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THAT Friday made the last of our fine days for a month. In theevening the weather broke: the wind shifted from south to north-east, and brought rain first, and then sleet and snow. On themorrow one could hardly imagine that there had been three weeks ofsummer: the primroses and crocuses were hidden under wintrydrifts; the larks were silent, the young leaves of the early treessmitten and blackened. And dreary, and chill, and dismal, thatmorrow did creep over! My master kept his room; I took possessionof the lonely parlour, converting it into a nursery: and there Iwas, sitting with the moaning doll of a child laid on my knee;rocking it to and fro, and watching, meanwhile, the still drivingflakes build up the uncurtained window, when the door opened, andsome person entered, out of breath and laughing! My anger wasgreater than my astonishment for a minute. I supposed it one ofthe maids, and I cried - 'Have done! How dare you show yourgiddiness here; What would Mr. Linton say if he heard you?'

'Excuse me!' answered a familiar voice; 'but I know Edgar is inbed, and I cannot stop myself.'

With that the speaker came forward to the fire, panting and holdingher 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 thenumber of falls I've had. Oh, I'm aching all over! Don't bealarmed! There shall be an explanation as soon as I can give it;only just have the goodness to step out and order the carriage totake me on to Gimmerton, and tell a servant to seek up a fewclothes in my wardrobe.'

The intruder was Mrs. Heathcliff. She certainly seemed in nolaughing predicament: her hair streamed on her shoulders, drippingwith snow and water; she was dressed in the girlish dress shecommonly wore, befitting her age more than her position: a lowfrock with short sleeves, and nothing on either head or neck. Thefrock was of light silk, and clung to her with wet, and her feetwere protected merely by thin slippers; add to this a deep cutunder one ear, which only the cold prevented from bleedingprofusely, a white face scratched and bruised, and a frame hardlyable to support itself through fatigue; and you may fancy my firstfright was not much allayed when I had had leisure to examine her.

'My dear young lady,' I exclaimed, 'I'll stir nowhere, and hearnothing, till you have removed every article of your clothes, andput on dry things; and certainly you shall not go to Gimmerton to-night, so it is needless to order the carriage.'

'Certainly I shall,' she said; 'walking or riding: yet I've noobjection to dress myself decently. And - ah, see how it flowsdown my neck now! The fire does make it smart.'

She insisted on my fulfilling her directions, before she would letme touch her; and not till after the coachman had been instructedto get ready, and a maid set to pack up some necessary attire, didI obtain her consent for binding the wound and helping to changeher garments.

'Now, Ellen,' she said, when my task was finished and she wasseated in an easy-chair on the hearth, with a cup of tea beforeher, '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 forCatherine, because I behaved so foolishly on entering: I've cried,too, bitterly - yes, more than any one else has reason to cry. Weparted unreconciled, you remember, and I sha'n't forgive myself.But, for all that, I was not going to sympathise with him - thebrute beast! Oh, give me the poker! This is the last thing of hisI 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 it with childish spite, 'and then I'll burn it!' and shetook and dropped the misused article among the coals. 'There! heshall buy another, if he gets me back again. He'd be capable ofcoming to seek me, to tease Edgar. I dare not stay, lest thatnotion should possess his wicked head! And besides, Edgar has notbeen kind, has he? And I won't come suing for his assistance; norwill I bring him into more trouble. Necessity compelled me to seekshelter 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, gotyou to bring what I wanted, and departed again to anywhere out ofthe reach of my accursed - of that incarnate goblin! Ah, he was insuch a fury! If he had caught me! It's a pity Earnshaw is not hismatch in strength: I wouldn't have run till I'd seen him all butdemolished, had Hindley been able to do it!'

'Well, don't talk so fast, Miss!' I interrupted; 'you'll disorderthe handkerchief I have tied round your face, and make the cutbleed again. Drink your tea, and take breath, and give overlaughing: laughter is sadly out of place under this roof, and inyour condition!'

'An undeniable truth,' she replied. 'Listen to that child! Itmaintains a constant wail - send it out of my hearing for an hour;I sha'n't stay any longer.'

I rang the bell, and committed it to a servant's care; and then Iinquired what had urged her to escape from Wuthering Heights insuch an unlikely plight, and where she meant to go, as she refusedremaining with us.

