1 
 
CL&tr- 
 
 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 % Noocl. 
 
 BY 
 
 THE AUTHOR OF "JANE EYRE." 
 
 NEW YORK: 
 
 HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, 
 82 CLIFF STREET. 
 
 184 8. 
 

 WUTHEKING HEIGHTS. 
 
 . CHAPTER I. 
 
 1801. — I have just returned from a visit to my landlord — the 
 solitary neighbor that I shall be troubled with. This is cer- 
 tainly 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 toward 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 reso- 
 lution, 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 
 honor of calling as soon as possible after my arrival, to express 
 the hope that I have not inconvenienced you by my perse- 
 verance 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 leaned 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 ex- 
 aggeratedly reserved than myself. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 soliloquized 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, descrip- 
 tive 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 hedge, 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 de- 
 parture, and I had no desire to aggravate his impatience pre- 
 vious to inspecting the penetralium. 
 
 One step brought us into the family sitting-room without any 
 introductory lobby or passage : they call it hei'e " the house" 
 pre-eminently. It includes kitchen and parlor generally; but I 
 believe at Wuthering Heights, the kitchen is forced to retreat 
 altogether into another quarter ; at least I distinguished a chat- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 ter of tongues and a clatter of culinary utensils deep within j 
 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 in- 
 quiring 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-colored bitch pointer, surrounded by a swarm of squeal- 
 ing puppies ; and other dogs haunted other recesses. 
 
 The apartment and furniture would have been nothing ex- 
 trordinary 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 neg-ligfence, because he has an erect and handsome 
 figure ; and rather morose, possibly 6ome 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 im- 
 pertinence 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 liever 
 
6 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 have a comfortable home, and only last summer I proved my- 
 self 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 repu- 
 tation of deliberate heartlessness, how undeserved, I alone can 
 appreciate. 
 
 I took a seat at the end of the hearthstone opposite that 
 toward 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 snarl. 
 
 " 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-a-vis with the ruffianly bitch and a pair of 
 grim, shaggy sheep-dogs, who shared with her a jealous guard- 
 ianship 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-doz 'i four 
 footed fiends, of various sizes, and ages, issued fro? nidde? 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 dens to the common center. I felt my heels and coat laps 
 peculiar subjects of assault ; and, parrying off the larger com- 
 batants, as effectually as I could, with the poker, I was con- 
 strained to demand aloud assistance from some of the house- 
 hold, 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 frying-pan, 
 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 V he asked, eyeing me in 
 a manner that I could ill endure after this inhospitable treat- 
 ment. 
 
 " What the devil, indeed !" I muttered. " The herd of pos- 
 sessed 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 dis- 
 placed table. " The dogs do right to be vigilant. Take a glass 
 of wine V 
 
 " No, thank you." 
 
 " Not bitten, are you V\ 
 
 " 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 misbehavior 
 of a pack of curs ; besides, I felt loth to yield the fellow 
 further amusement at my expense, since his humor took that 
 turn. 
 
 He — probably swayed by prudential considerations of the 
 folly of offending a good tenant — relaxed a little in the laconic 
 
W U THER1NG HEIGHTS. 
 
 style of chipping of his pronouns and auxiliary verbs ; and in- 
 troduced, 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 my- 
 self 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 HeathcliiF'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 flag- 
 ged 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 inhospi- 
 tably. 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 ghook it vehemently. Vine- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 gar-faced Joseph projected his head from a round window of 
 the barn. 
 
 " Whet are ye for ]" he shouted. " T" maister's dahn i' 
 t'fowld. G-oa rahnd by th' end ut' laith, if yah went tuh spake 
 tullbim." 
 
 " Is there nobody inside to open the door V* I hallooed, 
 responsively. 
 
 " They's nobbut t' missis, and shoo'll nut oppen't an ye mak 
 yer flaysome dins till neeght." 
 
 " Why, can not 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 shoul- 
 dering a pitchfork, appeared in the yard behind. He bailed me 
 to follow him, and, after marching through a wash-house, 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 mo- 
 tionless and mute. 
 
 " Rough weather !" I remarked. " I'm afraid, Mrs. Heath- 
 cliff, 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 man- 
 ner, 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 in- 
 tend parting with the little ones, madam I" 
 
 " They are not mine," said the amiable hostess, more repel- 
 lingly than Heathcliff himself could have replied. 
 
 A* 
 
10 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " Ah, your favorites are among these !" I continued, turning 
 to an obscure cushion full of something like cats. 
 
 " A strange choice of favorites," 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 reach- 
 ing 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 ring- 
 lets, 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 1" 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 V 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 on to 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 11 
 
 encroached bearishly over his cheeks, and his hands were 
 embrowned like those of a common laborer; 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 afterward, the entrance of Heathcliff relieved me, in 
 some measure, from my uncomfortable state. 
 
 " You see, sir, I am come, according to promise !" I ex- 
 claimed, assuming the cheerful, " and I fear I shall be weather- 
 bound for half an hour, if you can afford me shelter during that 
 6pace." 
 
 " Half an hour V 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 V- 
 
 " No, I could not." 
 
 " Oh, indeed ! Well then, I must trust to my own sagacity." 
 
 "Umph." 
 
 " Are you going to mak th* tea V demanded he of the 
 shabby coat, shifting his ferocious gaze from me to the young 
 lady. 
 
 " Is he to have any V she asked, appealing to Heathcliff. 
 
 " Get it ready, will you V 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, in- 
 cluding 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 
 
12 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 can mold 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 dia- 
 bolical 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 V 9 
 
 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 vigor 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 
 neighbor struck me as bordering on repulsive. I knew, through 
 experience, that I was tolerably attractive. 
 
 " Mrs. Heathcliff is my daughter-in-law," said Heathcliff, cor- 
 roborating 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, in- 
 terpret the language of his soul. 
 
 " Ah, certainly — I see now ; you are the favored possessor of 
 the beneficent fairy," I remarked, turning to my neighbor. 
 
 This was worse than before; the youth grew crimson, and 
 clenched his fist with every appearance of meditated assault. 
 But he seemed to recollect himself, presently ; and smothered 
 the storm in a brutal curse, muttered on my behalf, which, how- 
 ever, 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 ; 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 13 
 
 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 Eamshaw," growled the other; " and 
 I'd counsel you to respect it !" 
 
 "I've shown no disrespect," was my reply, laughing inter- 
 nally 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 ren- 
 der my hilarity audible. I began to feel unmistakably out of 
 place in that pleasant family circle. The dismal spiritual atmo- 
 sphere overcame, and more than neutralized, the glowing phys- 
 ical 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 ex- 
 amine the weather. 
 
 A sorrowful sight I saw; dark night coming down prema- 
 turely, 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 bur- 
 ied 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 burn- 
 ing 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 tuh stand thear i' idle- 
 ness un war, when all on 'em's goan aght ! Bud yah're a nowt, 
 and it's noa use talking — yah'll niver mend uh yer ill ways; bud 
 goa raight tuh t' divil, like yer mother afore ye !" 
 
14 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 I imagined, for a moment, that this piece of eloquence was 
 addressed to me ; and, sufficiently enraged, stepped toward 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 favor. Stop, look here Jo- 
 seph," 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 modeled 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 endeavored 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 can not help being good-hearted. Do point out some land- 
 marks 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 her- 
 self 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 V 
 
 " How so 1 I can not escort you. They would'nt 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 15 
 
 tell me my way, not to show it ; or else to persuade Mr. Heath- 
 cliff to give me a guide." 
 
 " Who 1 There is himself, Earnshaw, Zillah, Joseph, and I. 
 Which would you have V 
 
 " Are there no boys at the farm V 
 
 M No, those are all." 
 
 " Then it follows that I am compelled to stay." 
 
 V 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 accom- 
 modations 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, run- 
 ning 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 behavior among 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 what- 
 ever 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, 
 toward whom I had been steering. 
 
 He sat within earshot, milking the cows by the aid of a lan- 
 tern, which I seized unceremoniously, and calling out that I 
 would send it back on the morrow, rushed to the nearest 
 postern. 
 
16 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " Maister, maister, he's staling t' lantern I" shouted the an- 
 cient, pursuing my retreat. " Hey, Guasher ! 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 miscre- 
 ants to let me out — on their peril to keep me one minute longer 
 — with several incoherent threats of retaliation, that, in their in- 
 definite depth of virulence, smacked of King Lear. 
 
 The vehemence of my agitation brought on a copious bleed- 
 ing 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. Heath- 
 cliff followed, his accidental merriment expiring quickly in his 
 habitual moroseness. 
 
 I was sick exceedingly, and dizzy and faint ; and thus com- 
 pelled, 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 predica- 
 ment, 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 any body lodge there willingly. 
 
 I asked the reason. 
 
 She did not know, she answered ; she had lived there only 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 per- 
 ceived it to be a singular sort of old-fashioned couch, very con- 
 veniently designed to obviate the necessity for every member 
 of the family having a room to himself. In fact, it formed a lit- 
 tle closet ; and the ledge of a window, which it inclosed, served 
 as a table. 
 
 I slid back the panneled sides, got in with my light, pulled 
 them together again, and felt secure against the vigilance of 
 Heath cliff 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 Heath- 
 cliff, and then again to Catherine Linton. 
 
 In vapid listlessness I leaned my head against the window, 
 and continued spelling over Catherine Earnshaw — Heathcliff — 
 Linton, till my eyes closed ; but they had not rested five min- 
 utes when a glare of white letters started from the dark, as 
 vivid as specters — the air swarmed with Catherines; and, rous- 
 ing myself to dispel the obtrusive name, I discovered my candle- 
 wick reclining on one of the antique volumes, and perfuming the 
 place with an odor 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 
 
18 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 exam- 
 ined all. Catherine's library was select, and its state of dilapi- 
 dation 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, cover- 
 ing 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 decipher her faded hiero- 
 glyphics. 
 
 " An awful Sunday !" commenced the paragraph beneath. 
 " I wish my father were back again. Hindley is a detestable 
 substitute — his conduct to Heathcliffis 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 gar- 
 ret ; and, while Hindley and his wife basked down stairs before 
 a comfortable fire, doing any thing but reading their Bibles, I'll 
 answer for it, Heathcliff, myself, and the unhappy plow-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 ex- 
 claim, 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 per- 
 fect sobriety and silence. Oh, boy ! was that you ? Frances, 
 darling, pull his hair as you go by : I heard him snap his fin- 
 gers.' 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 19 
 
 " 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 handiwork, boxes 
 my ears, and croaks, 
 
 " J T' maister 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 eneugh 
 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, coom 
 hither ! Miss Cathy's riven th' back off Th' Helmet uh Salva- 
 tion, un' Heathcliff 's pawsedhis 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 com- 
 forted, we each sought a separate nook to await his advent. 
 
 " I reached this book and a pot of ink from the 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 shel- 
 ter. A pleasant suggestion — and then, if the surly old man come 
 in, he may believe his prophecy verified — we can not be damper 
 
 or colder in the rain than we are here." 
 
 ####### 
 
20 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 can not keep it on 
 the pillow ; and still I can't give over. Poor Heathcliff ! Hind- 
 ley 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 treat- 
 ing H. too liberally, and swears he will reduce him to his right 
 place — " 
 
 #. # # # # 
 
 I began to nod drowsily over the dim page ; my eye wan- 
 dered 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 Brander- 
 ham 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 1 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 un- 
 derstood to be so denominated. 
 
 For a moment I consider 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 ele- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 21 
 
 vated hollow near a swamp, whose peaty moisture is said to 
 answer all the purposes of embalming on the few corpses de- 
 posited 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 can not 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 trangressions 
 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 
 Brand erham 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. Fel- 
 low 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 honor 
 have all His saints !" 
 
22 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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-defense 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 neighbor ; 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 1 
 what had played Jabes' part in the row 1 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 dozed, and dreamed 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 endeavored 
 to unhasp the casement. The hook was soldered into the 
 staple, a circumstance observed by me, when awake, but for- 
 gotten. 
 
 " 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 melan- 
 choly voice sobbed — 
 
 " Let me in — let me in !" 
 
 " Who are you V 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 23 
 
 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, hur- 
 riedly 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 moan- 
 ing 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 Heath- 
 cliff'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 trowsers ; 
 with a candle dripping over his fingers, aud 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 dis- 
 tance of some feet, and hig 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 
 
24 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 sub- 
 due 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 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 haunt- 
 ed, 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 doze in such a den !" 
 
 " What do you mean V-] asked Heathcliff, " and what are you 
 doing 1 ? 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 en- 
 dure 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 how- 
 ever 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 offense, 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" — 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 25 
 
 " What can you mean, by talking in this way to me /" thun- 
 dered 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 toilet rather noisily, looked at my watch, and soliloquized 
 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 repeti- 
 tion 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, involun- 
 tarily, to a piece of superstition on the part of my landlord, which 
 belied, oddly, his apparent sense. 
 
 He got upon the bed, and wrenched open the lattice, burst- 
 
 B 
 
26 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 ing, 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 specter showed a specter'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 hav- 
 ing 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 re-kindle my candle. 
 
 Nothing was stirring except a brindled gray cat, which crept 
 from the ashes and saluted me with a querulous mew. 
 
 Two benches, shaped in sections of a circle, nearly inclosed 
 the hearth ; on one of these T 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 be 
 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 27 
 
 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 colos- 
 sal 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 for- 
 wardly into her face. 
 
 I was surprised to see Heathcliff there also. He stood by the 
 lire, his back toward me, just finishing a stormy scene to poor 
 Zillah, who ever and anon interrupted her labor 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, dam- 
 nable jade]" 
 
 " I'll put my trash away, because you can make me if I re- 
 fuse," answered the young lady, closing her book, and throwing 
 it on a chair. " But I'll not do any thing, 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 hostili- 
 ties ; Heathcliff placed his fists out of temptation, in his pock- 
 ets : 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, 
 
28 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 en- 
 trance of Thrushcross park, saying I could make no error there. 
 Our adieus were limited to a hasty bow, and then I pushed for- 
 ward, trusting to my own resources, for the porter's lodge is un- 
 tenanted 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 predic- 
 ament 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 ; 
 every body 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 a considerable time to and 
 fro 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 smo- 
 king coffee which the servant has prepared for my refreshment. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 What vain weathercocks 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 com- 
 pelled to strike my colors ; and, under pretense of gaining infor- 
 mation 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 V 
 
 "Eighteen, sir; I came when the mistress was married, to 
 wait on her; after she died the master retained me for his 
 housekeeper." 
 
 "Indeed." 
 
 There ensued a pause. She was not a gossip, I feared, un- 
 less about her own affairs, and these 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 \ n 
 
 " 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. recognize 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 V 9 
 I inquired. 
 
 " Rich sir !" she returned. " He has nobody knows what 
 
SO WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 j" 
 
 "Yes, he had one — he is dead." 
 
 M And that young lady, Mrs. Heathcliff, is his widow !" 
 
 "Yes." 
 
 " Where did she come from originally ]" 
 
 h Why, sir, she is my late master's daughter; Catherine Lin- 
 ton 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 Cath- 
 erine. " Then," I continued, " my predecessor's name was 
 Linton r 
 
 " 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 
 Mi;. Linton's sister." 
 
 "1 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 hand- 
 some ; yet, I think, not very happy." 
 
 "Oh dear, I don't wonder!" And how did you like the 
 master j" 
 
 " A rough fellow, rather, Mrs. Dean. Is not that his char- 
 acter]" 
 
 " Rough as a saw-edge, and hard as whinstone ! The less 
 you meddle with him the better." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 31 
 
 " He must have had some ups and downs in life to make him 
 such a churl. Do you know any thing of his history I" 
 
 " 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 dun- 
 nock — 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 neighbors. — 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 companion- 
 able. 
 
 Before I came to live here, — she commenced, waiting no 
 further invitation to her story, — I was almost always at Wu- 
 thering 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 any thing that any body 
 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 
 
32 WITHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 lo us all, the three days of his ab- 
 sence, 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 hour off 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 stept 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 any thing 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 Catharine's — 
 yet, when it was set on its feet, it only stared round, and re- 
 peated 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, asked how he could 
 fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house, when they had 
 their own bairns to feed and fend for 1 "What he meant to do 
 with it, and whether he were mad 1 
 
 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 his 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 33 
 
 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 learned the master had 
 lost her whip in attending on the stranger, showed her humor 
 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 " Heath- 
 cliff." 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 was'nt 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 acci- 
 dent, and nobody was to blame. 
 
 This endurance made old Earnshaw furious when he dis- 
 covered 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 mis- 
 chievous and wayward for a favorite. 
 
34 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 learned 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. 
 
 1 sympathized 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 dan- 
 gerously 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 had'nt wit enough to guess that I was com- 
 pelled 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 toward the being by whose 
 means I earned them, and thus Hindley lost his last ally ; still I 
 could'nt 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 had better do it at once," he persisted, escaping to the 
 porch (they were in the stable), " you will have to, and if I 
 Bpeak 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 35 
 
 " 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 tarn 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, in- 
 timating 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 afterward 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 surprized 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 favorite ; 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 Heath- 
 cliff, 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 humored his partiality ; and 
 that humoring was rich nourishment to the child's pride and 
 black temper. Still it became in a manner necessary ; twice, 
 or thrice, Hindley's manifestations 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 farm- 
 ing 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 naught, 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 weari- 
 somest self-righteous Pharisee that ever ransacked a Bible to 
 rake the promises to himself, and fling the curses on his neigh- 
 bors. By his knack of sermonizing and pious discoursing, 
 he contrived to make \ great impression on Mr. Earnshaw; 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 37 
 
 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 regu 
 larly 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 would'nt be in mischief. Her spirits were always at high- 
 water mark, her tongue always going — singing, laughing, and 
 plaguing every body who would not do the same. A wild, 
 wicked 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 earn- 
 est, 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 pun- 
 ishment we could invent for her was to keep her separate 
 from him ; yet, she got chided more than any of us on his ac- 
 count. 
 
 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 chil- 
 dren : he had always been strict and grave with them ; and 
 Catharine, 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 any thing, and his only when 
 it suited his own inclination. 
 
38 WUTHEEING HEIGHTS, 
 
 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 can not 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 con- 
 tinually 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 trou- 
 bles 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 leaned 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 V 
 
 And she turned her face up to his, and laughed, and answered, 
 
 " Why can not 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 chap- 
 ter, 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 39 
 
 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. Howevever, 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 neighbors gossiping right and left — he 
 brought a wife with him. 
 
