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