise a bad spirit between him and Hareton - indeed,
I don't believe she has ever breathed a syllable, in the latter's hearing,
against her oppressor, since.
    When this slight disagreement was over, they were thick again, and as busy
as possible, in their several occupations, of pupil and teacher. I came in to
sit with them, after I had done my work, and I felt so soothed, and comforted to
watch them, that I did not notice how time got on. You know, they both appeared
in a measure, my children: I had long been proud of one, and now, I was sure,
the other would be a source of equal satisfaction. His honest, warm, and
intelligent nature shook off rapidly the clouds of ignorance, and degradation in
which it had been bred; and Catherine's sincere commendations acted as a spurto
his industry. His brightening mind brightened his features, and added spirit and
nobility to their aspect - I could hardly fancy it the same individual I had
beheld on the day I discovered my little lady at Wuthering Heights, after her
expedition to the Crags.
    While I admired, and they laboured, dusk drew on, and with it returned the
master. He came upon us quite unexpectedly, entering by the front way, and had a
full view of the whole three, ere we could raise our heads to glance at him.
    Well, I reflected, there never was a pleasanter, or more harmless sight; and
it will be a burning shame to scold them. The red fire-light glowed on their two
bonny heads, and revealed their faces, animated with the eager interest of
children; for, though he was twenty-three, and she eighteen, each had so much of
novelty to feel, and learn, that neither experienced, nor evinced the sentiments
of sober disenchanted maturity.
    They lifted their eyes together, to encounter Mr. Heathcliff - perhaps, you
have never remarked that their eyes are precisely similar, and they are those of
Catherine Earnshaw. The present Catherine has no other likeness to her, except a
breadth of forehead, and a certain arch of the nostril that makes her appear
rather haughty, whether she will, or not. With Hareton the resemblance is
carried farther, it is singular, at all times - then it was particularly
striking: because his senses were alert, and his mental faculties wakened to
unwonted activity.
    I suppose this resemblance disarmed Mr. Heathcliff: he walked to the hearth
in evident agitation, but it quickly subsided, as he looked at the young man;
or, I should say, altered its character, for it was there yet.
    He took the book from his hand, and glanced at the open page, then returned
it without any observation; merely signing Catherine away - her companion
lingered very little behind her, and I was about to depart also, but he bid me
sit still.
    »It is a poor conclusion, is it not,« he observed, having brooded a while on
the scene he had just witnessed. »An absurd termination to my violent exertions?
I get levers, and mattocks to demolish the two houses, and train myself to be
capable of working like Hercules, and when everything is ready, and in my power,
I find the will to lift a slate off either roof has vanished! My old enemies
have not beaten me - now would be the precise time to revenge myself on their
representatives - I could do it; and none could hinder me - But where is the
use? I don't care for striking, I can't take the trouble to raise my hand! That
sounds as if I had been labouring the whole time, only to exhibit a fine trait
of magnanimity. It is far from being the case - I have lost the faculty of
enjoying their destruction, and I am too idle to destroy for nothing.
    Nelly, there is a strange change approaching - I'm in its shadow at present
- I take so little interest in my daily life, that I hardly remember to eat, and
drink - Those two, who have left the room are the only objects which retain a
distinct material appearance to me; and, that appearance causes me pain,
amounting to agony. About her I won't speak; and I don't desire to think; but I
earnestly wish she were invisible - her presence invokes only maddening
sensations. He moves me differently; and yet if I could do it without seeming
insane, I'd never see him again! You'll perhaps think me rather inclined to
become so,« he added, making an effort to smile, »if I try to describe the
thousand forms of past associations, and ideas he awakens, or embodies - But
you'll not talk of what I tell you, and my mind is so eternally secluded in
itself, it is tempting, at last, to turn it out to another.«
    »Five minutes ago, Hareton seemed a personification of my youth, not a human
being - I felt to him in such a variety of ways, that it would have been
impossible to have accosted him rationally.
