Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronthe

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21425 :17.6
Harvard College Library

E
HRISTOMIA
ACADEEN
WNT VER1
TID
ENT ON
O N
FROM THE LIBRARY OF
FRANKLIN HAVEN
OF BOSTON
AND OF
FRANKLIN HAVEN , JR.

( Class of 1857)
GIFT OF
MARY E. HAVEN
July 2 , 1914
!
WUTHERING HEIGHTS,
!
By EMILY BRONTË ;
AND
AGNES GREY ,
BY ANNE BRONTË ;
WITH A PREFACE, AND MEMOIR OF BOTH AUTHORS ,
BY CHARLOTTE BRONTË .
A NEW EDITION .
LONDON :
SMITH , ELDER & CO. , 15, WATERLOO PLACE .
1870.
HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY
GIFT OF
MARY E. HAVEN
JULY 2, 1914,
turst2.B 75
ID 36603
21425.17.6
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
NOV 24 1969
1
1
11
37
CONTENTS.
PAGB
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF ELLIS AND ACTON BELL, BY
CURRER BELL
CURRER BELL'S PREFACE TO WUTHERING HEIGHTS xiv
WUTHERING HEIGHTS, BY ELLIS BELL 1
AGNES GREY, BY ACTON BELL 283

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
OF
ELLIS AND ACTON BELL .
It has been thought that all the works published under

the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, were, in
reality, the production of one person. This mistake
I endeavoured to rectify by a few words of disclaimer
prefixed to the third edition of Jane Eyre. These, too,
it appears, failed to gain general credence, and now, on
the occasion of a reprint of Wuthering Heights and
Agnes Grey, I am advised distinctly to state how the
case really stands.
Indeed, I feel myself that it is time the obscurity
attending those two names - Ellis and Acton-was done
away. The little mystery, which formerly yielded some
harmless pleasure, has lost its interest ; circumstances
are changed. It becomes, then , my duty to explain
briefly the origin and authorship of the books written by
Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.
About five years ago, my two sisters and myself, after
a somewhat prolonged period of separation, found our
selves reunited, and at home. Resident in a remote
district, where education had made little progress, and
where, consequently, there was no inducement to seek
b
vi BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF
social intercourse beyond our own domestic circle, we

were wholly dependent on ourselves and each other, on
books and study, for the enjoyments and occupations of
life . The highest stimulus, as well as the liveliest
pleasure we had known from childhood upwards, lay in
attempts at literary composition ; formerly we used to
show each other what we wrote, but of late years this
habit of communication and consultation had been dis
continued ; hence it ensued, that we were mutually
ignorant of the progress we might respectively have
made.
One day, in the autumn of 1845, I accidentally lighted

on a MS. volume of verse in my sister Emily's hand
writing. Of course, I was not surprised, knowing that
she could and did write verse : I looked it over, and
something more than surprise seized me, -a deep con
viction that these were not common effusions, nor at all
like the poetry women generally write. I thought them
condensed and terse, vigorous and genuine. To my ear,
they had also a peculiar music — wild, melancholy, and
elevating.
My sister Emily was not a person of demonstrative
character, nor one on the recesses of whose mind and
feelings, even those nearest and dearest to her could,
with impunity, intrude unlicensed ; it took hours to
reconcile her to the discovery I had made, and days
to persuade her that such poems merited publication.
I knew, however, that a mind like hers could not be
without some latent spark of honourable ambition, and
refused to be discouraged in my attempts to fan that
spark to flame.
Meantime, my younger sister quietly produced some
of her own compositions, intimating that, since Emily's
had given me pleasure, I might like to look at hers.
I could not but be a partial judge, yet I thought that
ELLIS AND ACTON BELL. vii
these rerses, too, had a sweet sincere pathos of their

Own .
We had very early cherished the dream of one day

becoming authors. This dream , never relinquished even
when distance divided and absorbing tasks occupied us,
now suddenly acquired strength and consistency : it took
the character of a resolve. We agreed to arrange a
small selection of our poems, and, if possible, get them
printed. Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our
own names under those of Currer, Ellis, and Acton
Bell ; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort
of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names
positively masculine, while we did not like to declare
ourselves women, because — without at that time sus
pecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not
what is called “ feminine " -we had a vague impression
that authoresses are liable to be looked on with preju
dice ; we had noticed how critics sometimes use for
their chastisement the weapon of personality, and for
their reward, a flattery, which is not true praise.
The bringing out of our little book was hard work.
As was to be expected, neither we nor our poems were
at all wanted ; but for this we had been prepared at the
outset; though inexperienced ourselves, we had read
the experience of others. The great puzzle lay in the
difficulty of getting answers of any kind from the
publishers to whom we applied. Being greatly harassed
by this obstacle, I ventured to apply to the Messrs
Chambers, of Edinburgh, for a word of advice ; they
may have forgotten the circumstance, but I have not,
for from them I received a brief and business- like, but,
civil and sensible reply, on which we acted, and at last
made a way :
The book was printed : it is scarcely known, and all
of it that merits to be known are the poems of Ellis
b 2
21425 : 17.6
ARV
Harvard College Library
ARD
INAN
OAVIEN
HRISTO
WAI
TIJ A
IS
FROM THE LIBRARY OF
FRANKLIN HAVEN
OF BOSTON
AND OF
FRANKLIN HAVEN , JR.

( Class of 1857)
GIFT OF
MARY E. HAVEN
July 2 , 1914
WUTHEHING HEIGHTS
III
IGIES GRET.
IJSSE 2 πέ :
WITH A r2t. L. ANI, YUCE BUT ITEN
ET CHARLOTTE EPUNTE
LONDON :
SMITH , ELDER & CO . , 15 , WATERLOO PLACE .
1870.
1
>
WUTHERING HEIGHTS,
By EMILY BRONTË ;
AND
AGNES GREY ,
BY ANNE BRONTË ;
WITH A PREFACE , AND MEMOIR OF BOTH AUTHORS,
By CHARLOTTE BRONTË .
A NEW EDITION .
LONDON :
SMITH , ELDER & CO. , 15, WATERLOO PLACE .
1870.
HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY
GIFT OF
MARY E. HAVEN
JULY 2, 1914,
HUF 8 12.B 75
KD 340003
21425.17.6
HARVARD
UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY
NOV 24 1969 BE
CONTENTS.
PAGB
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF ELLIS AND ACTON BELL, BY
CURRER BELL V
CURRER BELL'S PREFACE TO WUTHERING HEIGHTS xiv
WUTHERING HEIGHTS, BY ELLIS BELL 1
AGNES GREY, BY ACTON BELL 283

1
||
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE
OF
It has been thought that all the works published under

the names of Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell, were, in
reality, the production of one person. This mistake
I endeavoured to rectify by a few words of disclaimer
prefixed to the third edition of Jane Eyre. These, too,
it appears, failed to gain general credence, and now, on
the occasion of a reprint of Wuthering Heights and
Agnes Grey, I am advised distinctly to state how the
case really stands.
Indeed, I feel myself that it is time the obscurity
attending those two names - Ellis and Acton - was done
away. The little mystery, which formerly yielded some
harmless pleasure, has lost its interest ; circumstances
are changed. It becomes, then , my duty to explain
briefly the origin and authorship of the books written by
Currer, Ellis, and Acton Bell.
About five years ago, my two sisters and myself, after
a somewhat prolonged period of separation, found our
selves reunited , and at home. Resident in a remote
district, where education had made little progress, and
where, consequently, there was no inducement to seek
b
vi
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF
social intercourse beyond our own domestic circle, we

were wholly dependent on ourselves and each other, on
books and study, for the enjoyments and occupations of
life. The highest stimulus, as well as the liveliest
pleasure we had known from childhood upwards, lay in
attempts at literary composition ; formerly we used to
show each other what we wrote, but of late years this
habit of communication and consultation had been dis
continued ; hence it ensued, that we were mutually
ignorant of the progress we might respectively have
made.
One day, in the autumn of 1845, I accidentally lighted
on a MS. volume of verse in my sister Emily's hand
writing. Of course, I was not surprised, knowing that
she could and did write verse : I looked it over, and
something more than surprise seized me, -a deep con
viction that these were not common effusions, nor at all
like the poetry women generally write. I thought them
condensed and terse, vigorous and genuine. To my ear,
they had also a peculiar music — wild, melancholy, and
elevating
My sister Emily was not a person of demonstrative
character, nor one on the recesses of whose mind and
feelings, even those nearest and dearest to her could,
with impunity, intrude unlicensed ; it took hours to
reconcile her to the discovery I had made, and days
to persuade her that such poems merited publication.
I knew, however, that a mind like hers could not be
without some latent spark of honourable ambition, and
refused to be discouraged in my attempts to fan that
spark to flame.
Meantime, my younger sister quietly produced some
of her own compositions, intimating that, since Emily's
had given me pleasure, I might like to look at her3.
I could not but be a partial judge, yet I thought that
ELLIS AND ACTON BELL. vii
these verses, too, had a sweet sincere pathos of their

OWN .
We had very early cherished the dream of one day

becoming authors. This dream , never relinquished even
when distance divided and absorbing tasks occupied us,
now suddenly acquired strength and consistency : it took
the character of a resolve. We agreed to arrange a
small selection of our poems, and , if possible, get them
printed. Averse to personal publicity, we veiled our
own names under those of Currer, Ellis, and Acton
Bell ; the ambiguous choice being dictated by a sort
of conscientious scruple at assuming Christian names
positively masculine, while we did not like to declare
ourselves women , because — without at that time sus
pecting that our mode of writing and thinking was not
what is called “ feminine”—we had a vague impression
that authoresses are liable to be looked on with preju
dice ; we had noticed how critics sometimes use for
their chastisement the weapon of personality, and for
their reward , a flattery , which is not true praise.
The bringing out of our little book was hard work.
As was to be expected, neither we nor our poems were
at all wanted ; but for this we had been prepared at the
outset ; though inexperienced ourselves, we had read
the experience of others. The great puzzle lay in the
difficulty of getting answers of any kind from the
publishers to whom we applied. Being greatly harassed
by this obstacle, I ventured to apply to the Messrs
Chambers, of Edinburgh, for a word of advice ; they
may have forgotten the circumstance, but I have not,
for from them I received a brief and business-like, but,
civil and sensible reply, on which we acted, and at last
made a way.
The book was printed : it is scarcely known, and all
of it that merits to be known are the poems of Ellis
62
viii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF
Bell. The fixed conviction I held, and hold, of the

worth of these poems has not indeed received the con
firmation of much favourable criticism ; but I must
retain it notwithstanding.
Ill-success failed to crush us : the mere effort to suc
ceed had given a wonderful zest to existence ; it must
be pursued. We each set to work on a prose tale :
Ellis Bell produced Wuthering Heights, Acton Bell
Agnes Grey, and Currer Bell also wrote a narrative in
one volume. These MSS. were perseveringly obtruded
upon various publishers for the space of a year and a
half; usually, their fate was an ignominious and abrupt
disinissal.
At last Wuthering Heights and Agnes Grey were
accepted on terms somewhat impoverishing to the two
authors; Currer Bell's book found acceptance nowhere,
nor any acknowledgment of merit, so that something
like the chill of despair began to invade his heart. As a
forlorn hope, he tried one publishing house more
Messrs. Smith , Elder and Co. Ere long, in a much
shorter space than that on which experience had taught
him to calculate there came a letter, which he opened
in the dreary expectation of finding two hard hopeless
lines, intimating that Messrs. Smith , Elder and Co.
“ were not disposed to publish the MS. ” and, instead, he
took out of the envelope a letter of two pages. He read
it trembling. It declined, indeed, to publish that tale,
for business reasons, but it discussed its merits and
demerits so courteously, so considerately, in a spirit so
rational, with a discrimination so enlightened, that this
very refusal cheered the author better than a vulgarly
expressed acceptance would have done. It was added,
that a work in three volumes would meet with careful
attention.
I was then just completing Jane Eyre, at which I had
ELLIS AND ACTON BELL . ix
been working while the one volume tale was plodding

its weary round in London : in three weeks I sent it off;
friendly and skilful hands took it in. This was in the
commencement of September 1847 ; it came out before
the close of October following, while Wuthering Heights
and Agnes Grey, my sisters'works, which had already
been in the press for months, still lingered under a dif
ferent management.
They appeared at last. Critics failed to do them
justice. The immature but very real powers revealed
in Wuthering Heights were scarcely recognised ; its
import and nature were misunderstood ; the identity of
its author was misrepresented ; it was said that this
was an earlier and ruder attempt of the same pen which
had produced Jane Eyre. Unjust and grievous error !
We laughed at it at first, but I deeply lament it now.
Hence, I fear, arose a prejudice against the book. That
writer who could attempt to palm off an inferior and
immature production under cover of one successful
effort, must indeed be unduly eager after the secondary
and sordid result of authorship, and pitiably indifferent
to its true and honourable meed. If reviewers and the
public truly believed this, no wonder that they looked
darkly on the cheat.
Yet I must not be understood to make these things
subject for reproach or complaint ; I dare not do so ;
respect for my sister's memory forbids me. By her any
such querulous manifestation would have been regarded
as an unworthy and offensive weakness.
It is my duty, as well as my pleasure, to acknowledge
one exception to the general rule of criticism. One
writer,* endowed with the keen vision and fine sympa
thies of genius, has discerned the real nature of
Wuthering Heights, and has, with equal accuracy, noted
* See the Palladium for September 1850.
BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF
its beauties and touched on its faults. Too often do

reviewers remind us of the mob of Astrologers, Chal
deans, and Soothsayers gathered before the “ writing on
the wall,” and unable to read the characters or make
known the interpretation. We have a right to rejoice
when a true seer comes at last, some man in whom is
an excellent spirit, to whom have been given light,
wisdom , and understanding; who can accurately read
the “ Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin ” of an original
mind (however unripe, however inefficiently cultured
and partially expanded that mind may be) ; and who
can say with confidence, “ This is the interpretation
thereof."
Yet even the writer to whom I allude shares the
mistake about the authorship, and does me the injustice
to suppose that there was equivoque in my former rejec
tion of this honour (as an honour, I regard it). May I
assure him that I would scorn in this and in every other
case to deal in equivoque ; I believe language to have
been given us to make our meaning clear, and not to
wrap it in dishonest doubt.
The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Acton Bell, had
likewise an unfavourable reception. At this I cannot
wonder. The choice of subject was an entire mistake.
Nothing less congruous with the writer's nature could
be conceived. The motives which dictated this choice
were pure, but, I think , slightly morbid. She had, in
the course of her life been called on to contemplate,
near at hand, and for a long time, the terrible effects of
talents misused and faculties abused ; hers was naturally
a sensitive, reserved, and dejected nature; what she
saw sank very deeply into her mind ; it did her harm .
She brooded over it till she believed it to be a duty
to reproduce every detail (of course with fictitious
characters, incidents, and situations,) as a warning to
xi
others. She hated her work , but would pursue it.

When reasoned with on the subject, she regarded such
reasonings as a temptation to self -indulgence. She
must be honest; she must not varnish , soften , or conceal.
This well-meant resolution brought on her miscon
struction, and some abuse, which she bore , as it was
her custom to bear whatever was unpleasant, with mild,
steady patience. She was a very sincere and practical
Christian , but the tinge of religious melancholy commu
nicated a sad shade to her brief, blameless life.
Neither Ellis nor Acton allowed herself for one mo
ment to sink under want of encouragement; energy
nerved theone , and endurance upheld the other. They
were both prepared to try again ; I would fain think
that hope and the sense of power was yet strong within
them . But a great change approached : affliction came
in that shape which to anticipate is dread ; to look back
on, grief. In the very heat and burden of the day, the
labourers failed over their work.
My sister Emily first declined. The details of her
illness are deep -branded in my memory , but to dwell
on them , either in thought or narrative, is not in my
power . Never in all her life had she lingered over any
task that lay before her, and she did not linger now.
She sank rapidly. She made haste to leave us. Yet,
while physically she perished, mentally she grew
stronger than we had yet known her. Day by day,
when I saw with what a front she met suffering, I
looked on her with an anguish of wonder and love. I
have seen nothing like it ; but, indeed, I have never
seen her parallel in anything. Stronger than a man ,
simpler than a child, her nature stood alone. The awful
point was , that while full of ruth for others, on herself
she had no pity ; the spirit was inexorable to the flesh ;
from the trembling hand, the unnerved limbs, the faded
xii BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF
eyes, the same service was exacted as they had rendered

in health . To stand by and witness this, and not dare
to remonstrate, was a pain no words can render.
Two cruel months of hope and fear passed painfully
by, and the day came at last when the terrors and pains
of death were to be undergone by this treasure, which
had grown dearer and dearer to our hearts as it wasted
before our eyes. Towards the decline of that day, we
had nothing of Emily but her mortal remains as con
sumption left them . She died December 19, 1848.
We thought this enough : but we were utterly and
presumptuously wrong. She was not buried ere Anne
fell ill. She had not been committed to the grave a
fortnight, before we received distinct intimation that it
was necessary to prepare our minds to see the younger
sister go after the elder. Accordingly, she followed in
the same path with slower step, and with a patience
that equalled the other's fortitude. I have said that
she was religious, and it was by leaning on those Chris
tian doctrines in which she firmly believed, that she
found support through her most painful journey. I
witnessed their efficacy in her latest hour and greatest
trial, and must bear my testimony to the calm triumph
with which they brought her through . She died
May 28, 1849.
What more shall I say about them ? I cannot and
need not say much more. In externals , they were two
unobtrusive women ; a perfectly secluded life gave them
retiring manners and habits. In Emily's nature the
extremes of vigour and simplicity seemed to meet.
Under an unsophisticated culture , inartificial tastes,
and an unpretending outside , lay a secret power and
fire that might have informed the brain and kindled the
veins of a hero ; but she had no worldly wisdom ; her
powers were unadapted to the practical business of life ;
ELLIS AND ACTON BELL . xiii
she would fail to defend her most manifest rights, to

consult her most legitimate advantage. An interpreter
ought always to have stood between her and the world.
Her will was not very flexible, and it generally opposed
her interest. Her temper was magnanimous, but warm
and sudden ; her spirit altogether unbending .
Anne's character was milder and more subdued ; she
wanted the power, the fire, the originality of her sister,
but was well endowed with quiet virtues of her own.
Long-suffering, self -denying, reflective, and intelligent,
a constitutional reserve and taciturnity placed and kept
her in the shade, and covered her mind, and especially
her feelings, with a sort of nun -like veil, which was
rarely lifted . Neither Emily nor Anne was learned ;
they had no thought of filling their pitchers at the
well-spring of other minds ; they always wrote from the
impulse of nature, the dictates of intuition, and from
such stores of observation as their limited experience
had enabled them to amass. I may sum up all by
saying , that for strangers they were nothing, for super
ficial observers less than nothing ; but for those who
had known them all their lives in the intimacy of close
relationship , they were genuinely good and truly great.
This notice has been written , because I felt it a sacred
duty to wipe the dust off their gravestones, and leave
their dear names free from soil.
CURRER BELL
September 19, 1850.
EDITOR'S PREFACE
TO THE NEW EDITION OF
WUTHERING HEIGHTS .
I HAVE just read over “Wuthering Heights,” and, for

the first time, have obtained a clear glimpse of what are
termed (and, perhaps, really are) its faults ; have gained
a definite notion of how it appears to other peopleto
strangers who knew nothing of the author ; who are
unacquainted with the locality where the scenes of the
story are laid ; to whom the inhabitants, the customs,
the natural characteristics of the outlying hills and
hamlets in the West-Riding of Yorkshire are things
alien and unfamiliar.
To all such “ Wuthering Heights ” must appear a
rude and strange production. The wild moors of the
north of England can for them have no interest ; the
language, the manners, the very dwellings and house
hold customs of the scattered inhabitants of those
districts, must be to such readers in a great measure
unintelligible, and — where intelligible - repulsive. Men
and women who, perhaps, naturally very calm , and
with feelings moderate in degree, and little marked
in kind, have been trained from their cradle to observe
the utmost evenness of manner and guardedness of
language, will hardly know what to make of the rough,
PREFACE . XV
strong utterance, the harshly manifested passions, the

unbridled aversions, and headlong partialities of un
lettered moorland hinds and rugged moorland squires,
who have grown up untaught and unchecked, except by
mentors as harsh as themselves. A large class of readers,
likewise, will suffer greatly from the introduction into
the pages of this work of words printed with all their
letters , which it has become the custom to represent by
the initial and final letter only—a blank line filling the
interval. I may as well say at once that, for this
circumstance, it is out of my power to apologize;
deeming it, myself, a rational plan to write words at
full length. The practice of hinting by single letters
those expletives with which profane and violent persons
are wont to garnish their discourse, strikes me as a
proceeding which , however well meant, is weak and
futile. I cannot tell what good it does—what feeling it I
spares -- what horror it conceals.
With regard to the rusticity of “ Wuthering Heights,"
I admit the charge, for I feel the quality. It is rustic
all through. It is moorish, and wild, and knotty as
a root of heath. Nor was it natural that it should be
otherwise ; the author being herself a native and nurs
ling of the moors . Doubtless, had her lot been cast
in a town, her writings, if she had written at all, would
have possessed another character. Even had chance or
taste led her to choose a similar subject, she would have
Had Ellis Bell been a lady or
treated it otherwise .
a gentleman accustomed to what is called “ the world ,"
her view of a remote and unreclaimed region , as well
as of the dwellers therein, would have differed greatly
from that actually taken by the homebred country girl.
Doubtless it would have been wider-more compre
hensive : whether it would have been more original
or more truthful is not so certain. As far as the scenery
xvi PREFACE.
and locality are concerned, it could scarcely have been

so sympathetic : Ellis Bell did not describe as one whose
eye and taste alone found pleasure in the prospect ; her
native hills were far more to her than a spectacle ; they
were what she lived in, and by, as much as the wild
birds, their tenants, or as the heather, their produce.
Her descriptions, then, of natural scenery, are what
they should be, and all they should be.
Where delineation of human character is concerned ,
the case is different. I am bound to avow that she had
scarcely more practical knowledge of the peasantry
amongst whom she lived, than a nun has of the country
people who sometimes pass her convent gates. My sister's
disposition was not naturally gregarious ; circumstances
favoured and fostered her tendency to seclusion ; except
to go to church or take a walk on the hills, she rarely
crossed the threshold of home. Though her feeling for
the people round was benevolent, intercourse with them
she never sought; nor, with very few exceptions, ever
experienced. And yet she knew them : knew their
ways, their language, their family histories ; she could
hear of them with interest, and talk of them with detail ,
minute, graphic, and accurate ; but with them , she
rarely exchanged a word. Hence it ensued that what
her mind had gathered of the real concerning them ,
was too exclusively confined to those tragic and terrible
traits of which, in listening to the secret annals of every
rude vicinage, the memory is sometimes compelled to
receive the impress. Her imagination, which was а
spirit more sombre than sunny, more powerful than
sportive, found in such traits material whence it wrought
creations like Heathcliff, like Earnshaw, like Catherine.
Having formed these beings, she did not know what she
had done. If the auditor of her work when read in
manuscript, shuddered under the grinding influence of
PREFACE . xvii
natures so relentless and implacable, of spirits so lost