 What she was, and where she was born, he never inform- 
 ed us ; probably she had neither money nor name to recom- 
 mend 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 cir- 
 cumstance 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 behavior 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 
 
40 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 she sat shivering and clasping her hands, and asking repeat- 
 edly— 
 
 " Are they gone yet V* 
 
 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 trou- 
 blesomely sometimes ; but I knew nothing of what these symp- 
 toms 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 
 o£-his absence. He had grown sparer, and lost his color, 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 parlor ; but his wife expressed such pleasure at the 
 white floor and huge glowing fireplace, 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 un- 
 necessary 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 pres- 
 ents, 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 labor 
 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 learned, 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 
 
WUT BERING HEIGHTS. 41 
 
 behaved, and what they did, so they kept clear of him. He 
 would not even have seen after their going to church on Sun- 
 days, 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 every thing the minute they were together again, at 
 least the minute they had contrived some naughty plan of re- 
 venge ; and many a time I've cried to myself to watch them 
 growing more reckless daily, and I not daring to speak a sylla- 
 ble, 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 offense of 
 the kind, and when I went to call them to supper, I could dis- 
 cover 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 acci- 
 dent, 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 wo Id led 
 you wandering to Thrushcross Grange]" 
 
42 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " Let me get off my wet clothes, arid I'll tell you all about 
 it, Nelly," he replied. 
 
 I bid him beware of rousing the master, and while he un^ 
 dressed, 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 win- 
 dow. 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 center, and shim* 
 mering 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 1 ? We should have thought 
 ourselves in heaven ! And now, guess what your good children 
 were doing 1 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, 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHT?. 43 
 
 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 1 or find us by ourselves, seeking 
 entertainment in yelling, and sobbing, and rolling on the ground, 
 divided by the whole room 1 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 Hind- 
 ley's blood !" 
 
 "Hush, hush !" I interrupted. " Still you have not told me, 
 Heathcliff, how Catherine is left behind f' 
 
 " 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 ancle, Nelly; I heard his abom- 
 inable 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 anni- 
 hilate 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 pendent lips stream- 
 ing 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, grum- 
 bling execrations and vengeance. 
 
 " ' What prey, Robert 1 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 
 
44 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 magis 
 trate in his strong-hold, and on the Sabbath, too! where will 
 their insolence stop 1 ? 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 V 
 
 " 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 ex- 
 actly 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 recognize 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 Earn- 
 shaw 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 acqui- 
 sition my late neighbor 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 45 
 
 my hand, assured me that Mr. Earnshaw should be informed 
 of my behavior, and biding me march directly, secured the door 
 again. 
 
 11 The curtains were still looped up at one corner ; and I re- 
 sumed 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 gray 
 cloak of the dairy maid which we had borrowed for our excur- 
 sion — 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. Afterward, 
 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 every body on earth ; is she not, Nelly V 
 
 " 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 mas- 
 ter 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 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 Christ- 
 mas. 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 t,o squeeze us all breath- 
 less, 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 V 
 
 " 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 and Christmas 
 cake, and it would not have done to give me a hug ; and, then, 
 she looked round for Heathcliff. Mr. and Mrs. Ea.rnshaw 
 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 care- 
 less 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, 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 47 
 
 in mire and dust, and his thick uncombed hair, the surface cf 
 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 V\ 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 en- 
 joying 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 T' 
 
 She had some reason to put the question, for shame and 
 pride threw double gloom over his countenance, and kept him 
 immovable. 
 
 " Shake hands, Heathcliff," said Mr. Earnshaw, condescend- 
 ingly ; " 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 1 ? 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 em- 
 bellishment 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 disturb- 
 
48 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 ance of Catherine, who could not comprehend how her re- 
 marks should have produced such an exhibition of bad tem- 
 per. 
 
 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 Miss's attention by sundry 
 gay trifles bought for her to present to the little Lintons, as an 
 acknowledgment 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 smelled 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 re- 
 membered 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 neg- 
 lect 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 endeavoring 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, accord- 
 ing to custom. 
 
 " Make haste, Heathcliff," I said, " the kitchen is so comfort- 
 able, and Joseph is up-stairs. Make haste, and let me dress you 
 smart before Miss Cathy comes out, and then you can sit to- 
 gether, with the whole hearth to yourselves, and have a long 
 chatter till bed-time." 
 
WUTHE RING HEIGHTS. 49 
 
 He proceeded with his task, and never turned his head to- 
 ward me. 
 
 *' Qome — are you coming V 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, then 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 re- 
 mained 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 holyday, car- 
 ried his ill-humor into the moors, not reappearing 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 Cathe- 
 rine ; 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. M Proud people breed sad sor- 
 rows 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 
 6hall 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 
 
 C 
 
50 WUTIIERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 across the shoulders : you could knock him down in a twinkling 
 — don't you feel that you could V 
 
 Heathcliff's face biightened a moment, then it was overcast 
 afresh, and he sighed. 
 
 u 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 trem- 
 bled 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 con- 
 fident, 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 con- 
 tinued, "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 1 I'll tell you, I do. 
 You're fit for a prince in disguise. Who know 7 s 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 kid- 
 napped 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 chatted 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. 
 
WUTHER1NG HEIGHTS. 51 
 
 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 dis- 
 mount 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 
 color into their white faces. 
 
 I urged my companion to hasten now, and show his amiable 
 humor, 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 sud- 
 den 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 noth- 
 ing, not he — and, I suppose, he must have his share of the dain- 
 ties 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 vaga- 
 bond ! What ! you are attempting the coxcomb, are you 1 
 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 
 Heathcliffs violent nature was not prepared to endure the ap- 
 pearance of impertinence from one whom he seemed to hate, 
 even then, as a rival. He seized a tureen of hot apple-sauce, 
 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 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 dishcloth, and, rather spitefully, scrubbed 
 Edgar's nose and mouth, affirming it served him right for med- 
 dling. His sister began weeping to go home, and Cathy stood 
 by confounded, blushing for all. 
 
52 WUTHEB I N6 HEIGHTS. 
 
 " You should not have spoken to him !" she expostulated 
 with Master Linton. "He was in a bad temper, and now 
 you've spoiled your visit, and he'll be flogged — I hate him to be 
 flogged 1 I can't eat my dinner. Why did you speak to him, 
 Edgar]" 
 
 " I didn't," sobbed the youth, escaping from my hands, and 
 finished 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 any body hurt 
 youV 
 
 " 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 the 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 in- 
 different 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 imag- 
 ined 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 weary- 
 ing to find an opportunity of getting by herself, or paying a visit 
 to Heathcliff, who had been locked up by the master, as I dis- 
 covered on endeavoring 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 en- 
 treaties were vain, and I was appointed to supply the defi- 
 ciency. 
 
 We got rid of all gloom in the excitement of the exercise, and 
 
WUTHERIN-O HEIGHTS. 53 
 
 our pleasure was increased by the arrival of the Gimmerton 
 band, mustering fifteen strong ; a trumpet, a trombone, clarion- 
 nets, bassoons, French horns, and a bass viol, besides singers. 
 They go th^ 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 song3 
 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 stair's 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 refresh- 
 ment : 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 in- 
 sisted that I should take him into the kitchen, as my fellow-ser- 
 vant had gone to a neighbor'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 leaned 
 his two elbows on his knees, and his chin on his hands, and re- 
 mained wrapt in dumb meditation. On my inquiring the sub- 
 ject 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." 
 
54 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " No, God won't have the satisfaction that I shall," he re- 
 turned. " 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 can not 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,-afl that you need hear, in half-a- 
 dozen words. — 
 
 Thus interrupting herself, the housekeeper rose, and pro- 
 ceeded 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 light to tell the story leisurely. That is the 
 method I like ; and you must finish in the same style. I am in- 
 terested 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 prog- 
 nosticate 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 1 ?" 
 
 "A terrible lazy mood, I should say." 
 
 " On the contrary, a tiresomely active one. It is mine at 
 present, and therefore continue minutely. I perceive that peo- 
 ple 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 en- 
 tirely owing to the situation of the looker-on. They do live 
 more in earnest, more in themselves, and less in surface change ; 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 55 
 
 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 appe- 
 tite, and do it justice — the other, introducing him to a table laid 
 out by French cooks; he can perhaps extract as much enjoy- 
 ment from the whole ; but each part is a mere atom in his regard 
 and remembrance." 
 
 " Oh ! here we are the same as any where 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 pro- 
 vincialisms 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 cul- 
 tivate your reflective faculties, for want of occasions for fritter- 
 ing 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. Lock wood. You could not open a book in this li- 
 brary 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 1 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 nurs- 
 ling, 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 1 ?" I asked, flinging down my rake, and 
 tying my bonnet. 
 
 " I guess she is ; yet she looks bravely," replied the girl, 
 H 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 for- 
 ward, and, says he, 'Earnshaw, it's a blessing your wife has 
 been spared to leave you this son. When she came, I felt con- 
 vinced 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 V I inquired. 
 
 "I think he swore — but I didn't mind him, I was straining 
 to see the bairn," and she began again to describe it raptur- 
 ously. 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 57 
 
 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 up-stairs 1 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 
 
5$ WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 not the heart to leave my charge ; and besides, you know I had 
 been his foster-sister, and excused his behavior more readily 
 than a stranger would. 
 
 Joseph remained to hector over tenants and laborers ; and 
 because it was his vocation to be where he had plenty of wick- 
 edness to reprove. 
 
 The master's bad ways and bad companions formed a pretty 
 example for Catherine and Heath cliff. His treatment of the 
 latter was enough to make a fiend of a saint. And truly it ap- 
 peared as if the lad were possessed of something diabolical at 
 that period. He delighted to witness Hindley degrading him- 
 self 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 excep- 
 tion. 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 supe- 
 riority, found it difficult to make an equally deep impression. 
 
 He was my late master ; that is his portrait over the fireplace. 
 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 grace- 
 ful. I did not marvel how Catherine Earnshaw could forget 
 her first friend for such an individual. I marveled much how 
 he, with a mind to correspond to 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 ani- 
 mated; that is his every-day countenance; he wanted spirit 
 in general. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 59 
 
 Catherine had kept up her acquaintance with the Lintons since 
 her five weeks' residence, among them ; and as she had no temp- 
 tation 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 ingenuous 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 any one. 
 
 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 practice 
 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 shrunk from encountering him ; and yet he was always re- 
 ceived 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 appear- 
 ance 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 con- 
 tempt 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 rne. 
 There was not a soul else that she might fashion into an adviser. 
 
 Mr. Hindley had gone from home one afternoon, and Heath- 
 cliff 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. 
 
60 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 child- 
 hood's sense of superiority, instilled into him by the favors 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 be- 
 neath his former level. Then personal appearance sympathized 
 with mental deterioration ; he acquired a slouching gait and ig- 
 noble 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 sea- 
 sons of respite from labor; 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 grat- 
 ification 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 re- 
 ceive him. 
 
 " Cathy, are you busy this afternoon V asked Heathcliff. 
 " Are you going any where |" 
 
 " No- — it is raining," she answered. 
 
 " Why have you that silk frock on, then V 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." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 61 
 
 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 1 ?" 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 almanac, 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 1 ?" 
 
 " Yes — very foolish ; as if I took notice !" replied Catherine 
 in a peevish tone. " And where is the sense of that 1 " 
 
 " 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 any thing you 
 say to amuse me, or for any thing you do either 1 " 
 
 " 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 had not 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 
 
62 WUT BERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 were as opposite as his aspect. He had a sweet, low manner 
 of speaking, and pronounced his words as you do, that is, less 
 gruff than we talk here, and softer. 
 
 " I'm not come too soon, am I V 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 your- 
 self 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 have 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 did'nt 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, irresist- 
 ibly 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 63 
 
 shocked at the double fault of falsehood and violence which his 
 idol bad committed. 
 
 " Leave the room, Ellen !" she repeated, trembling all over. 
 
 Little Hareton, who followed me every where, 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 upon his unlucky head : 
 she seized his shoulders, and shook him till the poor child 
 waxed livid, and Edgar thoughtlessly laid hold of her hands 
 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 be- 
 gone ! 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 T' asked Linton. 
 
 Catherine was mute. 
 
 " You've made me afraid, and ashamed of you ;" he con- 
 tinued, " 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 m/self 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. 
 
64 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " 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 is 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 ordi- 
 nary 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 excite- 
 ment, 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 encounter- 
 ing 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. C5 
 
 *•< — — — ■ ' 
 
 how it is, now, that he is always out of my way. But, w"ith 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 an- 
 swered ; M 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 pair of 
 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 leaned forward on the rails to 
 listen to a noise below; almost forgetting what he had in his hands. 
 
 " Who is that I" he asked, hearing some one approaching the 
 stair's foot. 
 
 I leaned forward, also, for the purpose of signing to Heath- 
 cliff, 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. 
 
66 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 There was scarcely time to experience a thrill of horror 
 before we 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 any where V 
 
 "Injured!" I cried, angrily, " If he's 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 — treat- 
 ing 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 mis- 
 guided man, recovering his hardness. " At present, convey 
 yourself and him away. — And, hark you, Heathcliff ! clear 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!" 
 
 "Any one will do better for him than I shall," he answered. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 6? 
 
 "Have mercy on your own soul!" I said, endeavoring 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 ; termina- 
 ting his command with a sequel of horrid imprecations, too bad 
 to repeat or remember. 
 
 " It's a pity he can not kill himself with drink," observed 
 Heath cliff, 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 afterward that he only got as far as the other side 
 of 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 V 
 
 "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 be- 
 havior. 
 
 " 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 per- 
 ceived a drop or two trickle from Catherine's cheek to the 
 
68 WUTHERINC HEIGHTS. 
 
 " 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 am 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 1" she pursued, kneel- 
 ing 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 f 9 - 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, if he asked you after that, he must either be hope- 
 lessly 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 can not retract." 
 
 " But say whether I should have done so — do !" she ex- 
 claimed in an irritated tone ; chafing her hands together and 
 frowning. 
 
 " There are many things to be considered before that ques- 
 tion can be answered properly," I said sententiously ; "first 
 and foremost, do you love Mr. Edgar V* 
 
 " Who can help it 1 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 69 
 
 " 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 neighborhood, and I shall be proud of having such a 
 husband." 
 
 " Worst of all. And, now, say how you love him V* 
 
 " As every body loves. • You're silly, Nelly." 
 
 " Not at all. Answer." 
 
 " I love the ground under his feet, and the air over his head, 
 and every thing 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 f 
 
 " 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 cheer- 
 ful, 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, per- 
 haps, 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 V 
 
 "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 many 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, comfort- 
 
70 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 less home, into a wealthy, respectable one ; and you love Edgar, 
 and Edgar loves you. All seems smooth and easy — where is 
 the obstacle V 
 
 "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's very strange ! I can not 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 V she said sud- 
 denly, after some minutes' reflection. 
 
 " Yes, now and then," I answered. 
 
 " And so do I. I've dreamed in my life dreams that have 
 staid with me ever after, and changed my ideas ; they've gone 
 through and through me, like wine through water, and altered 
 the color 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 !" 1 cried. " We're dismal 
 enough without conjuring up ghosts and visions to perplex us. 
 Come, come, be merry, and like yourself! Look at little Hare- 
 ton — 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. How- 
 ever, 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 dreamed, once, that I was there." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 71 
 
 " 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 Heath- 
 cliff 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 be- 
 cause 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 ended I became sensible of Heathcliff's pres- 
 ence. 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 staid 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 con- 
 science, and be convinced that Heathcliff has no notion of these 
 things — he has not, has he 1 He does not know what being in 
 love is 1 ?" 
 
 " 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 unfor- 
 tunate creature that ever was born ! As soon as you become 
 Mrs. Iiinton, he loses friend, and love, and all ! Have you 
 considered how you'll bear the separation, and how he'll 
 
72 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 bear to be quite deserted in the world 1 Because, Miss Cath- 
 arine " 
 
 " He quite deserted ! we separated !" she exclaimed, with an 
 accent of indignation. " Who is to sepai*ate us, pray 1 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 
 meJt 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 toward him. Nelly, I see now, 
 you think me a selfish wretch, but did it never strike you that if 
 I/eathcliff and I married we should be beggars'? whereas, if I 
 ly.arry Linton I can aid Heathcliff to rise, and place him out of 
 r/ty brother's power." 
 
 " With your husband's money, Miss Catherine V* I asked. 
 '" You'll find him not so pliable as you calculate upon; and, 
 ^ough I'm hardly a judge, I think that's the worst motive 
 ou'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 can not express 
 it ; but surely you and every body have a notion that there is, 
 or should be, an existence of yours beyond you. What were 
 the use of my creation if I were entirely contained here % My 
 great miseries in this world have been Heath cliff's miseries, 
 and I watched and felt each from the beginning ; my great 
 thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and Tie re- 
 mained, 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 al- 
 ways 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 73 
 
 ** If I can make any sense 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, un- 
 principled girl. But trouble me with no more secrets ; I'll not 
 promise to keep them." 
 
 " You'll keep that V 1 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 Hare ton, while I made the 6upper. 
 
 After it was cooked, my fellow-servant and I began to quar- 
 rel 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 particu- 
 larly to go into his presence when he had been some time alone. 
 
 "Und hah isn't that nowt corned in frough th' field, be this 
 time ] What is he abaht 1 girt eedle seeght V* 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 how I saw him quit the 
 kitchen just as she complained of her brother's conduct regard- 
 ing him. 
 
 She jumped up in a fine fright — flung Hareton upon the set- 
 tle, 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 we should 
 wait no longer. He cunningly conjectured they were staying 
 away in order to avoid hearing his protracted blessing. They 
 were " ill eneugh 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 mis- 
 tress 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 up-stairs,' 
 she said. " And the gate is open, he is somewhere out of hear- 
 ing ; for he would not reply, though I shouted at the top of the 
 fold as loud as I could." 
 
 D 
 
74 WUTHEKING HEIGHTS. 
 
 Joseph objected at first ; she was too much in earnest, how- 
 ever, 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, exclaim- 
 ing — 
 
 " 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 
 humor 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 pi ottered through, raight o'er intuh t' 
 meadow! Hahsomdiver, t' maister 'ull play t' divil to-morn, 
 and he'll do weel. He's patience itsseln wi' sich careless, offald 
 craters — patience itsseln he is ! Bud he'll nut be soa alius — 
 yah's see, all on ye ! Yah mun'n't drive him aht uf his heead 
 fur nowt !" 
 
