by Emily Brontë
CHAPTER XVII
That Friday made the last of our fine days for a month. In the eveningthe weather broke: the wind shifted from south to north-east, and broughtrain first, and then sleet and snow. On the morrow one could hardlyimagine that there had been three weeks of summer: the primroses andcrocuses were hidden under wintry drifts; the larks were silent, theyoung leaves of the early trees smitten and blackened. And dreary, andchill, and dismal, that morrow did creep over! My master kept his room;I took possession of the lonely parlour, converting it into a nursery:and there I was, sitting with the moaning doll of a child laid on myknee; rocking it to and fro, and watching, meanwhile, the still drivingflakes build up the uncurtained window, when the door opened, and someperson entered, out of breath and laughing! My anger was greater than myastonishment for a minute. I supposed it one of the maids, and Icried--'Have done! How dare you show your giddiness here; What would Mr.Linton say if he heard you?'
'Excuse me!' answered a familiar voice; 'but I know Edgar is in bed, andI cannot stop myself.'
With that the speaker came forward to the fire, panting and holding herhand to her side.
'I have run the whole way from Wuthering Heights!' she continued, after apause; 'except where I've flown. I couldn't count the number of fallsI've had. Oh, I'm aching all over! Don't be alarmed! There shall be anexplanation as soon as I can give it; only just have the goodness to stepout and order the carriage to take me on to Gimmerton, and tell a servantto seek up a few clothes in my wardrobe.'
The intruder was Mrs. Heathcliff. She certainly seemed in no laughingpredicament: her hair streamed on her shoulders, dripping with snow andwater; she was dressed in the girlish dress she commonly wore, befittingher age more than her position: a low frock with short sleeves, andnothing on either head or neck. The frock was of light silk, and clungto her with wet, and her feet were protected merely by thin slippers; addto this a deep cut under one ear, which only the cold prevented frombleeding profusely, a white face scratched and bruised, and a framehardly able 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 hear nothing,till you have removed every article of your clothes, and put on drythings; and certainly you shall not go to Gimmerton to-night, so it isneedless to order the carriage.'
'Certainly I shall,' she said; 'walking or riding: yet I've no objectionto 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 metouch her; and not till after the coachman had been instructed to getready, and a maid set to pack up some necessary attire, did I obtain herconsent for binding the wound and helping to change her garments.
'Now, Ellen,' she said, when my task was finished and she was seated inan easy-chair on the hearth, with a cup of tea before her, 'you sit downopposite 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 sofoolishly on entering: I've cried, too, bitterly--yes, more than any oneelse has reason to cry. We parted unreconciled, you remember, and Isha'n't forgive myself. But, for all that, I was not going to sympathisewith him--the brute beast! Oh, give me the poker! This is the lastthing of his I have about me:' she slipped the gold ring from her thirdfinger, and threw it on the floor. 'I'll smash it!' she continued,striking it with childish spite, 'and then I'll burn it!' and she tookand dropped the misused article among the coals. 'There! he shall buyanother, 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 hiswicked head! And besides, Edgar has not been kind, has he? And I won'tcome suing for his assistance; nor will I bring him into more trouble.Necessity compelled me to seek shelter here; though, if I had not learnedhe 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 toanywhere out of the reach of my accursed--of that incarnate goblin! Ah,he was in such a fury! If he had caught me! It's a pity Earnshaw is nothis match 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 disorder thehandkerchief I have tied round your face, and make the cut bleed again.Drink your tea, and take breath, and give over laughing: laughter issadly out of place under this roof, and in your condition!'
'An undeniable truth,' she replied. 'Listen to that child! It maintainsa constant wail--send it out of my hearing for an hour; I sha'n't stayany 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 in such anunlikely plight, and where she meant to go, as she refused remaining withus.