    In the first place, his startling likeness to Catherine connected him
fearfully with her - That however which you may suppose the most potent to
arrest my imagination, is actually the least - for what is not connected with
her to me? and what does not recall her? I cannot look down to this floor, but
her features are shaped in the flags! In every cloud, in every tree - filling
the air at night, and caught by glimpses in every object, by day I am surrounded
with her image! The most ordinary faces of men, and women - my own features mock
me with a resemblance. The entire world is a dreadful collection of memoranda
that she did exist, and that I have lost her!
    Well, Hareton's aspect was the ghost of my immortal love, of my wild
endeavours to hold my right, my degradation, my pride, my happiness, and my
anguish -
    But it is frenzy to repeat these thoughts to you; only it will let you know,
why, with a reluctance to be always alone, his society is no benefit, rather an
aggravation of the constant torment I suffer - and it partly contributes to
render me regardless how he and his cousin go on together. I can give them no
attention, any more.«
    »But what do you mean by a change, Mr. Heathcliff?« I said, alarmed at his
manner, though he was neither in danger of losing his senses, nor dying,
according to my judgment he was quite strong and healthy; and, as to his reason,
from childhood, he had a delight in dwelling on dark things, and entertaining
odd fancies - he might have had a monomania on the subject of his departed idol;
but on every other point his wits were as sound as mine.
    »I shall not know that, till it comes,« he said, »I'm only half conscious of
it now.«
    »You have no feeling of illness, have you?« I asked.
    »No, Nelly, I have not,« he answered.
    »Then, you are not afraid of death?« I pursued.
    »Afraid? No!« he replied. »I have neither a fear, nor a presentiment, nor a
hope of death - Why should I? With my hard constitution, and temperate mode of
living, and unperilous occupations, I ought to, and probably shall remain above
ground, till there is scarcely a black hair on my head - And yet I cannot
continue in this condition! - I have to remind myself to breathe - almost to
remind my heart to beat! And it is like bending back a stiff spring ... it is by
compulsion, that I do the slightest act, not prompted by one thought, and by
compulsion, that I notice anything alive, or dead, which is not associated with
one universal idea ... I have a single wish, and my whole being, and faculties
are yearning to attain it. They have yearned towards it so long, and so
unwaveringly, that I'm convinced it will be reached - and soon - because it has
devoured my existence - I am swallowed in the anticipation of its fulfilment.
    My confessions have not relieved me - but, they may account for some,
otherwise unaccountable phases of humour, which I show. O, God! It is a long
fight, I wish it were over!«
    He began to pace the room, muttering terrible things to himself; till I was
inclined to believe, as he said Joseph did, that conscience had turned his heart
to an earthly hell - I wondered greatly how it would end.
    Though he seldom before had revealed this state of mind, even by looks, it
was his habitual mood, I had no doubt: he asserted it himself - but, not a soul,
from his general bearing would have conjectured the fact. You did not, when you
saw him, Mr. Lockwood - and at the period of which I speak, he was just the same
as then, only fonder of continued solitude, and perhaps still more laconic in
company.
 

                                 Chapter XXXIV

For some days after that evening, Mr. Heathcliff shunned meeting us at meals;
yet he would not consent, formally, to exclude Hareton and Cathy. He had an
aversion to yielding so completely to his feelings, choosing, rather, to absent
himself - And eating once in twenty-four hours seemed sufficient sustenance for
him.
    One night, after the family were in bed, I heard him go down stairs, and out
at the front door: I did not hear him re-enter and, in the morning, I found he
was still away.
    We were in April then, the weather was sweet and warm, the grass as green as
showers and sun could make it, and the two dwarf apple trees, near the southern
wall, in full bloom.
    After breakfast, Catherine insisted on my bringing a chair, and sitting,
with my work, under the fir-trees, at the end of the house; and she beguiled
Hareton, who had perfectly recovered from his accident, to dig and arrange her
little garden, which was shifted to that corner by the influence of Joseph's
complaints.
    I was comfortably revelling in the spring fragrance around, and the
beautiful soft blue overhead, when my young lady, who had run down near the
gate, to procure some primrose roots for a border, returned only half laden, and
informed us that Mr. Heathcliff was coming in.
    »And he spoke to me,« she added with a perplexed countenance.
    »What did he say?« asked Hareton.