 " Have you found Heathcliff, you ass 1 ?" 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. But, aw can look for norther horse, nur 
 man uf a neeght loike this — as black as t' chimbley ! und Heath- 
 cliff's noan t' chap tuh coom ut 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 re- 
 mained, calling at intervals, and then listening, and then crying 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 75 
 
 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 upon 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 un- 
 harmed, 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 be- 
 fore it. 
 
 " Well, Miss !" I exclaimed, touching her shoulder; " you are 
 not bent on getting your death, are you 1 Do you know what 
 o'clock it is 1 Half-past twelve. Come ! come to bed ; there's 
 no use waiting longer for that foolish boy — he'll be gone to Gim- 
 merton, 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 visita- 
 tion worn't for nowt, und aw wod hev 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' rub- 
 bidge ! Yah knaw whet t' Scripture ses — " 
 , And he began quoting several texts — referring us to the chap- 
 ters and verses where we might find them. 
 
76 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 I, after having vainly begged the willful girl to rise and re- 
 move 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 afterward; then I distin- 
 guished his slow step on the ladder, and then I dropped 
 asleep. 
 
 Coming down somewhat later than usual, I saw, by the sun- 
 beams piercing the chinks of the shutters, Miss Catherine still 
 seated near the fireplace. 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 V 
 
 " I've been wet," she answered reluctantly ; " and I'm cold, 
 that's all." 
 
 " Oh, she is naughty V 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 1 not fear of the thunder, 
 surely 1 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 was 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 em- 
 bers. 
 
 " 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 her 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, maister, 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 77 
 
 » — s, 
 
 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 ! Its bonny be- 
 havior, lurking amang t'fields, after twelve ut' night, wi that 
 fahl, flaysome divil uf 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 and bolt intuh th' hahs, t' minute yah heard t'maister'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 J 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 ago that will make my conscience tender of break- 
 ing 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 humor for you !" 
 
 " I never saw Heathcliff last night," answered Catherine, be- 
 ginning 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. 
 
78 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 Though I can not say I made a gentle nurse, and Joseph and 
 the master were no better; and though our patient was as weari- 
 some and as 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 grate- 
 ful. But the poor dame had reason to repent of her kindness ; 
 she and her husband 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 by 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 humoring her caprices ; 
 not from affection, but from pride ; he wished earnestly to see 
 her bring honor 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 79 
 
 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 by. 
 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 by ; 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 
 toward the time-piece over the chimney; and was in amaze- 
 ment, 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 weeks' 
 torture, tossing, and sickness ! Oh, these bleak winds, and 
 bitter, northern skies, and impassable roads, and dilatory coun- 
 try 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 honored 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 subject than 
 pills and draughts, blisters and leeches 1 
 
80 WUTHERING HEIGHTS, 
 
 This is quite an easy interval. I am to© 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 inci- 
 dents, 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 
 phials. 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 Con- 
 tinent, and come back a gentleman 1 or did he get a sizer's 
 place at college 1 or escape to America, and earn honors by 
 drawing blood from his foster country ] or make a fortune more 
 promptly on the English highways V* 
 
 " He may have done a little in all these vocations, Mr. Lock- 
 wood ; 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 others yielded ; and who can be ill-natured and bad-tem- 
 pered when they encounter neither opposition nor indifference 1 
 
 I observed that Mr. Edgar had a deep-rooted fear of ruffling 
 her humor. He concealed it from her ; but if ever he heard 
 me answer sharply, or saw any other servant grow cloudy at 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 81 
 
 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 re- 
 spected with sympathizing silence by her husband, who as- 
 cribed 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 happi- 
 ness. 
 
 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 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 gather- 
 ing. 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 V 
 
 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 dis- 
 tinguished a tall man, dressed in dark clothes, with dark face 
 and hair. He leaned against the side, and held his fingers on 
 the latch, as if intending to open for himself. 
 
 " Who can it be I" I thought. " Mr. Earnshaw I Oh, no ! 
 The voice has no resemblance to his." 
 
82 W.UTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " I have waited here an hour," he resumed, while I contin- 
 ued 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 1 Is it really you % Is it V 
 
 " 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 de- 
 sires 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 com- 
 prehending it. Have you been for a soldier V 
 
 " 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 
 parlor 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 slough that runs from 
 the marshes joins a beck which follows the bend of the glen) ; 
 Wuthering Heigh ts r rose above this silent vapor, 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." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 83 
 
 " What does he want 1 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 1 
 
 " Some one the mistress does not expect," I replied. " That 
 Heathcliff, you recollect him, sir, who used to live at Mr. Earn- 
 shaw's." 
 
 " What, the gipsy — the plough-boy V 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 
 heart-broken 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 leaned 
 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 around 
 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 marvelous trea- 
 sure. 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 1" 
 
 " Here," he said, " into the parlor V* 
 
 "Where else?' she asked. 
 
 He looked vexed, and suggested the kitchen as a more suita- 
 ble 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 Isa* 
 bella, being gentry ; the other for Heathcliff and myself, being 
 
84 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 run- 
 away 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 be- 
 trayed 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 candlelight, 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 youthlike. His upright car- 
 riage suggested the idea of his having been in the army. His 
 countenance was much older in expression and decision of fea- 
 ture 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 equaled or exceeded mine ; he re- 
 mained for a minute at a loss how to address the plough-boy, 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 any thing occurs to please her." 
 
 " And I also," answered Heathcliff, " especially if it be any 
 thing 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 often raise his to her ; a quick glance now and then 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 85 
 
 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 an- 
 noyance, 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 pre- 
 tended pleasure ; afterward settle my score with Hindley ; and 
 then prevent the law by doing execution on myself. Your wel- 
 come has put these ideas out of my mind ; but beware of meet- 
 ing 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 a 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 for- 
 ward, 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 the 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 
 
86 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 bed-side, and pulling me by the hair to rouse me. 
 
 " I can not rest, Ellen ;" she said by way of apology. "And 
 I want some living creature to keep me company in my happi- 
 ness ! Edgar is sulky, because I'm 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 al- 
 ways contrives to be sick at the least cross ! I gave a few sen- 
 tences of commendation to Heathcliff, and he, either for a head- 
 ache 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 V* 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 ele- 
 gance, 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 humor both, I 
 think a smart chastisement might improve them, all the same." 
 
 " You're mistaken, Mrs. Linton," said I, " They humor 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 busi- 
 ness 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 ob- 
 stinate 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 Lin- 
 ton's love that I believe I might kill him, and he wouldn't wish 
 to retaliate." 
 
WUT II EKING HEIGHTS. 87 
 
 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 honor the first gentleman in the country to be his friend, 
 he ought to have said it for me, and been delighted from sym- 
 pathy. 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 V* 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 does'nt 
 trouble himself to reflect on the causes he might have for mis- 
 trusting one whom he has basely injured. But Heathcliff affirms 
 his principal reason for resuming a connection with his ancient 
 persecutor is a wish to install himself in quarters at walking dis- 
 tance 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 permis- 
 sion to lodge at the Heights ; and doubtless my brother's covet- 
 ousness 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 V 9 
 
 " 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. 
 
88 WUT'HERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 Oh, I've endured very, very bitter misery. Nelly, if that crea- 
 ture 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 any thing 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 suc- 
 cess of her fulfilled resolution was obvious on the morrow. Mr. 
 Linton had not only abjured his peevishness (though his spirits 
 seemed still subdued by the exuberance of Catherine's vivaci- 
 ty), 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 at 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 demon- 
 strations 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 toward 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 Heath cliffs disposition — to 
 know that, though his exterior was altered, his mind was un- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. b9 
 
 changeable and unchanged. And he dreaded that mind ; it re- 
 volted 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 dis- 
 covered its existence, he laid the blame on HeathclifPs deliberate 
 designing. 
 
 We had all remarked, during some time, that Miss Linton 
 fretted and pined over something. She grew cross and weari- 
 some, snapping at and teasing Catherine continually, at the im- 
 minent 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, com- 
 plaining 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 parlor 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 V cried 
 the mistress, amazed at the unreasonable assertion. " You aro 
 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 1" 
 
 " 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 be- 
 cause you knew I liked to be there." 
 
 " Is she sane ]" asked Mrs. Linton, appealing to me. " I'll 
 
90 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 be always 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 can consider him an agreeable person ! I hope I 
 have misunderstood you, Isabella 1" 
 
 " 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 de- 
 clared, 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 deplor- 
 able 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 ungen- 
 erous 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 capa- 
 ble 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 this trap." 
 
 Miss Linton regarded her sister-in-law with indignation. 
 
 " For shame ! for shame !" she repeated, angxily. rt You are 
 worse than twenty foes, you poisonous friend !" 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 91 
 
 "Ah! you won't believe me then]" said Catherine. "You 
 think I speak from wicked selfishness 1 ?" 
 
 " 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 inso- 
 lence." 
 
 "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 honorable soul, and a 
 true one, or how could he remember her V 
 
 " 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 rep- 
 resent him as worse than he is. Honest people don't hide their 
 deeds. How has he been living 1 how has he get rich 1 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 'em's a'most gettin his finger cut off wi' hauding 
 t'other froo' sticking hisseln loike a cawlf. That's maister, yah 
 knaw, ut's soa up un going tuh t'grand 'sizes. He's noan feared 
 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 Heath- 
 cliff, yah mind, he's a rare un ! He can girn a laugh, as weel's 
 onybody at a raight divil's jest. Does he niver say nowt of his 
 fine living amang us, when he goes 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 tuh his cham'er, makking dacent fowks dig thur fin- 
 gers i' thur lugs for varry shaume ; un' th' knave, wah, he cam 
 cahnt his brass, un' ate, un' sleep, un' off tuh his neighbor's tuh 
 gossip wi' t' wife. I' course, he tells Dame Catherine hah hor 
 father's goold runs intuh his pocket, and her father's son gallops 
 dahn t' broad road, while he flees afore tuh oppen t' pikes V 
 
92 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 I" 
 
 "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 can not 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 indiscre- 
 tion, 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, gayly, pull- 
 ing 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 nattered — 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 playful- 
 ness, the confounded girl who had risen indignantly. "We 
 were quarreling 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 dis- 
 daining to struggle from the tight grasp that held her. " I'd 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 93 
 
 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 tormentor. 
 
 " 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 dispatched 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 Cath- 
 erine, 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 I 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 man- 
 ner, Cathy ] You were not speaking the truth, were you V* 
 
94 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " I assure you I was," she returned. " She has been pining 
 for your sake several weeks ; and raving about you this morn- 
 ing, 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. 1 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 colors 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 1" 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 neighbor's goods.: remember this neighbor'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, prob- 
 ably, 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 honora- 
 ble : 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. Heath- 
 cliff, 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 oppres- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 95 
 
 sion 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 have got up in a sudden terror, and put on my bonnet to go 
 see how all was at the farm ; I have persuaded my conscience 
 that it was a duty to warn him how people talked regarding 
 his ways ; and then I have 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 G-immerton. 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, and Heights, 
 and village. 
 
 The sun shone yellow on its gray head, reminding me of 
 summer ; and 1 can not say why, but all at once a gush of child's 
 sensations flowed into my heart. Hindley and I held it a 
 favorite 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 
 
98 WUT BERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 in 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 Hare- 
 ton, 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 bon- 
 net, and then ensued from the stammering lips of the little fel- 
 low a string of curses, which, whether he comprehended them 
 or not, were delivered with practiced 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 bairn," I in- 
 quired. " The curate V 
 
 " 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 1" 
 
 " Devil daddy," was his answer. 
 
 " And what do you learn from daddy V I continued. 
 
 He jumped at the fruit ; I raised it higher. " What does he 
 teach you VI asked. 
 
 " Naught," said he, " but to keep out of his gait. Daddy 
 can not bide me, because I swear at him." 
 
WUTHER'ING HEIGHTS. 97 
 
 "Ah! and the devil teaches you to swear at daddy?" I 
 observed. 
 
 " Ay — nay," he drawled. 
 
 " Who then V 
 
 " 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 
 gies 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 V I pursued. 
 
 No ; I was told the curate should have his teeth dashed 
 
 down his throat, if he stepped over the threshold — Heath- 
 cliff 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, farther, 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 unneces- 
 sary civility on Miss Linton, I knew. Now, as soon as he be- 
 held 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 
 
 E 
 
98 WUT BERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 V said Catherine's voice at my elbow — I had 
 been over-intent on watching the pair outside to mark her en- 
 trance. 
 
 " 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 V 
 
 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 V 
 
 " What is it to you I" 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 1 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, 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 99 
 
 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 suffei 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 V exclaimed Mrs. 
 Linton, in amazement. " I've treated you infernally — and 
 you'll take revenge ! How will you take it, ungrateful brute 1 
 How have I treated you infernally f * 
 
 " I seek no revenge on you," replied Heath cliff less vehement- 
 ly. " 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 weleome 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 leveled 
 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 re- 
 solved 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 wonder- 
 ing what kept Catherine below so long. 
 
 " Ellen," said he, when I entered, " have you seen your mis- 
 tress ]" 
 
 * Yes, she's in the kitchen, sir," I answered. " She's sadly 
 put out by Mr. Heathcliff's behavior : and, indeed, I do think 
 it's time to arrange his visits on another footing. There's harm 
 
100 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 sub- 
 sequent dispute. I fancied it could not be very prejudicial to 
 Mrs. Linton, unless she made it so afterward, 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 humored her 
 enough." 
 
 He descended, and, bidding the servants wait in the passage, 
 went, followed by me, to the kitchen. Its occupants had re- 
 commenced their angry discussion ; Mrs. Linton, at least, was 
 scolding with renewed vigor; Heathcliff had moved to the 
 window, and hung his head, apparently somewhat cowed by 
 her violent rating. 
 
 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 V 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 1 ?" asked the 
 mistress, in a tone particularly calculated to provoke her hus- 
 band, 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 ac- 
 quiesced — 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 admis- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 101 
 
 sion into this house, and give notice now that I require your 
 instant departure. Three minutes' delay will render it in- 
 voluntary 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 toward 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 the courage to attack him, 
 make an apology, or allow yourself to be beaten. It will cor- 
 rect you of feigning more valor 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 Heath- 
 cliff 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 leaned 
 on the back of a chair, and covered his face. 
 
 " Oh ! Heavens ! In old days this would win you knight- 
 hood!" exclaimed Mrs. Linton. "We are vanquished! Heath- 
 cliff would as soon lift a finger at you as the 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 
 
102 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 strike him with my fist, but I'd kick him with my foot, and ex- 
 perience considerable satisfaction. Is he weeping, or is he going 
 to faint for fear V 
 
 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 leveled 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 1 ?" he thundered. "By Hell, no! I'll crush his ribs in 
 like a rotten hazle-nut before I cross the threshold ! If I don't 
 floor him now, I shall murder him sometime ; 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 blud- 
 geon, and master will, very likely, be watching from the parlor 
 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 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 up stairs. 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 her- 
 self 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 
 
WUTHER1NG HEIGHTS. 103 
 
 should recriminate, and God knows where we should end ! 
 Will you do so, my good Nelly ? You are aware that I am no 
 way blamable in this matter. What possessed him to turn lis- 
 tener'? 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 unreason- 
 able 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 can not 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 
 iufluence ; 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 to- 
 ward the parlor ; 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 ! 
 
104 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 Your cold blood can not be worked into a fever — your veins 
 are full of ice- water — but mine are boiling ; and the sight of such 
 chillness 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 HeathclhT hereafter, or 
 will you give up me 1 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 leisure- 
 ly. 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 crush 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 glassful, 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 preter- 
 naturally. I made up my mind for broken bones at least ; but 
 she only glared about her 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 105 
 
 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 Heathclirf'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 be- 
 tween 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 con- 
 duct, 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 re- 
 newed 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 
 
 E* 
 
106 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 believed no such thing ; so I kept it to myself, and brought her 
 some tea and dry toast. 
 
 She ate 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 any thing 
 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 any thing, ma'am ]" I inquired, still pre- 
 serving my external composure, in spite of her ghastly counte- 
 nance, and strange, exaggerated manner. 
 
 " What is that apathetic being doing ]" she demanded, push- 
 ing 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 toler- 
 ably 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 con- 
 dition, 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 V continued she, staring at her reflection in a mir- 
 ror, hanging against the opposite wall. "Is that Catherine 
 Linton] He imagines me in a pet — in play, perhaps. Can 
 not you inform him that it is frightful earnest 1 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 punish- 
 ment unless he had a heart — or to recover and leave the coun- 
 try. Are you speaking the truth about him now ] Take care. 
 Is he actually so utterly indifferent for my life V* 
 
 " 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 ] Can not you tell him I will 1" she return- 
 ed ; " persuade him — speak of your own mind — say you are 
 certain I will !" 
 
 II 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." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 107 
 
 "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 haunt- 
 ed, Nelly ! But I begin to fancy you don't like me. How 
 strange ! I thought, though every body 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 en- 
 ter 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, de- 
 sired that I would open the window. We were in the middle 
 of winter, the wind blew strong from the northeast, and I ob- 
 jected. 
 
 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 is 
 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 
 is 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. 
 
108 WUTHERING HEIGHT 8. 
 
 Yes, here are more ! Did he shoot my lapwings, Nelly 1 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 toward 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 gray hair and bent shoulders. This bed is 
 the fairy cave under Penistone 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're 
 mistaken, or else I should believe you really were that withered 
 hag, and I should think I was under Penistone 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 1 where is that V I asked. "You are talk- 
 ing 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 is no press in the room, and never was," said I, re- 
 suming my seat, and looping up the curtain that I might watch 
 her. 
 
 " Don't you see that face 1" she inquired, gazing earnestly at 
 the mirror. 
 
 And, say what I could, I was incapable of making her com- 
 prehend 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 suc- 
 cession of shudders convulsed her frame, and she would keep 
 straining her gaze toward 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 I 
 It's true, then ; that's dreadful !" 
 
 Her fingers clutched the clothes, and gathered them over her 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 109 
 
 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 V cried I. " Who is coward now 1 
 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 any thing, but stay with me. I dread sleeping ; my 
 dreams appall 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 sound- 
 ing 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 V 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 % n 
 
 " Long enough to live on nothing but cold water and ill-tem- 
 per," observed I. 
 
 " Well, it seems a weary number of hours," she muttered, 
 doubtfully ; " it must be more — I remember being in the parlor 
 after they had quarreled ; 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 
 
110 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 
 gray square of the window, that I was inclosed in the oak- 
 paneled 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 doze 
 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 can not say why I felt so wildly wretch- 
 ed ; 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 convert- 
 ed 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 groveled ! 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 V 
 
 " Because I won't give you your death of cold," I an- 
 swered. 
 