'I ought, and I wished to remain,' answered she, 'to cheer Edgarand take care of the baby, for two things, and because the Grangeis my right home. But I tell you he wouldn't let me! Do you thinkhe could bear to see me grow fat and merry - could bear to thinkthat we were tranquil, and not resolve on poisoning our comfort?Now, I have the satisfaction of being sure that he detests me, tothe point of its annoying him seriously to have me within ear-shotor eyesight: I notice, when I enter his presence, the muscles ofhis countenance are involuntarily distorted into an expression ofhatred; partly arising from his knowledge of the good causes I haveto feel that sentiment for him, and partly from original aversion.It is strong enough to make me feel pretty certain that he wouldnot chase me over England, supposing I contrived a clear escape;and therefore I must get quite away. I've recovered from my firstdesire to be killed by him: I'd rather he'd kill himself! He hasextinguished my love effectually, and so I'm at my ease. I canrecollect yet how I loved him; and can dimly imagine that I couldstill be loving him, if - no, no! Even if he had doted on me, thedevilish 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 outof 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 mycharity. I gave him my heart, and he took and pinched it to death,and flung it back to me. People feel with their hearts, Ellen:and since he has destroyed mine, I have not power to feel for him:and I would not, though he groaned from this to his dying day, andwept tears of blood for Catherine! No, indeed, indeed, Iwouldn't!' And here Isabella began to cry; but, immediatelydashing the water from her lashes, she recommenced. 'You asked,what has driven me to flight at last? I was compelled to attemptit, because I had succeeded in rousing his rage a pitch above hismalignity. Pulling out the nerves with red hot pincers requiresmore coolness than knocking on the head. He was worked up toforget the fiendish prudence he boasted of, and proceeded tomurderous violence. I experienced pleasure in being able toexasperate him: the sense of pleasure woke my instinct of self-preservation, so I fairly broke free; and if ever I come into hishands 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 goingto bed mad at six o'clock and getting up drunk at twelve.Consequently, he rose, in suicidal low spirits, as fit for thechurch as for a dance; and instead, he sat down by the fire andswallowed gin or brandy by tumblerfuls.

'Heathcliff - I shudder to name him! has been a stranger in thehouse from last Sunday till to-day. Whether the angels have fedhim, or his kin beneath, I cannot tell; but he has not eaten a mealwith us for nearly a week. He has just come home at dawn, and goneup-stairs to his chamber; looking himself in - as if anybody dreamtof coveting his company! There he has continued, praying like aMethodist: only the deity he implored is senseless dust and ashes;and God, when addressed, was curiously confounded with his ownblack father! After concluding these precious orisons - and theylasted generally till he grew hoarse and his voice was strangled inhis throat - he would be off again; always straight down to theGrange! I wonder Edgar did not send for a constable, and give himinto custody! For me, grieved as I was about Catherine, it wasimpossible to avoid regarding this season of deliverance fromdegrading oppression as a holiday.

'I recovered spirits sufficient to bear Joseph's eternal lectureswithout weeping, and to move up and down the house less with thefoot of a frightened thief than formerly. You wouldn't think thatI should cry at anything Joseph could say; but he and Hareton aredetestable companions. I'd rather sit with Hindley, and hear hisawful talk, than with "t' little maister" and his staunchsupporter, that odious old man! When Heathcliff is in, I'm oftenobliged to seek the kitchen and their society, or starve among thedamp uninhabited chambers; when he is not, as was the case thisweek, I establish a table and chair at one corner of the housefire, and never mind how Mr. Earnshaw may occupy himself; and hedoes not interfere with my arrangements. He is quieter now than heused to be, if no one provokes him: more sullen and depressed, andless furious. Joseph affirms he's sure he's an altered man: thatthe Lord has touched his heart, and he is saved "so as by fire."I'm puzzled to detect signs of the favourable change: but it isnot my business.

'Yester-evening I sat in my nook reading some old books till lateon towards twelve. It seemed so dismal to go up-stairs, with thewild snow blowing outside, and my thoughts continually reverting tothe kirk-yard and the new-made grave! I dared hardly lift my eyesfrom the page before me, that melancholy scene so instantly usurpedits place. Hindley sat opposite, his head leant on his hand;perhaps meditating on the same subject. He had ceased drinking ata point below irrationality, and had neither stirred nor spokenduring two or three hours. There was no sound through the housebut the moaning wind, which shook the windows every now and then,the faint crackling of the coals, and the click of my snuffers as Iremoved at intervals the long wick of the candle. Hareton andJoseph 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 vanishedfrom the world, never to be restored.