and fallen ; if it was complained that the mere hearing
of certain vivid and fearful scenes banished sleep by
night, and disturbed mental peace by day, Ellis Bell
would wonder what was meant, and suspect the com
plainant of affectation. Had she but lived, her mind
would of itself have grown like a strong tree, loftier,
straighter, wider -spreading, and its matured fruits would
have attained a mellower ripeness and sunnier bloom ;
but on that mind time and experience alone could work :
to the influence of other intellects, it was not amenable.
Having avowed that over much of “ Wuthering
Heights” there broods “ a horror of great darkness ;
that, in its storm -heated and electrical atmosphere, we
seem at times to breathe lightning, let me point to those
spots where clouded daylight and the eclipsed sun still
attest their existence. For a specimen of true bene
volence and homely fidelity, look at the character of
Nelly Dean ; for an example of constancy and tender
ness, remark that of Edgar Linton. ( Some people will
think these qualities do not shine so well incarnate in
a man as they would do in a woman, but Ellis Bell
could never be brought to comprehend this notion :
nothing moved her more than any insinuation that the
faithfulness and clemency, the long -suffering and loving
kindness which are esteemed virtues in the daughters
of Eve, become foibles in the sons of Adam. She held
that mercy and forgiveness are the divinest attributes
of the Great Being who made both man and woman ,
and that what clothes the Godhead in glory, can dis
grace no form of feeble humanity.) There is a dry
saturnine humour in the delineation of old Joseph, and
some glimpses of grace and gaiety animate the younger
Catherine. Nor is even the first heroine of the name
destitute of a certain strange beauty in her fierceness,
xviii PREFACE .
or of lionesty in the midst of perverted passion and

passionate perversity.
Heathcliff, indeed, stands unredeemed ; never once
swerving in his arrow -straight course to perdition, from
the time when “ the little black -haired swarthy thing, as
dark as if it came from the Devil,” was first unrolled out
of the bundle and set on its feet in the farm -house
kitchen, to the hour when Nelly Dean found the grim,
stalwart corpse laid on its back in the panel-enclosed
bed , with wide-gazing eyes that seemed to sneer at her
attempt to close them , and parted lips and sharp white
teeth that sneered too."
Heathcliff betrays one solitary human feeling, and
that is not his love for Catherine ; which is a sentiment
fierce and inhuman ; a passion such as might boil and
glow in the bad essence of some evil genius ; a fire that
might form the tormented centre — the ever-suffering
soul of a magnate of the infernal world : and by its
quenchless and ceaseless ravage effect the execution of
the decree which dooms him to carry Hell with him
wherever he wanders. No ; the single link that con
nects Heathcliff with humanity is his rudely -confessed
regard for Hareton Earnshaw -- the young man whom
he has ruined ; and then his half -implied esteem for
Nelly Dean. These solitary traits omitted, we should
say he was child neither of Lascar nor gipsy, but a
man's shape animated by demon life - a Ghoul - an
Afreet.
Whether it is right or advisable to create beings like
Heathcliff, I do not know : I scarcely think it is. But
this I know ; the writer who possesses the creative gift
owns something of which he is not always master
something that, at times, strangely wills and works for
itself. He may lay down rules and devise principles,
and to rules and principles it will perhaps for years lie
PREFACE , xix
in subjection ; and then , haply without any warning of

revolt, there comes a time when it will no longer consent
to “ harrow the valleys, or be bound with a band in the
furrow ” —when it “ laughs at the multitude of the city,
and regards not the crying of the driver " -- when ,
refusing absolutely to make ropes out of sea -sand any
longer, it sets to work on statue-hewing, and you have a
Pluto or a Jove, a Tisiphone or a Psyche, a Mermaid or
a Madonna, as Fate or Inspiration direct. Be the work
grim or glorious, dread or divine, you have little choice
left but quiescent adoption. As for you — the nominal
artist - your share in it has been to work passively under
dictates you neither delivered nor could question—that
would not be uttered at your prayer, nor suppressed nor
changed at your caprice. If the result be attractive,
the World will praise you, who little deserve praise ; if
it be repulsive, the same World will blame you, who
almost as little deserve blame.
Wuthering Heights ” was hewn in a wild work
shop, with simple tools, out of homely materials. The
statuary found a granite block on a solitary moor ; gazing
thereon , he saw how from the crag might be elicited a
head, savage, swart, sinister ; a form moulded with at
least one element of grandeur - power. He wrought
with a rude chisel, and from no model but the vision of
his meditations. With time and labour, the crag took
human shape ; and there it stands colossal, dark , and
frowning, half statue, half rock : in the former sense,
terrible and goblin - like; in the latter, almost beautiful,
for its colouring is of mellow grey, and moorland moss
clothes it ; and heath ,with its blooming bells and balmy
fragrance, grows faithfully close to the giant's foot.
CURRER BELL.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS ;
BY ELLIS BELL.
CHAPTER 1.
1801.- -I have just returned from a visit to my landlord

the solitary neighbour that I shall be troubled with. This is
certainly a beautiful country ! In all England, I do not
believe that I could have fixed on a situation so completely
removed from the stir of society. A perfect misanthropist's
heaven : and Mr Heathcliff and I are such a suitable pair
to divide the desolation between us. A capital fellow ! He
little imagined how my heart warmed towards him when I
beheld his black eyes withdraw so suspiciously under their
brows, as I rode up, and when his fingers sheltered them
selves, with a jealous resolution, still further in his waistcoat,
as I announced my name.
" Mr Heathcliff ? " I said.
A nod was the answer.
“ Mr Lockwood your new tenant, sir. I do myself the
honour of calling as soon as possible after my arrival, to
express the hope that I have not inconvenienced you by
my perseverance in soliciting the occupation of Thrushcross
Grange : I heard yesterday you had had some thoughts ”
“ Thrushcross Grange is my own, sir," he interrupted,
wincing. “ I should not allow any one to inconvenience me,
if I could hinder it - walk in ! ”
The “ walk in " was uttered with closed teeth , and expressed
the sentiment, “ Go to the Deuce : " even the gate over which
he leant manifested no sympathizing movement to the words ;
and I think that circumstance determined me to accept the
invitation : I felt interested in a man who seemed more
exaggeratedly reserved than myself,
1
2 WUTHERING HEIGHTS.
When he saw my horse's breast fairly pushing the barrier

he did put out his hand to unchain it, and then sullenl:
preceded me up the causeway, calling, as we entered the couri
- “ Joseph, take Mr Lockwood's horse ; and bring up som
wine . ”
“Here we have the whole establishment of domestics,
suppose," was the reflection suggested by this compoun,
order. “ No wonder the grass grows up between the flags
and cattle are the only hedge -cutters."
Joseph was an elderly, nay, an old man : very old, perhape
though hale and sinewy. " The Lord help us!" he solilo
quized in an undertone of peevish displeasure, while relieving
me of my horse : looking, meantime, in my face so sourly tha
I charitably conjectured he must have need of divine aid ti
digest his dinner, and his pious ejaculation had no referenc
to my unexpected advent.
Wuthering Heights is the name of Mr Heathcliff's dwell
ing. “ Wuthering” being a significant provincial adjective
descriptive of the atmospheric tumult to which its station i
exposed in stormy weather. Pure, bracing ventilation the
must have up there at all times, indeed : one may guess th
power of the north wind blowing over the edge, by the exces
sive slant of a few stunted firs at the end of thehouse ; an,
by arange of gaunt thorns all stretchingtheir limbs one way.
as if craving alms of the sun. Happily, the architect had
foresight to build it strong : the narrow windows are deeply
set in the wall, and the corners defended with large jutting -
stones .
Before passing the threshold, I paused to admire a quantit
of grotesque carving lavished over the front, and especiall
about the principal door ; above which, among a wildernes
of crumbling griffins and shameless little boys, I detected th
date “ 1500," and the name “ Hareton Earnshaw . " I woul1
have made a few comments, and requested a short history of
the place from the surly owner ; but his attitude at the door
appeared to demand my speedy entrance, or complete departure,
and I had no desire to aggravate his impatience previous to
inspecting the penetralium .
One step brought us into the family sitting-room , without
any introductory lobby or passage : they call it here “ th
house " pre-eminently. It includes kitchen and parlour, gene
rally ; but I believe at Wuthering Heights the kitchen is
forced to retreat altogether into another quarter : at least
WUTHERING HEIGHTS . 3
distinguished a chatter of tongues, and a clatter of culinary

utensils, deep within ; and I observed no signs of roasting,
boiling, or baking, about the huge fireplace ; nor any glitter
of copper saucepans and tin cullenders on the walls. One
end, indeed , reflected splendidly both light and heat from
ranks of immense pewter dishes , interspersed with silver jugs
and tankards, towering row after row, on a vast oak dresser,
to the very roof. The latter had never been underdrawn : its
entire anatomy lay bare to an inquiring eye, except where a
frame of wood laden with oatcakes and clusters of legs of
beef, mutton, and ham , concealed it. Above the chimney
were sundry villanous old guns, and a couple of horse-pistols:
and, by way of ornament, three gaudily painted canisters
disposed along its ledge. The floor was of smooth , white
stone ; the chairs, high-backed , primitive structures, painted
green : one or two heavy black ones lurking in the shade.
In an arch under the dresser, reposed a huge, liver-coloured
bitch pointer, surrounded by a swarm of squealing puppies ;
and other dogs haunted other recesses.
The apartment and furniture would have been nothing
extraordinary as belonging to a homely, northern farmer, with
a stubborn countenance, and stalwart limbs set out to
advantage in knee-breeches and gaiters. Such an individual
seated in his arm-chair, his mug of ale frothing on the round
table before him , is to be seen in any circuit of five or sis
miles among these hills, if you go at the right time after
dinner. But Mr Heathcliff forms a singular contrast to his
abode and style of living. He is a dark -skinned gipsy in
aspect, in dress and manners a gentleman : that is, as much
a gentleman as many a country squire : rather slovenly,
perhaps, yet not looking amiss with his negligence, because
he has an erect and handsome figure ; and rather morose.
Possibly, some people might suspect him of a degree of under
bred pride ; I have a sympathetic chord within that tells me
it is nothing of the sort : I know, by instinct, his reserve
springs from an aversion to showy displays of feeling — to
manifestations of mutual kindliness. He'll love and hate
equally under cover, ard esteem it a species of impertinence
to beloved or hated again. No, I'm running on too fast :
I bestow my own attributes over liberally on him . Mr
Heathclif may have entirely dissimilar reasons for keeping
his hand out of the way when he meets a would-be acquaint
ance, to those which actuate me. Let me hope my constitu
4 WUTHERING HEIGHTS .
tion is almost peculiar : my dear mother used to say I should

never have a comfortable home; and only last summer I
proved myself perfectly unworthy of one.
While enjoying a month of fine weather at the sea-coast, I
was thrown into the company of a most fascinating crcature :
a real poldass in my eyes, as long as she took no notice of
me. I never told my love ” vocally ; still , if looks have
language, the merest idiot might have guessed I was over

head and ears : she understood me at last, and looked a return
-the sweetest of all imaginable looks. And what did I do ?
I confess it with shame - shrunk icily into myself, like a snail;
at every glance retired colder and farther; till finally the poor
innocent was led to doubt her own senses, and , overwhelmed
with confusion at her supposed mistake, persuaded her mamma
to decamp. By this curious turn of disposition I have gained
the reputation ofdeliberate heartlessness; how undeserved, I
alone can appreciate.
I took a seat at the end of the hearthstone opposite that
towards which mylandlord advanced, and filled up an interval
of silence by attempting to caress the canine mother, who had
left her nursery, and was sneaking wolfishly to the back of my
legs, her lip curled up, and her white teeth watering for a
snatch. My caress provoked a long, guttural gnarl.
“ You'd better let the dog alone, ” growled Mr Heathcliff in
unison, checking fiercer demonstrations with a punch of his
foot. “ She's notaccustomed to bespoiled — not kept for a pet."
Then, striding to a side door, he shouted again, “ Joseph !”
Joseph mumbled indistinctly in the depths of the cellar,
but gave no intimation of ascending ; so his master dived
down to him , leaving me vis-à -vis the ruffianly bitch and a
pair of grim shaggy sheep -dogs, who shared with her a jealous
guardianship over all my movements. Not anxious to come
in contact with their fangs, I sat still ; but, imagining they
would scarcely understand tacit insults, I unfortunately in
dulged in winking and making faces at the trio, and some
turn of my physiognomy so irritated madam , that she suddenly
broke into a fury and leapt on my knees. I fung her back,
and hastened to interpose the table between us. This pro
ceeding roused the whole hive : half-a -dozen four-footed fiends,
of various sizes and ages, issued from hidden dens to the
common centre. I felt my heels and coat-laps peculiar sub
jects of assault ; and, parrying off the larger combatants as
effectually as I could with the poker, I was constrained
demand, aloud, assistance from some of the houschold in re

establishing peace.
Mr Heathcliff and his man climbed the cellar steps with
vexatious phlegm : I don't think they moved one second faster
than usual, though the hearth was an absolute tempest of
worrying and yelping. Happily, an inhabitant of the kitchen
made more despatch : a lusty dame, with tucked -up gown,
bare arms, and fire- flushed cheeks, rushed into the inidst of
us flourishing a frying -pan : and used that weapon, and her
tongue, to such purpose, that the storm subsided magically,
and she only remained, heaving like a sea after a high wind,
when her master entered on the scene .
" What the devil is the matter ? ” he asked, eyeing me in
a manner that I could ill endure after this inhospitable treat
ment .
" What the devil, indeed ! ” I muttered. 66 The herd of
possessed swinecould have had no worse spirits in them than
those animals of yours, sir. You might as well leave a stranger
with a brood of tigers !"
6
They won't meddle with persons who touch nothing," he
remarked, putting the bottle before me, and restoring the dis
placed table. “ The dogs do right to be vigilant. Take a
glass of wine ? "
No, thank you .”
“ Not bitten , are you ? ”
“ If I had been, I would have set my signet on the biter .”
Heathcliff's countenance relaxed into a grin.
“Come, come,” he said , " you are flurried, Mr Lockwood.
Here, take a little wine. Guests are so exceedingly rare in
this house that I and my dogs, I am willing to own, hardly
know how to receive them . Your health , sir !"
I bowed and returned the pledge ; beginning to perceive
that it would be foolish to sit sulking for the misbehaviour of
a pack of curs : besides, I felt loath to yield the fellow further
amusement at my expense ; since his humour took that turn.
He - probably swayed by prudential consideration of the folly
of offending a good tenant - relaxed a little in the laconic
style of chipping off his pronouns and auxiliary verbs, and
introduced what he supposed would be a subject of interest to
me, -a discourse on the advantages and disadvantages of my
present place of retirement. I found him very intelligent on
the topics we touched ; and before I went home, I was
encouraged so far as to volunteer another visit to -morrow .
6 WUTHERING HEIGHTS,
IIe evidently wished no repetition of my intrusion. I shall

go, notwithstanding. It is astonishing how sociable I feel
myself compared with him .
CHAPTER II.
YESTERDAY afternoon set in misty and cold. I had half a

mind to spend it by my study fire, instead of wading through
heath and mud to Wuthering Heights. On coming up from
dinner, however ( N.B. — I dine between twelve and one o'clock ;
the housekeeper, a matronly lady, taken as a fixture along
with the house, could not, or would not, comprehend my
request that I might be served at five), on mounting the stairs
with this lazy intention, and stepping into the room, I saw a
servant- girl on her knees surrounded by brushes and coal
scuttles, and raising an infernal dust as she extinguished the
flames with heaps of cinders. This spectacle drove me back
immediately ; Itook my hat, and, after a four miles' walk,
arrived at Heathcliff's garden gate just in time to escape the
first feathery flakes of a snow - shower.
On that bleak hill-top the earth was hard with a black
frost, and the air made me shiver through every limb. Being
unable to remove the chain, I jumped over, and, running up
the flagged causeway bordered with straggling gooseberry
bushes , knocked vairly for admittance, till my knuckles
tingled and the dogs howled.
“ Wretched inmates ! ” I ejaculated, mentally , "you deserve
perpetual isolation from your species for your churlish inhos
pitality. At least, I would not keep my doors barred in the
day-time. I don't care - I will get in !” So resolved, I
grasped the latch and shook it vehemently. Vinegar -faced
Joseph projected his head from a round window of the barn.
“What are ye for ? ” he shouted . “ T maister's down i'
t' fowld . Go round by th ' end ot' laith, if ye went to spake
to him .”
“ Is there nobody inside to open the door ? ” I hallooed,
responsively.
í There's nobbut t missis ; and shoo 'll not oppen 't an ye
mak yer flaysoine dins till neeght."
“ Why ? Cannot you tell her who I am , eh, Joseph ? "
WUTHERING HEIGIITS . 7.
“Nor-ne me ! I'll hae no hend wi't," muttered the head,

vanishing
The snow began to drive thickly. I seized the handle to
essay another trial; when a young man without coat, and
shouldering a pitchfork, appeared in the yard behind .' He
hailed meto follow him, and, after marching through a wash
house, and a paved area containing a coal- shed , pump, and
pigeon-cot, we at length arrived in the huge, warm, cheerful
apartment, where I was formerly received . It glowed delight
fully in the radiance of animmense fire,compounded of coal,
peat, and wood ; and near the table, laid for a plentiful evening
meal, I was pleased to observe the “ missis," an individual
whose existence I had never previously suspected. I bowed
and waited, thinking she would bid me take a seat. She
looked at me, leaning back in her chair, and remained motion
less and mute..
“ Rough weather ! ” I remarked. “ I'm afraid, Mrs Heath
cliff, the door must bear the consequence of your servants'
leisure attendance : I had hard work to make them hear me.
She never opened her mouth . I stared — she stared also : at
any rate, she kept her eyes on me in a cool , regardless manner ,
exceedingly embarrassing and disagreeable.
“ Sit down," said the young man, grufily. “ He 'll be in
soon .”
I obeyed ; and hemmed, and called the villain Juno, who
deigned, at this second interview , to move the extreme tip of
her tail, in token of owning my acquaintance.
" A beautiful animal ! ” I commenced again. “ Do you
intend parting with thelittle ones, madam ? ”
“ They arenot mine," saidthe amiable hostess, more repel
lingly than Heathcliff himself could have replied .
“ Ah , your favourites are among these ?” I continued,
turning to an obscure cushion full ofsomething like cats.
“ A strange choice of favourites !” she observed scornfully.
Unluckily, it was a heap of dead rabbits. I hemmed once
more,and drew closer to the hearth, repeating my comment on
the wildness of the evening.
“ You should not have come out,” she said, rising and
reaching from the chimney-piece two of the painted canisters.
Her position before was sheltered from the light; now, I
had a distinct view of her whole figure and countenance.
She was slender, and apparently scarcely past girlhood: an
admirable form , and the most exquisite little facethat I have
ever had the pleasure of beholding; small features, very fair ;

flaxen ringlets, or rather golden , hanging loose on her delicate
neck ; and eyes, had they been agreeable in expression, that
would have been irresistible : fortunately for my susceptible
heart, the only sentiment they evinced hovered between scorn
and a kind of desperation, singularly unnatural to be detected
there. The canisters were almost out of her reach ; I made a
motion to aid her ; she turned upon me as a miser might turn
it any one attempted to assist him in counting his gold.
“ I don't want your help,” she snapped ; " I can get them
for myself .”
“ I beg your pardon ! ” I hastened to reply.
“ Were you asked to tea ?” she demanded , tying an apron
over her neat black frock, and standing with a spoonful of the
leaf poised over the pot.
“ I shall be glad to have a cup ," I answered.
“ Were you asked ? " she repeated .
“ No," I said , half smiling. “ You are the proper person to
ask me."
She flung the tea back , spoon and all, and resumed her
chair in a pet; her forehead corrugated, and her red under-lip
pushed out, like a child's ready to cry.
Meanwhile, the young man had slung on to his person a
decidedly shabby upper garment, and, erecting himself before
the blaze, looked down on me from the corner of his eyes, for
all the world as if there were some mortal feud unavenged
between us. I began to doubt whether he were a servant or
not : his dress and speech were both rude, entirely devoid of
the superiority observable in Mr and Mrs Heathcliff ; his
thick , brown curls were rough and uncultivated, his whiskers
encroached bearishly over his cheeks, and his hands were
embrowned like those of a common labourer : still his bearing
was free, almost haughty, and he showed none of a domestic's
assiduity in attending on the lady of the house. In the absence
of clear proofs of his condition, I deemed it best to abstain
from noticing his curious conduct ; and, five minutes after
wards, the entrance of Heathcliff relieved me, in some measure,
from my uncomfortable state.
“ You see, sir, I am come, according to promise !" I
exclaimed, assuming the cheerful ; " and I fear I shall be
weather-bound for half an hour, if you can afford me shelter
during that space.”
“ Half an hour ? ” he said, shaking the white flakes from his
WUTHENING IILIGHTS . 9
clothes ; “ I wonder you should select the thick of a snow

storm to ramble about in. Do you know that you run a risk
of being lost in the marshes ? People familiar with these
inoors often miss their road on such evenings; and I can tell
you there is no chance of a change at present."
“Perhaps I can get a guide among your lads, and he might
stay at the Grange till morning — could you spare me one ? ”
" No, I could not."
" Oh, indeed ! Well, then, I must trust to my own sagacity.”
“ Umph !"
“ Are you going to mak th' tea ? ” demanded he of the
shabby coat, shifting his ferocious gaze from me to the young
lady.
" Is he to have any ? " she asked, appealing to Heathcliff.
“ Get it ready, will you ? ” was the answer, uttered so
savagely that I started. The tone in which the words were
said revealed a genuine bad nature. I no longer felt inclined
to call Heathcliff a capital fellow . When the preparations
were finished, he invited me with— “ Now , sir, bring forward
your chair." And we all, including the rustic youth, drew
round the table : an austere silence prevailing while we dis
cussed our meal.
I thought, if I had caused the cloud , it was my duty to make
an effort to dispel it, They could not every day sit so grim
and taciturn ; and it was impossible, however ill-tempered they
might be, that the universal scowl they wore was their every
day countenance .
" It is strange," I began, in the interval of swallowing one
cup of tea and receiving another— " it is strange how custom
can mould our tastes and ideas : many could not imagine the
existence of happiness in a life of such complete exile from
the world as you spend , Mr Heathcliff ; yet, I'll venture
to say, that, surrounded by your family, and with your
amiable lady as the presiding genius over your home and
heart
“ My amiable lady ! ” he interrupted , with an almost
diabolical sneer on his face. “Where is she—my amiable
dy
la ? "
“ Mrs Heathcliff, your wife, I mean .”
“ Well, yes — Oh, you would intimate that her spirit has
taken the post of ministering angel, and guards the fortunes
of Wuthering Heights even when her body is gone. Is
that it ? "
10 WUTHERING IIEIGHTS.
Perceiving myself in a blunder, I attempted to correct it.