 " You won't give me a chance of life, you mean," she said 
 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. Ill 
 
 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 every thing 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 he 1 
 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 1 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 con- 
 sidering — 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 plan- 
 ning 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 can not 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 I" he said, hastening to us. " Shut the win- 
 dow, Ellen ! Catherine ! why — " 
 
112 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 
 any thing, 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 V 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 centered her attention on him, 
 and discovered who it was that held her. 
 
 " Ah ! you are come, are you, Edgar Linton I" 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 yon- 
 der—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 headstone, and you may please your- 
 self, whether you go to them or come to me !" 
 
 " Catherine, what have you done V 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, and 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. Re- 
 turn 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 113 
 
 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 domineer- 
 ing," cried I ; " but I didn't know that you wished to foster her 
 fierce temper ! I did not know that, to humor 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 1" 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 1 Nelly has played traitor," she exclaimed, passionately, 
 " Nelly is my hidden enemy — you witch ! So you do seek elf- 
 bolts to hurts 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 staid 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. 
 
114 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 were such a number of things to oc- 
 cupy ray 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 accom- 
 pany 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 her- 
 self before. 
 
 " Nelly Dean," said he, " I can't help fancying there's an ex- 
 tra 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. Afterward, 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 V* observed Kenneth, interroga- 
 tively. 
 
 " Sorry ] he'll break his heart should any thing 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 f' 
 
 " Heathcliff frequently visits at the Grange," replied 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." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 115 
 
 " 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 con- 
 tinue 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 honor to be prepared on their first meeting after that ; when 
 it was to be, he did'nt 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 con- 
 firmed ; 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 over- 
 taking 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, ab- 
 sorbed 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 mat- 
 ters 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 suc- 
 ceeded 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 hope- 
 fully to him of its having a favorable 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 ; in- 
 
116 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 deed, 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 1 Master, 
 master, our young lady — " 
 
 " Hold your noise !" cried I hastily, enraged at her clamorous 
 manner. 
 
 " Speak lower, Mary. What is the matter V 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 can not be. How has the idea entered your head % Ellen 
 Dean, go and seek her — it is incredible — it can not be." 
 
 As he spoke, he took the servant to the door, and then re- 
 peated 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 somebody 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 he 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 
 
WUTHEEING HEIGHTS. 117 
 
 to her father, but she told it all over Gimmerton this morn- 
 ing." 
 
 I ran and peeped, for form's sake, into Isabella's room : con 
 firming, 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 direct- 
 ing 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 in- 
 flict : 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 be- 
 side her, tracing the gradual return to bodily health, and flatter- 
 ing his too sanguine hopes with the illusion that her mind would 
 settle back to its right balance also, and she would soon be en- 
 tirely 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 
 
118 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 the morning, a handful of golden crocuses ; her eye, long stranger 
 to any gleam of pleasure, caught them in waking, and shone de- 
 lighted as she gathered them, eagerly together. 
 
 "These are the earliest flowers at the Heights!" she ex- 
 claimed. " They remind me of soft thaw winds, and warm sun- 
 shine, 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 unheeded. 
 
 We knew she was really better, and therefore decided that 
 long confinement to a single place produced much of this de- 
 spondency, and it might be partially removed by a change of 
 scene. 
 
 The master told me to light a fire in the many weeks' desert- 
 ed parlor, and to set an easy chair in the sunshine by the win- 
 dow ; 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 even- 
 ing she seemed greatly exhausted; yet no arguments could 
 persuade her to return to that apartment, and I had to arrange 
 the parlor sofa for her bed, till another room could be pre- 
 pared. 
 
 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 parlor : 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 exist- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 119 
 
 ence 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 mar- 
 riage 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 pro- 
 ceeding 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. It begins — 
 
 " Dear Ellen, 
 
 " 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 sent 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 canH follow it though — 
 (those words are underlined) — they need not expect me, and 
 they may draw what conclusions they please, taking care, how- 
 ever, 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 can not 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 1 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. 
 
120 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " Now you sliall 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 exter- 
 nal comforts ; they never occupy my thoughts except at the mo- 
 ment 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 upon the 
 moors ; by that I judged it to be six o'clock ; and my compan- 
 ion 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 re- 
 dounded to his credit. His first act was to elevate his torch to 
 a level with my face, squint malignantly, project his under 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 staid 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. 
 
 if ' Shall you and I be friends, Hareton V was my next essay 
 at conversation. 
 
 " An oath, and a threat to set Throttler on me if I did not 
 1 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 V 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 sta- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 121 
 
 bles, and requested to accompany me in, after staring and mut- 
 tering 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 V 
 
 " ' 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 V he demanded, grimly. 'Who 
 are you V 
 
 " ' 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 V 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 expecta- 
 tion of discovering Heathcliff, and then he indulged in a soliloquy 
 of execrations, and threats of what he would have done had the 
 1 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 gray ; and the once 
 brilliant pewter dishes, which used to attract my gaze when I 
 
 F 
 
122 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 delight- 
 ful 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 1 
 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 among, 
 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 ejacu- 
 lation 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 atten- 
 tion, 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 V I sobbed. I was beyond re- 
 garding self-respect, weighed down by fatigue and wretched- 
 ness. 
 
 " ' Joseph will show you Heathcliff 's chamber,' said he ; * open 
 that door — he's in there.' 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 123 
 
 " ■ 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 V I did not relish 
 the notion of deliberately fastening myself in with Heathcliff. 
 
 " ' Look here !' he replied, pulling from his waistcoat a curi- 
 ously 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 can not resist going up with this, every night, 
 and trying his door : if once I find it open, he's done for ! 1 do 
 it invariably, even though the minute before I have been recall- 
 ing 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 the 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, 1 
 see ; his danger does not shock you.' 
 
 " * What has Heathcliff done to you V I asked. ' In what has 
 he wronged you, to warrant this appalling hatred % Wouldn't 
 it be wiser to bid him quit the house V 
 
 " i No,' thundered Eamshaw, ' 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 1 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. 
 
124 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " 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 — ' Til 
 make the porridge !' I removed the vessel out of his reach, 
 and proceeded to take off my hat and riding habit. ' Mr. Earn- 
 shaw,' I continued, ' directs me to wait on myself — I will. I'm 
 not going to act the lady among you, for fear 1 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 hev a mistress set o'er my heead, it's loike 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 indigna- 
 tion. 
 
 " ' Thear !' he ejaculated. ' Hareton, thah will'nt 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; as- 
 suring me, repeatedly, that ' the bairn 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 con- 
 tinued sucking ; and glowered up at me defyingly, as he slavered 
 into the jug. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 125 
 
 " ' I shall have my supper in another room,' I said. * Have 
 you no place you call a parlor V 
 
 " 'Parlor /' he echoed, sneeringly, ' parlor / Nay, we've noa 
 parlors. If yah dunnut loike wer company, they's maister's ; 
 un' if yah dunnut loike maister, they's us.' 
 
 " ' Then I shall go up-stairs,' I answered ; ' show me a cham- 
 ber!' 
 
 " 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 weel eneugh 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 does, 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' heol-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, eurtainless bed, with an indigo-colored quilt, at one end. 
 
 " ' What do I want with yours V I retorted. ' I suppose Mr. 
 Heathcliff does not lodge at the top of the house, does he V 
 
 " ' Oh ! it's Maister Heathcliff's yah're wenting f cried he, 
 as if making a new discovery. ' Couldn't ye uh said soa, at 
 onst % un then, aw mud uh telled ye, baht all this wark, ut that's 
 just one yah cannut sea — he alias 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 heav- 
 en's sake, be quick, and let me settle somewhere !' 
 
 " He made no reply to this adjuration ; only plodding dog- 
 gedly down the wooden steps, and halting before an apartment 
 
126 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 ob- 
 literated by dust; a fireplace hung with cut paper, dropping 
 to pieces ; a handsome oak bedstead with ample crimson cur- 
 tains 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 sup- 
 porting 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 endeavoring to gather resolution for entering, and 
 taking possession, when my fool of a guide announced — 
 
 " t This here is t' maister'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 Hare- 
 ton's bit uf a cham'er. They'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 stair's head, hid my face 
 in my hands, and cried. 
 
 " ' Ech ! ech !' exclaimed Joseph. ' Weel done, Miss Cathy ! 
 Hahsiver, t' maister sail 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 shew yer sperrit lang. 
 Will Heathcliff bide sich bonny ways, think ye 1 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, com- 
 pelled me to admit the necessity of smothering my pride, and 
 choking my wrath, and bestirring myself to remove its effects. 
 
 11 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 127 
 
 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 shat- 
 tered earthenware, and drying the spatters of milk from the 
 bannister with my pocket-handkerchief. 
 
 " Our labors 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 en- 
 deavor 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 hev it all tuh yerseln, 
 un Him as alias maks a third, i' sich 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 1 
 
 " 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 never 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 ! Be- 
 ware 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 situa- 
 tion, and her ardent desire to see him ; with a wish that he 
 would transmit to her, as early as possible, some token of for- 
 giveness by me. 
 
 " Forgiveness V 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 eter- 
 nally 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, implor- 
 ingly. 
 
 "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 care- 
 lessly twisted round her head. Probably she had not touched 
 her dress since yester-evening. 
 
 Hindiey was not there. Mr. Heathcliff sat at a table, turning 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 129 
 
 over some papers in his pocket-book ; but he rose when I ap- 
 peared, 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 bom 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 fol- 
 lowed 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 any thing 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 keep- 
 ing 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 con- 
 nected 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 exam- 
 ple, 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 
 
 F* 
 
130 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 your old friend Catherine Earnshaw as that young lady is dif- 
 ferent from me ! Her appearance is changed greatly, her char- 
 acter much more so ; and the person who is compelled of neces- 
 sity to be her companion, will only sustain his affection hereafter 
 by the remembrance of what she once was, by common human- 
 ity, 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 respect- 
 ing 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 sin- 
 cerity 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 drank 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 com- 
 pletely ruining all hopes of her perfect restoration, by thrusting 
 yourself into her remembrance, now when she has nearly for- 
 gotten you, and involving her in a new tumult of discord and 
 distress." 
 
 " You suppose she has nearly forgotten me 1" 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 thou- 
 sand on me ! At a most miserable period of my life, 1 had a 
 notion of the kind ; it haunted me on my return to the neigh- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 131 
 
 borhood, 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 dreamed. 
 Two words would comprehend my future — death and hell — ex- 
 istence, after losing her, would be hell. 
 
 " Yet I was a fool to fancy for a moment that she valued Ed- 
 gar 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 1" 
 
 " 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 ?" ob- 
 served 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 writ- 
 ten, have you V 
 
 " 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 de- 
 generates into a mere slut ! She is tired of trying to please me, 
 uncommonly early. You'd hardly credit it, but the very mor- 
 row 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 
 
132 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 things tidy about her, and you must treat her kindly. Whatever 
 be your notion of Mr. Edgar, you can not doubt that she has a 
 capacity for strong attachments, or she wouldn't have abandon- 
 ed 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, "pic- 
 turing in me a hero of romance, and expecting unlimited indul- 
 gences from my chivalrous devotion. I can hardly regard her 
 in the light of a rational creature, so obstinately has she persist- 
 ed in forming a fabulous notion of my character, and acting on 
 the false impressions she cherished. But at last, I think she be- 
 gins to know me — I don't perceive the silly smiles and grimaces 
 that provoked me at first ; and the senseless incapability of dis- 
 cerning that I was in earnest when I gave her my opinion of 
 her infatuation, and herself. It was a remarkable effort of per- 
 spicacity to discover that I did not love her. I believed, at one 
 time, no lessons could teach her that ! and yet it is poorly 
 learned ; for this morning she announced, as a piece of appalling 
 intelligence, that I had actually succeeded in making her hate 
 me ! A positive labor of Hercules, I assure you ! If it be 
 achieved, I have cause to return thanks ; can I trust your asser- 
 tion, 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 1 ? I dare say she would rather I had seemed all tender- 
 ness 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 can not 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 uKered 
 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 ad- 
 miration of it, if only her precious person were secure from in- 
 jury ! 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 133 
 
 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 sepa- 
 ration ; 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 V 
 
 " Take care, Ellen !" answered Isabella, her eyes sparkling 
 irefully; there was no misdoubting, by their expression, the 
 full success of her partner's endeavors to make himself de- 
 tested. " 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 attempt, 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 des- 
 peration. 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 counte- 
 nance — 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 up-stairs ; I have some- 
 thing 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 worms writhe, the 
 more I yearn to crush out their entrails ! It is a moral teeth- 
 ing, and I grind with greater energy, in proportion to the in- 
 crease of pain." 
 
 " Do you understand what the word pity means V I said, 
 
134 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 hastening to resume my bonnet. " Did you ever feel a touch 
 of it in your life V 1 
 
 " 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 any thing 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 ensure 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 1 And you could do it so easily ! I'd 
 warn you when I came, and then you might let me in unob- 
 served, 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 em- 
 ployer'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 in- 
 form 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 1 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 any thing, what she feels. 
 You say she is often restless, and anxious-looking — is that a 
 proof of tranquillity 1 You talk of her mind being unsettled 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 135 
 
 — 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 vigor 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 1 Or will you 
 be my friend, as you have been hitherto, and do what I re- 
 quest % Decide ! because there is no reason for my lingering 
 another minute, if you persist in your stubborn ill-nature." 
 
 "Well, Mr. Lock wood, 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 ex- 
 pedient. I thought I prevented another explosion by my com- 
 pliance : and I thought too, it might create a favorable 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 itera- 
 tion, that this betrayal of trust, if it merited so harsh an appella- 
 tion, 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 into 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 
 while 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 first- 
 ly, 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 neighbor's history at dif- 
 ferent 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 fulfill my en- 
 gagement, as I knew who would be coming, I told my com- 
 panion 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 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 137 
 
 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 wakened, 
 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 endeavored to divert her- 
 self with reading, or occupation of any kind ; and be 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 en- 
 dured his efforts placidly ; only showing their uselessness by 
 now and then suppressing a wearied sigh, and checking 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, mel- 
 low 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 think- 
 ing, 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 insert- 
 ing 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 — ft 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." 
 
138 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 im- 
 patient 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 some one 
 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 toward the en- 
 trance of her chamber. He did not hit the right room directly ; 
 6he 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 con- 
 viction 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 humor 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 139 
 
 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 V 
 
 Heathcliff had knelt on one knee to embrace her ; he at- 
 tempted 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 1 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 
 leave 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 bloodless lip and 
 scintillating eye ; and she retained in her closed fingers a 
 portion of the locks she had been grasping. As to her com- 
 panion, while raising himself with one hand, he had taken her 
 arm with the other ; and so inadequate was his stock of gentle- 
 ness to the requirements of her condition, that on his letting go, 
 I saw four distinct impressions left blue in the colorless skin. 
 
 V Are you possessed with a devil," he pursued, savagely, " to 
 talk in that manner to me, when you are dying 1 Do yon 
 reflect that all those words will be branded in my memory, 
 and eating deeper eternally, after you have left me 1 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 — 
 
140 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " I'm not wishing you greater torment than I have, Heath- 
 cliff! I only wish us never to be parted — and should a word of 
 mine distress you hereafter, think I feel the same distress un- 
 derground, 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 leaned 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 per- 
 mit it ; turning abruptly, he walked to the fireplace, where he 
 stood silent, with his back toward us. 
 
 Mrs. Linton's glance followed him suspiciously ; every move- 
 ment woke a new sentiment in her. After a pause, and a pro- 
 longed gaze, she resumed, addressing me in accents of indig- 
 nant 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, musing- 
 ly, " the thing that irks me most is this shattered prison, after 
 all. I'm tired, tired of being inclosed 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 incom- 
 parably 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 breath 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 di- 
 rectly insensible. He flung himself into the nearest seat, and 
 on my approaching hurriedly to ascertain if she had fainted, he 
 
WUT BERING HEIGHTS. 141 
 
 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 fran- 
 tic 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 1 I have not one word of comfort — you de- 
 serve 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 1 What right — answer me — for the poor fan- 
 cy you felt for Linton 1 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 1 What kind of living will it be when you 
 — Oh, God ! would you live with your soul in the grave V 
 
 "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 V 
 
 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. My master will be here in half an hour." 
 
 Heathcliff groaned a curse, and strained Catherine closer — 
 she never moved. 
 
142 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 Ere long I perceived a group of the servants passing up the 
 road toward 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." 
 
 i' 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, Cathe- 
 rine ! 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 mount- 
 ing the stairs — the cold sweat ran from my forehead ; I was 
 horrified. 
 
 " Are you going to listen to her ravings V I said passionately. 
 " She does not know what she says. Will you ruin her, be- 
 cause 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 sin- 
 cerely 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 around her." 
 
 Edgar sprang to his unbidden guest, blanched with astonish- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 143 
 
 merit and rage. What he meant to do, I can not 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 parlor, and sat down. Mr. Linton sum- 
 moned 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 suffi- 
 cient consciousness to miss HeathclifT, 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 par- 
 tiality — 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 
 
144 WUTHERINO HEI G H T S. 
 
 hours of existence. "We redeemed the neglect afterward; 
 but it's 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 eartli 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 145 
 
 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, lean- 
 ing 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 tim- 
 ber. 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 them- 
 selves or others ; and when I first looked into his face I per- 
 ceived 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 dry- 
 ing 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 V 9 asked Heathcliff, attempt- 
 ing a sneer. " Did she die like a saint 1 Come, give me a true 
 history of the event. How did " 
 
 He endeavored 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 un- 
 flinching, ferocious stare. 
 
 " How did she die V* he resumed, at last, fain, notwith- 
 standing his hardihood, to have a support behind him, for after 
 
 G 
 
146 WUTHER.ING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 so anxious to 
 conceal them 1 Your pride can not 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 — and did she ever mention me V' 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 vehe- 
 mence, 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 can not 
 find you ! Oh, God ! it is unutterable ! I can not live without 
 my life ! I can not 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 ! 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 147 
 
 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 com- 
 pelled 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 slight- 
 est 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 ascer- 
 tained to have been taken from a locket hung round Catherine's 
 neck. Heathcliff had opened the trinket, and cast out its con- 
 tents, 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, out* 
 side. It was dug on a green slope, in a comer of the kirkyard, 
 where the wall is so low that heath and bilberry plants have 
 climbed over it from the moor ; and peat mold almost buries it. 
 Her husband lies in the same spot, now ; and they have each a 
 simple headstone above, and a plain gray 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 northeast, 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 hid- 
 den 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 parlor, 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 1 
 What would Mr. Linton say if he heard you I" 
 
 " Excuse me !" answered a familiar voice, '• but I know Ed- 
 gar is in bed, and I can not 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 G-immerton, 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 po- 
 sition ; 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 149 
 
 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. 
 