'I ought, and I wished to remain,' answered she, 'to cheer Edgar and takecare of the baby, for two things, and because the Grange is my righthome. But I tell you he wouldn't let me! Do you think he could bear tosee me grow fat and merry--could bear to think that we were tranquil, andnot resolve on poisoning our comfort? Now, I have the satisfaction ofbeing sure that he detests me, to the point of its annoying him seriouslyto have me within ear-shot or eyesight: I notice, when I enter hispresence, the muscles of his countenance are involuntarily distorted intoan expression of hatred; partly arising from his knowledge of the goodcauses I have to feel that sentiment for him, and partly from originalaversion. It is strong enough to make me feel pretty certain that hewould not chase me over England, supposing I contrived a clear escape;and therefore I must get quite away. I've recovered from my first desireto be killed by him: I'd rather he'd kill himself! He has extinguishedmy love effectually, and so I'm at my ease. I can recollect yet how Iloved 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 revealedits existence somehow. Catherine had an awfully perverted taste toesteem him so dearly, knowing him so well. Monster! would that he couldbe blotted out of creation, and out of my memory!'
'Hush, hush! He's a human being,' I said. 'Be more charitable: thereare 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, andflung it back to me. People feel with their hearts, Ellen: and since hehas 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 forCatherine! No, indeed, indeed, I wouldn't!' And here Isabella began tocry; but, immediately dashing the water from her lashes, she recommenced.'You asked, what has driven me to flight at last? I was compelled toattempt it, because I had succeeded in rousing his rage a pitch above hismalignity. Pulling out the nerves with red hot pincers requires morecoolness than knocking on the head. He was worked up to forget thefiendish prudence he boasted of, and proceeded to murderous violence. Iexperienced pleasure in being able to exasperate him: the sense ofpleasure 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 signalrevenge.
'Yesterday, you know, Mr. Earnshaw should have been at the funeral. Hekept himself sober for the purpose--tolerably sober: not going to bed madat six o'clock and getting up drunk at twelve. Consequently, he rose, insuicidal 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 fromlast Sunday till to-day. Whether the angels have fed him, or his kinbeneath, I cannot tell; but he has not eaten a meal with us for nearly aweek. He has just come home at dawn, and gone up-stairs to his chamber;locking himself in--as if anybody dreamt of coveting his company! Therehe has continued, praying like a Methodist: only the deity he implored issenseless dust and ashes; and God, when addressed, was curiouslyconfounded with hi
s own black father! After concluding these preciousorisons--and they lasted generally till he grew hoarse and his voice wasstrangled in his throat--he would be off again; always straight down tothe Grange! 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 from degradingoppression as a holiday.
'I recovered spirits sufficient to bear Joseph's eternal lectures withoutweeping, and to move up and down the house less with the foot of afrightened thief than formerly. You wouldn't think that I should cry atanything Joseph could say; but he and Hareton are detestable companions.I'd rather sit with Hindley, and hear his awful talk, than with "t'little maister" and his staunch supporter, that odious old man! WhenHeathcliff is in, I'm often obliged to seek the kitchen and theirsociety, or starve among the damp uninhabited chambers; when he is not,as was the case this week, I establish a table and chair at one corner ofthe house fire, and never mind how Mr. Earnshaw may occupy himself; andhe does not interfere with my arrangements. He is quieter now than heused to be, if no one provokes him: more sullen and depressed, and lessfurious. Joseph affirms he's sure he's an altered man: that the Lord hastouched his heart, and he is saved "so as by fire." I'm puzzled todetect signs of the favourable change: but it is not my business.
'Yester-evening I sat in my nook reading some old books till late ontowards twelve. It seemed so dismal to go up-stairs, with the wild snowblowing outside, and my thoughts continually reverting to the kirk-yardand the new-made grave! I dared hardly lift my eyes from the page beforeme, that melancholy scene so instantly usurped its place. Hindley satopposite, his head leant on his hand; perhaps meditating on the samesubject. He had ceased drinking at a point below irrationality, and hadneither stirred nor spoken during two or three hours. There was no soundthrough the house but the moaning wind, which shook the windows every nowand then, the faint crackling of the coals, and the click of my snuffersas I removed at intervals the long wick of the candle. Hareton andJoseph were probably fast asleep in bed. It was very, very sad: andwhile I read I sighed, for it seemed as if all joy had vanished from theworld, never to be restored.