'The doleful silence was broken at length by the sound of thekitchen latch: Heathcliff had returned from his watch earlier thanusual; owing, I suppose, to the sudden storm. That entrance wasfastened, and we heard him coming round to get in by the other. Irose with an irrepressible expression of what I felt on my lips,which induced my companion, who had been staring towards the door,to turn and look at me.

'"I'll keep him out five minutes," he exclaimed. "You won'tobject?"

'"No, you may keep him out the whole night for me," I answered."Do! put the key in the look, and draw the bolts."

'Earnshaw accomplished this ere his guest reached the front; hethen came and brought his chair to the other side of my table,leaning over it, and searching in my eyes for a sympathy with theburning hate that gleamed from his: as he both looked and feltlike an assassin, he couldn't exactly find that; but he discoveredenough to encourage him to speak.

'"You, and I," he said, "have each a great debt to settle with theman out yonder! If we were neither of us cowards, we might combineto discharge it. Are you as soft as your brother? Are you willingto endure to the last, and not once attempt a repayment?"

'"I'm weary of enduring now," I replied; "and I'd be glad of aretaliation that wouldn't recoil on myself; but treachery andviolence are spears pointed at both ends; they wound those whoresort to them worse than their enemies."

'"Treachery and violence are a just return for treachery andviolence!" cried Hindley. "Mrs. Heathcliff, I'll ask you to donothing; but sit still and be dumb. Tell me now, can you? I'msure you would have as much pleasure as I in witnessing theconclusion of the fiend's existence; he'll be YOUR death unless youoverreach him; and he'll be MY ruin. Damn the hellish villain! Heknocks at the door as if he were master here already! Promise tohold your tongue, and before that clock strikes - it wants threeminutes of one - you're a free woman!"

'He took the implements which I described to you in my letter fromhis breast, and would have turned down the candle. I snatched itaway, however, and seized his arm.

'"I'll not hold my tongue!" I said; "you mustn't touch him. Letthe 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 ofyourself, and Hareton justice! And you needn't trouble your headto screen me; Catherine is gone. Nobody alive would regret me, orbe ashamed, though I cut my throat this minute - and it's time tomake an end!"

'I might as well have struggled with a bear, or reasoned with alunatic. The only resource left me was to run to a lattice andwarn his intended victim of the fate which awaited him.

'"You'd better seek shelter somewhere else to-night!" I exclaimed,in rather a triumphant tone. "Mr. Earnshaw has a mind to shootyou, if you persist in endeavouring to enter."

'"You'd better open the door, you - " he answered, addressing me bysome elegant term that I don't care to repeat.

'"I shall not meddle in the matter," I retorted again. "Come inand 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 anyanxiety for the danger that menaced him. Earnshaw sworepassionately at me: affirming that I loved the villain yet; andcalling me all sorts of names for the base spirit I evinced. AndI, in my secret heart (and conscience never reproached me), thoughtwhat a blessing it would be for HIM should Heathcliff put him outof misery; and what a blessing for ME should he send Heathcliff tohis right abode! As I sat nursing these reflections, the casementbehind me was banged on to the floor by a blow from the latterindividual, 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 andclothes 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," asJoseph calls it.

'"I cannot commit murder," I replied. "Mr. Hindley stands sentinelwith 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 poorlove of yours that cannot bear a shower of snow! We were left atpeace in our beds as long as the summer moon shone, but the momenta 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 afaithful dog. The world is surely not worth living in now, is it?You had distinctly impressed on me the idea that Catherine was thewhole joy of your life: I can't imagine how you think of survivingher loss."

'"He's there, is he?" exclaimed my companion, rushing to the gap."If I can get my arm out I can hit him!"

'I'm afraid, Ellen, you'll set me down as really wicked; but youdon't know all, so don't judge. I wouldn't have aided or abettedan attempt on even HIS life for anything. Wish that he were dead,I must; and therefore I was fearfully disappointed, and unnerved byterror for the consequences of my taunting speech, when he flunghimself on Earnshaw's weapon and wrenched it from his grasp.