    »He told me to begone as fast as I could,« she answered. »But he looked so
different from his usual look that I stopped a moment to stare at him.«
    »How?« he inquired.
    »Why, almost bright and cheerful - No, almost nothing - very much excited,
and wild and glad!« she replied.
    »Night-walking amuses him, then,« I remarked, affecting a careless manner.
In reality, as surprised as she was; and, anxious to ascertain the truth of her
statement, for to see the master looking glad would not be an every day
spectacle, I framed an excuse to go in.
    Heathcliff stood at the open door; he was pale, and he trembled; yet,
certainly, he had a strange joyful glitter in his eyes, that altered the aspect
of his whole face.
    »Will you have some breakfast?« I said. »You must be hungry rambling about
all night!«
    I wanted to discover where he had been; but I did not like to ask directly.
    »No, I'm not hungry,« he answered, averting his head, and speaking rather
contemptuously, as if he guessed I was trying to divine the occasion of his good
humour.
    I felt perplexed - I didn't know whether it were not a proper opportunity to
offer a bit of admonition.
    »I don't think it right to wander out of doors,« I observed, »instead of
being in bed: it is not wise, at any rate, this moist season. I dare say you'll
catch a bad cold, or a fever - you have something the matter with you now!«
    »Nothing but what I can bear,« he replied, »and with the greatest pleasure,
provided you'll leave me alone - get in, and don't annoy me.«
    I obeyed; and, in passing, I noticed he breathed as fast as a cat.
    »Yes!« I reflected to myself, »we shall have a fit of illness. I cannot
conceive what he has been doing!«
    That noon, he sat down to dinner with us, and received a heaped up plate
from my hands, as if he intended to make amends for previous fasting.
    »I've neither cold, nor fever, Nelly,« he remarked, in allusion to my
morning's speech. »And I'm ready to do justice to the food you give me.«
    He took his knife and fork, and was going to commence eating, when the
inclination appeared to become suddenly extinct. He laid them on the table,
looked eagerly towards the window, then rose and went out.
    We saw him walking, to and fro, in the garden, while we concluded our meal;
and Earnshaw said he'd go, and ask why he would not dine; he thought we had
grieved him some way.
    »Well, is he coming?« cried Catherine, when her cousin returned.
    »Nay,« he answered; »but he's not angry; he seemed rare and pleased indeed;
only, I made him impatient by speaking to him twice; and then he bid me be off
to you; he wondered how I could want the company of any body else.«
    I set his plate, to keep warm, on the fender: and after an hour or two, he
re-entered, when the room was clear, in no degree calmer - the same unnatural -
it was unnatural - appearance of joy under his black brows; the same bloodless
hue: and his teeth visible, now and then, in a kind of smile; his frame
shivering, not as one shivers with chill or weakness, but as a tight-stretched
cord vibrates - a strong thrilling, rather than trembling.
    I will ask what is the matter, I thought, or who should? And I exclaimed -
    »Have you heard any good news, Mr. Heathcliff? You look uncommonly
animated.«
    »Where should good news come from, to me?« he said. »I'm animated with
hunger; and, seemingly, I must not eat.«
    »Your dinner is here,« I returned; »why wont you get it?«
    »I don't want it now,« he muttered, hastily. »I'll wait till supper. And,
Nelly, once for all, let me beg you to warn Hareton and the other away from me.
I wish to be troubled by nobody - I wish to have this place to myself.«
    »Is there some new reason for this banishment?« I inquired. »Tell me why you
are so queer, Mr. Heathcliff? Where were you last night? I'm not putting the
question through idle curiosity, but -«
    »You are putting the question through very idle curiosity,« he interrupted,
with a laugh. »Yet, I'll answer it. Last night, I was on the threshold of hell.
To-day, I am within sight of my heaven - I have my eyes on it - hardly three
feet to sever me! And now you'd better go - You'll neither see nor hear anything
to frighten you, if you refrain from prying.«
    Having swept the hearth, and wiped the table, I departed more perplexed than
ever.
    He did not quit the house again that afternoon, and no one intruded on his
solitude, till, at eight o'clock, I deemed it proper, though unsummoned, to
carry a candle, and his supper to him.