'The doleful silence was broken at length by the sound of the kitchenlatch: Heathcliff had returned from his watch earlier than usual; owing,I suppose, to the sudden storm. That entrance was fastened, and we heardhim coming round to get in by the other. I rose with an irrepressibleexpression of what I felt on my lips, which induced my companion, who hadbeen staring towards the door, to turn and look at me.
'"I'll keep him out five minutes," he exclaimed. "You won't object?"
'"No, you may keep him out the whole night for me," I answered. "Do! putthe key in the lock, and draw the bolts."
'Earnshaw accomplished this ere his guest reached the front; he then cameand brought his chair to the other side of my table, leaning over it, andsearching in my eyes for a sympathy with the burning hate that gleamedfrom his: as he both looked and felt like an assassin, he couldn'texactly 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 manout yonder! If we were neither of us cowards, we might combine todischarge it. Are you as soft as your brother? Are you willing toendure 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 and violenceare spears pointed at both ends; they wound those who resort to themworse than their enemies."
'"Treachery and violence are a just return for treachery and violence!"cried Hindley. "Mrs. Heathcliff, I'll ask you to do nothing; but sitstill and be dumb. Tell me now, can you? I'm sure you would have asmuch 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 masterhere already! Promise to hold your tongue, and before that clockstrikes--it wants three minutes of one--you're a free woman!"
'He took the implements which I described to you in my letter from hisbreast, 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 doorremain shut, and be quiet!"
'"No! I've formed my resolution, and by God I'll execute it!" cried thedesperate being. "I'll do you a kindness in spite of yourself, andHareton justice! And you needn't trouble your head to screen me;Catherine is gone. Nobody alive would regret me, or be ashamed, though Icut 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 intendedvictim of the fate which awaited him.
'"You'd better seek shelter somewhere else to-night!" I exclaimed, inrather a triumphant tone. "Mr. Earnshaw has a mind to shoot you, if youpersist in endeavouring to enter."
'"You'd better open the door, you--" he answered, addressing me by someelegant term that I don't care to repeat.
'"I shall not meddle in the matter," I retorted again. "Come in and getshot, if you please. I've done my duty."
'With that I shut the window and returned to my place by the fire; havingtoo small a stock of hypocrisy at my command to pretend any anxiety forthe danger that menaced him. Earnshaw swore passionately at me:affirming that I loved the villain yet; and calling me all sorts of namesfor the base spirit I evinced. And I, in my secret heart (and consciencenever 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 thesereflections, the casement behind me was banged on to the floor by a blowfrom the latter individual, and his black countenance looked blightinglythrough. The stanchions stood too close to suffer his shoulders tofollow, and I smiled, exulting in my fancied security. His hair andclothes were whitened with snow, and his sharp cannibal teeth, revealedby cold and wrath, gleamed through the dark.
'"Isabella, let me in, or I'll make you repent!" he "girned," as Josephcalls it.
'"I cannot commit murder," I replied. "Mr. Hindley stands sentinel witha 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 loveof yours that cannot bear a shower of snow! We were left at peace in ourbeds as long as the summer moon shone, but the moment a blast of winterreturns, you must run for shelter! Heathcliff, if I were you, I'd gostretch myself over her grave and die like a faithful dog. The world issurely not worth living in now, is it? You had distinctly impressed onme the idea that Catherine was the whole joy of your life: I can'timagine how you think of surviving her loss."
'"He's there, is he?" exclaimed my companion, rushing to the gap. "If Ican get my arm out I can hit him!"
'I'm afraid, Ellen, you'll set me down as really wicked; but you don'tknow all, so don't judge. I wouldn't have aided or abetted an attempt oneven _his_ life for anything. Wish that he were dead, I must; andtherefore I was fearfully disappointed, and unnerved by terror for theconsequences of my taunting speech, when he flung himself on Earnshaw'sweapon and wrenched it from his grasp.