'The charge exploded, and the knife, in springing back, closed intoits owner's wrist. Heathcliff pulled it away by main force,slitting up the flesh as it passed on, and thrust it dripping intohis pocket. He then took a stone, struck down the division betweentwo windows, and sprang in. His adversary had fallen senselesswith excessive pain and the flow of blood, that gushed from anartery or a large vein. The ruffian kicked and trampled on him,and dashed his head repeatedly against the flags, holding me withone hand, meantime, to prevent me summoning Joseph. He exertedpreterhuman self-denial in abstaining from finishing himcompletely; but getting out of breath, he finally desisted, anddragged the apparently inanimate body on to the settle. There hetore off the sleeve of Earnshaw's coat, and bound up the wound withbrutal roughness; spitting and cursing during the operation asenergetically as he had kicked before. Being at liberty, I lost notime in seeking the old servant; who, having gathered by degreesthe purport of my hasty tale, hurried below, gasping, as hedescended the steps two at once.

'"What is ther to do, now? what is ther to do, now?"

'"There's this to do," thundered Heathcliff, "that your master'smad; 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 toothlesshound? Don't stand muttering and mumbling there. Come, I'm notgoing to nurse him. Wash that stuff away; and mind the sparks ofyour candle - it is more than half brandy!"

'"And so ye've been murthering on him?" exclaimed Joseph, liftinghis hands and eyes in horror. "If iver I seed a seeght loike this!May the Lord - "

'Heathcliff gave him a push on to his knees in the middle of theblood, and flung a towel to him; but instead of proceeding to dryit up, he joined his hands and began a prayer, which excited mylaughter from its odd phraseology. I was in the condition of mindto be shocked at nothing: in fact, I was as reckless as somemalefactors show themselves at the foot of the gallows.

'"Oh, I forgot you," said the tyrant. "You shall do that. Downwith you. And you conspire with him against me, do you, viper?There, that is work fit for you!"

'He shook me till my teeth rattled, and pitched me beside Joseph,who steadily concluded his supplications, and then rose, vowing hewould set off for the Grange directly. Mr. Linton was amagistrate, and though he had fifty wives dead, he should inquireinto this. He was so obstinate in his resolution, that Heathcliffdeemed it expedient to compel from my lips a recapitulation of whathad taken place; standing over me, heaving with malevolence, as Ireluctantly delivered the account in answer to his questions. Itrequired a great deal of labour to satisfy the old man thatHeathcliff was not the aggressor; especially with my hardly-wrungreplies. However, Mr. Earnshaw soon convinced him that he wasalive still; Joseph hastened to administer a dose of spirits, andby their succour his master presently regained motion andconsciousness. Heathcliff, aware that his opponent was ignorant ofthe treatment received while insensible, called him deliriouslyintoxicated; and said he should not notice his atrocious conductfurther, but advised him to get to bed. To my joy, he left us,after giving this judicious counsel, and Hindley stretched himselfon the hearthstone. I departed to my own room, marvelling that Ihad escaped so easily.

'This morning, when I came down, about half an hour before noon,Mr. Earnshaw was sitting by the fire, deadly sick; his evil genius,almost as gaunt and ghastly, leant against the chimney. Neitherappeared inclined to dine, and, having waited till all was cold onthe table, I commenced alone. Nothing hindered me from eatingheartily, and I experienced a certain sense of satisfaction andsuperiority, as, at intervals, I cast a look towards my silentcompanions, and felt the comfort of a quiet conscience within me.After I had done, I ventured on the unusual liberty of drawing nearthe fire, going round Earnshaw's seat, and kneeling in the cornerbeside him.

'Heathcliff did not glance my way, and I gazed up, and contemplatedhis features almost as confidently as if they had been turned tostone. His forehead, that I once thought so manly, and that I nowthink so diabolical, was shaded with a heavy cloud; his basiliskeyes were nearly quenched by sleeplessness, and weeping, perhaps,for the lashes were wet then: his lips devoid of their ferocioussneer, and sealed in an expression of unspeakable sadness. Had itbeen another, I would have covered my face in the presence of suchgrief. In HIS case, I was gratified; and, ignoble as it seems toinsult a fallen enemy, I couldn't miss this chance of sticking in adart: his weakness was the only time when I could taste thedelight of paying wrong for wrong.'

'Fie, fie, Miss!' I interrupted. 'One might suppose you had neveropened a Bible in your life. If God afflict your enemies, surelythat ought to suffice you. It is both mean and presumptuous to addyour torture to his!'