 11 My dear young lady," I exclaimed ; " I'll stir nowhere, and 
 hear nothing, till you have removed every article of your clothes, 
 and put on dry things ; and certainly you shall not go to Gim- 
 merton 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 in- 
 structed to get ready, and a maid sent to pack up some neces- 
 sary 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 be- 
 fore 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 sym- 
 pathize 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 arti- 
 cle 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 1 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 learned 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 any 
 where out of the reach of my accursed — of that incarnate gob- 
 lin ! 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 
 
1 50 WUTHERING HEIGHfl. 
 
 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 disor- 
 der 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 chile ! 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 to the point of its annoying 
 him seriously to have me within ear-shot or eye-sight. I notice 
 when I enter his presence, the muscles of his countenance are 
 involuntarily distorted into an expression of hatred; partly aris- 
 ing 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 
 
WUTHERINO HEIGHTS. 151 
 
 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 Cathe- 
 rine ! No, indeed, indeed, I wouldn't!" And here Isabella be- 
 gan to cry ; but, immediately dashing the water from her lashes, 
 fihe 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 proceeded to murderous violence. I experi- 
 enced 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 can not tell ; but he has not 
 eaten a meal with us for nearly a week. He had just come 
 home at dawn, and gone up-stairs to his chamber ; locking him- 
 self in — as if any body dreamed of coveting his company ! There 
 he continued, praying like a Methodist; only the deity he im- 
 plored is senseless dust and ashes ; and God, when addressed, 
 was curiously confounded w T ith 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 im- 
 possible to avoid regarding this season of deliverance from de- 
 grading 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 any thing Joseph could say, but he 
 
152 WUTH BRING HEIGHTS. 
 
 and Hareton are detestable companions. I'd rather sit with 
 Hindley, and hear his awful talk, than with 't' little maister/ 
 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 cham- 
 bers ; 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 inter- 
 fere 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 favorable change, but it is not my 
 business. 
 
 " Yester-evening, I sat in my nook, reading some old books, 
 till late on toward twelve. It seemed so dismal to go up-stairs, 
 with the wild snow blowing outside, and my thoughts contin- 
 ually reverting to the kirkyard, and the new made grave ! I 
 dared hardly lift my eyes from the page before me, that melan- 
 choly scene so instantly usurped its place. 
 
 " Hindley sat opposite, his head leaned 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 ex- 
 pression of what I felt on my lips, which induced my companion, 
 who had been staring toward 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 an- 
 swered. " Do ! put the key in the lock, and draw the bolts." 
 
 Earnshaw accomplished this ere his guest reached the front ; 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 153 
 
 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 1 
 Are you willing to endure to the last, and not once attempt a 
 repayment V 
 
 " ' 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. HeathclhT, 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 al- 
 ready ! Promise to hold your tongue, and before that clock 
 strikes — it w r ants 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 re- 
 gret 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 ex- 
 claimed in a rather triumphant tone. ' Mr. Earnshaw has a 
 mind to shoot you, if you persist in endeavoring to enter.' 
 
 " ' You'd better open the door, you ,' he answered, ad- 
 dressing me by some elegant term that I don't care to repeat, 
 
154 WUTHERTNG HEIGHTS 
 
 " ' 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 
 upon 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 can not 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 can not 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 V 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 any thing. 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. Heath- 
 
WUTHiEINO HEIGHTS*. 155 
 
 Cliff pulled it away by main force, slitting up the flesh as it pass- 
 ed 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 pre- 
 terhuman self-denial in abstaining from finishing him completely; 
 but, getting out of breath, he finally desisted, and dragged the 
 apparently inanimate body to 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 energeti- 
 cally 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 1 whet is thur tub do, nah V 
 
 " ' There's this to do,' thundered Heathcliff, ' that your mas- 
 ter'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 1 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 !' 
 
 " Und soa, yah been murthering on him V exclaimed Joseph, 
 lifting his hands and eyes in horror. ' If iver aw seed a seeght 
 loike this ! May the Lord — ' 
 
 " Heathcliff gave him a push upon his knees, in the middle 
 of the blood ; and flung a towel to him ; but instead of proceed- 
 ing 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 1 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 
 
156 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 inquire into this. He was so obstinate in his resolution that 
 Heathcliff deemed it expedient to compel from my lips a re- 
 capitulation of what had taken place ; standing over me, heav- 
 ing with malevolence, as I reluctantly delivered the account in 
 answer to his questions. It required a great deal of labor to ' 
 satisfy the old man that he was not the aggressor ; especially 
 with my hardly-wrung replies. However, Mr. Earnshawsoon 
 convinced him that he was alive still ; he hastened to administer 
 a dose of spirits, and by their succor his master presently regain- 
 ed 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 atro- 
 cious 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, marveling 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, leaned against the chim- 
 ney. 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 toward 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 fore- 
 head, 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 157 
 
 enemies, surely that ought to suffice you. It is both mean and 
 presumptuous to add your torture to his !" 
 
 " In genera], 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 can not 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 ray 
 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. ■ C atherine 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 the grave, or, last 
 night, she might have witnessed a repulsive scene ! Are not 
 you bruised and cut over your chest and shoulders V 
 
 " ' I can't say,' he answered ; ' but what do you mean 1 
 Did he dare to strike me when I was down V 
 
 " * 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 in- 
 sensible to any thing 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 ob- 
 served aloud. ■ At the Grange, every one knows your sister 
 would have been living now had it not been for Mr. HeathclifE 
 After all, it is preferable to be hated than loved by him. When 
 
1 58 WUTHERlNfl HEIGHTS. 
 
 I recollect how happy we were — how happy Catherine was be- 
 fore 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 toward 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. 
 
 "'1 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. Hind- 
 ley has exactly her eyes, if you had not tried to gouge them out, 
 and made them black and red, and her — ' 
 
 " i 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 behavior 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 endeavoring 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 1, 
 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 chair-back in the doorway; 
 and, blest 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, toward the beacon light 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 159 
 
 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 upon 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 neighborhood; 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. Heath cliff, 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 be- 
 ware 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 V 
 
 " I don't think they wish you to know any thing 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 retrained from going any where where 
 
] 60 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 he was likely to see or hear of Heath cliff. Grief and that to- 
 gether 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 soli- 
 tary 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 scepter in his heart. It was named Cath- 
 erine, but he never called it the name in full, as he had never 
 called the first Catherine short, probably because HeathclifT 
 had a habit of doing so. The little one was always Cathy, it 
 formed to him a distinction from the mother, and yet, a con- 
 nection 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, dis- 
 played 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. — 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 161 
 
 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 your and my turn to go into mourning at present. Who's 
 given us the slip now, do you think V 
 
 " Who 1" 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. Heathcliif, surely ] I exclaimed." 
 
 " What ! would you have tears for him V 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 V 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. Be- 
 sides, I reminded him that the child, Hareton, was his wife's 
 
1 62 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 nephew; and, in the absence of nearer kin, he ought to act as 
 its guardian ; and he ought to and must inquire how the prop- 
 erty 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 toward him." 
 
 When I reached the Heights, I explained that I had come to 
 see every thing 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 in- 
 terval, 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, 
 
 "Awd rather he'd goan hisseln fur t'doctor! Aw sud uh 
 taen tent uh t'maister 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 any thing, it expressed a flinty grat- 
 ification at a piece of difficult workj successfully executed. I 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 1(53 
 
 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 pre- 
 vious to following with Hareton he lifted the unfortunate child 
 upon 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 V 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 sub- 
 stance, 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 gentle- 
 man in the neighborhood, 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 advantage 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 ill- 
 nesses, which she had to experience in common with all chil- 
 dren, 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, betore the heath 
 blossomed a second time over Mrs. Linton's dust. She was 
 the most winning thing that ever brought sunshine into a deso- 
 late house — a real beauty in face — with the Earashaws' hand- 
 some 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 af- 
 fections. 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 al- 
 ways, " 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 learned rapidly and eagerly, and did 
 honor 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 165 
 
 Sometimes, indeed, while surveying the country from her nurs- 
 ery 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 V 
 
 "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 V 1 she once asked. 
 
 The abrupt descent of Penistone Crags 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 stunt- 
 ed tree. 
 
 " And why are they bright so long after it is evening here V 
 she pursued. 
 
 " Because they are a great deal higher up than we are," re- 
 plied 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 hol- 
 low on the northeast side." 
 
 " Oh, you have been on them !" she cried, gleefully. " Then 
 I can go, too, when I am a woman. Has papa been, Ellen V 
 
 " 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 Thrushcross park is the 
 finest place in the world." 
 
 " But I know the park, and I don't know those," she mur- 
 mured to herself. "And I should delight to look round me, 
 from the brow of that tallest point. My little pony, Minny, shall 
 take me some time." 
 
 One of the maids mentioning the fairy cave, quite turned 
 her head with a desire to fulfill 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 Crags V was the 
 constant question in her mouth. 
 
 The road thither wound close by Wuthering Heights. Ed- 
 gar had not the heart to pass it ; so she received as constantly 
 the answer — 
 
166 WUTHEEING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " Not yet, love, not yet." 
 
 I said Mrs. Heathcliff lived about 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 cer- 
 tain ; I conjecture they died of the same thing, a kind of fever, 
 slow at its commencement, but incurable, and rapidly consuming 
 life toward 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 her 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 re- 
 quest ; reluctant as he was to leave home at ordinary calls, he 
 flew to answer this ; commending Catherine to my peculiar vig- 
 ilance in his absence, with reiterated orders that she must not 
 wander out of the park, even under my escort ; he did not cal- 
 culate 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 play- 
 ing ; 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 re- 
 turned. 
 
 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 j and I must give her plenty of provisions for her- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 167 
 
 self 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 aa 
 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 
 traveler, 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 dispatched emissaries 
 down this path, and that path, and, at last, went wandering in 
 search of her myself. 
 
 There was a laborer working at a fence round a plantation, 
 on the borders of the grounds. I inquired 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 leaped her galloway over 
 the hedge yonder, where it is lowest, and galloped out ot 
 sight." 
 
 You may guess how I felt at hearing this news. It struck 
 me directly she must have started for Penistone Crags. 
 . " What will become of her V 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 Crags lie about a mile and a half beyond Mr. Heath- 
 cliff'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 V* 
 
 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 mis : 
 
168 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 tress ! 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 f° 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 suc- 
 cession 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, gayly, 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 1" 
 
 " Put that hat on, and home at once," said I. " I'm dread- 
 fully 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 1" 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 ribbon. 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 for- 
 ward, afeard you should be uneasy. But Hareton offered to 
 
WUTIIERING HEIGHTS. 169 
 
 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 1 ?" I continued, disregarding the 
 woman's interference. " It will be dark in ten minutes. Where 
 is the pony, Miss Cathy % And where is Phoenix 1 ? I shall 
 leave you, unless you be quick — so please yourself;" 
 
 " The pony is in the yard," she replied, " and Phoenix 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 per- 
 ceiving that the people of the house took her part, she com- 
 menced capering round the room ; and, on my giving chase, ran 
 like a mouse, over and under and behind the furniture, render- 
 ing 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 1" she asked. 
 
 He colored deeper, with a different feeling, muttered an oath, 
 and turned away. 
 
 " Who is his master t" 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 V 
 
 Hareton grew black as a thunder-cloud, at this childish speech. 
 I silently shook my questioner, and at last succeeded in equip- 
 ping her for departure. 
 
 " Now get my horse," she said, addressing her unknown kins- 
 man as she would one of the stable-boys at the Grange. " And 
 you may come with me. I want to see where the goblin hun- 
 ter 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." 
 
 H 
 
170 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " I'll see thee damned, before I be thy servant !" growled the 
 
 lad ' 
 
 "You'll see me whatV asked Catherine in surprise. 
 
 " Damned, thou saucy witch !" he replied. 
 
 " There, Miss Cathy ! you see you have got into pretty com- 
 pany," 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 be gone." 
 
 " But, Ellen," cried she, staring, fixed in astonishment. " How 
 dare he speak so to me 1 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 ex- 
 claimed, turning to the woman, " and let my dog free this mo- 
 ment!" 
 
 " Softly, Miss," answered the addressed. " You'll lose noth- 
 ing by being civil. Though Mr. Hareton, there, be not the mas- 
 ter'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, gather- 
 ing 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 Lin- 
 ton's approaching arrival, communicated by the former, being 
 reported to Mr. Heath cliff; and feeling as confident that Cath- 
 erine'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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 171 
 
 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 be- 
 fitting his daily occupations of working on a 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 wilder- 
 ness of weeds, to be sure, whose rankness far overtopped their 
 neglected growth ; yet, notwithstanding, evidence of a wealthy 
 soil that might yield luxuriant crops, under other and favorable 
 circumstances. Mr. HeathclifT, 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 male- 
 volence 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 toward virtue, or guarded by a 
 single precept against vice. And from what I heard, Joseph 
 contributed much to his deterioration by a narrow-minded par- 
 tiality, 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 Heath- 
 cliff, 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 prop- 
 erty. 
 
 If the lad swore, he would'nt correct him, nor however cul- 
 pably 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 con- 
 solation 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 ; 
 
172 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 and he confined his feelings, *. arding him to muttered inuen- 
 does 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 Phoenix. They came, limping and 
 hanging their heads ; and we set out 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 favored with a 
 description of the interesting objects she saw. I could gather, 
 however, that her guide had been a favorite, till she hurt his 
 feelings by addressing him as a servant, and Heathcliff 's house- 
 keeper hurt hers, by calling him her cousin. Then the lan- 
 guage he had held to her rankled in her heart ; she who was 
 always " love," and " darling," and " queen," and " angel," 
 with every body 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 173 
 
 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 mas- 
 ter's return. Isabella was dead; and he wrote to bid me get 
 mourning for his daughter, and arrange a room, and other ac- 
 commodations, 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 1 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 stanchly : and, at length, her suspense was ended : 
 
174 W U T H E It I N G HEIGHTS. 
 
 the traveling 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 comer, wrapped in a warm, fur- 
 lined cloak, as if it had been winter. A pale, delicate, effemi- 
 nate 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, ad- 
 vised 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 ex- 
 pect 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 f" 
 
 "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 traveling 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 car- 
 ried a footstool and her cup to his side. At first he 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 watch- 
 ing them a minute. " Very well, if we can keep him, Ellen. 
 The company of a child of his own age will instill 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 mis- 
 givings came over me that there was slight hope of that. And 
 then, I thought, how will that weakling ever live at Wuthering 
 Heights, between his father and Hareton 1 what playmates and 
 instructors they'll be. 
 
 Our doubts were presently decided ; even earlier than I ex- 
 pected. 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 in- 
 formed 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 sour- 
 est face ; and holding his hat in one hand, and his stick in the 
 other, he proceeded to clean his shoes on the mat. 
 
1 76 WUTHEE I N G HEIGHT S. 
 
 " Good evening, Joseph," I said, coldly. " What business 
 brings you here to-night V 
 
 " It's Maister Linton aw mun spake tull," he answered wav- 
 ing me disdainfully aside. 
 
 " Mr. Linton is going to bed ; unless you have something par- 
 ticular to say, I'm sure he wont hear it now," I continued. 
 " You had better sit down there and intrust your message to me." 
 
 " Which is his rahm V 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 unsea- 
 sonable 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 he anticipated opposition, 
 
 " Heathcliff has sent me for his lad, un aw mun'n't goa back 
 'baht him." 
 
 Edgar Linton was silent a minute ; an expression of exceed- 
 ing 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 
 aim 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 — Heathcliff maks noa 'cahnt uh t' mother, nur yah norther 
 — bud he'll hev his lad ; und aw mun tak 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 — " 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 1 77 
 
 And, aiding the indignant elder with a lift by the arm, he rid 
 the room of him and closed the door. 
 
 . " Varrah weel!" shouted Joseph, as he slowly drew off 
 " Tuh morn, he's come hisseln, un' 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 can not 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 traveling : but I softened off the matter by stating that 
 he was going to spend some time with his father, Mr. Heath- 
 cliff, 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 V' he cried, in strange perplexity. " Mamma 
 never told me I had a father. Where does he live 1 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 V asked Linton ; 
 *' why didn't mamma and he live together as other people do V 
 
 " 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 1" perse- 
 vered the child. " She often talked of uncle, and T learned to 
 
178 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 men- 
 tioned 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 V 9 
 
 " 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 toward 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, 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 in- 
 habitants, with greater interest and liveliness. 
 
 " Is Wuthering Heights as pleasant a place as Thrushcross 
 Grange ?" he inquired, turning to take a last glance into the 
 valley, whence a light mist mounted, and formed fleecy clouds, 
 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 respect- 
 able house, the next best in the neighborhood. 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." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 179 
 
 " And what is my father like V* he asked. " Is he as young 
 and handsome as uncle 1" 
 
 " 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 V 
 
 " 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 mamma 
 and me," he murmured. " Has he ever seen met 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 gar- 
 den gate. I watched to catch his impressions in his counte- 
 nance. He surveyed the caived front, and low-browed lattices, 
 the straggling gooseberry bushes, and crooked firs, with solemn 
 intentness, and then shook his head ; his private feelings entire- 
 ly 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 
 
180 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 myself. You've brought it, have you 1 Let us see what we 
 can make of it." 
 
 He got up and strode to the door : Hareton and Joseph fol- 
 lowed 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, maister, an' yon's his lass !" 
 
 Heathcliff having stared his son into an ague of confusion, ut- 
 terred 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 en- 
 ter.. He dicl not thoroughly comprehend the meaning of his fa- 
 ther'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 drag- 
 ging 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 1 Thou art thy 
 mother's child, entirely ! Where is my share in thee, puling 
 chicken?" 
 
 He took off the boy's cap and brushed 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 V* asked Heathcliff, having satisfied him- 
 self 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 V' 
 
 " 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 color 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 181 
 
 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, laugh- 
 ing. " 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, be- 
 gone to your work. Yes, Nell," he added when they were de- 
 parted, " 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 ?ny de- 
 scendant fairly lord of their estates — my child hiring their chil- 
 dren to till their fathers' lands for wages. That is the sole con- 
 sideration 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 en- 
 gaged a tutor, also, to come three times a week from twenty 
 miles distance, to teach him what he pleases to learn. I've or- 
 dered Hareton to obey him ; and, in fact, I've arranged every 
 thing 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 disap- 
 pointed 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 mas- 
 ter's scorn of the child, though he was compelled to retain the 
 sentiment in his heart, because Heathcliff plainly meant his un- 
 derlings to hold him in honor. 
 