'The charge exploded, and the knife, in springing back, closed into itsowner's wrist. Heathcliff pulled it away by main force, slitting up theflesh as it passed on, and thrust it dripping into his pocket. He thentook a stone, struck down the division between two windows, and sprangin. His adversary had fallen senseless with excessive pain and the flowof blood, that gushed from an artery or a large vein. The ruffian kickedand trampled on him, and dashed his head repeatedly against the flags,holding me with one hand, meantime, to prevent me summoning Joseph. Heexerted preterhuman self-denial in abstaining from finishing himcompletely; but getting out of breath, he finally desisted, and draggedthe apparently inanimate body on to th
e settle. There he tore off thesleeve of Earnshaw's coat, and bound up the wound with brutal roughness;spitting and cursing during the operation as energetically as he hadkicked before. Being at liberty, I lost no time in seeking the oldservant; who, having gathered by degrees the purport of my hasty tale,hurried below, gasping, as he descended 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's mad; andshould he last another month, I'll have him to an asylum. And how thedevil did you come to fasten me out, you toothless hound? Don't standmuttering and mumbling there. Come, I'm not going to nurse him. Washthat stuff away; and mind the sparks of your candle--it is more than halfbrandy!"
'"And so ye've been murthering on him?" exclaimed Joseph, lifting hishands and eyes in horror. "If iver I seed a seeght loike this! May theLord--"
'Heathcliff gave him a push on to his knees in the middle of the blood,and flung a towel to him; but instead of proceeding to dry it up, hejoined his hands and began a prayer, which excited my laughter from itsodd phraseology. I was in the condition of mind to be shocked atnothing: in fact, I was as reckless as some malefactors show themselvesat the foot of the gallows.
'"Oh, I forgot you," said the tyrant. "You shall do that. Down withyou. And you conspire with him against me, do you, viper? There, thatis work fit for you!"
'He shook me till my teeth rattled, and pitched me beside Joseph, whosteadily concluded his supplications, and then rose, vowing he would setoff for the Grange directly. Mr. Linton was a magistrate, and though hehad fifty wives dead, he should inquire into this. He was so obstinatein his resolution, that Heathcliff deemed it expedient to compel from mylips a recapitulation of what had taken place; standing over me, heavingwith malevolence, as I reluctantly delivered the account in answer to hisquestions. It required a great deal of labour to satisfy the old manthat Heathcliff was not the aggressor; especially with my hardly-wrungreplies. However, Mr. Earnshaw soon convinced him that he was alivestill; Joseph hastened to administer a dose of spirits, and by theirsuccour his master presently regained motion and consciousness.Heathcliff, aware that his opponent was ignorant of the treatmentreceived while insensible, called him deliriously intoxicated; and saidhe should not notice his atrocious conduct further, but advised him toget to bed. To my joy, he left us, after giving this judicious counsel,and Hindley stretched himself on the hearthstone. I departed to my ownroom, marvelling that I had escaped so easily.
'This morning, when I came down, about half an hour before noon, Mr.Earnshaw was sitting by the fire, deadly sick; his evil genius, almost asgaunt and ghastly, leant against the chimney. Neither appeared inclinedto dine, and, having waited till all was cold on the table, I commencedalone. Nothing hindered me from eating heartily, and I experienced acertain sense of satisfaction and superiority, as, at intervals, I cast alook towards my silent companions, and felt the comfort of a quietconscience within me. After I had done, I ventured on the unusualliberty of drawing near the fire, going round Earnshaw's seat, andkneeling in the corner beside him.
'Heathcliff did not glance my way, and I gazed up, and contemplated hisfeatures almost as confidently as if they had been turned to stone. Hisforehead, that I once thought so manly, and that I now think sodiabolical, was shaded with a heavy cloud; his basilisk eyes were nearlyquenched by sleeplessness, and weeping, perhaps, for the lashes were wetthen: his lips devoid of their ferocious sneer, and sealed in anexpression of unspeakable sadness. Had it been another, I would havecovered my face in the presence of such grief. In _his_ case, I wasgratified; and, ignoble as it seems to insult a fallen enemy, I couldn'tmiss this chance of sticking in a dart: his weakness was the only timewhen I could taste the delight of paying wrong for wrong.'