    He was leaning against the ledge of an open lattice, but not looking out;
his face was turned to the interior gloom. The fire had smouldered to ashes; the
room was filled with the damp, mild air of the cloudy evening, and so still,
that not only the murmur of the beck down Gimmerton was distinguishable, but its
ripples and its gurgling over the pebbles, or through the large stones which it
could not cover.
    I uttered an ejaculation of discontent at seeing the dismal grate, and
commenced shutting the casements, one after another, till I came to his.
    »Must I close this?« I asked, in order to rouse him, for he would not stir.
    The light flashed on his features, as I spoke. Oh, Mr. Lockwood, I cannot
express what a terrible start I got, by the momentary view! Those deep black
eyes! That smile, and ghastly paleness! It appeared to me, not Mr. Heathcliff,
but a goblin; and, in my terror, I let the candle bend towards the wall, and it
left me in darkness.
    »Yes, close it,« he replied, in his familiar voice. »There, that is pure
awkwardness! Why did you hold the candle horizontally? Be quick, and bring
another.«
    I hurried out in a foolish state of dread, and said to Joseph -
    »The master wishes you to take him a light, and rekindle the fire.« For I
dare not go in myself again just then.
    Joseph rattled some fire into the shovel, and went; but he brought it back,
immediately, with the supper tray in his other hand, explaining that Mr.
Heathcliff was going to bed, and he wanted nothing to eat till morning.
    We heard him mount the stairs directly; he did not proceed to his ordinary
chamber, but turned into that with the panelled bed - its window, as I mentioned
before, is wide enough for anybody to get through, and it struck me, that he
plotted another midnight excursion, which he had rather we had no suspicion of.
    »Is he a ghoul, or a vampire?« I mused. I had read of such hideous,
incarnate demons. And then, I set myself to reflect, how I had tended him in
infancy; and watched him grow to youth; and followed him almost through his
whole course; and what absurd nonsense it was to yield to that sense of horror.
    »But, where did he come from, the little dark thing, harboured by a good man
to his bane?« muttered superstition, as I dozed into unconsciousness. And I
began, half dreaming, to weary myself with imaging some fit parentage for him;
and repeating my waking meditations, I tracked his existence over again, with
grim variations; at last, picturing his death and funeral; of which, all I can
remember is, being exceedingly vexed at having the task of dictating an
inscription for his monument, and consulting the sexton about it; and, as he had
no surname, and we could not tell his age, we were obliged to content ourselves
with the single word, Heathcliff. That came true; we were. If you enter the
kirkyard, you'll read on his headstone, only that, and the date of his death.
    Dawn restored me to common sense. I rose, and went into the garden, as soon
as I could see, to ascertain if there were any footmarks under his window. There
were none.
    »He has stayed at home,« I thought, »and he'll be all right, to-day!«
    I prepared breakfast for the household, as was my usual custom, but told
Hareton, and Catherine to get theirs, ere the master came down, for he lay late.
They preferred taking it out of doors, under the trees, and I set a little table
to accommodate them.
    On my re-entrance, I found Mr. Heathcliff below. He and Joseph were
conversing about some farming business; he gave clear, minute directions
concerning the matter discussed, but he spoke rapidly, and turned his head
continually aside, and had the same excited expression, even more exaggerated.
    When Joseph quitted the room, he took his seat in the place he generally
chose, and I put a basin of coffee before him. He drew it nearer, and then
rested his arms on the table, and looked at the opposite wall, as I supposed,
surveying one particular portion, up and down, with glittering, restless eyes,
and with such eager interest, that he stopped breathing, during half a minute
together.
    »Come now,« I exclaimed, pushing some bread against his hand. »Eat and drink
that, while it is hot. It has been waiting near an hour.«
    He didn't notice me, and yet he smiled. I'd rather have seen him gnash his
teeth than smile so.
    »Mr. Heathcliff! master!« I cried. »Don't for God's sake, stare as if you
saw an unearthly vision.«
    »Don't, for God's sake, shout so loud,« he replied. »Turn round, and tell
me, are we by ourselves?«
    »Of course,« was my answer, »of course we are!«
    Still, I involuntarily obeyed him, as if I were not quite sure.