 " Cannut 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 eneugh fur him's gooid eneugh fur yah, 
 aw's rayther think !" 
 
 "I shan't eat it!" answered Linton, snappishly. " Take it 
 away." 
 
182 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 Joseph snatched up the food indignantly, and brought it 
 to us. 
 
 " Is there owt ails th' victuals V 9 . he asked, thrusting the tray 
 under Heathcliff's nose. 
 
 " What should ail them V 1 he said. 
 
 " "Wah !" answered Joseph, " yon dainty chap says he cannut 
 ate 'em. Bud aw guess it's raight. His mother wer just soa — 
 we wer a'most too mucky tuh sow th' corn fur 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 V 
 
 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 humor has taken." 
 
 Having no excuse for lingering longer, I slipped out, while 
 Linton was engaged in timidly rebuffing the advances of a friend- 
 ly 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 183 
 
 again his features had waxed so dim in her memory that she did 
 not recognize 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 ; Lin- 
 ton learned his lessons, and spent his evenings in a small apart- 
 ment they called the parlor ; 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 
 parlor, 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 with 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 
 
184 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 he ever came into the village 1 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 
 afterward. The 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 invari- 
 ably 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 grayhound ; 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 cloudlesss pleas- 
 ure. 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." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 185 
 
 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 fact of plundering, or, at least, 
 hunting out the nests of the grouse. The Heights were Heath- 
 cliff'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, express- 
 ing his acquaintance with the party, and, consequently, his ma- 
 levolence toward 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 V f 
 
 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 1 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, ac- 
 cede 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 
 
186 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 guess where he lives — at the farmhouse I visited in coming from 
 Penistone Crags. Don't you V* 
 
 " I do. Come, Nelly, hold your tongue — it will be a treat 
 for her to look in on us. Hareton, get forward 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 roadside, 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 bet- 
 ter 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 1 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 uncer- 
 tain, 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 187 
 
 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 V asked Mr. Heath cliff, turning to Cathy. 
 "Can you tell T' 
 
 " 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 1" 
 
 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 spark- 
 ling 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, divid- 
 ing 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 neighbors, and never see us, is 
 odd ; what have you done so for % n 
 
 " 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 
 
188 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 future — may I, uncle — and sometimes bring papa 1 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 toward the young 
 lady. " Now I think of it, I'd better tell you. Mr. Linton has 
 a prejudice against me; we quarreled 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 Heath- 
 eliif, " and was grieved that I got her — his pride was hurt, and 
 he'll never forgive it." 
 
 "That's wrong!" said the young lady: "sometime 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 toward his son a glance of bitter con- 
 tempt. 
 
 " I am afraid, Nelly, I shall lose my labor," 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 1 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, any where about ; 
 not even a rabbit, or a weasel's nest 1 Take her into the gar- 
 den, 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 189 
 
 " 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 V 
 
 " Yes," he replied, " your mother's nephew. Don't you like 
 him]" 
 
 Catherine looked queer. 
 
 " Is he not a handsome lad V 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 favorite among us, Hareton ! She says you 
 are a — what was it % Well, something very nattering. Here ! 
 you go with her round the farm. And behave like a gentle- 
 man, 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, ex- 
 pressing small admiration. She then turned her attention to 
 seeking out objects of amusement for herself, and tripped mer- 
 rily on, lilting a tune to supply the lack of conversation. 
 
 " I've tied his tongue," observed Heathcliff. " He'll not 
 tenture 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 V 
 
 " 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 
 
190 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 every thing 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 unavail- 
 ing. 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 uneasi- 
 ness : 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 toward h?s cap. 
 
 " Get up, you idle boy !" he exclaimed with assumed hearti- 
 ness. " 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 in- 
 quiring 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 can not 
 read it." 
 
 * Can't read it '?" cried Catherine, " I can read it — it's En- 
 glish — but I want to know why it is there." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 191 
 
 Linton giggled — the first appearance of mirth he had ex- 
 hibited. 
 
 " He does not know his letters," he said to his cousin. " Could 
 you believe in the existence of such a colossal dunce V 
 
 "Is he all as he should be T' asked Miss Cathy seriously, 
 " or is he simple — not right V I've questioned him twice now, 
 and each time he looked so stupid, I think he does not under- 
 stand me ; I can hardly understand Mm I'm sure. 
 
 Linton repeated his laugh, and glanced at Hareton taunt- 
 ingly, who certainly did not seem quite clear of comprehension 
 at that moment. 
 
 " There's nothing the matter but laziness, is there, Earn- 
 shaw i" he said. " My cousin fancies you are an idiot. There 
 you experience the consequence of scorning ' book laming,' as 
 you would say. Have you noticed, Catherine, his frightful 
 Yorkshire pronunciation V 
 
 "Why, where the devil is the use on't I" 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 V 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 wern'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 burned with mingled rage and 
 mortification ; for he was conscious of being insulted, and em- 
 barrassed how to resent it. 
 
 Mr. Heathcliff, having overheard the conversation, as well as 
 I, smiled when he saw him go, but immediately afterward 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 stayed 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. 
 
192 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 quarreling with him." 
 
 And so she ran on, till I dropped endeavoring to convince her 
 of her mistake. She did not mention the visit that night, be- 
 cause 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 1 
 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 conse- 
 quences ; and my master, though he cast more than one re- 
 proachful 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 neighborhood from her 1 ? 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 V 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, with- 
 out 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 precautious that you should not see Linton again. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 193 
 
 I meant to explain this, some time, as you grew older, and I'm 
 sorry I delayed it !" 
 
 " But 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 quarreled 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 con- 
 stant, 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 ; and deliberately 
 prosecute its plans, without a visitation of remorse. She ap- 
 peared 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 contra- 
 riety. You never had one shadow of substantial sorrow, Miss 
 Catherine. Suppose, for a minute, that master and I were dead, 
 
 I 
 
194 W U T II E R I N G HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 covet- 
 ing more." 
 
 " I'm not crying for myself, Ellen," she answered, " it's for 
 him. He expected to see me again to-morrow, and then 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 can not 
 come 1 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 V 
 
 " 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 % your 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'll 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 the hand, and a petulant " cross thing !" I then quitted 
 her again, and she drew the bolt in one of her worst, most 
 peevish humors. 
 
 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 recov- 
 ered her temper, though she grew wondrous fond of stealing off 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 195 
 
 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 stick- 
 ing 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 
 playthings 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 dis- 
 cover 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 
 ardor and flatness ; commencing in strong feeling, and conclud- 
 ing in the affected, wordy way that a schooi-boy might use to a 
 fancied, incorporeal sweetheart. Whether they satisfied Cathy, 
 T 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 some- 
 thing out. I went round by the garden, and laid wait for the 
 messenger ; who fought valorously to defend his trust, and we 
 spilled the milk between us ; but I succeeded in abstracting the 
 epistle ; and threatening serious consequences if he did not look 
 
196 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 ram 
 bling 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 brimful of chirping young ones, express more com- 
 plete 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 1 Have you hurt yourself 1" 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 imme- 
 diately, dropping on her knees, when we were inclosed alone. 
 " Oh, 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 bun- 
 dle 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 ridicu- 
 lous secrets. For shame ! And you must have led the way in 
 writing such absurdities ; he would not have thought of begin- 
 ning, 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 any body ever hear the like ! I might just as 
 well talk of loving the miller who comes once a year to buy our 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 197 
 
 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 any thing 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 over- 
 coming her shame. 
 
 " Nor any thing 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 the 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 mo- 
 tioned me to finish the immolation. It was done ; I stirred up 
 the ashes, and interred them under a shovelful 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 jnarvelously subdued in outward aspect. 
 
 Next morning I answered the letter by a slip of paper in- 
 
198 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 scribed, "Master Heathcliffis requested to send no more notes 
 to Miss Linton, as she will not receive them." And, thence- 
 forth 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 hap- 
 pening to be chill and damp, my master caught a bad cold, that, 
 settling obstinately on his lungs, confined him indoors through- 
 out 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 Jess 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 gray 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 um- 
 brella 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 melan- 
 choly 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 199 
 
 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 tenure ; 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 V 
 
 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 r 
 
 " 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 slow, 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 V 1 I asked, approach- 
 ing and putting my arm over her shoulder. " You must'nt 
 cry because papa has a cold ; be thankful that 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. 
 
200 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 How life will be changed, how dreary the world will be, when 
 papa and you are dead !" 
 
 " None can tell whether you won't 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 V 
 
 " 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 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 anx- 
 iety on any subject — mind that, Cathy ! I'll not disguise but 
 you might kill him, if you were wild and reckless, and cherish- 
 ed 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," answer- 
 ed 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 my- 
 self." 
 
 " G-ood 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 201 
 
 her be cautious lest she got a fall, and she nimbly disap- 
 peared. 
 
 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 exclaim- 
 ing— 
 
 " 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 ap- 
 plied 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 V cried a deep voice (the rider's). " I'm 
 glad to meet you. Don't be in haste to enter, for I have an ex- 
 planation to ask and obtain." 
 
 " I shan't 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 1 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 figura- 
 tively, but actually. Though Hareton has made him a standing 
 jest for six weeks, and I have used more serious measures, and 
 
 i* 
 
202 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 1 Miss Cathy, I'll knock the lock 
 off with a stone. You won't 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 V And in- 
 vent bugbear stories to terrify her from my door-stones 1 Cath- 
 erine 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 won't 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 that 
 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 can not 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 203 
 
 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 
 Heath cliff, as we stretched toward home ; but I divined instinct- 
 ively that Catherine's heart was clouded now in double dark- 
 ness. 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 t 
 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 afterward 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 sup- 
 posed me absorbed in my occupation, she recommenced her 
 silent weeping : it appeared, at present, her favorite 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 cre- 
 dulity 1 We parted that night hostile ; but next day beheld me 
 on the road to Wuthering Heights, by the side of my willful 
 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 humor suited for making the most of 
 these disagreeable things. We entered the farmhouse by the 
 
204 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 kitchen way, to ascertain whether Mr. Heathcliff were really 
 absent, because I put slight faith in his own affirmation. 
 
 Joseph seemed sitting alone, in a sort of elysium, 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 1 My question remained so long unan- 
 swered, that I thought the old man had grown deaf, and I re- 
 peated it louder. 
 
 " Na — ay !" he snarled, or rather screamed through his nose. 
 " Na — ay ! yah muh goa back whear yah coom frough.'* 
 
 " Joseph," cried a peevish voice, simultaneously with me, from 
 the inner room, " how often am 1 to call you 1 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 at- 
 tendant. 
 
 He stopped on observing his error ; his cousin flew to him. 
 " Is that you, Miss Linton V 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 1 — 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 scuttleful 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 anv 
 good?" * 
 
 '* Why didn't you come before V* 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 any thing else. I wonder where Zillah 
 is ! Will you (looking at me) step into the kitchen and see 1" 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 205 
 
 I had received no thanks for my other service ; and being un- 
 willing 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 Grimmerton 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 V 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 1 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, hav- 
 ing swallowed a small portion, appeared more tranquil, and said 
 she was very kind. 
 
 " And are you glad to see me V asked she, reiterating her 
 *brmer 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 1 No ! Next to papa, and Ellen, 
 I love you better than any body living. I don't love Mr. Heath- 
 cliff, though ; and I dare not come when he returns ; will he stay 
 away many days 1" 
 
 " Not many :■" answered Linton, but he goes to 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 V 
 
 " 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 V' ob- 
 served he more cheerfully. " But papa says you would love me 
 
206 W U T H E R I N G HEIGHT S. 
 
 better than him and all the world, if you were my wife — so I'd 
 rather you were that !" 
 
 "No! I should never love any body 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 endeavored to stop her thoughtless 
 tongue. I couldn't succeed, till every thing she knew was out. 
 Master Heathcliff, much irritated, asserted her relation was false. 
 
 " Papa told me ; and papa does not tell falsehoods !" she an- 
 swered, 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 contra- 
 dict 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 leaned his head down, silently. Cathe- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 207 
 
 rine quelled her lamentations also, took a seat opposite, and 
 looked solemnly into the fire. 
 
 " How do you feel now, Master HeathclhT," 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. 
 
 "J 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 inflections 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 be- 
 gan 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 V 
 
 " You can't alter what you've done ?" he replied pettishly, 
 shrinking from her, " unless you alter it for the worse, by teas- 
 ing me into a fever !" 
 
 " Well, then I must go V she repeated. 
 
 " Let me alone, at least," said he ; "I can't bear your talk 
 ing!" 
 
 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 upon 
 the hearthstone, and lay writhing in the mere perverseness of an 
 
208 WUTH BRING HEIGHTS. 
 
 indulged plague of a child, determined to be as grievous and 
 harassing as it can. I thoroughly gauged his disposition from 
 his behavior, and saw at once it would be folly to attempt hu- 
 moring 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 upon the settle," I said, "and he may loll 
 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 at- 
 tachment 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 V 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 can not remain five minutes longer." 
 
 " Yes, yes, we can !" replied Cathy. " He's good and pa- 
 tient, 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, ex- 
 tremely ! I was not as ill when you entered as I am at present 
 —was 1 V 
 
 " But you've made yourself ill by crying, and being in a pas- 
 sion." 
 
 " 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 set- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 209 
 
 tie, 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 V* 
 asked young Heathcliff, holding her frock, as she rose reluc- 
 tantly. 
 
 " 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 V 
 
 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 V' 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. 
 
210 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " He's younger than I," she answered, after a protracied 
 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 V' 
 
 " Well, well," I cried, " after all, we needn't trouble our- 
 selves ; 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 inti- 
 macy 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, leav- 
 ing me to toil in the rear. 
 
 We both reached home before our dinner-time; my mas- 
 ter 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 
 bedside. 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 be- 
 tween us ; but the master retired early, and I generally needed 
 nothing after six o'clock, thus her 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 color 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 tho 
 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 sit- 
 ting 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 fan- 
 cied ; 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 favorites, and got forward stead- 
 ily about an hour ; then came frequent questions. 
 
 " Ellen, are you not 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 disrelish for her occupation. It changed to yawn- 
 ing, 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 over- 
 done 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 she complained of a head-ache, and left me. I thought 
 her conduct odd ; and having remained alone a long while, I 
 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 
 
212 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 reap- 
 peared, 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 toward 
 the stable. Cathy entered by the casement window of the draw- 
 ing-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 my- 
 self. The surprise petrified her an instant ; she uttered an in- 
 articulate 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 at this hour % And now why should you try to de- 
 ceive me, by telling a tale. Where have you been 1 Speak !" 
 
 " To the bottom of the park," she stammered. " I didn't tell 
 a tale." 
 
 " And nowhere else V 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 un- 
 truth 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 your being angry," she said. 
 " Promise not to be angry, and you shall know the very truth. 
 I hate to hide." 
 
 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 pic- 
 tures 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 galloped home. It was not to amuse myself 
 that I went; I was often wretched all the time. Now and then, 
 1 was happy, once in a week perhaps. At first, I expected 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 213 
 
 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 staid 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-meet- 
 ing, and Hareton was off with his dogs, robbing our woods of 
 pheasants, as I heard afterward, we might do what we liked. 
 
 " She brought me some warm wine and gingerbread ; and ap- 
 peared 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 quarreling. 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 ecstacy 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. 
 
214 WUTHERING HEIGHTS, 
 
 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 Tasked 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 
 at 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 recov- 
 ered his good humor ; 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 
 dreamed 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 awk- 
 wardness and elation : 
 
 " * Miss Catherine ! I can read yon, nab.' 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 215 
 
 " '■ Wonderful,' I exclaimed. i Pray let us hear you — you 
 are grown clever !' 
 
 " He spelled, and drawled over by syllables, the name — 
 
 " ' Hareton Earnshaw.' 
 
 "'And the figures]' I cried, encouragingly, perceiving that 
 he came to a dead halt. 
 
 '■ ' I can not 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 sud- 
 denly 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 
 marvelously 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 remem- 
 bered that Hareton was your cousin, as much as Master Heath- 
 cliff, 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 cir- 
 cumstances, 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 V 9 she ex- 
 claimed, 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/ 
 
216 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " 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 inarticu- 
 late with passion, and his face looked swelled and furious. 
 4 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 sarve ye eht ! He's a grand lad ! He's 
 getten t'raight sperrit in him ! He knaws — aye, he knaws as 
 weel as aw do, who sud be t'maister yonder. Ech, ech, ech ! 
 He mad ye skift properly ! Ech, ech, ech !' 
 
 " ' Where must we go V 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 
 alias summut uh orther side in us. Niver heed, Hareton, lad — 
 dunnut be 'feard — he can not 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 tenor, and called for Zillah 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 217 
 
 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 sich 
 stuff,' and asked me whether I were ' bahn to be as mad as 
 him]' 
 
 " I stood crying, till the housekeeper re-appeared ; she affirm- 
 ed 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 he should be put in prison and hanged, he commenced 
 blubbering himself, and hurried out to hide his cowardly agita- 
 tion. Still I was not rid of him. When at length they com- 
 pelled 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 rayther 
 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 galloped 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, uuobserved. However, the 
 
 K 
 
218 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 dogs gave notice of my approach ; Zillah received me, and say- 
 ing, ■ 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 uttei 
 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 any thing about him, that my resolution 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 parlor. 
 
 "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 mean- 
 ing 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 good bye ; 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. 
 4 You are so much happier than 1 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 every body ! I am worth- 
 less, 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 an- 
 noyance. Only, Catherine, do me this justice ; believe that if I 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 219 
 
 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 can not 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 parlor, 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 resent- 
 ment 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 1 
 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 
 
220 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 acknowledge to me. In the morning, Catherine learned my 
 betrayal of her confidence, and she learned also that her secret 
 visits were to end. 
 