I might have seen there was too great a disparity between
the ages of the parties to make it likely that they were man
and wife. One was about forty ; a period of mental vigour at
which men seldom cherish the delusion of being married for
love by girls : that dream is reserved for the solace of our
decliningyears. The other did not look seventeen.
Then it flashed upon me— “ The clown at my elbow , who
is drinking his tea out of a basin and eating his bread with
unwashed hands, may be her husband : Heathcliff junior, of
course . Here is the consequence of being buried alive : she
has thrown herself away upon that boor from sheer ignorance
that better individuals existed ! A sad pity - I must beware
how I cause her to regret her choice.” The last reflection
may seem conceited ; it was not. My neighbour struck me
as bordering on repulsive; I knew , through experience, that
I was tolerably attractive.
“ Mrs Heathcliff is my daughter-in -law ," said Heathcliff,
corroborating my surmise. He turned, as he spoke, a pecu
liar look in her direction : a look of hatred ; unless he has a
most perverse set of facial muscles that will not, like those of
other people, interpret the language of his soul.
66
Ah , certainly—I see now : you are the favoured pos
sessor of the beneficent fairy," I remarked, turning to my
neighbour.
This was worse than before : the youth grew crimson, and
clenched his fist, with every appearance of a meditated assault.
But he seemed to recollect himself presently, and smothered
the storm in a brutal curse, muttered on my behalf : which,
however, I took care not to notice.
“ Unhappy in your conjectures, sir," observed my host ;
we neither of us have the privilege of owning your good
fairy ; her mate is dead . I said she was my daughter -in - law,
therefore, she must have married my son .”
"
“ Andthis young man is
“ Not my son , assuredly .”
Heathcliff smiled again, as if it were rather too bold a jest
to attribute the paternity of that bear to him.
“My name is Hareton Earnshaw,” growled the other; " and
I'd counsel you to respect it!"
" I've shown no disrespect," was my reply, laughing inter
nally at the dignity with which he announced himself.
He fixed his eye on me longer than I cared to return the
WUTHERING HEIGHTS. 11
stare, for fear I might be tempted either tobox his ears or

render my hilarity audible. I began to feel unmistakeably
out of place in that pleasant family circle. The dismal spiritual
atmosphere overcame, and more than neutralized, the glowing
physical comforts round me ; and I resolved to be cautious how
I ventured under those rafters a third time.
The business ofeating being concluded, and no one uttering
a word of sociable conversation, I approached a window to
examine the weather. A sorrowful sight I saw : dark night
coming down prematurely, and sky and hills mingled in one
bitter whirl of wind and suffocating snow.
“ I don't think it possible for me to get home now without
a guide," I could not help exclaiming. “The roads will be
buried already ; and, if they were bare, I could scarcely
distinguish a foot in advance ."
“ Hareton, drive those dozen sheep into the barn porch.
They'll be covered if left in the fold all night: and put a
plank before them," said Heathcliff.
" How must I do ? ” I continued, with rising irritation.
There was no reply to my question; and on looking round
I saw only Joseph bringing in a pail of porridge for the dogs,
and Mrs Heathcliff leaning over the fire, diverting herself
with burning a bundle of matches which had fallen
from the chimney - piece as she restored the tea-canister to
its place. The former, when he had deposited his burden ,
took a critical survey of the room, and in cracked tones,
grated out
“ Aw wonder how yah can faishion to stand thear i’ idle
ness un war, when all on 'em's goan out ! Bud yah're a nowt,
and it's no use talking - yah 'il niver mend o yer ill ways;
but goa raight to t' divil, like yer mother afore ye ! ”
I imagined, for a moment, that this piece of eloquence was
addressed to me ; and, sufficiently enraged, stepped towards
the aged rascal with an intention of kicking him out of the
door. Mrs Heathcliff, however, checked me by her answer.
" You scandalous old hypocrite ! " she replied. “Are you
not afraid ofbeing carried away bodily, whenever you men
tion the devil's name ? I warn you to refrain from provoking
me, or I'll ask your abduction as a special favour. Stop !
look here, Joseph,” she continued, taking a long, dark book
from a shelf ; " I'llshow you how far I've progressed in
the Black Art : I shall soon be competent to make a clear
house of it. The red cow didn't die by chance ; and your
rheumatism can hardly be reckoned among providential visita

tions ! "
“ Oh, wicked, wicked !" gasped the elder ; “ may the Lord
deliver us from evil ! "
“ No, reprobate ! you are a castaway — be off, or I'll hurt
you seriously! I'll have you all modelled in wax and clay ;
and the first who passes the limits I fix, shall — I'll not say
what he shall be done to-but; you 'll see ! Go, I'm looking
at you ! "
The little witch put a mock malignity into her beautiful
eyes, and Joseph, trembling with sincere horror, hurried out
praying and ejaculating “ wicked” as he went. I thought her
conduct must be prompted by a species of dreary fun; and,
now that we were alone, I endeavoured to interest her in my
distress.
“ Mrs Heathcliff,”.I said earnestly, “ you must excuseme
for troubling you. I presume, because, with that face, I'm
sure you cannot help being good -hearted. Do point out some
landmarks by which I may know my way home : I have no
more idea how to get there than you would have bow to get
to London ! ”
“ Take the road you came," she answered , ensconcing herself
in a chair, with a candle, and the long book open before hier.
1
“ It is brief advice, but as sound as I can give."
“ Then, if you hear of me being discovered dead in a bog
or a pit full of snow, your conscience won't whisper that it is
partly your fault ?"
“ How so ? I cannot escort you . They wouldn't let me go
to the end of the garden -wall.”
“ You ! I should be sorry to ask you to cross the threshold ,
for my convenience , on such a night,” I cried. 6 I want you
to tell me my way, not to show it ; or else to persuade Mr
Ileathcliff togive me a guide.”
“ Who ? There is himself, Earnshaw , Zillah , Joseph and I.
Which would you have ? " ,
“ Are there no boys at the farm ? ”
" No ; those are all.”
Then, it follows that I am compelled to stay ."
“ That you may settle with your host. I have nothing to
do with it.”
“ I hope it will be a lesson to you to make no more rash
journeys on these hills ,” cried Heathcliff's stern voice from the
kitchen entrance. “ As to staying here, I don't keep accom
modations for visitors : you must share a bed with Hareton or

Joseph, if you do ."
“ I can sleep on a chair in this room ," I replied .
“ No, no ! A stranger is a stranger, be he rich or poor : it
will not suit me to permit any one the range of the place while
I am off guard !" said the unmannerly wretch.
With this insult, my patience was at an end. I uttered an
expression of disgust, and pushed past him into the yard,
running against Earnshaw in my haste. It was so dark that
I could not see the means of exit ; and, as I wandered round,
I heard another specimen of their civil behaviour amongst
cach other. At first the young man appeared about to befriend
me .
“ I'll go with him as far as the park,” he said.
“ You'll go with him to hell ! ” exclaimed his master, or
whatever relation he bore. " And who is to look after the
horses, eh ?"
“ A man's life is of more consequence than one evening's
neglect of the horses : somebody must go," murmured Mrs
Ileathcliff, more kindly than I expected .
“ Not at your command ! ” retorted Hareton. “ If you set
store on him , you 'd better be quiet.”
“ Then I hope his ghost will haunt you ; and I hope Mr
Heathcliff will never get another tenant till the Grange is a
ruin ! " she answered sharply.
“ Hearken, hearken, shoo's cursing on em ! ” muttered Joseph ,
towards whom I had been steering.
lle sat within earshot, milking the cows by the light of a
lantern, which I seized unceremoniously, and, calling out that
I would send it back on the morrow, rushed to the nearest
postern.
“ Maister, maister, he's staling t'lanthern !" shouted the
ancient, pursuing my retreat. “ Hey, Gnasher ! Hey, dog !
Hey, Wolf, holld him , holld him !"
On opening the little door, two hairy monsters flew at my
throat, bearing me down and extinguishing the light; while a
mingled guffaw from Heathcliff and Hareton, put the copestone
on my rage and humiliation. Fortunately, the beasts seemed
more bent on stretching their paws and yawning, and flourish
ing their tails, than devouring me alive; but they would suffer
no resurrection, and I was forced to lie till their malignant
masters pleased to deliver re : then, hatless and trembling
with wrath , I ordered the miscreants to let me out - on their
peril to keep me one minute longer — with several incoherent

ihreats of retaliation that, in their indefinite depth of virulency,
smacked of King Lear.
The vehemence of my agitation brought on a copious
bleeding at the nose, and still Heathcliff laughed, and still I
scolded . I don't know what would have concluded the scene,
had there not been one person at hand rather more rational
than myself, and more benevolent than my entertainer. This
was Zillah , the stout housewife ; who at length issued forth to
inquire into the nature of the uproar. She thought that some
of them had been laying violent hands on me; and, not, daring
to attack her master, she turned her vocal artillery against the
younger scoundrel.
" Well, Mr Earnshaw ," she cried, " I wonder what you'll
have agait next ! Are we going to murder folk on our very
door - stones ? I see this house will never do for me, look at
ť poor lad , he's fair choking ! Wisht, wisht ! you mun’n't
go on so. Come in, and I'll cure that : there now, hold ye
still. "
With these words she suddenly splashed a pint of icy water
down my neck, and pulled me into the kitchen. Mr Heathcliff
followed, his accidental merriment expiring quickly in his
habitual moroseness .
I was sick exceedingly, and dizzy and faint ; and thus
compelled perforce to accept lodgings under his roof. He told
Zillah to give me a glass of brandy, and then passed on to the
inner room ; while she condoled with me on my sorry predica
ment, and having obeyed his orders, whereby I was somewhat
revived, ushered me to bed.
CHAPTER III.
While leading the way up -stairs, she recommended that I

should hide the candle, andnotmake a noise ; for her master
had an odd notion about the chamber she would put me in,
and never let anybody lodge there willingly . I asked the
reason . She did not know, she answered : she had only lived
there a year or two ; and they had so many queer goings on,
she could not begin to be curious.
Too stupified to be curious myself,I fastened my door and
glanced round for the bed. The whole furniture consisted of
a chair, a clothes- press, and a large oak case, with squares

cut out near the top resembling coach windows. Having
approached this structure, I looked inside, and perceived it to
be a singular sort of old -fashioned couch , very conveniently
designed to obviate the necessity for every member of the
family having a room to himself. In fact, it formed a little
closet, and the ledge of a window, which it enclosed, served as
a table. I slid back the panelled sides, got in with my light,
pulled them together again, and felt secure against the vigilance
of Heathcliff, and every one else.
The ledge, where I placed my candle, had a few mildewed
books piled up in one corner; and it was covered with writing
scratched on the paint. This writing, however, was nothing
but a name repeated in all kinds of characters, large and small
-Catherine Earnshaw , here and there varied to Catherine
Heathcliff, and then again to Catherine Linton.
In vapid listlessness I leant my head against the window,
and continued spelling over Catherine Earnshaw – Heathcliff
-Linton , till my eyes closed ; but they had not rested five
minutes when a glare of white letters started from the dark,
as vivid as spectres—the air swarmed with Catherines ; and
rousing myself to dispel the obtrusive name, I discovered my
candle-wick reclining on one of the antique volumes, and
perfuming the place with an odour of roasted calf- skin . I
snuffed it off, and, very ill at ease under the influence of cold
and lingering nausea, sat up and spread open the injured tome
on my knee. It was a Testament, in lean type, and smelling
dreadfully musty : a fly -leaf bore the inscription— " Catherine
Earnshaw , her book ," and a date some quarter of a century
back. I shut it, and took up another, and another, till I had
examined all. Catherine's library was select, and its state of
dilapidation proved it to have been well used ; though not
altogether for a legitimate purpose : scarcely one chapter had
escaped a pen -and -ink commentary --at least, the appearance
of one - covering every morsel of blank that the printer had
left. Some were detached sentences ; other parts took the
form of a regular diary, scrawled in an unformed , childish
hand. At the top of an extra page (quite a treasure, probably,
when first lighted on) I was greatly amused to behold an
excellent caricature of my friend Joseph ,-rudely yet power
fully sketched. An immediate interest kindled within me for
the unknown Catherine, and I began forthwith to decypher
her faded hieroglyphics.
16 WUTHENIXG IEIGHTS .
“ An awful Sunday !" commenced the paragraph beneath.

“ I wish my father were back again. Hindley is a detestabl.
substitute -his conduct to Heathcliff is atrocious - H . and I
are going to rebel — we took our initiatory step this evening.
“ All day had been flooding with rain ; we could not go to
church, so Joseph must needs get up a congregation in th
garret; and, while Hindley and his wife basked down-stair
lufore a comfortable fire-doing anything but reading their
lubles, I 'll answer for it — Heathcliff, myself,and the unhapp.
plough-boy, were commanded to take our Prayer-books, an
inount: we were ranged in a row , on a sack of corn , groanin
and shivering, and hoping that Joseph would shiver too, si
that he might give us a short homily for his own sake. A
vain idea ! The service lasted precisely three hours ; an
yet my brother had the face to exclaiin, when he saw u
descending, What, done already ?' On Sunday evenings w
used to be permitted to play, if we did not make much noise :
Dow a mere titter is sufficient to send us into corners !
" You forget you have a master here,' says the tyrant.
“ I ll demolish the first who puts meout of temper ! I insis*
on perfect sobriety and sileace. Oh, boy ! was that you ?
Frances, darling, pull his hair as you go by : I heard hini
snap his fingers. Frances pulled his hair heartily, and then
went and seated herself on her husband's knee ; and there
they were, like two babies, kissing and talking nonsense by
the hour — foolish palarer that we should be ashamed oi.
We made ourselves as snug as our means allowed in the
arch of the dresser. I had just fastened our pinafores together,
and hung them up for a curtain, when incomes Joseph, on
an errand from the stables. He tears down my handywork ,
beses my ears , and croaks :
** T ' maister nobbut just buried, and Sabbath not ce red ,
und t' sound ot gospel still i yer luys, and ye dart be
laiking ! shame on ve ! sit ye down, ill exilder! there's good
books eneugh i re'll read em : sit ye down, and think o yer
sowls !'
- Saving this, he compelled us so to square our positions that
we migát receive from the far-off fire a dull ray to show us
the test of the lumber he thrust upon us. I could not bear
the employment. I took my dingy volume by the screep,
ani hurled it into the dog -tennel, rowing I hated a good
book. Heatseüff kicked his to the same place. Then there
was a hubbuó !
its. 19
-4, a sudden inspiration

ce and denounce Jabez
that no Christian need
· within these four walls ,

rgiven the four hundred
Seventy times seven
in been about to depart
"? preposterously forced me
‘ red and ninety -first is too
im ! Drag him down, and
are which knows him may
ves, after a solemn pause ,

ty times seven times didst
-seventy times seven did I
is human weakness : this
the Seventy -First is come.
judgment written. Such
whole assembly, exalting
d me in a body ; and I,
--defence, commenced grap
Id most ferocious assailant,
the multitude, several clubs
till on other sconces. Presently
with rappings and counter rap
as against his neighbour ; and
main idle, poured forth his zeal
the boards of the pulpit, which
ist, to my unspeakable relief,
us it that had suggested the
I played Jabes's part in the
:-tree that touched my lattice ;
led its dry cones against the
instant; detected the disturber,
" -amt again : if possible, still
ud I was lying in the oak closet,
gusty wind, and the driving of the
Step-bough repeat its teasing sound,
dat cause : but it annoyed me so
Wence it, if possible ; and, I thought,
16 WCTILDING HEIGHTS .
“ An awful Sunday ! " commenced the paragraph bencath .

“ I wish my father were back again. Hindley is a detestable į
&nbstitute - his conduct to Heathcliff is atrocious - H . and I
are going to rebel — we took our initiatory step this evening.
“ All day had been flooding with rain ; wecould not go to
church , só Joseph must needs get up a congregation in the
garret ; and, while Hindley and his wife basked down- stairs
before a comfortable fire --doing anything but reading their
bubles, I 'll answer for it-Heathcliff , myself, and the unhappy
plough -boy, were commanded to take our Prayer -books, and N
mount: we were ranged in a row , on a sack of corn, groaning 2
and shivering, and hoping that Joseph would shiver too, so

that he might give us a short homily for his own sake. A
vain idea ! The service lasted precisely three hours ; and {
yet my brother had the face to exclaim, when he saw us

descending, What, done already ?' On Sunday evenings we
used to be perunitted to play, if we did not make much noise ;
now a mere titter is sufficient to send us into corners !
“ “ You forget you have a master here,' says the tyrant.
" I'll demolish the first who puts me out of temper! I insist
on perfect sobriety and silence. Oh , boy ! was that you ?
Frances, darling, pull his hair as you go by : I heard him
snap his fingers. Frances pulled his hair heartily, and then
went and seated herself on her husband's knee ; and there
they were, like two babies, kissing and talking nonsense by
the hour — foolish palaver that we should be ashamed of.
We made ourselves as snug as our means allowed in the
arch of the dresser. I had just fastened our pinafores together,
and hung them up for a curtain, when incomes Joseph, on
an errand from the stables. He tears down my handywork,
boxes my ears, and croaks :
“ « T ' maister nobbut just buried, and Sabbath not oe'red ,
und t sound o'ť gospel still i' yer lugs, and ye darr be
laiking! shame on ye ! sit ye down, ill childer ! there's good
books eneugh if ye'll read 'em : sit ye down, and think o' yer
sowls ! '
“ Saying this, he compelled us so to square our positions that
we might receive from the far -off fire a dull ray to show us
the text of the lumber he thrust upon us. I could not bear
the employment. I took my dingy volume by the scroop ,
and hurled it into the dog-kennel, vowing I hated a good
book. Heathcliff kicked his to the same place. Then there
was a hubbub !
« Maister Hindley ! ' shouted our chaplain. Maister,

coom hither ! Miss Cathy's riven th' back off · Th ’ Helmet
o' Salvation ,' un' Heathcliff's pawsed his fit into t' first part o'
• T'Biooad Way to Destruction !' It's fair playsome that ye
let 'eri go on this gait. Ech ! th' owd man wad ha' laced 'em
properly — but he's goan ! '
“ Hindley hurried up from his paradise on the hearth , and
seizing one ofus by thecollar, and the other by the arm , hurled
both into the back -kitchen ; where, Joseph asseverated, “ owd
Nick ” would fetch us as sure as we were living : and, so
comforted , we each sought a separate nook to await his
advent. I reached this book , and a pot of ink froma shelf,
and pushed the house -door ajar to give me light, and I have
got the time on with writing for twenty minutes ; but my
companion is impatient, and proposes that we should appro
priate the dairywoman's cloak , and have a scanıper on the
moors, under its shelter. A pleasant suggestion and then,
if the surly old man come in, he may believe his prophecy
verified — we cannot be damper, or colder, in the rain than we
are here. "
I suppose Catherine fulfilled her project, for the next

sentence took up another subject: she waxed lachrymose.
“ How little did I dream that Hindley would ever make
me cry so !” she wrote. “ My head aches, till I cannot keep
it on the pillow ; and still I can't give over. Poor Heath
cliff ! Hindley calls him a vagabond, and won't let him sit
with us, nor eat with us any more ; and , he says, he and I
must not play together, and threatens to turn him out of the
house if we break his orders. He has been blaming our
father (how dared he ?) for treating H. too liberally ; and
swears he will reduce him to his right place— ”
* *
I began to nod drowsily over the dim page : my eyo

wandered from manuscript to print. I saw a red ornamented
title_ “ Seventy Times Seven, and the First of the Seventy
First. A Pious Discourse delivered by the Reverend Jabes
Branderham, in the Chapel of Gimmerden Sough .” And
while I was, half consciously, worrying my brain to guess
what Jabes Branderham would make of his subject, I sank
back in bed, and fell asleep. Alas, for the effects of2 bad tea
and bad temper ! what else could it be that made me pass

such a terrible night? I don't remember another that I can
at all compare with it since I was capable of suffering.
I began to dream , almost before I ceased to be sensible of
my locality. I thought it was morning ; and I had set out
on my way home, with Joseph for a guide. The snow lay
yards deep in our road ; and , as we foundered on, my
companion wearied me with constant reproaches that I had
not brought a pilgrim's staff : telling me that I could never
get into the house without one , and boastfully flourishing a
heavy -headed cudgel , which I understood to be so denominated .
For a moment I considered it absurd that I should need such
a weapon to gain admittance into my own residence . Then
a new idea flashed across me. I was not going there : we
were journeying to hear the famous Jabes Branderham preach
from the text— " Seventy Times Seven ;” and either Joseph ,
the preacher, or I had committed the “ First of the Seventy
First," and were to be publicly exposed andexcommunicated .
We came to the chapel. I have passed it really in my
walks, twice or thrice ; it lies in a hollow, between two hills :
an elevated hollow, near a swamp, whose peaty moisture is
said to answer all the purposes of embalming on the few
corpses deposited there. The roof has been kept whole
hitherto ; but as the clergyman's stipend is only twenty
pounds per annum , and a house with two rooms, threatening
speedily to determine into one, no clergyman will undertake
the duties of pastor : especially as it is currently reported
that his flock would rather let him starve than increase the
living by one penny from their own pockets. However, in my
dream , Jabes had a full and attentive congregation ; and he
preached - good God ! what a sermon : divided into four
hundred and ninety parts, each fully equal to an ordinary
address from the pulpit, and each discussing a separate sin !
Where he searched for them , I cannot tell. He had his
private manner of interpreting the phrase, and it seemed ne
cessary the brother should sin different sins on every occasion.
They were of the most curious character : odd transgressions
that I never imagined previously.
Oh, how weary I grew . How I writhed, and yawned, and
nodded , and revived ! How I pinched and pricked myself,
and rubbed my eyes, and stood up, and sat down again , and
nudged Joseph to inform me if he would ever have done. I
was condemned to hear all out : finally , he reached the “ First
of the Seventy - First." At that crisis, a sudden inspiration