    With a sweep of his hand, he cleared a vacant space in front among the
breakfast things, and leant forward to gaze more at his ease.
    Now, I perceived he was not looking at the wall, for when I regarded him
alone, it seemed, exactly, that he gazed at something within two yards distance.
And, whatever it was, it communicated, apparently, both pleasure and pain, in
exquisite extremes, at least, the anguished, yet raptured expression of his
countenance suggested that idea.
    The fancied object was not fixed, either; his eyes pursued it with unwearied
diligence; and, even in speaking to me, were never weaned away.
    I vainly reminded him of his protracted abstinence from food; if he stirred
to touch anything in compliance with my entreaties, if he stretched his hand out
to get a piece of bread, his fingers clenched, before they reached it, and
remained on the table, forgetful of their aim.
    I sat a model of patience, trying to attract his absorbed attention from its
engrossing speculation; till he grew irritable, and got up, asking, why I would
not allow him to have his own time in taking his meals? and saying that, on the
next occasion, I needn't wait, I might set the things down, and go.
    Having uttered these words, he left the house; slowly sauntered down the
garden path, and disappeared through the gate.
    The hours crept anxiously by: another evening came. I did not retire to rest
till late, and when I did, I could not sleep. He returned after midnight, and,
instead of going to bed, shut himself into the room beneath. I listened, and
tossed about; and, finally, dressed, and descended. It was too irksome to lie up
there, harassing my brain with a hundred idle misgivings.
    I distinguished Mr. Heathcliff's step, restlessly measuring the floor; and
he frequently broke the silence, by a deep inspiration, resembling a groan. He
muttered detached words, also; the only one, I could catch, was the name of
Catherine, coupled with some wild term of endearment, or suffering; and spoken
as one would speak to a person present - low and earnest, and wrung from the
depth of his soul.
    I had not courage to walk straight into the apartment; but I desired to
divert him from his reverie, and, therefore, fell foul of the kitchen fire;
stirred it, and began to scrape the cinders. It drew him forth sooner than I
expected. He opened the door immediately, and said -
    »Nelly, come here - is it morning? Come in with your light.«
    »It is striking four,« I answered; »you want a candle to take up stairs -
you might have lit one at this fire.«
    »No, I don't wish to go up stairs,« he said. »Come in, and kindle me a fire,
and do anything there is to do about the room.«
    »I must blow the coals red first, before I can carry any,« I replied,
getting a chair and the bellows.
    He roamed to and fro, meantime, in a state approaching distraction: his
heavy sighs succeeding each other so thick as to leave no space for common
breathing between.
    »When day breaks, I'll send for Green,« he said; »I wish to make some legal
inquiries of him, while I can bestow a thought on those matters, and while I can
act calmly. I have not written my will yet, and how to leave my property, I
cannot determine! I wish I could annihilate it from the face of the earth.«
    »I would not talk so, Mr. Heathcliff,« I interposed. »Let your will be, a
while - you'll be spared to repent of your many injustices, yet! I never
expected that your nerves would be disordered - they are, at present,
marvellously so, however; and, almost entirely, through your own fault. The way
you've passed these three last days might knock up a Titan. Do take some food,
and some repose. You need only look at yourself, in a glass, to see how you
require both. Your cheeks are hollow, and your eyes blood-shot, like a person
starving with hunger, and going blind with loss of sleep.«
    »It is not my fault, that I cannot eat or rest,« he replied. »I assure you
it is through no settled designs. I'll do both, as soon as I possibly can. But
you might as well bid a man struggling in the water, rest within arms-length of
the shore! I must reach it first, and then I'll rest. Well, never mind Mr.
Green; as to repenting of my injustices, I've done no injustice, and I repent of
nothing - I'm too happy, and yet I'm not happy enough. My soul's bliss kills my
body, but does not satisfy itself.«
    »Happy, master?« I cried. »Strange happiness! If you would hear me without
being angry, I might offer some advice that would make you happier.«
    »What is that?« he asked. »Give it.«
    »You are aware, Mr. Heathcliff,« I said, »that from the time you were
thirteen years old, you have lived a selfish, unchristian life; and probably
hardly had a Bible in your hands, during all that period. You must have
forgotten the contents of the book, and you may not have space to search it now.