'In general I'll allow that it would be, Ellen,' she continued;'but what misery laid on Heathcliff could content me, unless I havea hand in it? I'd rather he suffered less, if I might cause hissufferings and he might KNOW that I was the cause. Oh, I owe himso 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 everywrench of agony return a wrench: reduce him to my level. As hewas the first to injure, make him the first to implore pardon; andthen - why then, Ellen, I might show you some generosity. But itis utterly impossible I can ever be revenged, and therefore Icannot forgive him. Hindley wanted some water, and I handed him aglass, and asked him how he was.

'"Not as ill as I wish," he replied. "But leaving out my arm,every inch of me is as sore as if I had been fighting with a legionof imps!"

'"Yes, no wonder," was my next remark. "Catherine used to boastthat she stood between you and bodily harm: she meant that certainpersons would not hurt you for fear of offending her. It's wellpeople don't REALLY rise from their grave, or, last night, shemight have witnessed a repulsive scene! Are not you bruised, andcut over your chest and shoulders?"

'"I can't say," he answered, "but what do you mean? Did he dare tostrike me when I was down?"

'"He trampled on and kicked you, and dashed you on the ground," Iwhispered. "And his mouth watered to tear you with his teeth;because he's only half man: not so much, and the rest fiend."

'Mr. Earnshaw looked up, like me, to the countenance of our mutualfoe; who, absorbed in his anguish, seemed insensible to anythingaround him: the longer he stood, the plainer his reflectionsrevealed their blackness through his features.

'"Oh, if God would but give me strength to strangle him in my lastagony, I'd go to hell with joy," groaned the impatient man,writhing to rise, and sinking back in despair, convinced of hisinadequacy for the struggle.

'"Nay, it's enough that he has murdered one of you," I observedaloud. "At the Grange, every one knows your sister would have beenliving now had it not been for Mr. Heathcliff. After all, it ispreferable to be hated than loved by him. When I recollect howhappy we were - how happy Catherine was before he came - I'm fit tocurse the day."

'Most likely, Heathcliff noticed more the truth of what was said,than the spirit of the person who said it. His attention wasroused, I saw, for his eyes rained down tears among the ashes, andhe drew his breath in suffocating sighs. I stared full at him, andlaughed scornfully. The clouded windows of hell flashed a momenttowards me; the fiend which usually looked out, however, was sodimmed and drowned that I did not fear to hazard another sound ofderision.

'"Get up, and begone out of my sight," said the mourner.

'I guessed he uttered those words, at least, though his voice washardly intelligible.

'"I beg your pardon," I replied. "But I loved Catherine too; andher brother requires attendance, which, for her sake, I shallsupply. Now, that she's dead, I see her in Hindley: Hindley hasexactly her eyes, if you had not tried to gouge them out, and madethem black and red; and her - "

'"Get up, wretched idiot, before I stamp you to death!" he cried,making a movement that caused me to make one also.

'"But then," I continued, holding myself ready to flee, "if poorCatherine had trusted you, and assumed the ridiculous,contemptible, degrading title of Mrs. Heathcliff, she would soonhave presented a similar picture! SHE wouldn't have borne yourabominable behaviour quietly: her detestation and disgust musthave found voice."

'The back of the settle and Earnshaw's person interposed between meand him; so instead of endeavouring to reach me, he snatched adinner-knife from the table and flung it at my head. It struckbeneath my ear, and stopped the sentence I was uttering; but,pulling it out, I sprang to the door and delivered another; which Ihope went a little deeper than his missile. The last glimpse Icaught of him was a furious rush on his part, checked by theembrace 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 achair-back in the doorway; and, blessed as a soul escaped frompurgatory, I bounded, leaped, and flew down the steep road; then,quitting its windings, shot direct across the moor, rolling overbanks, and wading through marshes: precipitating myself, in fact,towards the beacon-light of the Grange. And far rather would I becondemned to a perpetual dwelling in the infernal regions than,even for one night, abide beneath the roof of Wuthering Heightsagain.'

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 anotherhour, she stepped on to a chair, kissed Edgar's and Catherine'sportraits, bestowed a similar salute on me, and descended to thecarriage, accompanied by Fanny, who yelped wild with joy atrecovering her mistress. She was driven away, never to revisitthis neighbourhood: but a regular correspondence was establishedbetween her and my master when things were more settled. I believeher new abode was in the south, near London; there she had a sonborn a few months subsequent to her escape. He was christenedLinton, and, from the first, she reported him to be an ailing,peevish creature.