'Fie, fie, Miss!' I interrupted. 'One might suppose you had never openeda Bible in your life. If God afflict your enemies, surely that ought tosuffice you. It is both mean and presumptuous to add your torture tohis!'
'In general I'll allow that it would be, Ellen,' she continued; 'but whatmisery 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 onecondition can I hope to forgive him. It is, if I may take an eye for aneye, 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 thefirst to implore pardon; and then--why then, Ellen, I might show you somegenerosity. But it is utterly impossible I can ever be revenged, andtherefore I cannot forgive him. Hindley wanted some water, and I handedhim a glass, and asked him how he was.
'"Not as ill as I wish," he replied. "But leaving out my arm, every inchof me is as sore as if I had been fighting with a legion of imps!"
'"Yes, no wonder," was my next remark. "Catherine used to boast that shestood between you and bodily harm: she meant that certain persons wouldnot hurt you for fear of offending her. It's well people don't _really_rise from their grave, or, last night, she might have witnessed arepulsive scene! Are not you bruised, and cut over your chest andshoulders?"
'"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; becausehe's only half man: not so much, and the rest fiend."
'Mr. Earnshaw looked up, like me, to the countenance of our mutual foe;who, absorbed in his anguish, seemed insensible to anything around him:the longer he stood, the plainer his reflections revealed their blacknessthrough 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 thestruggle.
'"Nay, it's enough that he has murdered one of you," I observed aloud."At the Grange, every one knows your sister would have been living nowhad it not been for Mr. Heathcliff. After all, it is preferable to behated than loved by him. When I recollect how happy we were--how happyCatherine was before he came--I'm fit to curse the day."
'Most likely, Heathcliff noticed more the truth of what was said, thanthe 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 insuffocating sighs. I stared full at him, and laughed scornfully. Theclouded windows of hell flashed a moment towards me; the fiend whichusually looked out, however, was so dimmed and drowned that I did notfear 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 hardlyintelligible.
'"I beg your pardon," I replied. "But I loved Catherine too; and herbrother requires attendance, which, for her sake, I shall supply. Now,that she's dead, I see her in Hindley: Hindley has exactly her eyes, ifyou had not tried to gouge them out, and made them black and red; andher--"
'"Get up, wretched idiot, before I stamp you to death!" he cried, makinga 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 soon have presented asimilar picture! _She_ wouldn't have borne your abominable behaviourquietly: her detestation and disgust must have found voice."
'The back of the settle and Earnshaw's person interposed between me andhim; so instead of endeavouring to reach me, he snatched a dinner-knifefrom the table and flung it at my head. It struck beneath my ear, andstopped the sentence I was uttering; but, pulling it out, I sprang to thedoor and delivered another; which I hope went a little deeper than hismissile. The last glimpse I caught of him was a furious rush on hispart, checked by the embrace of his host; and both fell locked togetheron the hearth. In my flight through the kitchen I bi
d Joseph speed tohis master; I knocked over Hareton, who was hanging a litter of puppiesfrom a chair-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 over banks,and wading through marshes: precipitating myself, in fact, towards thebeacon-light of the Grange. And far rather would I be condemned to aperpetual 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, andbidding me put on her bonnet, and a great shawl I had brought, andturning a deaf ear to my entreaties for her to remain another hour, shestepped on to a chair, kissed Edgar's and Catherine's portraits, bestoweda similar salute on me, and descended to the carriage, accompanied byFanny, who yelped wild with joy at recovering her mistress. She wasdriven away, never to revisit this neighbourhood: but a regularcorrespondence was established between her and my master when things weremore 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 waschristened Linton, and, from the first, she reported him to be an ailing,peevish creature.
Mr. Heathcliff, meeting me one day in the village, inquired where shelived. I refused to tell. He remarked that it was not of any moment,only she must beware of coming to her brother: she should not be withhim, if he had to keep her himself. Though I would give no information,he discovered, through some of the other servants, both her place ofresidence and the existence of the child. Still, he didn't molest her:for which forbearance she might thank his aversion, I suppose. He oftenasked about the infant, when he saw me; and on hearing its name, smiledgrimly, and observed: 'They wish me to hate it too, do they?'