descended on me ; I was moved to rise and denounce Jabez
Branderham as the sinner of the sin that no Christian need
pardon.
Sir ," I exclaimed , “ sitting here within these four walls,
at one stretch, I have endured and forgiven the four hundred
and ninety heads of your discourse. Seventy times seven
times have I plucked up my hat and been about to depart
Seventy times seven times have you preposterously forced me
to resume my seat. The four hundred and ninety -first is too
much. Fellow -martyrs, have at him ! Drag him down, and
crush him to atoms, that the place which knows him may
know him no more ! "
" Thou art the Man !” cried Jabes, after a solemn pause,
leaning over his cushion. Seventy times seven times didst
thou gapingly contort thy visage — seventy times seven did I
take counsel with my soul - Lo , this is human weakness : this
also may be absolved ! The First of the Seventy -First is come.
Brethren, execute upon him the judgment written. Such
honour have all His saints !"
With that concluding word , the whole assembly , exalting
their pilgrim's staves, rushed round me in a body ; and I,
having no weapon to raise in self -defence, commenced grap
pling with Joseph, my nearest and most ferocious assailant,
for his. In the confluence of the multitude, several clubs
crossed ; blows, aimed at me, fell on other sconces . Presently
the whole chapel resounded with rappings and counter rap
pings : every man's hand was against his neighbour ; and
Branderham , unwilling to remain idle, poured forth his zeal
in a shower of loud taps on the boards of the pulpit, which
responded so smartly that, at last, to my unspeakable relief,
they woke me. And what was it that had suggested the
tremendous tumult ? What had played Jabes's part in the
row ? Merely , the branch of a fir-tree that touched my lattice ;
as the blast wailed by, and rattled its dry cones against the
panes ! I listened doubtingly an instant ; detected the disturber,
then turned and dozed , and dreamt again : if possible , still
more disagreeably than before .
This time, I remembered I was lying in the oak closet,
and I heard distinctly the gusty wind, and the driving of the
snow ; I heard, also, the fir-bough repeat its teasing sound,
and ascribed it to the right cause : but it annoyed me SO
much, that I resolved to silence it, if possible ; and , I thought,
20 WUTHERIN HEIGHTS .
G
I rose and endeavoured to unhasp the casement. The hook

was soldered into the staple : a circumstance observed by me
when awake, but forgotten. “ I must stop it, nevertheless !"
I muttered, knocking my knuckles through the glass, and
stretching an arm out to seize the importunate branch; instead
of which , my fingers closed on the fingers of a little, ice -cold
hand ! The intense horror of nightmare came over me : I
tried to draw back my arm, but the hand clung to it, and a
most melancholy voice sobbed, “ Let me in — let me in ”
“ Who are you ? " I asked, struggling, meanwhile, to disengage
myself. “Catherine Linton," it replied , shiveringly (whydid
I think of Linton ? I had read Earnshaw twenty times for
Linton) “ I'm comehome: I'd lost my way on the moor !"
As it spoke, I discerned, obscurely, a child's face looking
through the window. Terror made me cruel; and, finding it
useless to attempt shaking the creature off, I pulled its wrist
on to the broken pane, and rubbed it to and fro till the blood
ran down and soaked the bedclothes : still it wailed, “ Let me
in ! " and maintained its tenacious gripe, almost maddening me
with fear. “ How can I !" I said at length . “ Let me go , if
you want me to let you in ! ” The fingers relaxed , I snatched
mine through the hole, hurriedly piled the books up in a
pyramid against it, and stopped my ears to exclude the
lamentable prayer. I seemed to keep them closed above a
quarter of an hour ; yet, the instant I listened again, there
was the doleful cry moaning on ! “ Begone !" I shouted, “ I'll
never let you in , not if you beg for twenty years."19 " It is
twenty years,” mourned the voice: “ twenty years. I've been
a wait for twenty years !” Thereat began a feeble scratching
outside, and the pile of books moved as if thrust forward. I
tried to jump up ; but could not stir a limb ; and so yelled
aloud, in a frenzy of fright. To my confusion, I discovered
the yell was not ideal: hasty footsteps approached my chamber
door ; somebody pushed it open, with a vigorous hand, and a
light glimmered through the squares at the top of the bed. I
sat shuddering yet, and wipingthe perspiration from my fore
head : the intruder apeared to hesitate, and muttered to himself.
At last, he said in a half-whisper, plainly not expecting an
answer, “ Is any one here ?” I considered it best to confess
my presence ; for I knew Heathcliff's accents, and feared he
night search further, if I kept quiet. With this intention, I
turned and opened the panels. I shall not soon forget the
effect my action produced.
Heathcliff stood near the entrance, in his shirt and trousers ;

with a candle dripping over his fingers, and his face as white
as the wall behind him. The first creak of the oak startled
him like an electric shock : the light leaped from his hold to a
distance of some feet, and his agitation was so extreme, that
he could hardly pick it up.
“ It is only your guest, sir,” I called out, desirous to spare
him the humiliation of exposing his cowardice further. “ I had
the misfortune to scream in my sleep, owing to a frightful
nightmare. I'm sorry I disturbed you.”
“ Oh, God confound you, Mr Lockwood ! I wish you were
at the--" commenced myhost, setting the candle on a chair,
because he found it impossible to hold it steady. " And who
showed you up into this room ? ” he continued , crushing his
nails into his palms, and grinding his teeth to subdue the
maxillary convulsions. “Who was it ? I've a good mind to
turn them out of the house this moment ? "
“ It was your servant, Zillah," I replied, flinging myself on
to the floor, and rapidly resuming my garments. " I should
not care if you did, Mr Heathcliff ; she richly deserves it. I
suppose that she wanted to get another proof that the place
was haunted, at my expense. Well, it is - swarming with
ghosts' and goblins ! You have reason in shutting it up, I
assure you. No one will thank you for a doze in such a den !”
“What do you mean ?” asked Heathcliff, “ and what are
you doing ? Lie down and finish out the night, since you are
here ; but, for Heaven's sake ! don't repeat that horrid noise :
nothing could excuse it, unless you were having your throat
cut !”
" If the little fiend had got in at the window , she probably
would have strangled me!” I returned. “ I'm not going to
endure the persecutions of your hospitable ancestors again.
Was not the Reverend Jabes Branderham akin to you on the
mother's side ? And that minx, Catherine Linton, or Earn
shaw, or however she was called—she must have been a
changeling — wicked little soul ! She told me she had been
walking the earth these twenty years : a just punishment for
her mortal transgressions , I've no doubt ! ”
Scarcely were these words uttered, when I recollected the
association of Heathcliff's with Catherine's name in the book,
which had completely slipped from my memory , till thus
awakened . I blushed at my inconsideration ;but, without
showing further consciousness of the offence, I hastened to
add_" The truth is, sir, I passed the first part of the night
in— " Here I stopped afresh— I was about to say “perusing
those old volumes," then it would have revealed my knowledge
of their written , as well as their printed, contents ; so, cor
recting myself, I went on, " In spelling over the name scratched
on that window-ledge. A monotonous occupation, calculated
to set me asleep, like counting, or
“ What can you mean by talking in this way to me! " thun
dered Heathcliff with savage vehemence. “ How - how dare
you , under my roof ?—God I he's mad to speak so ! ” And he
struck his forehead with rage.
I did not know whether to resent this language or pursue
my explanation ; but heseemed so powerfully affected that I
took pity and proceeded with my dreams; affirming I had
never heard the appellation of “ Catherine Linton ” before,
but reading it often over produced an impression which per
sonified itself when I had no longer my imagination under
control. Heathcliff gradually fell back into the shelter of the
bed, as I spoke; finally sitting down almost concealed behind
it. I guessed, however, by his irregular and intercepted
breathing, that he struggledto vanquish an excess of violent
emotion. Not liking to show him that I had heard the conflict,
I continued my toilette rather noisily, looked at my watch ,
and soliloquised on the length of the night : “ Not three
o'clock yet ! I could have taken oath it had been six. Time
stagnates here : we must surely have retired to rest at eight !”
" Always at nine in winter, and rise at four," said my host,
suppressing a groan : and, as I fancied, by the motion of his
arm's shadow, dashing a tear from his eyes. “Mr Lockwood,"
he added, " you may go into my room : you'll only be in the
way, coming down -stairs so early; and your childish outcry
has sent sleep to the devil for me.'
“ And for me, too ," I replied. “I'll walk in theyard till day
light, and then I'll be off; and you need not dread a repetition
ofmy intrusion. I'm now quite cured of seeking pleasure in
society, be it country or town. A sensible man ought to find
sufficient company in himself.”
“ Delightful company !" muttered Heathcliff. “Take the
candle, and go where you please. I shall join you directly.
Keep out of the yard,though, the dogs are unchained ; and
the house — Juno mounts sentinel there, and — nay, you
can only ramble about the steps and passages. But, away
with you ! I'll come in two minutes ! "
I obeyed, so far as to quit the chamber ; when, ignorant

where the narrow lobbies led, I stood still, and was witness,
involuntarily, to a piece of superstition on the part of my
landlord , which belied, oddly, his apparent sense. He got on
to the bed, and wrenched open the lattice, bursting, as he
6 Come
pulled at it, into an uncontrollable passion of tears. doronce
in ! come in ! ” he sobbed. “ Cathy, do come. Oh
more! Oh ! my heart's darling! hear me this time, Catherine,
at last ! ” The spectre showed a spectre's ordinary caprice :
it gave no sign of being ; but the snow and wind whirled
wildly through, even reaching my station, and blowing out the
light.
There was such anguish in the gush of grief that accom
panied this raving, that my compassion made me overlook its
folly, and I drew off, half angry to have listened at all, and
vexed at having related my ridiculous nightmare, since it
produced that agony ; though why, was beyond my compre
hension. I descended cautiously to the lower regions, and
landed in the back -kitchen, where a gleam of fire, raked com
pactly together, enabled me to rekindle my candle. Nothing
was stirring except a brindled , grey cat, which crept from the
ashes, and saluted me with a querulous mew.
Two benches, shaped in sections of a circle, nearly enclosed
the hearth ; onone of these I stretched myself, and Grimalkin
mounted the other. We were both of us nodding,ere any one
invaded our retreat, and then it was Joseph, shuffling down a
wooden ladder that vanished in the roof, through a trap : the
ascent to his garret, I suppose. He cast a sinister look at the
little flame which I had enticed to play between the ribs,
swept the cat from its elevation, and bestowing himself in the
vacancy, commenced the operation of stuffing a three -inch pipe
with tobacco. My presence in his sanctum was evidently
esteemed a piece of impudence too shameful for remark : he
silently applied the tube to his lips, folded his arms, and puffed
away. I let him enjoy the luxury unannoyed ; and after
sucking out his last wreath , and heaving a profound sigh, he
got up , and departed as solemnly as he came.
A more elastic footstep entered next ; and now I opened my
mouth for a “ good morning," but closed it again, the saluta
tion unachieved ; for Hareton Earnshaw was performing his
orisons sotto voce, in a series of curses directed against every
object he touched, while he rummaged a corner for a spade
or shovel to dig through the drifts. He glanced over the back
$
of the bench , dilating his nostrils, and thought as little of

exchanging civilities with me as with my companion the cat. 1
I guessed, by his preparations, that egress was allowed, and,
leaving my hard couch, made a movement to follow him . He
noticed this, and thrust at an inner door with the end of his
spade, intimating by an inarticulate sound that there was the
place where I must go, if I changed my locality.
It opened into the house, where the females were already
astir. Zillah urging flakes of flame up the chimneywitha
colossal bellows ; and Mrs Heathcliff, kneeling on the hearth,
reading a book by the aid of the blaze. She held her hand
interposed between the furnace -heat and her eyes, and seemed
absorbed in her occupation ; desisting from it only to chide
the servant for covering her with sparks, or to push away a
dog, now and then, that snoozled its nose over -forwardly
into her face. I was surprised to see Heathcliff there also. He
stood by the fire, his back towards me, just finishing a stormy
scene to poor Zillah ; who ever and anoninterrupted her labour
to pluck up the corner of her apron , and heave an indignant
groan.
66 Andyou, you worthless .” he broke out as I entered ,
turning to his daughter-in -law , and employing an epithet as
harmless as duck , or sheep, but generally represented by a
dash “ There you are, at your idle tricks again ? The 1
rest of them do earn their bread - you live on my charity !

Put your trash away, and find something to do. You shall
pay me for the plague of having you eternally in my sight
do you hear, damnable jade ?"
" I'll put my trash away , because you can make me, if I
refuse," answered the young lady, closing herbook, and throw
ing it on a chair. • But I'll not do anything, though you
should swear your tongue out, except what I please !"
Heathcliff lifted his hand, and the speaker sprang to a
safer distance, obviously acquainted with its weight. Having
no desire to be entertained by a cat-and-dog combat, I stepped
forward briskly, as if eager to partake the warmth of the
hearth, and innocent of any knowledge of the interrupted
dispute. Each had enough decorum to suspend further
hostilities: Heathcliff placed his fists, out of temptation, in his
pockets ; Mrs Heathcliff curled her lip, and walked to a seat
far off, where she kept her word by playing the part of a
statue during the remainder of my stay. That was not long.
I declined joining their breakfast, and, at the first gleam of
dawn , took an opportunity of escaping into the free air, now

clear, and still, and cold as impalpable ice.
My landlord hallooed for me to stop, ere I reached the
bottom of the garden, and offered to accompany me across the
moor. It was well he did, for the whole hill-back was one
billowy, white ocean ; the swells and falls not indicating
corresponding rises and depressions in the ground : many pits,
at least, were filled to a level ; and entire ranges of mounds,
the refuse of the quarries, blotted from the chart which my
yesterday's walk left pictured in my mind. I had remarked
on one side of the road, at intervals of six or seven yards, a
line of upright stones, continued through the whole lengthof
the barren : these were erected, and daubed with lime on
purpose to serve as guides in the dark ; and also when a fall,
like the present, confounded the deep swamps on either hand
with the firmer path : but, excepting a dirty dot pointing up
here and there, all traces of their existence had vanished : and
my companion found it necessary to warn me frequently to
steer to the right or left, when I imagined I was following,
correctly, the windings of the road.
We exchanged little conversation, and he halted at the
entrance of Thrushcross-park , saying, I could make no error
there. Our adieux were limited to a hasty bow, and then I
pushed forward, trusting to my own resources ; for the porter's
lodge is untenanted as yet. The distance from the gate to the
Grange is two miles : I believe I managed to make it four;
whatwith losing myself among the trees, and sinking up to
the neck in snow : a predicament which only those who have
experienced it can appreciate. At any rate, whatever were
my wanderings, the clock chimed twelve as I entered the
house; and that gave exactly an hour for every mile of the
usual way from Wuthering Heights.
My human fixture and her satellites rushed to welcome me ;
exclaiming, tumultuously, they had completely given me up :
everybody conjectured that I perished last night ;and they
were wondering how they must set about the search for my
remains. I bid them be quiet, now that they saw me returned ,
and, benumbed to my very heart, I dragged up-stairs; whence,
after putting on dry clothes, and pacing to and fro thirty or
forty minutes, to restore the animal heat, I am adjourned to
my study, feeble as a kitten : almost too much so to enjoy the
cheerful fire and smoking coffee which the servant has pre
pared for my refreshment,
26 WUTHERING HEIGHTS ,
CHAPTER IV.
What vain weather-cocks we are ! I, who had determined to

hold myself independent of all social intercourse, and thanked
my stars that, at length , I had lighted on a spot where it was
next to impracticable - I, weak wretch, after maintaining till
dusk a struggle with low spirits and solitude, was finally
compelled to strike my colours; and, under pretence of gain
ing information concerning the necessities of my establish
ment, I desired Mrs Dean , when she brought in supper, to sit
down while I ate it ; hoping sincerely she would prove a
regular gossip, and either rouse me to animation or lull me to
sleep by her talk.
“You have lived here a considerable time," I commenced ;
16 did you not say sixteen years ?"
66
Eighteen, sir : I came, when the mistress was married , to
wait on her ; after she died, the master retained me for his
housekeeper."
“ Indeed . ”
There ensued a pause. She was not a gossip, I feared ;
unless about her own affairs, and those could hardly interest
me. However, having studied for an interval, with a fist on
either knee, and a cloud of meditation over her ruddy coun
tenance, she ejaculated
“Ah , times are greatly changed since then !”
“ Yes," I remarked, “ you've seen a good many alterations,
I suppose ? "
“ I have : and troubles too,” she said.
“ Oh , I'll turn the talk on my landlord's family !” . I
thought to myself. “ A good subject to start! And that
pretty girl-widow, I should like to know her history : whether
she be a native of the country, or, as is more probable, an
exotic that the surly indigence will not recognise for kin.”
With this intention I asked Mrs Dean why Heathcliff let
Thrushcross Grange, and preferred living in a situation and
residence so much inferior. “ Is he not rich enough to keep
the estate in good order ? " I inquired.
“Rich, sir !” she returned. “ He has, nobody knows what
money, and every year it increases. Yes, yes, he's rich
enough to live in a finer house than this : but he's very near
-close -handed ; and, if he had meant to flit to Thrushcross
Grange, as soon as he heard of a good tenant he could not

have borne to miss the chance of getting a few hundreds more.
It is strange people should be so greedy, when they are alone
in the world ! "
“ He had a son, it seems ? ”
“ Yes, he had one - he is dead."
“ And that young lady, Mrs Heathcliff, is his widow ? ”
1. Yes ."
" Where did she come from originally ?
“ Why, sir, she is my late master's daughter : Catherine
Linton was her maiden name. I nursed her, poor thing ! I
did wish Mr Heathcliff would remove here, and then we
might have been together again .”
« What ! Catherine Linton ? ” I exclaimed, astonished.
But a minute's reflection convinced me it was not my ghostly
Catherine. “ Then ," I continued, “ my predecessor's name
was Linton ? "
" It was.”
"And who is that Earnshaw : Hareton Earnshaw , who
lives with Mr Heathcliff ? are they relations ? "
“ No; he is the late Mrs Linton's nephew ."
“ The young lady's cousin, then ? "
“ Yes ; and her husband was her cousin also : one on the
mother's, the other on the father's side : Heathcliff married
Mr Linton's sister."
“ I see the house at Wuthering Heights has 'Earnshaw '
carved over the front door. Are they an old family ? "
“ Very old, sir; and Hareton is the last of them , as our
Miss Cathy is of us — I mean, of the Lintons. Have you been
to Wuthering Heights ? I beg pardon for asking ; but I
should like to hear how she is ! "
“ Mrs Heathcliff ? she looked very well, and very hand
some ; yet, I think, not very happy."
“ Oh dear, I don't wonder ! And how did you like the
master ? "
" A rough fellow , rather, Mrs Dean. Is not that his
character ? "
Rough as a saw - edge, and hard as whinstone ! The less
you meddle with him the better."
“ He must have had some ups and downs in life to make
him such a churl. Do you know anything of his history ?
“ It's a cuckoo's, sir - I know all about it : except where
he was born, and who were his parents, and how he got his
money, at first. And Hareton has been cast out like an un

fledged dunnock ! The unfortunate lad is the only one in all
this parish thatdoes not guess how he has been cheated.”
“ Well, Mrs Dean, it will be a charitable deed to tell me
something of my neighbours : I feel I shall not rest, if I go to
bed ; so be good enough to sit and chat an hour.”
“ Oh, certainly, sir ! I'll just fetch a little sewing,and then
I'll sit as long as you please. But you've caught cold : I saw
you shivering, and you must have some gruel to drive it out."
The worthy woman bustled off, and I crouched nearer the
fire ; my head felt hot, and the rest of me chill : moreover, I
was excited, almost to a pitch of foolishness, through my
nerves and brain. This caused me to feel, not uncomfortable,
but rather fearful (as I am still) of serious effects from the
incidents of to -day and yesterday. She returned presently,
bringing a smoking basin and a basket of work ; and, having
placed the former on the hob, drew in her seat, evidently
pleased to find me so companionable.
Before I came to live here, she commenced - waiting no
farther invitation to her story — I was almost always at
Wuthering Heights ; because my mother had nursed Mr
Hindley Earnshaw, that was Hareton's father, and I got used
to playing with the children : I ran errands too, and helped
to make hay, and hung about the farm ready for anything
that anybody would set me to. One fine summer morning
it was the beginning of harvest, I remember — Mr Earnshaw ,
the old master, came down-stairs, dressed for a journey ; and
after he had told Joseph what was to be done during the day,
he turned to Hindley, and Cathy, and me — for I sat eating
my porridge with them — and he said , speaking to his son,
"Now my bonny man , I'm going to Liverpool to -day , what
shall I bring you ? You may choose what you like : only let
it be little, for I shall walk there and back : sixty miles each
way, that is a long spell !" Hindley named a fiddle, and then
he asked Miss Cathy; she was hardly six years old , but she
could ride any horse in the stable, and she chose a whip. He
did not forget me ; for he had a kind heart, though he was
rather severe sometimes. He promised to bring me a pocketful
of apples and pears, and then he kissed his children, said
good -bye, and set off.
It seemed a long while to us all — the three days of his
absencemand often did little Cathy ask when he would be
Lome. Mrs Earnshaw, expected him by supper -time, on the