Mr. Heathcliff, meeting me one day in the village, inquired whereshe lived. I refused to tell. He remarked that it was not of anymoment, only she must beware of coming to her brother: she shouldnot be with him, if he had to keep her himself. Though I wouldgive no information, he discovered, through some of the otherservants, both her place of residence and the existence of thechild. Still, he didn't molest her: for which forbearance shemight thank his aversion, I suppose. He often asked about theinfant, when he saw me; and on hearing its name, smiled grimly, andobserved: 'They wish me to hate it too, do they?'

'I don't think they wish you to know anything about it,' Ianswered.

'But I'll have it,' he said, 'when I want it. They may reckon onthat!'

Fortunately its mother died before the time arrived; some thirteenyears after the decease of Catherine, when Linton was twelve, or alittle more.

On the day succeeding Isabella's unexpected visit I had noopportunity of speaking to my master: he shunned conversation, andwas fit for discussing nothing. When I could get him to listen, Isaw it pleased him that his sister had left her husband; whom heabhorred with an intensity which the mildness of his nature wouldscarcely seem to allow. So deep and sensitive was his aversion,that he refrained from going anywhere where he was likely to see orhear of Heathcliff. Grief, and that together, transformed him intoa complete hermit: he threw up his office of magistrate, ceasedeven to attend church, avoided the village on all occasions, andspent a life of entire seclusion within the limits of his park andgrounds; only varied by solitary rambles on the moors, and visitsto the grave of his wife, mostly at evening, or early morningbefore other wanderers were abroad. But he was too good to bethoroughly unhappy long. HE didn't pray for Catherine's soul tohaunt him. Time brought resignation, and a melancholy sweeter thancommon joy. He recalled her memory with ardent, tender love, andhopeful aspiring to the better world; where he doubted not she wasgone.

And he had earthly consolation and affections also. For a fewdays, I said, he seemed regardless of the puny successor to thedeparted: that coldness melted as fast as snow in April, and erethe tiny thing could stammer a word or totter a step it wielded adespot's sceptre in his heart. It was named Catherine; but henever called it the name in full, as he had never called the firstCatherine short: probably because Heathcliff had a habit of doingso. The little one was always Cathy: it formed to him adistinction from the mother, and yet a connection with her; and hisattachment sprang from its relation to her, far more than from itsbeing his own.

I used to draw a comparison between him and Hindley Earnshaw, andperplex myself to explain satisfactorily why their conduct was soopposite in similar circumstances. They had both been fondhusbands, and were both attached to their children; and I could notsee how they shouldn't both have taken the same road, for good orevil. But, I thought in my mind, Hindley, with apparently thestronger head, has shown himself sadly the worse and the weakerman. When his ship struck, the captain abandoned his post; and thecrew, instead of trying to save her, rushed into riot andconfusion, leaving no hope for their luckless vessel. Linton, onthe contrary, displayed the true courage of a loyal and faithfulsoul: he trusted God; and God comforted him. One hoped, and theother despaired: they chose their own lots, and were righteouslydoomed to endure them. But you'll not want to hear my moralising,Mr. Lockwood; you'll judge, as well as I can, all these things: atleast, you'll think you will, and that's the same. The end ofEarnshaw was what might have been expected; it followed fast on hissister's: there were scarcely six months between them. We, at theGrange, never got a very succinct account of his state precedingit; all that I did learn was on occasion of going to aid in thepreparations for the funeral. Mr. Kenneth came to announce theevent to my master.

'Well, Nelly,' said he, riding into the yard one morning, too earlynot to alarm me with an instant presentiment of bad news, 'it'syours and my turn to go into mourning at present. Who's given usthe slip now, do you think?'

'Who?' I asked in a flurry.

'Why, guess!' he returned, dismounting, and slinging his bridle ona hook by the door. 'And nip up the corner of your apron: I'mcertain you'll need it.'

'Not Mr. Heathcliff, surely?' I exclaimed.

'What! would you have tears for him?' said the doctor. 'No,Heathcliff's a tough young fellow: he looks blooming to-day. I'vejust seen him. He's rapidly regaining flesh since he lost hisbetter half.'

'Who is it, then, Mr. Kenneth?' I repeated impatiently.

