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