'I don't think they wish you to know anything about it,' I answered.
'But I'll have it,' he said, 'when I want it. They may reckon on that!'
Fortunately its mother died before the time arrived; some thirteen yearsafter the decease of Catherine, when Linton was twelve, or a little more.
On the day succeeding Isabella's unexpected visit I had no opportunity ofspeaking to my master: he shunned conversation, and was fit fordiscussing nothing. When I could get him to listen, I saw it pleased himthat his sister had left her husband; whom he abhorred with an intensitywhich the mildness of his nature would scarcely seem to allow. So deepand sensitive was his aversion, that he refrained from going anywherewhere he was likely to see or hear of Heathcliff. Grief, and thattogether, transformed him into a complete hermit: he threw up his officeof magistrate, ceased even to attend church, avoided the village on alloccasions, and spent a life of entire seclusion within the limits of hispark and grounds; only varied by solitary rambles on the moors, andvisits to the grave of his wife, mostly at evening, or early morningbefore other wanderers were abroad. But he was too good to be thoroughlyunhappy long. _He_ didn't pray for Catherine's soul to haunt him. Timebrought resignation, and a melancholy sweeter than common joy. Herecalled her memory with ardent, tender love, and hopeful aspiring to thebetter world; where he doubted not she was gone.
And he had earthly consolation and affections also. For a few days, Isaid, he seemed regardless of the puny successor to the departed: thatcoldness melted as fast as snow in April, and ere the tiny thing couldstammer a word or totter a step it wielded a despot's sceptre in hisheart. It was named Catherine; but he never called it the name in full,as he had never called the first Catherine short: probably becauseHeathcliff had a habit of doing so. The little one was always Cathy: itformed to him a distinction from the mother, and yet a connection withher; and his attachment sprang from its relation to her, far more thanfrom its being his own.
I used to draw a comparison between him and Hindley Earnshaw, and perplexmyself to explain satisfactorily why their conduct was so opposite insimilar circumstances. They had both been fond husbands, and were bothattached to their children; and I could not see how they shouldn't bothhave taken the same road, for good or evil. But, I thought in my mind,Hindley, with apparently the stronger head, has shown himself sadly theworse and the weaker man. When his ship struck, the captain abandonedhis post; and the crew, instead of trying to save her, rushed into riotand confusion, leaving no hope for their luckless vessel. Linton, on thecontrary, displayed the true courage of a loyal and faithful soul: hetrusted 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 moralising, Mr. Lockwood; you'll judge, aswell as I can, all these things: at least, you'll think you will, andthat's the same. The end of Earnshaw was what might have been expected;it followed fast on his sister's: there were scarcely six months betweenthem. We, at the Grange, never got a very succinct account of his statepreceding it; all that I did learn was on occasion of going to aid in thepreparations for the funeral. Mr. Kenneth came to announce the event tomy master.
'Well, Nelly,' said he, riding into the yard one morning, too early notto alarm me with an instant presentiment of bad news, 'it's yours and myturn to go into mourning at present. Who's given us the slip now, do youthink?'
'Who?' I asked in a flurry.
'Why, guess!' he returned, dismounting, and slinging his bridle on a hookby the door. 'And nip up the corner of your apron: I'm certain you'llneed it.'
'Not Mr. Heathcliff, surely?' I exclaimed.
'What! would you have tears for him?' said the doctor. 'No, Heathcliff'sa tough young fellow: he looks blooming to-day. I've just seen him. He'srapidly regaining flesh since he lost his better half.'
'Who is it, then, Mr. Kenneth?' I repeated impatiently.
'Hindley Earnshaw! Your old friend Hindley,' he replied, 'and my wickedgossip: though he's been too wild for me this long while. There! I saidwe 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 anold companion: though he had the worst tricks with him that ever manimagined, and has done me many a rascally turn. He's barelytwenty-seven, it seems; that's your own age: who would have thought youwere born in one year?'