third evening, and she put the meal off hour after hour ; there
were no signs of his coming, however, and at last the children
got tired of running down to the gate to look. Then it grew
dark ; she would have had them to bed , but they begged sadly
to be allowed to stay up ; and, just about eleven o'clock , the
door-latch was raised quietly and in stepped the master. He
threw himself into a chair, laughing and groaning, and bid
them all stand off, for he was nearly killed — he would not
have such another walk for the three kingdoms.
“ And at the end of it, to be flighted to death ! ” he said
opening his great coat, which he held bundled up in his arms .
“ See here, wife ! I was never so beaten with anything in my
life: but you must e'en take it as a gift of God ; though it's
as dark almost as if it came from the devil.”
We crowded round, and over Miss Cathy's head, I had a
peep at a dirty, ragged, black -haired child ; big enough both
to walk and talk : indeed, its face looked older than Catherine's;
yet, when it was set on its feet, it only stared round, and
repeated over and over again some gibberish, that nobody
could understand. I was frightened, and Mrs Earnshaw was
ready to fling it out of doors : she did fly up , asking how he
could fashion to bring that gipsy brat into the house, when
they had their own bairns to feed and fend for ? What he
meant to do with it, and whether he were mad ? The master
tried to explain the matter ; but he was really half dead with
fatigue, and all that I could make out, amongst her scolding,
was a tale of his secing it starving, and houseless, and as good
as dumb, in the streets of Liverpool ; where he picked it up
and inquired for its owner. Not a soul knew to whom it
belonged, he said ; and his money and time being both limited ,
he thought it better to take it home with him at once, than
run into vain expenses there : because he was determined he
would not leave it as he found it. Well , the conclusion was
that my mistress grumbled herself calm ; and Mr Earnshaw
told me to wash it, and give it clean things, and let it sleep
with the children .
Hindley and Cathy contented themselves with looking and
listening till peace was restored : then , both began searching
their father's pockets for the presents he had promised them .
The former wasa boy of fourteen, but whenhe drew out what
had been a fiddle, crushed to morsels in the great coat, lie
blubbered aloud; and Cathy, when she learned the master had
lost her whip in attending on the stranger, showed her humour

by grinning and spitting at the stupid little thing; earning for
her pains, a sound blow from her father to teach her cleaner
manners. They entirely refused to have it in bed with them ,
or even in their room ; and I had no more sense, so I put it
on the landing of the stairs, hoping it might be gone on the
morrow. By chance, or else attracted by hearing his voice,
it crept to Mr Earnshaw's door, and there he found it on
quitting his chamber. Inquiries were made as to how it got
there; I was obliged to confess, and in recompense for my
cowardice and inhumanity was sent out of the house.
This was Heathcliff's first introduction to the family. On
coming back a few days afterwards ( for I did not consider my
banishment perpetual) I found they had christened him
“ Heathcliff : " it was the name of a son who died in child
hood , and it has served him ever since, both for Christian and
surname . Miss Cathy and he were now very thick ; but
Hindley hated him : and to say the truth I did the same ; and
we plagued and went on with him shamefully : for I wasn't
reasonable enough to feel my injustice, and the mistress never
put in a word on his behalf when she saw him wronged.
He seemed a sullen, patient child ; hardened, perhaps, to
ill-treatment: he would stand Hindley's blows without winking
or shedding a tear, and my pinches moved him only to draw
in a breath and open his eyes, as if he had hurt himself by
accident and nobody was to blame. This endurance made old
Earnshaw furious, when he discovered his son persecuting the
poor, fatherless child , as he called him . He took to Heathcliff
strangely, believing all he said ( for that matter, he said precious
little,and generally the truth), and petting him up far above
Cathy, who was too mischievous and wayward for a favourite.
So, from the very beginning , he bred bad feeling in the
house ; and at Mrs Earnshaw's death , which happened in less
than two years after, the young master had learned to regard
his father as an oppressor rather than a friend, and Heathcliff
as a usurper of his parent's affections and his privileges ; and
he grew bitter with brooding over these injuries. I sym
pathized a while ; but when the children fell ill of the measles,
and I had to tend them , and take on me the cares of a woman
at once, I changed my ideas. Heathcliff was dangerously
sick ; and while he lay at the worst he would have me con
stantly by his pillow : I suppose he felt I did a good deal for
him , and he hadn't wit to guess that I was compelled to do it.
However, I will say this, he was the quietest child that ever
nurse watched over. The difference between him and the
others forced me to be less partial. Cathy and her brother
harassed me terribly ; he was as uncomplaining as a lamb ;
though hardness, not gentleness, made him give little trouble.
He got through, and the doctor affirmed it was in a great
measure owing to me, and praised me for my care. I was
vain of his commendations, and softened towards the being by
whose means I earned them , and thus Hindley lost hislast
ally : still I couldn't dote on Heathcliff, and I wondered often
what my master saw to admire so much in the sullen boy ;
who never, to my recollection , repaid his indulgence by any
sign of gratitude. He was not insolent to his benefactor, he
was simply insensible ; though knowing perfectly the hold he
had on his heart, and conscious he had only to speak and all
the house would be obliged to bend to his wishes. As an
instance, I remember Mr Earnshaw once bought a couple of
colts at the parish fair, and gave the lads each one. Heathcliff
took the handsomest , but it soon fell lame, and when he dis
covered it, he said to Hindley
“ You must exchange horses with me : I don't like mine ;
and if you won't I shall tell your father of the three thrashings
you've given me this week, and show him my arm, which is
black to the shoulder.” Hindley put out his tongue, and cuffed
him over the ears . " You'd better do it at once,” he persisted,
escaping to the porch (they were in the stable ): "you will
have to ; and if I speak of these blows, you 'll get them
again with interest." Off, dog ! ” cried Hindley, threatening
him with an iron weight used for weighing potatoes and hay.
“ Throw it,” he replied, standing still, " and then I'll tell how
you boasted that you would turn me out of doors as soon as
he died, and see whether he will not turn you out directly."
Hindley threw it, hitting him on the breast, and down he fell,
but staggered up immediately, breathless and white ; and ,
had not I prevented it, he would have gone just so to the
master, and got full revenge by letting his condition plead for
him , intimating who had caused it. " Take my colt, gipsy,
then !” said young Earnshaw. “ And I pray that he may
break your neck : take him, and be damned, you beggarly
interloper ! and wheedle my father out of all he has : only
afterwards show him what you are, imp of Satan . — And take
that, I hope he 'll kick out your brains !”
Heathcliff had gone to loose the beast, and shift it to his
own stall; he was passing behind it, when Hindley finished

his speech by knocking him under its feet, and without stop
ping to examine whether his hopes were fulfilled, ran away as
fast as he could. I was surprised to witness how coolly the
child gathered himself up, and went on with his intention ;
exchanging saddles and all, and then sitting down on a bundle
of hay to overcome the qualmówhich the violent blow occa
sioned, before he entered the house. I persuaded him easily
to let me lay the blame of his bruises on the horse : he minded
little what tale was told since he had what he wanted. He
complained so seldom , indeed, of such stirs as these, that I
really thought him not vindictive: I was deceived completely,
as you will hear,
CHAPTER V.
In the course of time, Mr Earnshaw began to fail. He had

been active and healthy, yet his strength left him suddenly ;
and when he was confined to the chimney-corner he grew
grievously irritable. A nothing vexed him ; and suspected
slights of his authority nearly threw him into fits. This was
especially to be remarked if any one attempted to impose
upon, or domineer over, his favourite: he was painfully jealous
lest a word should be spoken amiss to him ; seeming to have
got into his head the notion that, because he liked Heathcliff,
all hated, and longed to do him an ill-turn. It was a disad
vantage to the lad ; for the kinder among us did not wish
to fret the master , so we humoured his partiality ; and that
humouring was rich nourishment to the child's pride and
black tempers. Still it became in a manner necessary ; twice,
or thrice, Hindley's manifestation of scorn, while his father
was near, roused the old man to a fury : he seized his stick to
strike him, and shook with rage that he could not do it.
At last, our curate (we had a curate then who made the
living answer by teaching the little Lintons and Earnshaws,
and farming his bit of land himself) advised that the young
man should be sent to college ; and Mr Earnshaw agreed,
though with a heavy spirit, for he said—“ Hindley was nought,
and would never thrive as where he wandered."
I hoped heartily we should have peace now. It hurt me 1
1
think the master should be made uncomfortable by his own

good deed . I fancied the discontent of age and disease arose
from his faraily disagreements; as he would have it that it
did : really, you know, sir, it was in his sinking frame. We
might have got on tolerably , notwithstanding, but for two
people, Miss Cathy and Joseph, the servant : you saw him , I
dare say, up yonder. He was, and is yet most likely, the
wearisomest, self-righteous pharisce that ever ransacked a
Bible to rake the promises to himself and fling the curses to
his neighbours. By his knack of sermonizing and pious dis
coursing, he contrived to make a great impression on Mr
Earnshaw ; and the more feeble the master became, the more
influence he gained. He was relentless in worrying him
about his soul's concerns, and about ruling his children
rigidly. He encouraged him to regard Hindley as a repro
bate ; and , night after night, he regularly grumbled out a long
string of tales against Heathcliff and Catherine : always
minding to flatter Earnshaw's weakness by heaping the
heaviest blame on the latter.
Certainly, she had ways with her such as I never saw a
child take up before ; and she put all of us past our patience
fifty times and oftener in a day : from the hour she came
down-stairs till the hour she went to bed , we had not a
minute's security that she wouldn't be in mischief. ller
spirits were always at high-water mark, her tongue always
going — singing, laughing, and plaguing everybody who
would not do the same. A wild , wicked slip she was--but
she had the bonniest eye, the sweetest smile, and lightest
foot in the parish : and, after all , I believe she meani no
harm ; for when once she made you cry in good carnesi , it
seldom happened that she would not keep you company,
and oblige you to be quiet that you might comfort her. She
was much too fond of Heathcliff. The greatest punishment
we could invent for her was to keep her separate from him :
yet she got chided more than any of us on his account. In
play, she liked exceedingly to act the little mistress ; using
her hands freely, and commanding her co'.panions : she did
so to me, but I would not bear slapping and ordering ; and
so I let her know.
Now, Mr Earnshaw did not understand jokes from his
children : he had always been strict and grave with them ;
and Catherine, on her part, had no idea why her father
should be crosser and less patient in his ailing condition,
3
than he was in his prime. His peevish reproofs wakened in

her a naughty delight to provoke him : she was never so,
happy as when we were all scolding her at once, and she
defying us with her bold, saucy look , and her ready words ;
turning Joseph's religious curses into ridicule, baiting me,
and doing just what her father hated most - showing how
her pretended insolence, which he thought real, had more
power over Heathcliff than his kindness : how the boy
would do her bidding in anything, and his only when it
suited his own inclination. After behaving as badly as pos
sible all day, she sometimes came fondling to make it up at
night . “ Nay, Cathy," the old man would say, “ I cannot
love thee ; thou’rt worse than thy brother. Go, say thy
prayers, child , and ask God's pardon . I doubt thy mother
and I must rue that we ever reared thee ! " That made her
cry, at first ; and then being repulsed continually hardened
her, and she laughed if I told her to say she was sorry for
her faults, and beg to be forgiven.
But the hour came, at last, that ended Mr Earnshaw's
troubles on earth. He died quietly in his chair one October
evening, seated by the fireside. A high wind blustered
round the house, and roared in the chimney : it sounded
wild and stormy, yet it was not cold, and we were all together
-I, a little removed from the hearth, busy at my knitting,
and Joseph reading his Bible near the table ( for the servants
generally sat in the house then, after their work was done).
Miss Cathy had been sick , and that made her still ; she leant
against her father's knee, and Heathcliff was lying on the
floor with his head in her lap . I remember the master, before
he fell into a doze, stroking her bonny hair — it pleased him
rarely to see her gentle — and saying— “ Why canst thou not
always be a good lass, Cathy ?” And she turned her face up
to his, and laughed , and answered, " Why cannot you always
be a good man, father ?” But as soon as she saw him vexed
again, she kissed his hand, and said she would sing him to
sleep. She began singing very low, till his fingers dropped
from hers, and his head sank on his breast. Then I told her
to hush , and not stir, for fear she should wake him . We all
kept as mute as mice a full half -hour, and should have done
so longer, only Joseph, having finished his chapter, got up and
said that he must rouse the master for prayers andbed. He
stepped forward, and called him by name, and touched his
shoulder ; but he would not move, so he took the candle and
looked at him. I thought there was something wrong as he

set down the light ; and seizing the children each by an arm ,
whispered them to “ frame up-stairs, and make little din
they might pray alone that evening — he had summut to do.”
“ I shall bid father good -night first,” said Catherine, putting
her arms round his neck, before we could hinder her. The
poor thing discovered her loss directly — she screamed out
Oh , he's dead, Heathcliff ! he's dead ! ” And they both set
up a heart-breaking cry.
I joined my wail to theirs, loud and bitter ; but Joseph,
asked what we could be thinking of to roar in that way over
a saint in heaven. He told me to put on my cloak and run
to Gimmerton for the doctor and the parson. I could not
guess the use that either would be of, then. However, I
went, through wind and rain, and brought one, the doctor,
back with me ; the other said he would come in the morning.
Leaving Joseph to explain matters, I ran to the children's
room : their door was ajar, I saw they had never laid down,
though it was past midnight ; but they were calmer, and
did not need me to console them . The little souls were
comforting each other with better thoughts than I could have
hit on: no parson in the world ever pictured heaven so
beautifully asthey did, in their innocent talk ; and, while I
sobbed and listened, I could not help wishing we were all
there safe together.
CHAPTER VI.
MR HINDLEY came home to the funeral ; and — a thing that

amazed us, and set the 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 thestairs
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 sympathize with her. We
don't in general take to foreigners here, Mr Lockwood, unless
they take to us first.
Young Earnshaw was altered considerably in the three
years 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 thence
forth 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
pleasureat the white floor and huge glowing fire-place, 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. Heraffection tired very soon, how
ever, 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 morn
ing 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 acci
dent, I hope ? ” “At Thrushcross Grange," he answered ;
" and I would have been there too, but they had not the
manners to ask me to stay.”‫ וי‬66 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 Thrush
cross 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
man -servant, and set to learn a column of Scripture names,
if they don't answer properly ? ” “ Probably not," I responded .
They are good children, no doubt, and don't deserve the
treatment you receive, for your bad conduct .” 6 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 shut
ters, and the curtains were only half closed . Both of us were
ble to look in by standing on the basement, and clingingto
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 sister had it entirely to them
selves. 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 youngerthan 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 under
stood 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 condi.
WUTIIERING HEIGÍTS. 39
tion 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 ven
geance. • What prey, Robert ? ' hallooed Linton from the
6
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 tohave
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 ;

lcok 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 chan
delier, and Mrs Linton placed her spectacles onher 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 inquisi
tive stare, collected sufficient wit to recognise her. They see
us at church, you know, though we seldom meet them else
where. “ 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 l'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.'
“ 6 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 MrEarnshaw 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
WUTHERING HEIGATS. 41
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 treat
ment 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 manners, 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.
CHAPTER VII.
CATHY stayed at Thrushcross Grange five weeks: till Christ

mas. By that time her ankle was thoroughly cured, and her
manners much improved. The mistress visited her often in
the interval, and commenced her plan of reform by trying to
raise her self-respect with fine clothes and flattery, which she
took readily ; so that, instead of a wild, hatless little savage
jumping into the house, and rushing to squeeze us all breath
less, there 'lighted from a handsome black pony a very dignified

person, with brown ringlets falling from the cover of a
feathered beaver, and a long cloth habit , which she was
obliged to hold up with both hands that she might sail in.
Hindley lifted her from her horse, exclaiming delightedly.
Why, Cathy, you are quite a beauty ! I should scarcely
have known you : you look like a lady now. Isabella Linton
is not to be compared with her, is she Frances ? " " Isabella
has not her natural advantages,” replied his wife: " but she
must mind and not grow wild again here. Ellen, help Miss
Catherine off with her things — Stay, dear, you will disarrange
your curls — let me untie your hat ."
I removed the habit, and there shone forth beneath , a grand
plaid silk frock , white trousers, and burnished shoes ; and,
while her eyes sparkled joyfully when the dogs came bound
ing up to welcome her, she dare hardly touch them lest they
should fawn upon her splendid garments. She kissed me
gently : I was all flour making the Christmas cake, and it
would not have done to give me a hug ; and, then , she looked
round for Heathcliff. Mr and Mrs Earnshaw watched
anxiously their meeting ; thinking it would enable them to
judge, in some measure, what grounds they had for hoping to
succeed in separating the two friends.
Heathcliff was hard to discover, at first. If he were care
less, and uncared for, before Catherine's absence, he had been
ten times more so, since. Nobody but I even did him the
kindness to call him a dirty boy, and bid him wash himself,
once a week ; and children of his age seldom have a natural
pleasure in soap and water. Therefore, not to mention his
clothes, which had seen three months' service in mire and dust,
and his thick uncombed hair, the surface of his face and hands
was dismally beclouded. He might well skulk behind the
settle, on beholding such a bright, graceful damsel enter the
house, instead of a rough -headed counterpart of himself, as
he expected . “ Is Heathcliff not here ? ” she demanded, pull
ing off her gloves, and displaying fingers wonderfully whitened
with doing nothing and staying in -doors.
66
Heathcliff, you may come forward,” cried Mr Hindley,
enjoying his discomfiture, and gratified to see what a forbidding
young blackguard he would be compelled to present himself.
“ You may come and wish Miss Catherine welcome, like the
other servants ."
Cathy, catching a glimpse of her friend in his conccalment,
flew to embrace him ; she bestowed seven or eight kisses on

his cheek within the second, and then stopped, and drawing
back, burst into a laugh, exclaiming, “Why, how very black
and cross you look ! and how— Hlow funny and grim ! But
that's because I'm used to Edgar and Isabella Linton. Well,
Heathcliff, have you forgotten me? ”
She had some reason to put the question, for shame and
pride threw double gloom over his countenance, and kept him
immoveable.
“ Shake hands, Heathcliff,” said Mr Earnshaw, conde
scendingly ; " once in a way, that is permitted."
“ I shall not,” replied the boy, finding his tongue at last ;
“ I shall not stand to be laughed at. I shall not bear it ! ”
And he would have broken from the circle, but Miss Cathy
seized him again.
" I did not mean to laugh at you,” she said ; “ I could not
hinder myself : Heathcliff, shake hands at least! What are
you sulky for ? It was only that you looked odd. If you
wash your face, and brush your hair it will be all right: but
you are so dirty !"
She gazed concernedly at the dusky fingers she held in her
own , and also at her dress; which she feared had gained no
embellishment from its contact with his.
“You needn't have touched me !” he answered, following
her eye and snatching away his hand. “ I shall be as dirty as
I please : and I like to be dirty, and I will be dirty ."
With that he dashed head foremost out of the room, amid
the merriment of the master and mistress, and to the serious
disturbance of Catherine ; who could not comprehend how
her remarks should have produced such an exhibition of bad
temper.
After playing lady's maid to the new comer, and putting
my cakes in the oven, and making the house and kitchen
cheerful with great fires, befitting Christmas eve, I prepared
to sit down and amuse myself by singing carols, all alone ;
regardless of Joseph's affirmations that he considered the
merry tunes I chose as next door to songs. He had retired to
private prayer in his chamber, and Mr and Mrs Earnshaw
were engaging Missy's attention by sundry gay trifles bought
for her to present to the little Lintons, as an acknowledgment
of their kindness. They had invited them to spend the
morrow at Wuthering Heights, and the invitation had been
accepted, on one condition : Mrs Linton begged that her
44 WCTHERING HEIGHTS .
darlings might be kept carefully apart from that "naughty

swearing boy . "
Under these circumstances I remained solitary . I smelt
the rich scent of the heating spices ; and admired the shining
kitchen utensils, the polished clock , decked in holly, the silver
mugs ranged on a tray ready to be filled with mulled ale for
supper ; and above all, the speckless purity of my particular
care — the scoured and well-swept floor. I gave due inward
applause to every object, and then I remembered how old
Earnshaw used to come in when all was tidied, and call me
a cant lass, and slip a shilling into my hand as a Christmas
box ; and from that I went on to think of his fondness for
Heathcliff, and his dread lest he should suffer neglect after
death had removed him ; and that naturally led me to consider
the poor lad's situation now, and from singing I changed my
mind to crying. It struck me soon, however, there would be
more sense in endeavouring to repair some of his wrongs than
shedding tears over them : I got up and walked into the court
the
to seek him. He was not far; I found him smoothing
glossy coat of the new pony in the stable, and feeding the
other beasts, according to custom .
" Make haste, Heathcliff !” I said , “ the kitchen is so com
fortable; and Joseph is up -stairs: make haste, and let me dress
you smart before Miss Cathy comes out, and then you can sit
together, with the whole hearth to yourselves, and have a long
chatter till bedtime."
He proceeded with his task and never turned his head
towards me.
“ Come — are you coming ? ” I continued. 66 There's a
little cake for each of you ,nearly enough ; and you'll need
half-an -hour's donning .'
I waited five minutes, but getting no answer left him.
Catherine supped with her brother and sister-in -law : Joseph
and I joined at an unsociable meal, seasoned with reproofs
on one side and sauciness on the other. His cake and cheese
remained on the table all night for the fairies. He managed
to continue work till nine o'clock, and then marched dumb
and dour to his chamber. Cathy sat up late, having a world
of things to order for the reception of her new friends : she
came into the kitchen once to speak to her old one ; but he
was gone, and she only stayed to ask what was the matter
with him , and then went back. In the morning he rose early;
and as it was a holiday, carried his ill -humour on to the
moors ; not re-appearing till the family were departed for