 In vain she wept and writhed against the interdict ; and im- 
 plored 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. — 
 Jiardly 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 con- 
 tented, 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 fire- 
 place] and why — 
 
 " Stop, my good fiiend !" 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 tempta- 
 tion ; 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 afterward, 
 
 " I wish my nephew would write, Ellen, or call. Tell me, 
 sincerely, what do you think of him ; is he changed for the better, 
 or is there a prospect of improvement, as he grows a man V* 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 221 
 
 " 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 to- 
 ward 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 bride- 
 groom, 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 1 I'd not care one moment for Linton being Heath- 
 cliff'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 can 
 not 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 re- 
 sign 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 willfully 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 con- 
 valescence ; and then his cheek was often flushed, and his eyes 
 were bright ; she felt sure of his recovering. 
 
222 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 V 
 
 " No, I'll defer it, this year, a little longer," he answered. 
 
 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. Heath- 
 cliff objected to his calling at the Grange ; but his uncle's kind 
 remembrance delighted him, and he hoped to meet him some- 
 times 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 toward the Heights ; and let us exchange a 
 few words in your presence 4 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 any where 
 you please, except at Thrushcross Grange. I believe an inter- 
 view 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 to 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 Hue that my master sent being 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 223 
 
 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 him- 
 self; nor had any one, I believe ; no doctor visited the Heights, 
 and no one saw Master Heathcliff, to make report of his con- 
 dition 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 afterward learned 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 meet- 
 ing had been fixed at the guide-stone, by the cross-roads. On 
 arriving there, however, a little herd-boy, dispatched as a mes- 
 senger, told us that — 
 
224 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " Maister Linton wer just ut this side th' Heights, and he'd be 
 mitch obleeged 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 toward 
 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 ram- 
 Die 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 1 
 
 " 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 trans- 
 forming to haggard wildness the languid expression they once 
 
 " 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 1 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 con- 
 versation. 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 in- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 225 
 
 definite 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-humored 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 fear- 
 fully toward 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 can not 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 diver- 
 sions 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 V' 
 
 " I'll tell him that you say so, Linton. I couldn't affirm that 
 you are," observed my young lady, wondering at his pertina- 
 cious 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 sad 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. " Dorit provoke 
 him against me, Catherine, for he is very hard." 
 
 "Is he severe to you, Master He ath cliff V 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 
 
226 W U T H E R 1 N G HEIGHTS. 
 
 her seat by his side another ten minutes, during which his head 
 fell drowsily on his breast, and he uttered nothing except sup- 
 pressed 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 were mighty eager to set 
 oft", but your longing to see poor Linton has soon evaporated." 
 
 ft Why did he wish to see me V r returned Catherine. " In 
 his crossest humors, 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 V 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 any one had called his name. 
 
 "No," said Catherine; "unless in dreams. I can not con- 
 ceive how you manage to doze, 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 V 
 
 " 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 i 
 
 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. 
 
W U T II E R I N G HEIGHTS. 227 
 
 " For to-day we must part," she said. " And I won't con- 
 ceal 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. " Good bye. 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 neph- 
 ew's offering of thanks was duly delivered, Miss Cathy gently 
 touching on the rest : I also threw little light 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 de- 
 luded, 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 the chamber, had become her whole world. She 
 grudged each moment that did not find her bending over his 
 
228 WUTHEItING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 in- 
 dications of his defective character. And I, through pardon- 
 able weakness, refrained from correcting the error ; asking my- 
 self 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 after- 
 noon of August — every breath from the hills so full of life, that it 
 seemed whoever respired it, though dying, might revive. Cath- 
 erine's face was just like the landscape — shadows and sunshine 
 flitting over it in rapid succession ; but the shadows rested long- 
 er 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 se- 
 lected 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 i but I dissented, I 
 wouldn't risk losing sight of the charge committed to me a min- 
 ute ; 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 1 I thought you wouldn't come." 
 
 " Why won't you be candid V cried Catherine, swallowing 
 her greeting. " Why can not 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 enigmatical behavior. 
 
 " 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 prom- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 229 
 
 ise, when you wished I wouldn't keep it 1 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 ; any body 
 will have it spontaneously at your service. Get off! I shall re- 
 turn home — it is folly dragging you from the hearth-stone, 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 con- 
 vulsed with exquisite terror. 
 
 " Oh !" he sobbed, " I can not 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 1 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 1 You wouldn't let any enemy hurt me, if 
 you could prevent it 1 I'll believe your are a coward, for your- 
 self, 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 !" 
 
230 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 Her magnanimity provoked his tears ; he wept wildly; kiss- 
 ing 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 any one 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 toward my companions, 
 though they were sufficiently near for Linton's sobs to be audi- 
 ble ; but hailing me, in the almost hearty tone he assumed to 
 none besides, and the sincerity of which I couldn't avoid doubt- 
 ing, he said, 
 
 " It is something to see you so near to my house, Nelly ! 
 How are you at the Grange ] Let us hear ! The rumor 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 1" 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 deter- 
 mined 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 1 ? I did give him some lessons about snivelling. Is he- 
 pretty lively with Miss Linton generally V 
 
 " Lively ] no — he has shown the greatest distress ;" I answer- 
 ed. " 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 toward him, I sup- 
 pose; there was nothing else to produce such humiliation. He 
 made several efforts to obey, but his little strength was anni- 
 hilated, for the time, and he fell back again with a moan. Mr. 
 Heathcliff advanced, and lifted him to lean against a ridge of 
 turf. 
 
WUTHER1NG HEIGHTS. 231 
 
 " 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 Wuth- 
 ering 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 con- 
 cerning 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 t" 
 
 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, pow- 
 erless under its gripe, and any addition seemed capable of 
 shocking him into idiocy. We reached the threshold ; Cathe- 
 rine 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. 
 
232 WUTHER1NG HEIGHTS. 
 
 "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 any 
 thing 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 him- 
 self, 
 
 " 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. 
 
 " Grive 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 recalled 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 233 
 
 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 leaned against the table perfectly bewil- 
 dered. 
 
 " I know how to chastise children, you see," said the scoun- 
 drel, 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, con- 
 gratulating himself, I dare say, that the correction had lighted 
 on another than him. 
 
 Mr. Heath cliff, perceiving us all confounded, rose, and ex- 
 peditiously 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 imprison- 
 ed, " 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," 
 
234 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 he answered. " Mrs. Dean, go away. I don't like you stand- 
 ing over me. Now, Catherine, you are letting your tears fall 
 into my cap !" I won't 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 V I exclaimed. 
 44 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 any body, 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. 
 
 44 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 !" 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 235 
 
 The mortal terror he felt of Mr. HeathclifFs anger, restored 
 to the boy his coward's eloquence. Catherine was near dis- 
 traught — 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, Lin- 
 ton ! sniveling again 1 What has she been doiifg 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 vig- 
 orous hand — you're pining for pure love, are you not ? nothing 
 else in the world — and she shall have you ! There, to bed ! 
 Zillah won't 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 toler- 
 ably. 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 neighbor- 
 hood revived a painful sensation. Any body 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 1 Your courage is well dis- 
 guised — 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 clamor ! 
 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- 
 
236 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 many me now. Poor papa ! 
 Ellen, he'll think we're lost. What shall we do f 
 
 " Not he ! He'll think you are tired of waiting on him, and 
 run off for a little amusement," answered Heathcliff. " You 
 can not 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 under- 
 take 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 oppor- 
 tunity of judging!" 
 
 "I'll not retract my word," said Catherine. "I'll marry 
 him, within this hour, if I may go to Thrushcross Grange after- 
 ward. Mr. Heathcliff, you're a cruel man, but you're not a 
 fiend ; and you won't, 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 237 
 
 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 any body, in 
 all your life, uncle ] never ? Ah ! you must look once — I'm so 
 wretched — you can't help being sorry and pitying me." 
 
 11 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 tor- 
 rent 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 gar- 
 den 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 I" 
 
 "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, 
 
238 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 1 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 Heath- 
 cliff's. 
 
 "I've brought you something fo 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 inclosed 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 Hare- 
 ton, once every morning ; and he was a model of a jailer — surly, 
 and dumb, and deaf to every attempt at moving his sense of jus- 
 tice or compassion 
 
 CHAPTER XXVIII. 
 
 On the fifth morning, or rather afternoon, a different step ap- 
 proached—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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 239 
 
 " 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 1 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 1" 
 
 " 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 V 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 rumor. 
 
 M 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 V I gasped. " Oh ! Zillah, Zillah !" 
 
 " No, no — -sit you down, my good mistress," she replied, 
 " you're right sickly yet. He's not dead : Doctor 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. 
 
240 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " Where is Miss Catherine V I demanded sternly, supposing 
 I could frighten him into giving intelligence, by catching him 
 thus alone. 
 
 He sucked like an innocent. 
 
 " Is she gone 1" I said. 
 
 "No," he replied; "she's up-stairs — she's not to go; we 
 won't 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 Cath- 
 erine — 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 Cath- 
 erine's kindness to you, last winter, whtm 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 V' 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, al- 
 most, 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 
 
WUTIIERINQ HEIGHTS. 241 
 
 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 thein stant, he left the room ; moaning and griev- 
 ing 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 sympathize with his cous- 
 in'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 — Catherine always spoke of it 
 as her house. It isn't hers ! It's mine — papa says every thing 
 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 were you pleased to see her struck 1 ?" I asked : having 
 my designs in encouraging his talk. 
 
 "I winked," he answered. " I wink to see my father stiike 
 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 !" 
 
 t "And you can get the key if you choose!" I said. 
 
 L 
 
24f WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " Yes, when I am up-stairs," he answered, " but I can't walk 
 up-stairs now." 
 
 " In what apartment is it V 1 I asked. 
 
 "Oh," he cried, "I shan't 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 upon 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 his will had better be altered; instead 
 of leaving Catherine's fortune at her own disposal, he de- 
 termined 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 dispatched a man to fetch the 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 243 
 
 attorney, and four more, provided with serviceable weapons, to 
 demand my young lady of her jailer. Both parties were de- 
 layed 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 be- 
 fore morning. 
 
 The four men came back unaccompanied also. They brought 
 word that Catherine was ill ; too ill to quit her room: and Heath- 
 cliff would not suffer them to see her. 
 
 I scolded the stupid fellows well for listening t® 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 door-stones in trying to prevent it ! 
 
 Happily I was spared the journey and the trouble. 
 
 I had gone down stairs at three o'clock to fetch a jug of wa- 
 ter; 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 somebody 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 at- 
 torney. My sweet little mistress sprung on my neck, sobbing, 
 
 " Ellen ! Ellen ! is papa alive V 
 
 " 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 pale face, chafing it into a faint 
 color with my apron. Then I said I must go first, and tell of 
 her arrival; imploring her to say she would be happy with 
 young Heathcliff. She stared, but soon comprehending 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 out- 
 side the chamber-door a quarter of an hour, and hardly ventured 
 near the bed then. 
 
244 WUTHERINS HEIGHTS* 
 
 All was composed, however ; Catherine's despair was as sU 
 lent as her father's joy. She supported him calmly, in appear- 
 ance ; 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, ra- 
 diant gaze, till his pulse imperceptibly stopped, and his soul 
 depaited. 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 run 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 ar- 
 rival. 
 
 Mr. Green took upon himself to order every thing and every 
 body 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 Heath- 
 cliff 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 dis- 
 puting at the door, and she gathered the sense of Heathcliff's 
 answer. It drove her desperate. Linton, who had been con- 
 veyed up to the little parlor 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 245 
 
 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 to 
 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 despair- 
 ingly, on our loss ; now venturing conjectures as to the gloomy 
 future. 
 
 We had just agreed the best destiny which could await Cath- 
 erine 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 fa- 
 vorable 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 announc- 
 ing his name ; he was master, and availed himself of the mas- 
 ter'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 
 
246 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 run- 
 nings away ! Where would you go] I'm come to fetch you 
 home ; and I hope you'll be a dutiful daughter, and not encour- 
 age my son to further disobedience. I was embarrassed how 
 to punish him, when I discovered his part in the business — he's 
 sAich 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 afterward. 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 V 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 can not 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 ex- 
 pect thanks for this noble devotion. I heard him draw a pleas- 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 247 
 
 ant 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 pic- 
 tures. 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 V 
 
 " 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, 
 
248 WUTH ER| N G HEIGHT 3. 
 
 when I get there. Disturbed her % No ! she has disturbed me, 
 night and day, through eighteen years — incessantly — remorse- 
 lessly — till yesternight — and yesternight, I was tranquil. I 
 dreamed 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 dreamed 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. Be- 
 sides, unless I had received a distinct impression of her passion- 
 less features, that strange feeling would hardly have been re- 
 moved. It began oddly. You know I was wild after she died> 
 and eternally, from dawn to dawn, praying her to return to mo 
 — 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 around 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 tool-house, 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 sub- 
 stantial body in the dark, though it can not 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 
 
WUTHEE'INfi HEIGHTS. 249 
 
 every limb. I relinquished my labor of agony, and turned 
 consoled at once, unspeakably consoled. Her presence was 
 with me ; it remained while I refilled 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 Earashaw 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 
 fervor of my supplications to have but one glimpse ! I bad 
 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 re- 
 sembled catgut, they would, long ago, have relaxed to the 
 feebleness of Linton's. 
 
 " When I sat in the house w T ith 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 specter 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 counte- 
 
250 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 nance, but imparting a peculiar look of trouble, and a painful 
 appearance of mental tension toward one absorbing subject. 
 He only half addressed me, and I maintained silence — I did 
 not like to hear him talk. 
 
 After a short period, he resumed his meditation on the 
 picture, took it down, and leaned it against the sofa to con- 
 template it at better advantage ; and while so occupied Cathe- 
 rine 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 journeys 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 
 
WUTHERINO HEIGHTS. £51 
 
 business, and let his daughter-in-law look after herself, and 
 Zillah willingly acquiesced, being a narrow-minded, selfish wo- 
 man. 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 a 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 up-stairs 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 Earn- 
 shaw 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 can not tell how to do/ she said. ' 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 I 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 
 hers was to wait on Linton. Mr. Heathcliff bid me leave that 
 labor to her. 
 
 " How they managed together, I can't tell. I fancy he fret- 
 ted a °reat deal, and moaned hisseln, night and day ; and she 
 had precious little rest, one could guess by her white face and 
 heavy eye — 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, 
 
252 W U T H E K I N © HEIGHT!?. 
 
 " 'Tell Mr. Heatlicliff 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 doze. 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 mas- 
 ter 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 pro- 
 ceeded 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 : afterward he turned to her. 
 
 " ' Now — Catherine,' he said, 'how do you feel V 
 
 " She was dumb. 
 
 " ' How do you feel, Catherine V he repeated. 
 
 " 'He's safe, and I'm free/, she answered ; ' I should feel weH 
 — 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. Hare- 
 ton and Joseph, who had been wakened by the ringing, and the 
 sound of feet, and heard our talk from outside, tiow entered. 
 Joseph was fain, I believe, of the lad's removal : Hareton seem- 
 ed 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 af- 
 terward 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 bet- 
 ter, tell me.' " 
 
 Cathy stayed up stairs a fortnight, according to Zillah, who 
 visited her twice a day, and would have been rather more 
 
W U T II E R I N G HEIGHTS. 253 
 
 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 
 bad been her movable property to his father. The poor crea- 
 ture 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, can not dis- 
 turb his possession. 
 
 " Nobody," said Zillah, " ever approached her door, except 
 that once, but I ; and nobody asked any thing about her. The 
 iirst occasion of her coming down into the house was on a Sun- 
 day 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 Meth- 
 odists' 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 overlooking, and Hareton, with all his bashfulness, 
 isn't a model of nice behavior. 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 staid. 
 
 " He colored 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 — I own, I. should love well 
 to bring her pride a peg lower. And what will all her learning 
 
254 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 and all 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 humor ; so, when Catherine came, half forget- 
 ting her former insults, he tried to make himself agreeable, by 
 the housekeeper'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, Earn- 
 shaw 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, rest- 
 ing 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 j 
 she was instantly upon her feet again, stretching to reach them, 
 but they were too high up. Her cousin, after watching her en- 
 deavors 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 centered 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 1 Why 
 are you stopping there V 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 255 
 
 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 do- 
 ing 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 pretense 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 V began Earnshaw. ' How was I 
 to blame V 
 
 " ' 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 any where, rather than 
 have your disagreeable voice in my ear !' said my lady. 
 
 " Hareton muttered, she might go to hell, for him ! and un- 
 slinging 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 com- 
 pany 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 
 6ee no remedy at present, unless she could marry again ; and 
 that scheme, it does not come within my province to arrange. 
 
256 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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, 1 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 any thing odd in- 
 ner 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 particu- 
 lar notice of him this time ; but then he does his best, apparent- 
 ly, to make the least of his advantages. 
 
 I asked if Mr. Heathcliff were at home 1 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 watch-dog, 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 con- 
 tinued her employment with the same disregard to common 
 forms of politeness as before, never returning my bow and good- 
 morning by the slightest acknowledgment. 
 
 " She does not seem so amiable," I thought, " as Mrs. Bean 
 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. 
 
WUTH BRING HEIGHTS. 257 
 
 " 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 de- 
 sire a view of the garden, and, as I fancied, adroitly dropped 
 Mrs. Dean's note upon her knee, unnoticed by Hareton, but she 
 asked aloud — 
 
 " What is that 1" 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 con- 
 cerning the inmates, rational and irrational, of her former home, 
 and, gazing toward 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 leaned her pretty head back against the sill, with 
 half a yawn and half a sigh, and lapsed into an aspect of ab- 
 stracted sadness, neither caring nor knowing whether we re- 
 marked her. 
 
 " Mrs. Heathcliff," I said, after sitting some time mute, " you 
 are not aware that I am an acquaintance of yours; so intimate, 
 that 1 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 I" 
 
 " 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." 
 
255 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 "No books!" I exclaimed. "How do you contrive to live 
 here without them % if I may take the liberty to inquire. 
 Though provided with a large library, I'm frequently very dull 
 at the Grange — take my books away, and I should be des- 
 perate !" 
 
 "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 con- 
 cealed them in the bad spirit, that as you can not enjoy them, 
 nobody else shall. Perhaps your envy counseled Mr. Heath- 
 cliff to rob me of my treasures 1 But, I've most of them written 
 on my brain and printed in my heart, and you can not deprive 
 me of those!" 
 
 Earnshaw blushed crimson, when his cousin made this reve- 
 lation of his private literary accumulations, and stammered an 
 indignant denial of her accusations. 
 
 " Mr. Hareton is desirous of increasing his amount of knowl- 
 edge," I said, coming to his 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," an- 
 swered 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 dic- 
 tionary, 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 dark- 
 ness 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." 
 