I confess this blow was greater to me than the shock of Mrs. Linton'sdeath: ancient associations lingered round my heart; I sat down in theporch and wept as for a blood relation, desiring Mr. Kenneth to getanother servant to introduce him to the master. I could not hindermyself from pondering on the question--'Had he had fair play?' WhateverI did, that idea would bother me: it was so tiresomely pertinacious thatI resolved on requesting leave to go to Wuthering Heights, and assist inthe last duties to the dead. Mr. Linton was extremely reluctant toconsent, but I pleaded eloquently for the friendless condition in whichhe lay; and I said my old master and foster-brother had a claim on myservices as strong as his own. Besides, I reminded him that the childHareton was his wife's nephew, and, in the absence of nearer kin, heought to 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. Hewas unfit for attending to such matters then, but he bid me speak to hislawyer; and at length permitted me to go. His lawyer had been Earnshaw'salso: I called at the village, and asked him to accompany me. He shookhis head, and advised that Heathcliff should be let alone; affirming, ifthe truth were known, Hareton would be found little else than a beggar.
'His father died in debt,' he said; 'the whole property is mortgaged, andthe sole chance for the natural heir is to allow him an opportunity ofcreating some interest in the creditor's heart, that he may be inclinedto deal leniently towards him.'
When I reached the Heights, I explained that I had come to see everythingcarried on decently; and Joseph, who appeared in sufficient distress,expressed satisfaction at my presence. Mr. Heathcliff said he did notperceive that I was wanted; but I might stay and order the arrangementsfor the funeral, if I chose.
'Correctly,' he remarked, 'that fool's body should be buried at thecross-roads, without ceremony
of any kind. I happened to leave him tenminutes yesterday afternoon, and in that interval he fastened the twodoors of the house against me, and he has spent the night in drinkinghimself to death deliberately! We broke in this morning, for we heardhim sporting like a horse; and there he was, laid over the settle:flaying and scalping would not have wakened him. I sent for Kenneth, andhe came; but not till the beast had changed into carrion: he was bothdead and cold, and stark; and so you'll allow it was useless making morestir about him!'
The old servant confirmed this statement, but muttered:
'I'd rayther he'd goan hisseln for t' doctor! I sud ha' taen tent o' 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 I mighthave my own way there too: only, he desired me to remember that the moneyfor the whole affair came out of his pocket. He maintained a hard,careless deportment, indicative of neither joy nor sorrow: if anything,it expressed a flinty gratification at a piece of difficult worksuccessfully executed. I observed once, indeed, something likeexultation in his aspect: it was just when the people were bearing thecoffin from the house. He had the hypocrisy to represent a mourner: andprevious to following with Hareton, he lifted the unfortunate child on tothe 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, withthe same wind to twist it!' The unsuspecting thing was pleased at thisspeech: he played with Heathcliff's whiskers, and stroked his cheek; butI divined its meaning, and observed tartly, 'That boy must go back withme to Thrushcross Grange, sir. There is nothing in the world less yoursthan he is!'
'Does Linton say so?' he demanded.
'Of course--he has ordered me to take him,' I replied.
'Well,' said the scoundrel, 'we'll not argue the subject now: but I havea fancy to try my hand at rearing a young one; so intimate to your masterthat I must supply the place of this with my own, if he attempt to removeit. I don't engage to let Hareton go undisputed; but I'll be pretty sureto make the other come! Remember to tell him.'
This hint was enough to bind our hands. I repeated its substance on myreturn; and Edgar Linton, little interested at the commencement, spoke nomore of interfering. I'm not aware that he could have done it to anypurpose, 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, proved it toMr. Linton--that Earnshaw had mortgaged every yard of land he owned forcash to supply his mania for gaming; and he, Heathcliff, was themortgagee. In that manner Hareton, who should now be the first gentlemanin the neighbourhood, was reduced to a state of complete dependence onhis father's inveterate enemy; and lives in his own house as a servant,deprived of the advantage of wages: quite unable to right himself,because of his friendlessness, and his ignorance that he has beenwronged.