church. Fasting and reflection seemed to have brought him
to a better spirit. He hungabout me for a while, andhaving
screwed up his courage, exclaimed abruptly
“ Nelly , make me decent, I'm going to be good .”
66
High time, Heathcliff,” I said ; " you have grieved Catherine :
she's sorry she ever came home, I dare say ! It looks as if
you envied her, because she is more thought of than you.”
The notion of envying Catherine was incomprehensible to
him, but the notion of grieving her he understood clearly
enough .
“Did she say she was grieved ? ” he inquired, looking very
scrious.
“ She cried when I told her you were off again this morning."
"Well, I cried last night,” he returned ," and I had more
reason to cry than she. ”
“ Yes : you had the reason of going to bed with a proud
heart and an empty stomach ,” said I. “ Proud people breed
sad sorrows for themselves. But, if you be ashamed of your
touchiness, you must ask pardon , mind, when she comes in.
You must go up and offer to kiss her, and say — you know
best what to say ; only do it heartily, and not as if you
thought her converted into a stranger by her grand dress.
And now, though I have dinner to get ready, I'll steal time
to arrange you so that Edgar Linton shall look quite a doll
beside you : and that he does. You are younger, and yet,
I'll be bound , you are taller and twice as broad across the
shoulders: you could knock him down in a twinkling ? don't
you feel that you could ?
Heathcliff's face brightened a moment ; then it was over
cast afresh , and he sighed.
“ But, Nelly, if I knocked him down twenty times, that
wouldn't make him less handsome or me more so. I wish I
had light hair and a fair skin , and was dressed and behaved
as well, and had a chance of being as rich as he will be !"
“ And cried for mamma at every turn ,” I added, “ and
trembled if a country lad heaved his fist against you, and sat
at home all day for a shower of rain. Oh, Heathcliff, you
are showing a poor spirit! Come to the glass, and I'll let
you see what you should wish . Do you mark those two
lines between your eyes; and those thick brows, that instead
of rising arched, sink in the middle ; and that couple of black
fiends, sc deeply buried, who never open their windows boldly,
but lurk glinting under them, like devil's spies ? Wish and
learn to smooth away the surly wrinkles, to raise your lids
frankly, and change the fiends to confident, innocent angels,
suspecting and doubting nothing, and always seeing friends
where they arenot sure of foes. Don't get the expression of
a vicious cur that appears to know the kicks it gets are its
desert, and yet hates all the world, as well as the kicker, for
what it suffers."
“ In other words, I must wish for Edgar Linton's great blue
eyes and even forehead,” he replied. “ I do — and that won't
help me to them ."
" A good heart will help you to a bonny face, my lad," I
continued, “ if you were a regular black ; and a bad one will
turn the bonniest into something worse than ugly. And now
that we've done washing, and combing, and sulking—tell me
whether you don't think yourself rather handsome ? I'll tell
you, I do. You ’re fit for a prince in disguise. Who knows
butyour father was Emperor of China, and your mother an
Indian queen , each of them able to buy up, with one week's
income,Wuthering Heights and Thrushcross Grange together ?
And you were kidnapped by wicked sailors and brought to
England. Were I in your place, I would frame high notions of
my birth ; and the thoughts of what I was should give me
courage and dignity to support the oppressions of a little
farmer ! "
So I chattered on ; and Heathcliff gradually lost his frown
and began to look quite pleasant, when all at once our con
versation was interrupted by a rumbling sound moving up the
road and entering the court. He ran to the window and I to
the door, just in time to behold the two Lintons descend from
the family carriage, smothered in cloaks and furs, and the
Earnshaws dismount from their horses : they often rode to
church in winter. Catherine took a hand of each of the
children , and brought them into the house and set them before
the fire, which quickly put colour into their white faces.
I urged my companion to hasten now and show his amiable
humour, and he willingly obeyed ; but ill luck would have it
that, as he opened the door leading from the kitchen on one
side, Hindley opened it on the other. They met, and the
master irritated at seeing him clean and cheerful; or, perhaps,
,
eager to keep his promise to Mrs Linton shoved him back
with a sudden thrust, and angrily bade Joseph “ keep the
fellow out of the room - send him into the garret till dinner is
over . He'll be cramming his fingers in the tarts and stealing

the fruit, if left alone with them a minute."
“Nay, sir," I could not avoid answering, " he'll touch
nothing, not he : and I suppose he must have his share of the
dainties as well as we. ”
“ He shall have his share of my hand, if I catch him down
stairs till dark," cried Hindley. “ Begone, you vagabond !
What ! you are attempting the coxcomb, are you ? Wait till
I get hold of those elegant locks — see if I won't pull them a
bit longer !"
66
They are long enough already,” observed Master Linton,
peeping from the doorway ; “ I wonder they don't make his
head ache. It's like a colt's mane over his eyes !”
He ventured this remark without any intention to insult ;
but Heathcliff's violent nature was not prepared to endure the
appearance of impertinence from one whom he seemed to hate,
even then, as a rival. He seized a tureen of hot apple sauce
(the first thing that came under his gripe) and dashed it full
against the speaker's face and neck ; who instantly commenced
alament that brought Isabella and Catherine hurrying to the
place. Mr Earnshaw snatched up the culprit directly and
conveyed him to his chamber ; where, doubtless, he adminis
tered a rough remedy to cool the fit of passion, for he appeared
red and breathless. I got the dish -cloth, and rather spitefully
scrubbed Edgar's nose and mouth, affirming it served him
right for meddling. His sister began weeping to go home,
and Cathy stood by confounded, blushing for all.
“ You should not have spoken to him ! ” she expostulated
with Master Linton. “ He was in a bad temper, and now
you 've spoilt your visit ; and he 'll be flogged : I hate him to
be flogged ! I can't eat my dinner. Why did you speak to
him , Edgar ? "
“ I didn't," sobbed the youth, escaping from my hands, and
finishing the remainder of the purification with his cambric
pocket-handkerchief. “ I promised mamma that I wouldn't
say one word to him, and I didn't.”
" Well, don't cry," replied Catherine, contemptuously ;
you're not killed . Don't make more mischief; my brother
is coming : be quiet ! Hush ! Isabella ! Has anybody hurt you ?"
“ There, there, children — to your seats ! ” cried Hindley,
bustling in . “ That brute of a lad has warmed me nicely.
Next time, Master Edgar, take the law into your own fists
it will give you an appetite !"
The little party recovered its equanimity at sight of the

fragrant feast. They were hungry after their ride, and easily
consoled, since no real harm had befallen them. Mr Earn
shaw carved bountiful platefuls, and the mistress made them
merry with lively talk . I waited behind her chair, and was
pained tu Lehold Catherine, with dry eyes and an indifferent
air, commence cutting up the wing of a goose before her.
“ An unfeeling child,” I thought to myself; “ how lightly she
dismisses her old playmate's troubles. I could not have
imagined her to be so selfish.” She lifted a mouthful to her
lips ; then she set it down again : her cheeks flushed, and the
tears gushed over them . She slipped her fork to the floor,
and hastily dived under the cloth to conceal her emotion. I
did not call her unfeeling long ; for I perceived she was in
purgatory throughout the day, and wearying to findan oppor
tunity of getting by herself, or paying a visit to Heathcliff,
who had been locked up by the master : as I discovered, on
endeavouring to introduce to him a private mess of victuals.
In the evening we had a dance. Cathy begged that he
might be liberated then, as Isabella Linton had no partner ;
her entreaties were vain, and I was appointed to supply the
deficiency. We got rid of all gloom in the excitement of the
exercise, and our pleasure was increased by the arrival of the
Gimmerton band, mustering fifteen strong: a trumpet, a trom
bone, clarionets, bassoons, French horns, and a bass viol ,
besides singers. They go the rounds of all the respectable
houses, and receive contributions every Christmas, and we
esteemed it a first - rate treat to hear them. After the usual
carols had been sung, we set them to songs and glees. Mrs
Earnshaw loved the music, and so they gave us plenty.
Catherine loved it too ; but she said it sounded sweetest at
the top of the steps, and she went up in the dark : I followed .
They shot the house door below , never noting our absence, it
was so full of people. She made no stay at the stairs' head ,
but mounted farther, to the garret where Heathcliff was con
fined, and called him. He stubbornly declined answering for
a while ; she persevered, and finally persuaded him to hold
communion with her through the boards. I let the poor things
converse unmolested, till I supposed the songs were going to
cease, and the singers to get some refreshment; then , I clam
bered up the ladder to warn her. Instead of finding her out
side, I heard her voice within . The little monkey had crept
by the skylight of one garret, along the roof, into the skylight
of the other, and it was with the utmost difficulty I could coax
her out again. When she did come, Heathcliffcame with her,
and she insisted that I should take him into the kitchen, as
my fellow - servant had gone to a neighbour's to be removed
from the sound of our " devil's psalmody," as it pleased him
to call it. I told them I intended by no means to encourage
their tricks ; but as the prisoner had never broken his fast
since yesterday's dinner, I would wink at his cheating Mr
Hindley that once. He went down ; I set him a stool by the
fire, and offered him a quantity of good things ; but he was
sick and could eat little, and my attempts to entertain him
were thrown away. He leant his two elbows on his knees,
and his chin on his hands , and remained wrapt in dumb medi
tation . On my inquiring the subject of his thoughts, he
answered gravely
“ I'm trying to settle how I shall pay Hindley back. I
don't care how long I wait, if I can only do it at last. I hope
he will not die before I do !”
“ For shame, Heathcliff !” said I. “ It is for God to punish
wicked people ; we should learn to forgive.”
“ No, God won't have the satisfaction that I shall," he
returned . “ I only wish I knew the best way! Let me alone,
and I'll plan it out : while I'm thinking of that I don't feel
pain .”
But, Mr Lockwood, I forget these tales cannot divert you.
I'm annoyed how I should dream of chattering on at such a
rate; and your gruel cold, and you nodding for bed ! I could
have told Heathcliff's history, all that you need hear, in half
a dozen words. Thus interrupting herself, the housekeeper
rose , and proceeded to lay aside her sewing ; but I felt inca
pable of moving from the hearth, and I was very far from
nodding. “ Sit still, Mrs Dean ," I cried, “ do sit still, another
half hour! You ’ve done just right to tell the story leisurely.
That is the method I like; and you must finish it in the same
style. I am interested in every character you have mentioned ,
more or less . "
“ The clock is on the stroke of eleven, sir .”
“ No matter - I'm not accustomed to go to bed in the long
hours. One or two is early enough for a person who lies till ten.”
“ You shouldn't lie till ten . There's the very prime of the
morning gone long before that time. A person who has not
done one half his day's work by ten o'clock; runs a chance of
leaving the other half undone.
4
50 WUTHERING HEIGETS .
“ Nevertheless, Mrs Dean, resume your chair ; because

to -morrow I intend lengthening the night till afternoon . I
prognosticate for myself an obstinate cold , at least.”
" I hope not, sir. Well, you must answ me to leap over
some three years ; during that space Mrs Earnshaw
“ No, no, I'll allow nothing of the sort ! Are you acquainted
with the mood of mind in which, if you were seated alone,
and the cat licking its kitten on the rug before you, you would
watch the operation so intently that puss's neglect of one ear
would put you seriously out of temper ?”
“ A terribly lazy mood, I should say."
“ On the contrary, a tiresomely active one. It is mine, at
present; and, therefore, continue minutely. I perceive that
people in these regions acquire over people in towns the value
that a spider in a dungeon does over a spider in a cottage, to
their various occupants; and yet the deepened attraction is not
entirely owing to the situation of the looker-on. They do live
more in earnest, more in themselves, and less in surface, change,
and frivolous external things. I could fancy a love for life
here almost possible; and I was a fixed unbeliever in any love
of a year's standing. One state resembles setting a hungry
man down to a single dish , on which he may concentrate his
entire appetite and do it justice ; the other, introducing him to
a table laid out by French cooks : he can perhaps extract as
much enjoyment from the whole; but each part is a mere atom
in his regard and remembrance. "
“ Oh ! here we are the same as anywhere else, when you
get to know us,” observed Mrs Dean, somewhat puzzled at my
speech.
“ Excuse me," I responded ; “ you, my good friend, are a
striking evidence against that assertion . Excepting a few
provincialisms of slight consequence , you have no marks of
the manners which I am habituated to consider as peculiar to
your class. I am sure you have thought a great deal more
than the generality of servants think. You have been com
pelled to cultivate your reflective faculties for want of occasions
for frittering your life away in silly trifles.”
Mrs Dean laughed .
" I certainly esteem myself a steady, reasonable kind of
body,” she said ; “not exactly from living among the hills
and seeing one set of faces, and one series of actions, from
year's end to year's end ; but I have undergone sharp disci
pline, which has taught me wisdom : and then, I have read
more than you would fancy, Mr Lockwood. You could not

open a book in this library that I have not looked into , and
got something out of also: unless it be that range of Greek
and Latin, and that of French ; and those I know one from
another : it is as much as you can expect of a poor man's
daughter. However, if i am to follow my story in true
gossip's fashion, I had better go on ; and instead of leaping
three years ,I will be content to pass to the next summer
the summer of 1778, that is nearly twenty -three years ago."
CHAPTER VIII.
On the morning of a fine June day, my first bonny little

nursling, and the last of the ancient Earnshaw stock , was
born . We were busy with the hay in a far away field , when
the girl that usually brought our breakfasts, came running an
hour too soon, across the meadow and up the lane, calling me
as she ran.
“ Oh, such a grand bairn !” she panted out. " The finest
lad that ever breathed ! But the doctor says missis must go :
he says she's been in a consumption these many months. I
heard him tell Mr Hindley : and now she has nothing to
keep her, and she 'll be dead before winter. You must come
home directly. You ’re to nurse it, Nelly : to feed it with
sugar and milk, and take care of it day and night, I wish
I were you, because it will be all yours when there is no
missis ! "
“ But is she very ill ? ” I asked , flinging down my rake,
and tying my bonnet.
" I guess she is ; yet she looks bravely ," replied the girl,
" and she talks as if she thought of living to see it grow a
man . She's out of her head for joy, it's such a beauty !
If I were her, I'm certain I should not die : I should get
better at the bare sight of it, in spite of Kenneth . I was
fairly mad at him. Dame Archer brought the cherub down
to master, in the house, and his face just began to light up,
when the old croaker steps forward, and says he - Earnshaw,
it's a blessing your wife has been spared to leave you this son.
When she came, I felt convinced we shouldn't keep her long ;
50 WUTHERING HEIGETS.
“ Nevertheless, Mrs Dean, resume your chair ; because

to -morrow I intend lengthening the night till afternoon. I
prognosticate for myselfan obstinate cold, at least.”
" I hope not, sir. Well, you must answ me to leap over
some three years ; during that space Mrs Earnshaw
“ No, no, I'll allow nothing of thesort ! Are you acquainted
with the mood of mind in which, if you were seated alone,
and the cat licking its kitten on the rug before you, you would
watch the operation so intently that puss's neglect of one ear
would put you seriously out of temper
“ A terribly lazy mood, I should say .”
“ On the contrary, a tiresomely active one. It is mine, at
present; and, therefore, continue minutely. I perceive that
people in these regions acquire over people in towns the value
that a spider in a dungeon does over a spider in a cottage, to
their various occupants; and yet the deepened attraction is not
entirely owing to the situation of the looker-on. They do live
more in earnest, more in themselves, and less in surface, change,
and frivolous external things. I could fancy a love for life
here almost possible ; and I was a fixed unbeliever in any love
of a year's standing. One state resembles setting a hungry
man down to a single dish, on which he may concentrate his
entire appetite and do it justice; the other, introducing him to
a table laid out by French cooks : he can perhaps extract as
much enjoyment from the whole ; but each part is a mere atom
in his regard and remembrance ."
“ Oh ! here we are the same as anywhere else, when you
get to know us,” observed Mrs Dean, somewhat puzzled at my
speech .
“ Excuse me," I responded ; "you, my good friend, are a
striking evidence against that assertion. Excepting a few
provincialisms of slight consequence, you have no marks of
the manners which I am habituated to consider as peculiar to
your class. I am sure you have thought a great deal more
than the generality of servants think. You have been com
pelled to cultivate your reflective faculties for want of occasions
for frittering your life away in silly trifles."
Mrs Dean laughed.
“ I certainly esteem myself a steady, reasonable kind of
body,” she said ; “not exactly from living among the hills
and seeing one set of faces, and one series of actions, from
year's end to year's end ; but I have undergone sharp disci
pline, which has taught me wisdom : and then, I have read
NT BING HEIGHTS . 81
more than you would for. W : Lockwood. You could not

open a book in this slegte not looked into, and
got something out of a so :csibe test range of Greek
and Latin, and that ct Fusce : aci bose I know or fr « ,073
another : it is as no:3 as 20 errect of a quer ? ***
daughter. However , a to v my story i
gossip's fashion . I bai bera nos ; ard iustrari sf*1º,
three years, I will be sure to pass to the wst 24 " . 1 ***
the summer of 1778, that is near twenty -threr year
CHAPTER VII !.
On the morning of a fine June da:

nursling, and the last of the allen ,
born . We were busy with th : 1:2 ;
the girl that usually brougut our
hour too soon , across the mannen
as she ran .
“Oh, such a grand bar '
lad that ever breatben i
he says she's been ir. 4,3 sans
heard him tell Dir
keep her, and sites
home directly. Vous »
sugar and mit au
I were you, but
missis ! ”
But is site für :
and tying in 1910r.
" I guess the
" and sbe
man . Site
If I were 12
better at in
fairly ma ' a
to make
whel 11 Undan
its HD
WBEL 6. and
and now , I must tell you, the winter will probably finish her.
Don't take on , and fret about it too much : it can't be helped .
And besides, you should have known better than to choose
such a rush of a lass ! ' "
“ And what did the master answer ? I inquired .
77
“ I think he swore : but I didn't mind him , I was straining

to see the bairn ,” and she began again to describe it rapturously.
I, as zealous as herself, hurried eagerly home to admire, on
my part; though I was very sad for Hindley's sake. He had
room in his heart only for two idols — his wife and himself: he
doted on both , and adored one, and I couldn't conceive how
he would bear the loss.
When we got toWuthering Heights, there he stood at the
front door ; and, as I passed in, I asked , “ how was the baby ? ”
Nearly ready to run about, Nell ! ” he replied, putting on
a cheerful smile.
“ And the mistress ? ” I ventured to inquire ; " the doctor
says she's
“ Damn the doctor ! ” he interrupted, reddening. “Frances
is quite right: she 'll be perfectly well by this time next week .
Are you going up-stairs ? will you tell her that I'll come, if
she'll promise not to talk. I left her because she would not
hold her tongue ; and she must-tell her Mr Kenneth says
she must be quiet."
I delivered this message to Mrs Earnshaw ; she seemed in
flighty spirits, and replied merrily
“ I hardly spoke a word, Ellen, and there he has gone out
twice, crying. Well, say I promise I won't speak : but that
does not bind me not to ugh at him ! ”
Poor soul ! Till within a week of her death that gay heart
never failed her ; and her husband persisted doggedly, nay ,
furiously, in affirming her health improved every day. When
Kenneth warned him that his medicines were useless at that
stage of the malady, and he needn't put him to further expense
by attending her, he retorted
“ I know you need not — she's well — she does not want any
more attendance fromyou ! She never was in a consumption.
It was a fever; and it isgone : her pulse is as slow as mine now,
and her cheek as cool. "
Hetold his wife the same story, and she seemed to believe
him ; but one night, while leaning on his shoulder, in the act
of saying she thought she should be able to get up to -morrow ,
a fit of coughing took her-a very slight one - he raised her
in his arms; she put her two hands about his neck, her face
changed, and she was dead.
As the girl had anticipated, the child Hareton fell wholly
into my hands. Mr Earnshaw , provided he saw him healthy
and never heard him cry, was contented, as far as regarded
him . For himself,he grew desperate: his sorrow was of that
kind that will not lament. He neither wept nor prayed ; he
cursed and defied : execrated God and man , and gave himself
up to reckless dissipation. The servants could not bear his
tyrannical and evil conduct long : Joseph and I were the only
two that would stay. I had not the heart to leave my charge;
and besides, you know, I had been his foster -sister, and ex
cused his behaviour more readily than a stranger would.
Joseph remained to hector over tenants and labourers ; and
because it was his vocation to be where he had plenty of
wickedness to reprove.
The master's bad ways and bad companions formed a pretty
example for Catherine and Heathcliff . His treatment of the
latter was enough to make a fiend of a saint. And , truly, it
appeared as if the lad were possessed of something diabolical
at that period. He delighted to witness Hindley degrading
himself past redemption ; and became daily more notable for
savage sullenness and ferocity. I could not half tell what an
infernal house we had. The curate dropped calling, and
nobody decent came near us, at last ; unless Edgar Linton's
visitsto Miss Cathy might be an exception. At fifteen she
was the queen of the country -side; she had no peer; and she
did turn out a haughty , headstrong creature! I own I did
not like her, after her infancy was past; and I vexed her fre
quently by trying to bring down her arrogance : she never
took an aversion to me, though . She had a wondrous con
stancy to old attachments : even Heathcliff kept his hold on
her affections unalterably ; and young Linton, with all his
superiority, found it difficult to make an equally deep impres
sion. He was my late master : that is his portrait over the
fireplace. It used to hang on one side, and his wife's on the
other; but hers has been removed, or else you might see
something of what she was . Can you make that out ?
Mrs Dean raised the candle and I discerned a soft - featured
face, exceedingly resembling the young lady at the Heights,
but more pensive and amiable in expression. It formed a
sweet picture. The long light hair curled slightly on the
temples; the eyes were large and serious; the figure almost
too graceful. I did not marvel how Catherine Earnshaw could

forget her first friend for such an individual. I marvelled
much how he, with a mind to correspond with his person ,
could fancy my idea of Catherine Earnshaw .
A very agreeable portrait," I observed to the housekeeper.
"! Is it like ? ”
“ Yes," she answered ; 66 but he looked better when he was
animated ; that is his everyday countenance : he wanted spirit
in general ."
Catherine had kept up her acquaintance with the Lintong
since her five weeks' residence among them ; and as she had
no temptation to show her rough side in their company, and
had the sense to be ashamed of being rude where she expe
rienced such invariable courtesy, she imposed unwittingly on
the old lady and gentleman, by her ingenious cordiality ;
gained the admiration of Isabella, and the heart and soul of
her brother : acquisitions that flattered her from the first,
for she was full of ambition, and led her to adopt a double
character without exactly intending to deceive any one. In
the place where she heard Heathcliff termed a “ vulgar young
ruffian ,” and “ worse than a brute ,” she took care not to act
like him ; but at home she had small inclination to practise
politeness that would only be laughed at, and restrain an
unruly nature when it would bring her neither credit nor
praise. 1
Mr Edgar seldom mustered courage to visit Wuthering