Could it be hurtful to send for some one - some minister of any denomination, it
does not matter which, to explain it, and show you how very far you have erred
from its precepts, and how unfit you will be for its heaven, unless a change
takes place before you die?«
    »I'm rather obliged than angry, Nelly,« he said, »for you remind me of the
manner that I desire to be buried in - It is to be carried to the churchyard, in
the evening. You, and Hareton may, if you please accompany me - and mind,
particularly, to notice that the sexton obeys my directions concerning the two
coffins! No minister need come; nor need anything be said over me - I tell you,
I have nearly attained my heaven; and that of others is altogether unvalued, and
uncoveted by me!«
    »And supposing you persevered in your obstinate fast, and died by that
means, and they refused to bury you in the precincts of the Kirk?« I said
shocked at his godless indifference. »How would you like it?«
    »They won't do that,« he replied, »if they did, you must have me removed
secretly; and if you neglect it, you shall prove, practically, that the dead are
not annihilated!«
    As soon as he heard the other members of the family stirring he retired to
his den, and I breathed freer - But in the afternoon, while Joseph and Hareton
were at their work, he came into the kitchen again, and with a wild look, bid me
come, and sit in the house - he wanted somebody with him.
    I declined, telling him plainly, that his strange talk and manner,
frightened me, and I had neither the nerve, nor the will to be his companion,
alone.
    »I believe you think me a fiend!« he said, with his dismal laugh, »something
too horrible to live under a decent roof.« Then turning to Catherine, who was
there, and who drew behind me at his approach, he added, half sneeringly.
    »Will you come, chuck? I'll not hurt you. No! to you, I've made myself worse
than the devil. Well, there is one who won't shrink from my company! By God!
she's relentless. Oh, damn it! It's unutterably too much for flesh and blood to
bear, even mine.«
    He solicited the society of no one more. At dusk, he went into his chamber -
through the whole night, and far into the morning, we heard him groaning, and
murmuring to himself. Hareton was anxious to enter, but I bid him fetch Mr.
Kenneth, and he should go in, and see him.
    When he came, and I requested admittance and tried to open the door, I found
it locked; and Heathcliff bid us be damned. He was better, and would be left
alone; so the doctor went away.
    The following evening was very wet, indeed it poured down, till day-dawn;
and, as I took my morning walk round the house, I observed the master's window
swinging open, and the rain driving straight in.
    »He cannot be in bed,« I thought, »those showers would drench him through!
He must either be up, or out. But, I'll make no more ado, I'll go boldly, and
look!«
    Having succeeded in gaining entrance with another key, I ran to unclose the
panels, for the chamber was vacant - quickly pushing them aside, I peeped in.
Mr. Heathcliff was there - laid on his back. His eyes met mine so keen, and
fierce, I started; and then, he seemed to smile.
    I could not think him dead - but his face, and throat were washed with rain;
the bed-clothes dripped, and he was perfectly still. The lattice, flapping to
and fro, had grazed one hand that rested on the sill - no blood trickled from
the broken skin, and when I put my fingers to it, I could doubt no more - he was
dead and stark!
    I hasped the window; I combed his black long hair from his forehead; I tried
to close his eyes - to extinguish, if possible, that frightful, life-like gaze
of exultation, before anyone else beheld it. They would not shut - they seemed
to sneer at my attempts, and his parted lips, and sharp, white teeth sneered
too! Taken with another fit of cowardice, I cried out for Joseph. Joseph
shuffled up, and made a noise, but resolutely refused to meddle with him.
    »Th' divil's harried off his soul,« he cried, »and he muh have his carcass
intuh t' bargin, for ow't Aw care! Ech! what a wicked un he looks girnning at
death!« and the old sinner grinned in mockery.
    I thought he intended to cut a caper round the bed; but suddenly composing
himself, he fell on his knees, and raised his hands, and returned thanks that
the lawful master and the ancient stock were restored to their rights.