'Hindley Earnshaw! Your old friend Hindley,' he replied, 'and mywicked gossip: though he's been too wild for me this long while.There! I said we should draw water. But cheer up! He died trueto his character: drunk as a lord. Poor lad! I'm sorry, too.One can't help missing an old companion: though he had the worsttricks with him that ever man imagined, and has done me many arascally turn. He's barely twenty-seven, it seems; that's your ownage: 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; Isat down in the porch and wept as for a blood relation, desiringMr. Kenneth to get another servant to introduce him to the master.I could not hinder myself from pondering on the question - 'Had hehad fair play?' Whatever I did, that idea would bother me: it wasso tiresomely pertinacious that I resolved on requesting leave togo to Wuthering Heights, and assist in the last duties to the dead.Mr. Linton was extremely reluctant to consent, but I pleadedeloquently for the friendless condition in which he lay; and I saidmy old master and foster-brother had a claim on my services asstrong as his own. Besides, I reminded him that the child Haretonwas his wife's nephew, and, in the absence of nearer kin, he oughtto act as its guardian; and he ought to and must inquire how theproperty was left, and look over the concerns of his brother-in-law. He was unfit for attending to such matters then, but he bidme speak to his lawyer; and at length permitted me to go. Hislawyer had been Earnshaw's also: I called at the village, andasked him to accompany me. He shook his head, and advised thatHeathcliff 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 ismortgaged, and the sole chance for the natural heir is to allow himan opportunity of creating some interest in the creditor's heart,that he may be inclined to deal leniently towards him.'

When I reached the Heights, I explained that I had come to seeeverything carried on decently; and Joseph, who appeared insufficient distress, expressed satisfaction at my presence. Mr.Heathcliff said he did not perceive that I was wanted; but I mightstay and order the arrangements for the funeral, if I chose.

'Correctly,' he remarked, 'that fool's body should he buried at thecross-roads, without ceremony of any kind. I happened to leave himten minutes yesterday afternoon, and in that interval he fastenedthe two doors of the house against me, and he has spent the nightin drinking himself to death deliberately! We broke in thismorning, for we heard him sporting like a horse; and there he was,laid over the settle: flaying and scalping would not have wakenedhim. I sent for Kenneth, and he came; but not till the beast hadchanged into carrion: he was both dead and cold, and stark; and soyou'll allow it was useless making more stir about him!'

The old servant confirmed this statement, but muttered:

'I'd rayther he'd goan hisseln for t' doctor! I sud ha,' taen tento' t' maister better nor him - and he warn't deead when I left,naught o' t' soart!'

I insisted on the funeral being respectable. Mr. Heathcliff said Imight have my own way there too: only, he desired me to rememberthat the money for the whole affair came out of his pocket. Hemaintained a hard, careless deportment, indicative of neither joynor sorrow: if anything, it expressed a flinty gratification at apiece of difficult work successfully executed. I observed once,indeed, something like exultation in his aspect: it was just whenthe people were bearing the coffin from the house. He had thehypocrisy to represent a mourner: and previous to following withHareton, he lifted the unfortunate child on to the table andmuttered, with peculiar gusto, 'Now, my bonny lad, you are MINE!And we'll see if one tree won't grow as crooked as another, withthe same wind to twist it!' The unsuspecting thing was pleased atthis speech: he played with Heathcliff's whiskers, and stroked hischeek; but I divined its meaning, and observed tartly, 'That boymust go back with me to Thrushcross Grange, sir. There is nothingin the world less yours than he is!'

'Does Linton say so?' he demanded.

'Of course - he has ordered me to take him,' I replied.

'Well,' said the scoundrel, 'we'll not argue the subject now: butI have a fancy to try my hand at rearing a young one; so intimateto your master that I must supply the place of this with my own, ifhe attempt to remove it. I don't engage to let Hareton goundisputed; 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 substanceon my return; and Edgar Linton, little interested at thecommencement, spoke no more of interfering. I'm not aware that hecould have done it to any purpose, had he been ever so willing.

The guest was now the master of Wuthering Heights: he held firmpossession, and proved to the attorney - who, in his turn, provedit to Mr. Linton - that Earnshaw had mortgaged every yard of landhe owned for cash to supply his mania for gaming; and he,Heathcliff, was the mortgagee. In that manner Hareton, who shouldnow be the first gentleman in the neighbourhood, was reduced to astate of complete dependence on his father's inveterate enemy; andlives in his own house as a servant, deprived of the advantage ofwages: quite unable to right himself, because of hisfriendlessness, and his ignorance that he has been wronged.