Heights openly. He had a terror of Earnshaw's reputation,
and shrunk from encountering him ; and yet he was always
received with ourbest attempts at civility : the master himself
avoided offending him, knowing why he came ; and if he could
not be gracious, kept out of the way. I rather think his
appearance there was distasteful to Catherine : she was not
artful, never played the coquette, and had evidently an objec
tion to her two friends meeting at all ; for when Heathcliff
expressed contempt of Linton in his presence, she could not
half coincide, as she did in his absence ; and when Linton
evinced disgust and antipathy to Heathcliff, she dare not treat •
his sentiments with indifference, as if depreciation of her
playmate we of scarcely any consequence to her. I've had
many a laugh at he pie bles, which
she vainly strove hat sounds
ill -natured : but sh impossible
to pity her distress into more
humility. She did bring herself, finally, to confess, and to

confide in me: there was not a soul else that she might fashion
into an adviser.
Mr Hindley had gone from home one afternoon, and Heath
cliff presumed to give himself a holiday on the strength of it.
He had reached the age of sixteen then, I think, and without
having bad features, or being deficient in intellect, he con
trived to convey an impression of inward and outward repul
siveness that his present aspect retains no traces of. In the
first place, he had by that time lost the benefit of his early
education : continual hard work, begun soon and concluded
late, had extinguished any curiosity he once possessed in
pursuit of knowledge, and any love for books or learning.
His childhood'ssense of superiority, instilled intohim by the
favours of old Mr Earnshaw, was faded away. He struggled
long to keep up an equality with Catherine in her studies,
and yielded with poignant though silent regret: but he yielded
completely; and there was no prevailing on him to take a step
in the way of moving upward , when hefound he must, neces
sarily, sink beneath his former level. Then personal appear
ance sympathised with mental deterioration : he acquired a
slouching gait, and ignoble look ; his naturally reserved
disposition was exaggerated into an almost idiotic excess of
unsociable moroseness; and he took a grim pleasure, appa
rently, in exciting the aversion rather than the esteem of his
few acquaintance.
Catherine and he were constant companions still at his
seasons of respite from labour ; but he had ceased to express
his fondness for her in words, and recoiled with angry sus
picion from her girlish caresses, as ifconscious there could be no
gratification in lavishing such marks of affection on him. On
the before -named occasion he came into the house to announce
his intention of doing nothing, while I was assisting Miss
Cathy to arrange her dress: she had not reckoned on his taking
it into his head to be idle ; and imagining she would have the
whole place to herself, she managed ,by some means, to inform
Mr Edgar of her brother's absence, and was then preparing
to receive him.
“ Cathy, are you busy, this afternoon ?” asked Heathcliff.
“ Are you going anywhere ? ”
“ No, it is raining,” she answered.
Why have you that silk frock on, then ?” he said.
" Nobody coming here, I hope ? "
" jut that I know of,” stammered Miss : “ but you should
be in the field now, Heathcliff. It is an hour past dinner
time: I thought you were gone.”
“ Hindley does not often freeusfrom his accursed presence, ”
observed the boy. “I'll not work any more to -day : I'll stay
with you ."
“ Oh, but Joseph will tell," she suggested ; " you'd better
go !"
“ Joseph is loading lime on the further side of Pennistow
Crag ; it will take him till dark , and he'll never know .”
So saying, he lounged to the fire, and sat down. Catherine
reflected aninstant, with knitted brows—she found it needful
to smooth the way for an intrusion. " Isabella and Edgar
Linton talked of calling this afternoon ,” she said, at the con
clusion of a minute's silence. " As it rains, I hardly expect
them ; but they may come, and if they do, you run the risk of
being scolded for no good.”
“ Order Ellen to say you are engaged, Cathy ,” he persisted ;
“ don't turn me out for those pitiful, silly friends of yours !
I'm on the point, sometimes, of complaining that they - but I'll
not
" That they what ? " cried Catherine, gazing at him with a
troubled countenance . “ Oh, Nelly !” she added petulantly,
jerking her head away from my hands, "you've combed my
hair quite out of curl ! That's enough ; let me alone. What
are you on the point of complaining about, Heathcliff ? "
Nothing - only look at the almanack on that wall ; " he
pointed to a framed sheet hanging near the window , and con
tinued “ The crosses are for the evenings you ave spent
with the Lintons , the dots for those spent with me. Do you
see ? I've marked every day.”
“ Yes — very foolish : as if I took notice !" replied Catherine,
in a peevish tone. " And where is the sense of that ?"
“ To show that I do take notice,” said Heathcliff.
“ And should I always be sitting with you ? " she demanded,
growing more irritated. “ What good do I get ? What do
you talk about ? You might be dumb, or a baby, for anything
you say to amuse me, or for anything you do, either ! "
“ You never told me before that I talked too little, or that
you disliked my company, Cathy ! ” exclaimed Heathcliff, in
much agitation.
“ It's no company at all, when people know nothing and say
nothing," she muttered .
Her companion rose up, but he hadn't time to express his

feelings further, for a horse's feet were heard on the flags, and
having knocked gently, young Linton entered, his face bril
liant with delight at the unexpected summons he had received.
Doubtless Catherine marked the difference between her friends,
as one came in and the other went out. The contrast resembled
what you see in exchanging a bleak, hilly, coal country for a
beautiful fertile valley ; and his voice and greeting were as
opposite as his aspect. He had a sweet, low manner of speak
ing, and pronounced his words as you do : that's less gruff
than we talk here, and softer.
“ I'm not come too soon, am I ? ” he said, casting a look at
me : I had begun to wipe the plate, and tidy some drawers at
the far end in the dresser.
“ No," answered Catherine. “ What are you doing there,
Nelly ? "
“My work, miss," I replied. (Mr. Hindley had given me
directions to make a third party in any private visits Linton
chose to pay.)
She stepped behind me and whispered crossly, “ Take
yourself and your dusters off; when company are in the
house, servants don't commence scouring and cleaning in the
room where they are ! ”
“ It's a good opportunity, now that master is away," I
answered aloud :" he hates me to be fidgeting over these
things in his presence . I'm sure Mr Edgar will excuse
me .
" I hate you to be fidgeting in my presence," exclaimed the
young lady imperiously, not allowingher guest time to speak :
she had failed to recover her equanimity since the little
dispute with Heathcliff.
“ I'm sorry for it, Miss Catherine,” was my response ; and
I proceeded assiduously with my occupation.
She, supposing Edgar could not see her, snatched the cloth
from my hand, and pinched me, with a prolonged wrench,
very spitefully on the arm. I've said I did not love her, and
rather relished mortifying her vanity now and then : besides,
she hurt me extremely ; so I started up from my knees, and
screamed out, “ Oh, miss, that's a nasty trick ! You have no
right to nip me, and I'm not going to bear it .”
“ I didn't touch you, you lying creature ! " cried she, her
fingers tingling to repeat the act, and her ears red with rage.
58 WUTHERING IIEIGHTS .
She never had power to conceal her passion, it always set her
whole complexion in a blaze .
“What's that, then ?” I retorted, showing a decided purple
witness to refute her.
She stamped her foot, wavered a moment, and then, irre
sistibly impelled by the naughty spirit within her, slapped
me on the cheek : a stinging blow that filled both eyes with
water.
“ Catherine, love! Catherine !” interposed Linton, greatly
shocked at the double fault of falsehood and violencewhich
his idol had committed.
“ Leave the room , Ellen !” she repeated, trembling all over.
Little Hareton, who followed me everywhere, and was
sitting near me on the floor, at seeing my tears commenced
crying himself, and sobbed out complaints against " wicked
aunt Cathy,” which drew her fury on to his unlucky head :
she seized his shoulders, and shook him till the poor child
waxed livid, and Edgar thoughtlessly laid hold of her hands
to deliver him. In an instant one was wrung free, and the
astonished young man felt it applied over his own ear in a
way that could not be mistaken for jest. He drew back in
consternation. I lifted Hareton in my arms, and walked off
to the kitchen with him, leaving the door of communication
open, for I was curious to watch how they would settle their
disagreement. The insulted visitor moved to the spot where
he had laid his hat, pale and with a quivering lip.
“ That's right ! " I said to myself. “ Take warning and
begone ! It's a kindness to let you have a glimpse of her
genuine disposition."
“ Where are you going ? ” demanded Catherine, advancing
to the door.
He swerved aside, and attempted to pass.
“ You must not go !" she exclaimed , energetically.
“ I must and shall ! ” he replied in a subdued voice.
“ No," she persisted, grasping the handle; “ not yet, Edgar
Linton : sit down; you shall not leave me in that temper. I
should be miserable all night, and I won't be miserable for
you !"
“ Can I stay after you have struck me ? ” asked Linton .
Catherine was mute. 19T
“ You've made me afraid and ashamed of you," he con

tinued ; " I'll not come here again ! "
Her eyes began to glisten , and her lids to twinkle.

“ And you told a deliberate untruth ! ” he said.
“ I didn't !" she cried, recovering her speech ; “ I did
nothing deliberately. Well, go, if you please - get away !
And now I 'll cry — I'll cry myself sick !”
She dropped down on her knees by achair, and set to wecp
ing in serious earnest. Edgar persevered in his resolution as far
as thecourt ; there he lingered . I resolved to encourage him .
“ Miss is dreadfully wayward, sir," I called out. "As bad
as any marred child : you 'd better be riding home, or else she
will be sick, only to grieve us.”
The soft thing looked askance through the window : he
possessed the power to depart, as much as a cat possesses the
power to leave a mouse half killed, or a bird half eaten.
Ah, I thought, there will be no saving him: he's doomed, and
flics to his fate ! And so it was : he turned abruptly, hastened
into the house again , shut the door behind him ; and when I
went in a while after to inform them that Earnshaw had come
home rabid drunk, ready to pull the old place about our ears
(his ordinary frame of mind in that condition ), I saw the
quarrel had merely effected a closer intimacy — had broken
the outworks of youthful timidity, and enabled them to forsake
the disguise of friendship, and confess themselves lovers.
Intelligence of Mr. Hindley's arrival drove Linton speedily
to his horse, and Catherine to her chamber. I went to hide
little Hareton, and to take the shot out of the master's fowling
piece, which he was fond ofplaying with in his insane excite
ment, to the hazard of the lives of any who provoked , or even
attracted his notice too much ; and I had hit upon the plan of
removing it, that he might do less mischief if he did go the
length of firing the gun.
CHAPTER IX.
He entered, vociferating oaths dreadful to hear ; and caught

me in the act of stowing his son away in the kitchen cup
board. Ha, ion was impressed with a wholesome terror of
encountering either his wild beast's fondness or his madman's
rage ; for in one he ran a chance of being squeezed and
kissed to death, and in the other of being flung into the fire,
or dashed against the wall ; and the poor thing remained

perfectly quiet wherever I chose to put him .
“ There, I've found it out at last !” cried Hindley, pulling
me back by the skin of my neck, like a dog. “ By heaven
and hell, you ’ve sworn between you to murder that child ! I
know how it is, now, that he is always out of my way. But,
with the help ofSatan, I shall make you swallow the carving
knife, Nelly! You needn't laugh ; for I've just crammed
Kenneth, head -downmost, in the Blackhorse marsh ; and two
is the same as one-and I want to kill some of you : I shall
have no rest till I do ! "
“ But I don't like the carving knife, Mr Hindley ," I
answered ; " it has been cutting red herrings. I'd rather be
shot, if you please ."
“You'd rather be damned ! ” he said ; "and so you shall.
No law in England can hinder a man from keeping his house
decent, and mine's abominable ! open your mouth .”
He held the knife in his hand, and pushed its point between
my teeth : but, for my part, I was never much afraid of his
vagaries. I spat out, and affirmed it tasted detestably — I
would not take it on any account.
“ Oh !” said he, releasing me, “ I see that hideous little
villain is not Hareton : I beg your pardon, Nell. If it be,
he deserves flaying alive for not running to welcome me, and
for screaming as if I were a goblin . Unnatural cub, come
hither ! I'll teach thee to impose on a good -hearted, deluded
father. Now, don't you think the ladwould be handsomer
cropped ? It makes a dog fiercer, and I love something fierce
-get me a scissors — something fierce and trim ! Besides,
it's infernal affectation - devilish conceit it is, to cherish our
ears — we're asses enough without them. Hush, child, hush !
Well then, it is my darling ! wisht, dry thy eyes — there's a
joy ; kiss me. What ! it won't ? Kiss me, Hareton ! Damn
thee, kiss me ! By God, as if I would rear such a monster !
As sure as I'm living, I'll break the brat's neck .”
Poor Hareton was squalling and kicking in his father's
arms with all his might, and redoubled his yells when he
carried him up -stairs and lifted him over the banister. I
cried out that he would frighten the child into fits, and ran
to rescue him. As I reached them, Hindley leant forward
on the rails to listen to a noise below ; almost forgetting
what he had in his hands . “ Who is that ?” he asked, hear
ing some one approaching the stair's foot. I leant forward
also, for the purpose of signing to Heathcliff, whose step I

recognised, not to come further ; and, at the instant when
my eye quitted Hareton, he gave a sudden spring, delivered
himself from the careless grasp that held him , and fell.
There was scarcely time to experience a thrill of horror
before we saw that the little wretch was safe. Heathcliff
arrived underneath just at the critical moment ; by a naturai
impulse, he arrested his descent, and setting him on his feet,
looked up to discover the author of the accident. A miser
who has parted with a lucky lottery ticket for five shillings,
and finds next day he has lost in the bargain five thousand
pounds, could not show a blanker countenance than he did on
beholding the figure of Mr Earnshaw above. It expressed ,
plainer than words could do, the intensest anguish at having
made himself the instrument of thwarting his own revenge.
Had it been dark, I dare say, he would have tried to remedy
the mistake by smashing Hareton's skull on the steps ; but,
we witnessed his salvation ; and I was presently below with
my precious charge pressed to my heart. Hindley descended
more leisurely, sobered and abashed .
"It is your fault, Ellen ," he said ; " you should have kept
him out of sight : you should have taken him from me ! Is
he injured anywhere ?”
“ Injured !” I cried angrily ; “ if he's not killed, he'll be
an idiot ! Oh ! I wonder his mother does not rise from her
grave to see how you use him. You're worse than a heathen
—treating your own flesh and blood in that manner !"
He attempted to touch the child, who, on finding himself
with me, sobbed off his terror directly. At the first finger
his father laid on him, however, he shrieked again louder
than before, and struggled as if he would go into convulsions.
“ You shall not meddle with him !” I continued. “ He hates
you ha
— they all hate you — that's the truth ! A happy family
you ve ; and a pretty state you're come to !"
“ I shall come to a prettier, yet, Nelly," laughed the mis
guided man , recovering his hardness. “ At present, convey
yourself and him away. And, hark you, Heathcliff ! clear
you too, quite from my reach and hearing . I wouldn't murder
you to -night ; unless , perhaps, I set the house on fire : but
that's as my fancy goes.”
While saying this he took a pint bottle of brandy from the
dresser, and poured some into a tumbler
“Nay, don't ! " I entreated . “ Mr Hindley, do take warn
ing. Have mercy on this unfortunate boy, if you care nothing

for yourself !"
“ Any one will do better for him than I shall,” he answered.
“ Have mercy on your own soul !” I said, endeavouring to
snatch the glass from his hand.
“ Not I ! On the contrary , I shall have great pleasure in
sending it to perdition to punish its Maker ," exclaimed the
blasphemer. Here's to its hearty damnation ! "
He drank the spirits and impatiently bade us go ; termi
nating his command with a sequel of horrid imprecations, too
bad to repeat or remember.
“ It's a pity he cannot kill himself with drink,” observed
Heathcliff, muttering an echo of curses back when the door
was shut. “ He's doing his very utmost ; but his constitution
defies him . Mr Kenneth says he would wager his mare, that
he'll outlive any man on this side Gimmerton, and go to the
grave a hoary sinner ; unless some happy chance out of the
common course befall him ."
I went into the kitchen, and sat down to lull mylittle lamb
to sleep. Heathcliff, as ) thought, walked through to the
barn. It turned out afterwards that he only got as far as the
other side the settle, when he flung himself ona bench by the
wall, removed from the fire, and remained silent.
I was rocking Hareton on my knee, and humming a song
that began ,
“It was far in the night, and the bairnies grat,
The mither beneath the mools heard that,”
when Miss Cathy, who had listened to the hubbub from her
room , put her head in, and whispered ,-
"Are you alone, Nelly ? "
“ Yes,miss," I replied.
She entered and approached the hearth. I, supposing she
was going to say something, looked up. The expression of
her face seemed disturbed and anxious. Her lips were half
asunder, as if she meant to speak, and she drew a breath ; but
it escaped in a sigh instead of a sentence. I resumed my song ;
not having forgotten her recent behaviour.
“ Where's Heathcliff ? " she said , interrupting me.
it About his work in the stable,” was my answer.
He did not contradict me ; perhaps he had fallen into a doze.
There followed another long pause,during which I perceived a
drop or two trickle from Catherine's cheek to the flags. Is
she sorry for her shameful conduct ? I asked myself. That
will be a novelty : but she may come to the point as she will
-I shan't help her ! No, she felt small trouble regarding any
subject, save her own concerns.
Oh, dear ! ” she cried at last. “ I'm very unhappy !"
“ A pity,” observed I. 6 You're hard to please : so many
friends and so few cares, and can't make yourself content !"
“ Nelly, will you keep a secret for me?" she pursued,
kneeling down by me, and lifting her winsome eyes to my face
with that sort of look which turns off bad temper, even when
one has all the right in the world to indulge it.
“ Is it worth keeping ? ” I inquired, less sulkily.
Yes, and it worries me, and I must let it out ! I want to
know what I should do. To -day, Edgar Linton hasasked me
to marry him, and I've given him an answer. Now, before I
tell you whether it was a consent or denial, you tell me which
it ought to have been . "
“ Really, Miss Catherine, how can I know ? ” I replied .
“ To be sure, considering the exhibition you performed in his
presence this afternoon, I might say it would be wise to refuse
him : since he asked. you after that, he must either be hope
lessly stupid or a venturesome fool.”
66 If you talk so, I won't tell you any more," shereturned ,
peevishly , rising to her feet. “ I accepted him, Nelly. Be
quick, and say whether I was wrong !”
“You accepted him ! then what good is it discussing the
matter ? You have pledged your word, and cannot retract ? "
60
But, say whether I should havedone so-
-do !” she exclaimed
in an irritated tone ; chafing her hands together, and frowning.
" There are many things to be considered before that ques
tion can be answered properly," I said, sententiously. “First
and foremost, do you love Mr Edgar ? ”
“Who can help it ? Of course I do ,” she answered.
Then I put her through the following catechism : for a girl
of twenty -two, it was not injudicious.
“Why do you love him, Miss Cathy ? ”
“Nonsense, I do — that's sufficient.'
“ By no means ; you must say why ? ”
“ Well, because he is handsome, and pleasant to be with ."
“ Bad ! ” was my commentary,
" And because he is young and cheerful.”
“ Bad, still ."
6 And because he loves me.11
“ Indifferent, coming there."
" And he will be rich , and I shall like to be the greatest

woman of the neighbourhood, and I shall be proud of having
such a husband . "
“ Worst of all. And now, say how you love him ? "
“ As everybody loves - You're silly , Nelly."
“ Not at all—Answer."
“ I love the ground under his feet,and the air over his head ,
and everything he touches, and every word he says. I love
all his looks, and all his actions, and him entirely and alto
gether. There now ! ”
" And why ? "
66
' Nay ; you are making a jest of it : it is exceedingly ill
natured ! It's no jest to me!" said the young lady scowling,
and turning her face to the fire.
“ I'm very far from jesting, Miss Catherine," I replied.
“ You love Mr Edgar because he is handsome, and young,
and cheerful, and rich, and loves you . The last, however,
goes for nothing : you would love him without that, probably ;
and with it you wouldn't, unless he possessed the four former
attractions."
“ No, to be sure nọt: I should only pity him - hate him,
perhaps, if he were ugly, and a clown.
" But there are several other handsome, rich young men
in the world : handsomer, possibly, and richer than he is.
What should hinder you from loving them ?"
“ If there be any, they are out of my way : I've seen none
like Edgar.”
“ You may see some ; and he won't always be handsome,
and young, and may not always be rich.”
“ He is now ; and I have only to do with the present. I
wish you would speak rationally ."
“ Well, that settles it : if you have only to do with the
present, marry Mr Linton . "
“ I don't want your permission for that , Ishall marry him :
and yet you have not told me whether I 'm right ."
“ Perfectly right;if people be right to marry only for the
present. And now, let us hear what you are unhappy about.
Your brother will be pleased ; the old lady and gentleman
will not object, I think; you will escape from a disorderly,
comfortless home into a wealthy, respectable one ; and you
lovo Edgar, and Edgar loves you . All seems smooth and
easy : where is the obstacle ? "
Here ! and here !" replied Catherine, striking one land
on her forehead, and the other on her breast: “ in whichever

place the soul lives. In my soul and in my heart, I 'm con
vinced I'm wrong !"
“ That's very strange! I cannot make it out.”
“ It's my secret. But if you will not mock at me, I'll
explain it : I can't do it distinctly ; but I'll give you a feeling
of how I feel .”
She seated herself by me again : her countenance grew
sadder and graver, and her clasped hands trembled.
66
Nelly, do you never dream queer dreams ? she said ,
suddenly, after some minutes ' reflection .
Yes, now and then ," I answered.
“ And so do I. I've dreamt in my life dreams that have
stayed with me ever after, and changed my ideas : they 've
gone through and through me, like wine through water, and
altered the colour of my mind. And this is one : I'm going
to tell it — but take care not to smile at any part of it .”
“ Oh ! don't, Miss Catherine ! ” I cried. 6 We're dismal
enough without conjuring up ghosts and visions to perplex
us. Come, come, be merry and like yourself! Look at little
Hareton ! he's dreaming nothing dreary. How sweetly he
smiles in his sleep ! ”
“ Yes ; and how sweetly his father curses in his solitude !
You remember him, I dare say, when he was just such another
as that chubby thing: nearly as young and innocent. How
ever, Nelly, I shall oblige you to listen : it's not long ; and
I've no power to be merry to -night.”
“ I won't hear it, I won't hear it !" I repeated, hastily.
I was superstitious about dreams then, and am still; and
Catherine had an unusual gloom in her aspect, that made me
dread something from which I might shape a prophecy, and
foresee a fearful catastrophe. She was vexed, but she did
not proceed. Apparently taking up another subject, she
recommenced in a short time.
“If I were in heaven, Nelly, I should be extremely
miserable. "
Because you are not fit to go there,” I answered. 6 All
sinners would be miserable in heaven ."
" But it is not for that. I dreamt once that I was there . "
6 I tell you I won't hearken to your dreams, Miss Catherine!
I'll go to bed ,” I interrupted again .
She laughed, and held me down ; for I made a motion to
lvave my chair.
5
“ This is nothing," cried she: “ I was only going to say that