W U T II BRING HEIGHTS. 259 
 
 " 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 mis-pronunciations ! 
 Those books, both prose and verse, were consecrated to me by- 
 other associations, and I hate to have them debased and pro- 
 faned in his mouth ! Besides, of all, he has selected my favorite 
 pieces that I love the most to repeat, as if out of deliberate 
 malice !" 
 
 Hareton's chest heaved in silence a minute ; he labored 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 embar- 
 rassment, took up my station in the door-way, surveying the ex- 
 ternal prospect, as I stood. He followed my example, and left 
 the room, but presently reappeared, bearing half-a-dozen 
 volumes in his hands, which he threw into Catherine's lap, ex- 
 claiming, 
 
 " 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 tri- 
 umph 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 labor 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 
 
269 W U T II E R I N G II E I6BT9. 
 
 winning him the other, his endeavors to raise himself had pro- 
 duced just the contrary result. 
 
 "Yes, that's all the good that 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-stones, Mr. Heathcliff, coming up the 
 causeway, encountered him, and laying hold of his shoulder, 
 asked, 
 ■ " What's to do now, my lad V 9 
 
 " 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, uncon- 
 scious 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 1 
 bad never remarked there before, and he looked sparer in per- 
 son. 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 twelve- 
 month 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 V he said. " But if you be coming to plead off pay- 
 ing 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 261 
 
 " 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 you 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 reappeared, bearing a tray of knives and forks. 
 
 " You may get your dinner with Joseph," muttered Heath- 
 cliff 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 misan- 
 thropists, she probably can not appreciate a better class of 
 people, when she meets them. 
 
 With Mr. Heathcliff, grim and saturnine, on one hand, and 
 Hareton absolutely dumb, on the other, 1 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 ful- 
 fill 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 atmos- 
 phere 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' ther harvest." 
 
 " Gimmerton]" I repeated, my residence in that locality had 
 already grown dim and dreamy. u Ah ! I know ! How far is 
 it from this V 
 
262 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " 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, 1 could 
 spare a day easily, to arrange matters with my landlord, and 
 thus save myself the trouble of invading the neighborhood 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 gray church 
 looked grayer, and the lonely churchyard lonelier. I distin- 
 guished a moor sheep cropping the short turf on the graves. 
 It was sweet, warm weather— too warm for traveling ; but the 
 heat did not hinder me from enjoying the delightful scenery 
 above and below ; had I seen it nearer August, I am 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 ad- 
 mittance ; 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 1 Nay !" she answered, " shoo doesn't bide 
 here ; shoo's up at th' Heights." 
 
 " Are you the housekeeper, then V I continued. 
 
 " Eea, aw keep th' hause," she replied. 
 
 "Well, I'm Mr. Lockwood, the master. Are there any 
 rooms to lodge me in 1 I wish to stay here all night." 
 
 " T' maister!" she cried in astonishment, "Whet, whoiver 
 knew yah wur coming? Yah sud ha' send word! They's 
 nowt norther dry nor mensful abaht t' place — nowt there isn'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 unwel- 
 come 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-robm 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 263 
 
 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 grate in mistake for the poker ; and un- 
 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 left the court. 
 
 " All well at the Heights V' I inquired of the woman. 
 
 " Eea, f 'r owt aw 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. HeathclifFs 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 among the fruit trees. 
 
 Both doors and lattices were open ; and yet, as is usually the 
 case in a coal district, a fine, red fire illuminated 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 sta- 
 tioned 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. 
 
 " Qou-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 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, re- 
 spectably dressed, and seated at a table, having a book before 
 
264 WITHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 besides staring at its smiling 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 unfor- 
 tunate person in his neighborhood 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 rayther, by th' haulf, hev '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 ! Oh, 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 265 
 
 shall stay," I answered. "I depart again to-morrow. And 
 how are you transplanted here, Mrs. Dean 1 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 Grimmerton this evening]" 
 
 " From the Grange," I replied ; " and, while they make me 
 lodging room there, I want to finish my business with your 
 master — 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 won't 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 learned 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 V 
 
 tl I want nothing. I have ordered supper at home. You sit 
 down too. I never dreamed 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 V 
 
 " No. I have to scold them every evening for their late ram- 
 bles ; 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, bear- 
 ing a creaming silver pint, whose contents I lauded with becom- 
 ing earnestness ; and afterward she furnished me with the sequel 
 of Heathcliff's history. He had a " queer" end, as she express- 
 ed it. 
 
 I was summoned to Wuthering Heights within a fortnight of 
 your leaving, 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 
 
 M 
 
266 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 explain bis reasons for taking a new mind about my coming 
 here ; he only told me he wanted me, and he was tired of see- 
 ing Catherine ; I must make the little parlor 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 an- 
 other, in following the house, I was forced to quit her frequently, 
 and she complained of loneliness ; she preferred quarreling 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 behavior, and became incapable of letting him alone. Talk- 
 ing at him ; commenting on his stupidity and idleness ; express- 
 ing her wonder how he could endure the life he lived — how he 
 could sit a whole evening, staring into the fire and dozing. 
 
 *f He's just like a dog, is he not, Ellen Vy she once observed, 
 " or a cart-horse 1 He does his work, eats his food, and sleeps, 
 eternally ! What a blank, dreary mind he must have ! Do you 
 ever dream, Hareton 1 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 kitch- 
 en," she exclaimed, on another occasion. " He is afraid 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-—wa& he not a fool 1" 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 267 
 
 " Were not you naughty]" I said ; " answer me that." 
 
 "Perhaps 1 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 j 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'd break her neck. 
 
 " Well, I shall put it here," she said, " in the table drawer, 
 and am 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 parlor — 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 smo- 
 king with Joseph, and they sat like automata, 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 soci- 
 ety, 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 fireside and tran- 
 quillity 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 accompa- 
 ny me. 
 
 On Easter Monday, Joseph went to Gimmerton fair with 
 some cattle ; and in the afternoon I was busy getting up linen 
 
268 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 whispering 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 hearth-stone. I bestowed little at- 
 tention 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 V she continued. 
 
 " G-et 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 be- 
 hind 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, " 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 under- 
 stand. When I call you stupid, I don't mean any thing — 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, chew- 
 ing her lip, and endeavoring, 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 good will 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." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 269 
 
 " You're a damned liar," began Earnsbaw ; " why have I 
 made him angry by taking your part, then, a hundred times 1 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 im- 
 pressed on his cheek a gentle kiss. The little rogue thought I 
 had not seen her, and, drawing back, she took her former sta- 
 tion by the window, quite demurely. I shook my head reprov- 
 ingly; 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 can not 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 ribbon, 
 and addressed it to " Mr. Hareton Earnshaw," she desired me 
 to be her embassadress, 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 light," she said, " and, if he refuse it, I'll go up stairs, 
 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 cour- 
 age, at first, to utter a syllable, in reply to her questioning look, 
 and her murmured petition, 
 
270 WUTHER I N G HEIGHT S. 
 
 " Say you forgive me, Hareton, do ! You can make me so 
 happy, by speaking that little word." He muttered something. 
 " And you'll be my friend ?" added Catherine, interrogatively. 
 
 " Nay ! you'll be ashamed of me every day of your life ; and. 
 the more, the more you know me, and I can not abide 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 favorite'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. 
 
 " Tak' these in tuh t' maister, 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 upon the chimney-piece, and I'll 
 bring you some more to-morrow." 
 
 "Ony books ut yah leave, aw shall tak' 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; except, perhaps, during her earliest visits to Linton. 
 
 The intimacy, thus commenced, grew rapidly ; though it en- 
 countered 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 thd 
 
WITHERING HEIGHTS. 271 
 
 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 down stairs 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 1 We shall have a 
 fine explosion on the head of it : see if we don't ! Mr. Hare- 
 ton, 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 indispensa- 
 ble 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." 
 
272 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 " 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 
 twice was on the point of being provoked to laugh ; and I frown- 
 ed, and then she glanced toward 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. Afterward she turned, and recommenced 
 her nonsense ; at last Hareton uttered a smothered laugh. 
 
 Mr. Heath cliff started ; his eyes 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 1 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 1" demanded the master. 
 
 Hareton looked at his plate, and did not repeat the confes- 
 sion. Mr. Heathcliff looked at him a bit, and then silently re- 
 sumed 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, reveal- 
 ing by his quivering lip and furious eyes, that the outrage com- 
 mitted 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 under- 
 stand, he began : 
 
 " Aw mun hev my wage, and aw mun goa ! Aw Tied 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 hev t' kitchen tuh theirseln ; fur t' sake uh quietness. It 
 wur hard tuh gie up my awn heartshun, but aw thowt aw could 
 do that ! But, nah, shoo's taan my garden frough me, un' by 
 th' heart ! Maister, aw can not stand it ! Yah muh bend tuh 
 th' yoak, an ye will. Aw noan used to't and an ow'd man 
 doesn't sooin get used tuh new barthens — aw'd rayther 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 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 273 
 
 you and Nelly. She may thrust you into the coal-hole for any 
 thing I care." 
 
 " It's noan Nelly !" answered Joseph. " Aw sudn't shift fur 
 Nelly. Nasty, ill-nowt as shoo is. Thank God ! shoo can not 
 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 quean, ut's witched ahr lad, wi' her bold een, un her 
 forrard ways — till. Nay ! I fair brusts my heart ! He's for- 
 getten all aw 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 f. M 
 
 " Iv'e 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 1 ?" he added, turning to 
 Hareton. The latter was speechless, his cousin replied — 
 
 " You shouldn't grudge a few yards of earth for me to orna- 
 ment, when you have taken all my land !" 
 
 " Your land, insolent slut 1 you never had any !" said Heath- 
 cliff. 
 
 " 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 1 Off with her ! Do you 
 
274 WUT BERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 V And he approached to execute his own command. 
 
 " He'll not obey you, wicked man, any more !" said Cath- 
 erine, " 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 V 1 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 going 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, appa- 
 rently, and turning to Catherine, said, with assumed calmness, 
 
 " You must learn to avoid putting me in a passion, or I shall 
 really murder you some time ! go with Mrs. Dean, and keep 
 with her, and confine your insolence to her ears. As to Hare- 
 ton 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 counseled Catharine 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, ate very little, and went out directly after- 
 ward, 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 con^ 
 duct to his father. He said he would not suffer a word to be 
 tittered to him in his disparagement ; if he were the devil, it 
 did not signify, he would stand by him ; and he bad rather 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 275 
 
 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 com- 
 plaints and expressions of antipathy concerning Heathcliff; 
 and confessed to me her sorrow that she had endeavored to 
 raise a bad spirit between him and Hareton — indeed, I do not 
 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 spur to 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, aftef her 
 expedition to the Crags. 
 
 While I admired, and they labored, 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 was never a pleasanter, or more 
 harmless sight ; and it will be a burning shame to scold them." 
 The red firelight 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 
 
21Q WUT BERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 Hare- 
 ton 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 supposed this resemblance disarmed Mr. HeathclifF: he 
 walked to the hearth in evident agitation, but it quickly sub- 
 sided as he looked at the young man ; or, 1 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 ab- 
 surd 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 every thing 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 repre- 
 sentatives. 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 la- 
 boring 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 in- 
 clined 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. 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 277 
 
 " 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 con- 
 nected 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 can not look down to this floor but her 
 features are shaped on 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 endeavors to hold my right ; my degradation, my 
 pride, my happiness, and my anguish. But it is frenzy to re- 
 peat 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. HeathclifH" 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 child- 
 hood he had a delight in dwelling on dark things, and enter- 
 taining 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 V 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 can 
 not continue in this condition ! I have to remind myself to 
 breathe — almost to remind my heart to beat ! And it is like 
 
278 WITHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 , , , , „_, , ■, ; a — i — , --tr-^^-Tmr, 
 
 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 any thing 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 toward it so long and so unwaveringly, that I'm con- 
 vinced it will be reached— and soon — because it has devoured 
 my existence. I am swallowed in the anticipation of its fulfill- 
 ment. My Confessions have not relieved me — but, they may 
 account for some otherwise unaccountable phases of humor 
 which I show. Oh, God ! It's 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 won- 
 dered 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 bis feelings, choosing, rather, to absent himself; 
 and eating once in twenty-four hours seemed sufficient suste- 
 nance 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 ehah% 
 and sitting, with my work, under the fir-trees at the end of the 
 house ; and she beguiled Hareton, who had recovered from his 
 
WUTHERINO HEIGHTS. 279 
 
 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 root3 
 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 look. 
 
 " What did he say V 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 trem- 
 bled ; yet, certainly, he had a strange joyful glitter in his eyes, 
 that altered the aspect of his whole face. 
 
 " Will you have some breakfast V* 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 humor. 
 
 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 !" 
 
 II 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 saw he breathed as fast as a cat. 
 "Yes!" I reflected to myself, "we shall have a fit of illness. 
 I can not conceive what he has been doing !" 
 
 That noon, he sat down to dinner with us, and received a 
 
280 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 ex- 
 tinct. He laid them on the table, looked eagerly toward the 
 window, then rose and went out. We saw him walking, to and 
 fro, in the garden, while we concluded our meal ;■ and Eam- 
 shaw 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 he 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 shiver- 
 ing, not as one shivers with chill or weakness, but as a tight- 
 stretched cord vibrates — a strong thrilling rather than trem- 
 bling. 
 
 " I will ask what is the matter," I thought, " or who should ?" 
 And I exclaimed — " Have you heard any good news, Mr. 
 Heath cliff 1 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 won't you get it 1" 
 
 " 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 V I inquired. 
 " Tell me why you are so queer, Mr. Heathcliff 1 Where were 
 you last night 1 I'm not putting the question through idle cu- 
 riosity, 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 eves on it — hardly three feet to sever me ! 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 281 
 
 And now you'd better go. You'll neither see nor hear any- 
 thing to frighten you, if you refrain from prying." 
 
 Having swept the hearth and wiped the table, T 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 smoldered 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 an- 
 other, 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. Lock- 
 wood, I can not express what a terrible start I got, by the mo- 
 mentary view ! Those deep black eyes ! That smile, and ghast- 
 ly paleness ! It appeared to me, not Mr. Heathcliff, but a goblin ; 
 and, in my terror, I let the candle bend toward 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 hori- 
 zontally'? 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. 
 
 "VVe heard him mount the stairs directly ; he did not proceed 
 to his ordinary chamber, but turned into that with the paneled 
 bed — its window, as I mentioned before, is wide enough for 
 any body to get through, and it struck me that he plotted an- 
 other midnight excursion, which he had rather we had no sus- 
 picion of. 
 
 " Is he a ghoul, or a vampire !" I mused. I had read of 
 such hideous, incarnate demons. And then, I set myself to re r 
 
$$& WUTHERING H fe I 6 B T S. 
 
 fleet bow I had tended him in infancy; and watched him grow 
 to youth ; and followed him almost through his whole course j 
 and what nonsense it was to yield to that sense of horror. 
 
 " But, where did he come from, the little dark thing, harbor- 
 ed by a good man to his bane?" muttered superstition, as I 
 dozed into unconsciousness. And I began, half dreaming, to 
 weary myself with imagining 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 1 can remember is, being exceedingly 
 vexed at having the task of dictating an inscription for his monu- 
 ment, 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, "HeathcliC" 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 re- 
 stored me to common sense. I rose, and went into the garden* 
 as soon as I could see, to ascertain if there were any foot-marks 
 under his window. There were none. 
 
 "He has staid 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 accom- 
 modate them. 
 
 On my re-entrance, I found Mr. Heathcliff below. He and 
 Joseph were conversing about some farming business; he gave 
 dear, 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 downj 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 wait- 
 ing near an hour." 
 
 He didn't notice me, and yet he smiled. I'd rather have 
 seen him gnash his teeth than smile so. 
 
WUTHER1NG HEIGHTS. 283 
 
 " 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 V 
 
 " 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 leaned 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 some- 
 thing 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 vigilance, 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 any thing 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, for- 
 getful of their aim. 
 
 I sat, a model of patience, trying to attract his absorbed at- 
 tention 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 1 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 him- 
 self 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. 
 
284 WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 
 
 I had not courage to walk straight into the apartment; but I 
 desired to divert him from his revery, 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 1 Come in with your light." 
 
 " It is striking four," I answered ; " you want a candle to 
 take up-stairs— you might have lighted one at this fire." 
 
 "No, I don't wish to go up-stairs," he said. " Come in, and 
 kindle me a fire, and do any thing 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 dis- 
 traction, 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 can not 
 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 in- 
 justices yet ! I never expected that your nerves would be dis- 
 ordered — they are, at present, marvelously 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 bloodshot, like a person starving with hunger and 
 going blind with loss of sleep." 
 
 " It is not my fault, that I can not 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 it- 
 self." 
 
 "Happy, master 1 ?" I cried. "Strange happiness! If you 
 would hear me without being angry, I might offer some advice 
 that would make you happier." 
 
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 285 
 
 " What is that V 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, unchrist- 
 ian 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 denomi- 
 nation, 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 re- 
 mind 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 any thing 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 pre- 
 cincts of the kirk V* 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 after- 
 noon, 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 man- 
 ner fiightened 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." 
 
286 WUTHER1N6 HEIGHTS. 
 
 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 can not be in bed," I thought, * those showers would 
 drench him through ! He must be either up or out. But I'll 
 make no more ado, I'll go boldly, and look !" 
 
 Having succeeded in obtaining 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 that 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 per- 
 fectly 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 long, black hair from 
 his forehead ; I tried to close his eyes — to extinguish, if pos- 
 sible, that frightful, life-like exultation, before any one 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 hev 
 his carcass intuh t' bargin, for ow't aw care ! Ech ! what a 
 wicked un he looks, grinning 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. 
 
WUTHrERING HEIGHTS. 287 
 
 I felt stunned by the awful event ; and my memory unavoid- 
 ably 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 every one 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 not abstain on purpose : it was the 
 consequence of his strange illness, not the cause. 
 
 We buried him, to the scandal of the whole neighborhood, 
 as he had wished. Earnshaw and I, the sexton, and six meu 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 mold him- 
 self. 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 Bibles 
 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 en 
 countered 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," hfe 
 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 can not help it ; 1 
 shall be glad when they leave it, and shift to the Grange ! 
 
288 WUTHERING HEIGH T S. 
 
 "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," 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 upon 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 hands of Mrs. Dean, and disre- 
 garding 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 of his fellow-servant's gay indis- 
 cretions, 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, gray, and half buried in 
 the 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 harebells; listened to 
 the soft wind breathing through the grass ; and wondered how 
 any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers 
 in that quiet earth. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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