    I felt stunned by the awful event; and my memory unavoidably recurred to
former times with a sort of oppressive sadness. But poor Hareton the most
wronged, was the only one that really suffered much. He sat by the corpse all
night, weeping in bitter earnest. He pressed its hand, and kissed the sarcastic,
savage face that everyone else shrank from contemplating; and bemoaned him with
that strong grief which springs naturally from a generous heart, though it be
tough as tempered steel.
    Kenneth was perplexed to pronounce of what disorder the master died. I
concealed the fact of his having swallowed nothing for four days, fearing it
might lead to trouble, and then, I am persuaded he did not abstain on purpose;
it was the consequence of his strange illness, not the cause.
    We buried him, to the scandal of the whole neighbourhood, as he had wished.
Earnshaw, and I, the sexton and six men to carry the coffin, comprehended the
whole attendance.
    The six men departed when they had let it down into the grave: we stayed to
see it covered. Hareton, with a streaming face, dug green sods, and laid them
over the brown mould himself, at present it is as smooth and verdant as its
companion mounds - and I hope its tenant sleeps as soundly. But the country
folks, if you asked them, would swear on their bible that he walks. There are
those who speak to having met him near the church, and on the moor, and even
within this house - Idle tales, you'll say, and so say I. Yet that old man by
the kitchen fire affirms he has seen two on 'em looking out of his chamber
window, on every rainy night, since his death - and an odd thing happened to me
about a month ago.
    I was going to the Grange one evening - a dark evening threatening thunder -
and, just at the turn of the Heights, I encountered a little boy with a sheep,
and two lambs before him, he was crying terribly, and I supposed the lambs were
skittish, and would not be guided.
    »What is the matter, my little man?« I asked.
    »They's Heathcliff, and a woman, yonder, under t' Nab,« he blubbered, »un'
Aw darnut pass 'em.«
    I saw nothing; but neither the sheep nor he would go on, so I bid him take
the road lower down.
    He probably raised the phantoms from thinking, as he traversed the moors
alone, on the nonsense he had heard his parents and companions repeat - yet
still, I don't like being out in the dark, now - and I don't like being left by
myself in this grim house - I cannot help it, I shall be glad when they leave
it, and shift to the Grange!
    »They are going to the Grange then?« I said.
    »Yes,« answered Mrs. Dean, »as soon as they are married; and that will be on
New Year's day.«
    »And who will live here then?«
    »Why, Joseph will take care of the house, and, perhaps, a lad to keep him
company. They will live in the kitchen, and the rest will be shut up.«
    »For the use of such ghosts as choose to inhabit it,« I observed.
    »No, Mr. Lockwood,« said Nelly, shaking her head. »I believe the dead are at
peace, but it is not right to speak of them with levity.«
    At that moment the garden gate swung to; the ramblers were returning.
    »They are afraid of nothing,« I grumbled, watching their approach through
the window. »Together they would brave satan and all his legions.«
    As they stepped onto the door-stones, and halted to take a last look at the
moon, or, more correctly, at each other, by her light, I felt irresistibly
impelled to escape them again; and, pressing a remembrance into the hand of Mrs.
Dean, and disregarding her expostulations at my rudeness, I vanished through the
kitchen, as they opened the house-door, and so, should have confirmed Joseph in
his opinion on his fellow-servant's gay indiscretions, had he not, fortunately,
recognized me for a respectable character, by the sweet ring of a sovereign at
his feet.
    My walk home was lengthened by a diversion in the direction of the kirk.
When beneath its walls, I perceived decay had made progress, even in seven
months - many a window showed black gaps deprived of glass; and slates jutted
off, here and there, beyond the right line of the roof, to be gradually worked
off in coming autumn storms.
    I sought, and soon discovered, the three head-stones on the slope next the
moor - the middle one, grey, and half buried in heath - Edgar Linton's only
harmonized by the turf and moss, creeping up its foot - Heathcliff's still bare.
    I lingered round them, under that benign sky; watched the moths fluttering
among the heath, and hare-bells; listened to the soft wind breathing through the
grass; and wondered how anyone could ever imagine unquiet slumbers, for the
sleepers in that quiet earth.