heaven did not seem to be my home ; and I broke my heart
with weeping to come back to earth ; and the angels were so
angry that they flung me out into the middle of the heath on
the top of Wuthering Heights; where I woke sobbing for
joy. That will do to explain my secret, as well as the other.
I've no more business to marry Edgar Linton than I have to
be in heaven ; and if the wicked man in there had not brought
Heathcliff so low, I shouldn't have thought of it. It would
degrade me to marry Heathcliff now ; so he shall never know
how I love him : and chat, not because he's handsome, Nelly,
but because he 's more myself than I am. Whatever our
souls are made of, his and mine are the same; and Linton's is
as different as a moonbeam from lightning, or frost from
fire .”
Ere this speech ended, I became sensible of Heathcliff's
presence . Having noticed a slight movement, I turned my
head , and saw him rise from the bench, and steal out noise
lessly. He had listened till he heard Catherine say it would
degrade her to marry him , and then he stayed to hear no
further. My companion ,sitting on the ground, was prevented
by the back of the settle from remarking his presence or
departure ; but I started, and bade her hush !
“ Why ?" she asked , gazing nervously round.
“ Joseph is here," I answered , catching opportunely the
roll of his cartwheels up the road ; " and Heathcliff will come
in with him . I'm not sure whether he were not at the door
this moment.”
66
Oh, he couldn't overhear me at the door !” said she.
“ Give me Hareton, while you get the supper, and when it is
ready ask me to sup with you. I want to cheat my uncom
fortable conscience ,and be convinced that Heathcliff has no
notion of these things. He has not, has he ? He does not
know what being in love is ? ”
" I see no reason that he should not know, as well as you ,"
I returned ; and if you are his choice, he ' ll be the most unfor
tunate creature that ever was born ! As soon as you become
Mrs Linton , he loses friend, and love, and all ! Have you
considered how you 'll bear the separation, and how he'll
bear to be quite deserted in the world ? Because, Miss
Catherine
“ He quite deserted ! we separated ! " she exclaimed, with an
accent of indignation . “Who is to separate us, pray ?
They 'll meet the fate of Milo ! Not as long as I live, Ellen :
for no mortal creature. Every Linton on the face of the
earth might melt into nothing, before I could consent to
forsake Heathcliff. Oh, that's not what I intend — that's not
what I mean ! I shouldn't be Mrs Linton were such a price
demanded ! He'll be as much to me as he has been all his
lifetime. Edgar must shake off his antipathy, and tolerate
him , at least. He will, when he learns my true feelings
towards him. Nelly, I see now, you think me a selfish
wretch ; but did it never strike you that if Heathcliff and I
married, we should be beggars ? whereas, if I marry Linton ,
I can aid Heathcliff to rise,and place him onit of mybrother's
power ."
With your husband's money , Miss Catherine ? " I asked.
" You 'll find him not so pliable as you calculate upon ; and,
though I'm hardly a judge, I think that's the worst motive
you've given yet for being the wife ofyoung Linton ."
“ It is not,” retorted she; “ it is the best ! The others were
the satisfaction of my whims : and for Edgar's sake, too, to
satisfy him. This is for the sake of one who comprehends in
his person my feelings to Edgar and myself. I cannot express
it ; but surely you and everybody have a notion that there is
or should be an existence of yours beyond you. What were
the use of my creation, if I were entirely contained here ? My
great miseries in this world have been Heathcliff's miseries,
and I watched and felt each from the beginning: my great
thought in living is himself. If all else perished, and he
remained, I should still continue to be; and if all else
remained, and he were annihilated, the universe would turn to
a mighty stranger : I should not seem a part of it. My love
for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change
it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees . My love for
Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath : a source of
little visible delight, but necessary. Nelly, I am Heathcliff !
He's always, always in my mind : not as a pleasure, any more
than I amalways a pleasure to myself, but as my ownbeing .
So don't talk of our separation again : it is impracticable ;
and - "
She paused, and hid her face in the folds of my gown ;
but I jerked it forcibly away . I was out of patience with her
folly !
" If I can make any sense of your nonsense, miss," I said,
" it only goes to convince me that you are ignorant of the
duties you undertake in marrying ; or else that you are a

wicked, unprincipled girl. But trouble me with no more
secrets : I'll not promise to keep them .”
“ You'll keep that ? " she asked , eagerly.
" No, I'll not promise," I repeated.
She was about to insist, when the entrance of Joseph
finished our conversation ; and Catherine removed her seat
to a corner, and nursed Hareton, while I made the supper .
After it was cooked , my fellow -servant and I began to quarrel
who should carry some to Mr Hindley ; and we didn't settle
it till all was nearly cold . Then we came to the agreement
that we would let him ask, if he wanted any ; for we feared
particularly to go into his presence when he had been some
time alone..
“ And how isn't that nowt comed in fro' th' field, be this
time ? What is he about? girt idle seeght !" demanded the
old man , looking round for Heathcliff.
" I'll call him ," I replied. “He's in the barn, I've no
doubt.”
I went and called, but got no answer. On returning,
I whispered to Catherine that he had heard a good part
of what she said , I was sure ; and told how I saw him quit
the kitchen just as she complained of her brother's conduct
regarding him. She jumped up in a fine fright, flung Hareton
on to the settle, and ran to seek for herfriend herself ; not
taking leisure to consider why she was so flurried, or how her
talk would have affected him. She was absent such a while
that Joseph proposed we should wait no longer. He cunningly
conjectured they were staying away in order to avoid hearing
his protracted blessing. They were “ ill eneugh for ony fahl
manners,” he affirmed . And on their behalf he added that
night a special prayer to the usual quarter of an hour's sup
plication before meat, and would have tacked another to the
end of the grace, had not his young mistress broken in upon
him with a hurried command that he must run down the road,
and , wherever Heathcliff had rambled, find and make him
re-enter directly !"
“ I want to speak to him, and I must, before I go up-stairs,".
she said . “ And the gate is open : he is somewhere out of
hearing ; for he would not reply, though I shouted at the top
of the fold as loud as I could ."
Joseph objected at first ; she was too much in earnest,
however, to suffer contradiction ; and at last he placed his hat
on his head, and walked grumbling forth. Meantime, Cathe

rine paced up and down the floor, exclaiming
" I wonder where he is — I wonder where he can be ! What
did I say, Nelly ? I've forgotten . Was he vexed at my bad
humour this afternoon ? Dear ! tell me what I've said to
grieve him ? I do wish he'd come. I do wish he would !”
" What a noise for nothing ! " I cried, though rather uneasy
myself. “ What a trifle scares you ! It's surely no great
cause of alarm that Heathcliff should take a moonlightsaunter
on the moors, or even lie too sulky to speak to us in the hay
loft. I'll engage he's lurking there. See if I don't ferret
him out ! "
I departed to renew my search ; its result was disappoint
ment, and Joseph's quest ended in the same.
“ Yon lad gets war un war !” observed he on re -entering.
“ He's left th ' yate at t' full swing, and Miss's pony has trodden
dahn two rigs o' corn , and plottered through, raight o'er into
t' meadow ! Hahsomdiver, t’maister 'ull play t' devil to-morn,
and he'll do weel. He's patience itsseln wi' sich careless,
offald craters — patience itsseln he is ! Bud he'll not be soa
allus - yah's see, all on ye ! Yah mumn't drive him out of
his heead for nowt! "
Have you found Heathcliff, you ass ? ” interrupted Cathe
rine. “ Have you been looking for him , as I ordered ? ”
“ I sud more likker look for th' horse," he replied. “ It ’ud
be to more sense. Bud, I can look for norther horse nur man
of a neeght loike this — as black as t' chimbley ! und Heath
cliff's noan t chap to coom at my whistle - happen he 'll be
less hard o ' hearing wi' ye!"
It was a very dark evening for summer : the clouds appeared
inclined to thunder, and I said we had better all sit down ; the
approaching rain would be certain to bring him home without
further trouble. However, Catherine would not be persuaded
into tranquillity. She kept wandering to and fro, from the
gate to the door, in a state of agitation which permitted no
repose; and at length took up a permanent situation on one
side of the wall, near the road : where, heedless of my expos
tulations and the growling thunder, and the great drops that
began to plash around her, she remained, calling at intervals,
and then listening, and then crying outright. She beat Hare
ton, or any child, at a good passionate fit of crying.
About midnight, while we still sat up, the storm came
rattling over the Heights in full fury. There was a violent
wind, as well as thunder, and either one or the other split a

tree off at the corner of the building : a huge bough fell across
the roof, and knocked down a portion of the east chimney
stack, sending a clatter of stonesand soot into the kitchen fire.
We thought a bolt had fallen in the middle of us ; and Joseph
swung on to his knees, beseeching the Lord to remember the
patriarchs Noah and Lot, and, as in former times, spare the
righteous, though he smote the ungodly. I felt some sentiment
that it must be a judgment on us also. The Jonah , in my
mind, was Mr Earnshaw ; and I shook the handle of his den
that I might ascertain if he were yet living. He replied audibly
enough, in a fashion which made my companion vociferate,
more clamorously than before, that a wide distinction might
be drawn between saints like himself and sinners like his
master. But the uproar passed away in twenty minutes,
leaving us all unharmed ; excepting Cathy, who got thoroughly
drenched for her obstinacy in refusing to take shelter, and
standing bonnetless and shawlless to catch as much water as
she could with her hair and clothes. She came in and lay
down on the settle, all soaked as she was, turning her face to
the back, and putting her hands before it.
“ Well, miss !" I exclaimed , touching her shoulder ; " you
are not bent on getting your death , are you ? Do you know
what o'clock it is ? Half-past twelve. Come, come to bed !
there's no use waiting longer on that foolish boy : he'll be
gone to Gimmerton, and he 'll stay there now. He guesses
we shouldn't wake for him till this late hour : at least, he
guesses that only Mr Hindley would be up ; and he'd rather
avoid having the door opened by the master.”
“ Nay, nay, he's noan at Gimmerton,” said Joseph. “I's
niver wonder but he's at t bothom of a bog -hoile. This
visitation worn't for nowt, and I wod hev ye to look out, miss
-yah muh be ť next. Thank Hivin for all ! All warks
togither for gooid to them as is chozzen, and piked out fro' th ’
rubbidge ! Yah knaw whet t' Scripture ses." And he began
quoting several texts, referring us to chapters and verses
where we might find them .
I, having vainly begged the wilful girl to rise and remove
her wet things, left him preaching and her shivering, and
betook myself to bed with little Hareton, who slept as fast
as if every one had been sleeping round him . I heard Joseph
read on a while afterwards; then I distinguished his slow step
on the ladder, and then I dropped asleep.
Coming down somewhat later than usual, I saw , by the

sunbeams piercingthe chinks of the shutters, Miss Catherine
still seated near the fire -place. The house door was ajar,
too ; light entered from its unclosed windows ; Hindley had
come out, and stood on the kitchen hearth, haggard and
drowsy.
“ Whatails you, Cathy ?” he was saying when I entered :
“ You look as dismal as a drowned whelp. Why are you so
damp and pale, child ?”
“I've been wet,” she answered reluctantly, " and I'm cold,
that's all."
“Oh , she is naughty ! " I cried, perceiving the master to be
tolerably sober. “ She got steeped in the shower of yesterday
evening, and there she has sat the night through, and I
couldn't prevail on her to stir.”
Mr. Earnshaw stared at us in surprise. “The night
through ," he repeated. "What kept her up ? not fear of the
thunder, surely ? That was over hours since."
Neither of us wished to mention Heathcliff's absence, as
long as we could conceal it ; so I replied , I didn't know how
she took it into her head to sit up; and she said nothing.
The morning was fresh and cool ; I threw back the lattice,
and presently the room filled with sweet scents from the
garden ; but Catherine called peevishly to me, " Ellen, shut
the window. I'm starving !" And her teeth chattered as she
shrunk closer to the almost extinguished embers.
" She's ill, " said Hindley, taking her wrist ; “ I suppose
that's the reason she would not go to bed. Damn it ! I don't
want to be troubled with more sickness here. What took you
into the rain ? "
66
Running after t’lads, as usuald !" croaked Joseph, catching
an opportunity, from our hesitation , to thrust in his evil
tongue. “ If I war yah, maister, I'd just slam t' boards i'
their faces all on 'em , gentle and simple ! Never a day ut
yah ’re off, but yon cat o' Linton comes sneaking hither ; and
Miss Nelly, shoo 's a fine lass ! shoo sits watching for ye i'
t kitchen ; and as yah're in at one door, he's out at t'other;
and, then , wer grand lady goes a coorting of her side ! It's
bonny behaviour, lurking amang t’ fields, after twelve ot' night,
wi' that fahl, flaysome divil of a gipsy, Heathcliff ! They
think I'm blind; but I'm noan : no'wt ut t' soart !-I seea
young Linton boath coming and going, and I seed yah" ( direct
ing his discourse to me), "yah gooidſur nowt, slattenly witch !
nip up and bolt into th ' house , t' minute yah heard t' maister's
horsefit clatter up t road."
" Silence, eavesdropper !" cried Catherine; "none of your
insolence before me ! Edgar Linton came yesterday by
chance, Hindley ; and it was I who told him to be off :
because I knew you would not like to have met him as you
were .99
“ You lie, Cathy, no doubt,” answered her brother, " and
you are a confounded simpleton ! But never mind Linton at
present: tell me, were you not with Heathcliff last night ?
Speak the truth, now. You need not be afraid of harming
him : though I hate him as much as ever, he did me a good
turn a short time since, that will make my conscience tender
of breaking his neck. To prevent it, I shall send him about
his business, this very morning; and after he's gone, I'd
advise you all to look sharp : I shall only have the more
humour for you ."
" I never saw Heathcliff last night," answered Catherine,
beginning to sob bitterly: “ and if you do turn him out of
doors, I'll go with him. But, perhaps, you 'll never have an
opportunity: perhaps, he's gone." Here she burst into
uncontrollable grief, and the remainder of her words were
inarticulate.
Hindley lavished on her a torrent of scornful abuse, and
bade her get to her room immediately, or she shouldn't cry
for nothing ! I obliged her to obey ; and I shall never forget
what a scene she acted when we reached her chamber : it
terrified me. I thought she was going mad, and I begged
Joseph to run for the doctor. It provedthe commencement of
delirium : Mr Kenneth, as soon as he saw her, pronounced her
dangerously ill ; she had a fever. He bled her, and he told
me to let her live on whey and water -gruel, and take care she
did not throw herself down-stairs or out of the window ; and
then he left : for he had enough to do in the parish, where
two or three miles was the ordinary distance between cottage 1
and cottage .
Though I cannot say I made a gentle nurse, and Joseph and
the master were no better ; and though our patient was as
wearisome and headstrong as a patient could be, she weathered
it through. Old Mrs Linton paid us several visits , to be sure ,
and set things to rights, and scolded and ordered us all ; and
when Catherine was convalescent, she insisted on conveying
her to Thrushcross Grange : for which deliverance we were
very grateful. But the poor dame had reason to repent of

her kindness : she and her husband both took the fever, and
died within a few days of each other.
Our young lady returned to us, saucier and more pas
sionate, and haughtier than ever. Heathcliff had never been
heard of since the evening of the thunder -storm ; and, one
day, I had the misfortune, when she had provoked me
exceedingly, to lay the blame of his disappearance on her :
where indeed it belonged, as she well knew. From that
period, for several months, she ceased to hold any communi
cation with me, save in the relation of a mere servant. Joseph
fell under a ban also : he would speak his mind, and lecture
her all the same as if she were a little girl; and she esteemed
herself a woman , and our mistress, and thought that her
recent illness gave her a claim to be treated with considera
tion. Then the doctor had said that she would not bear
crossing much ; she ought to have her own way; and it was
nothing less than murder in her eyes for any one to presume
to stand up and contradict her. From Mr Earnshawand his
companions she kept aloof ; and tutored by Kenneth, and
serious threats of a fit that often attended her rages, her
brother allowed her whatever she pleased to demand, and
generally avoided aggravating her fiery temper. He was
rather too indulgent in humouring her caprices ; not from
affection, but from pride : he wished earnestly to see her
bring honour to the family by an alliance with the Lintons,
and as long as she let him alone she might trample on us like
slaves, for aught he cared ! Edgar Linton, as multitudes
have been before and will be after him, was infatuated ; and
believed himself the happiest man alive on the day he led her
to Gimmerton Chapel, three years subsequent to his father's
death .
Much against my inclination , I was persuaded to leave
Wuthering Heightsand accompany her here. Little Hareton
was nearly five years old, and I had just begun to teach him
his letters. We made a sad parting; but Catherine's tears
were more powerful than ours. When I refused to go, and
when she found her entreaties did not move me, she went
lamenting to her husband and brother. The former offered
me munificent wages ; the latter ordered me to pack up : he
wanted no women in the house, he said, now that there was
no mistress; and as to Hareton , the curate should take him
in hand, by -and - by. And so I had but one choice left : to
do as I was ordered. I told the master he got rid of all

decent people only to run to ruin a little faster; I kissed
Hareton, said good-bye ; and since then he has been a
stranger: and it's very queer to think it, but I've no doubt
he has completely forgotten all about Ellen Dean, and that he
was ever more than all the world to her, and she to him !
At this point of the housekeeper's story , she chanced to
glance towards the time-piece over the chimney; and was in
amazement on seeing theminute-hand measure half-past one.
She would not hear of staying a second longer : in truth , I
felt rather disposed to defer the sequel of her narrative,
myself. And now that she is vanished to her rest, and I
have meditated for another hour or two, I shall summon
courage to go, also, in spite of aching laziness of head and
limbs .
CHAPTER X.
A CHARMING introduction to a hermit's life ! Four weeks'

torture, tossing, and sickness ! Oh, these bleak winds and
bitter northern skies, and impassable roads, and dilatory
country surgeons ! And , oh, this dearth of the human
physiognomy ! and, worse than all, the terrible intimation of
Kenneth that I need not expect to be out of doors till
spring !
Mr Heathcliff has just honoured me with a call. About
seven days ago he sent me a brace of grouse —the last of the
season , Scoundrel! He is not altogether guiltless in this
illness of mine ; and that I had a great mind to tell him.
But, alas ! how could I offend a man who was charitable
enough to sit at my bedside a good hour, and talk on some
other subject than pills and draughts, blisters and leeches ?
This is quite an easy interval. I am too weak to read ; yet I
feel as if I could enjoy something interesting. Why not have
up Mrs Dean to finish her tale ? I can recollect its chief
incidents, as far as she had gone. Yes: I remember her hero
had run off, and never been heard of for three years ; and the
heroine was married. I'll ring : she ' ll be delighted to find
me capable of talking cheerfully. Mrs Dean came.
“It wants twenty minutes, sir, to taking the medicine," she

commenced .
Away, away with it ! " I replied ; “ I desire to have
“ The doctorsays you must drop the powders.”
6. With all my heart ! Don't interrupt me. Come and take
your seat here. Keep your fingers from that bitter phalanx
of vials. Draw your knitting out of your pocket — that will
do—now continue the history of Mr Heathcliff, from where
you left off,to the present day. Did he finish his education
on the Continent, and come back a gentleman ? or did he get
a sizar's place at college, or escape to America, and earn
honours by drawing blood from his foster -country ? or make
a fortune more promptly on the English highways ? ”
He may have done a little in all these vocations, Mr
Lockwood ; but I couldn't give my word for any. I stated
before that I didn't know how he gained his money ; neither
am I aware of the means he took to raise his mind from the
savage ignorance into which it was sunk : but, with your
leave, I'll proceed in my own fashion, if you think it will
amuse and not weary you. Are you feeling better this
morning ? "
" Much . "
" That's good news. I got Miss Catherine and myself to
Thrushcross Grange; and, to my agreeable disappointment,
she behaved infinitely better than I dared to expect. She
seemed almost over fond of Mr Linton ; and even to his
sister , she showed plenty of affection. They were both very
attentive to her comfort, certainly. It was not the thorn
bending to the honeysuckles, but the honeysuckles embracing
the thorn . There were no mutual concessions : one stood
erect, and the others yielded : and who can be ill-natured and
bad -tempered when they encounter neither opposition nor
indifference ? I observed that Mr Edgar had a deep -rooted
fear of ruffling her humour . He concealed it from her ; but
if ever he heard me answer sharply, or saw any other servant
grow cloudy at some imperious order of hers, he would show
his trouble by a frown of displeasure that never darkened on
his own account. He many a time spoke sternly to meabout
my pertness ; and averred that the stab of a knife could not
inflict a worse pang than he suffered at seeing his lady vexed .
Not to grieve a kind master , I learned to be less touchy; and,
for the space of half a year, the gunpowder lay as harmless
as sand, because no fire came near toexplode it. Catherine
had seasons of gloom and silence now and then : they were
respected with sympathizing silence by her husband , who
ascribed them to an alteration in her constitution, produced
by her perilous illness; as she was never subject to depression
of spirits before. The return of sunshine was welcomed by
answering sunshine from him. I believe I may assert that
they werereally in possession of deep and growing happiness.
It ended. Well , we must be for ourselves in the long run ;
the mild and generous are only more justly selfish than the
domineering ; and it ended when circumstances caused each
to feel that the one's interest was not the chief consideration
in the other's thoughts. On a mellow evening in September,
I was coming from the garden with a heavy basket of apples
which I hadbeen gathering. It had got dusk , and the moon
looked over the high wall of the court, causing undefined
shadows to lurk in the corners of the numerous projecting
portions of the building . I set my burden on the house steps
by the kitchen door, and lingered to rest, and drew in a few
more breaths of the soft, sweet air ; my eyes were on the
moon,and my back to the entrance, when I heard a voice
behind me say ,--
“ Nelly, is that you ? ”
It was a deep voice, and foreign in tone ; yet there was
something in the manner of pronouncing my name which
made it sound familiar. I turned about to discover who
spoke, fearfully ; for the doors were shut, and I had seen
nobody on approaching the steps. Something stirred in the
porch ; and , moving nearer, I distinguished a tall man dressed
in dark clothes, with dark face and hair . He leant against
the side, and held his fingers on the latch as if intending to
open for himself. “ Who can it be ? ” I thought. “ Mr
Earnshaw ? Oh, no ! The voice has no resemblance to his . "
“ I have waited here an hour,” he resumed, while I con
tinued staring ; " and the whole of that time all round has
been as still as death . I dared not enter. You do not know
me ? Look, I'm not a stranger !"
А ray fell on his features; the cheeks were sallow , and half
covered with black whiskers ; the brows lowering, the eyes
deep set and singular. I remembered the eyes.
" What !" I cried , uncertain whether to regard him as a
worldly visitor, and I raised my hands in amazement. What!
you come back ? Is it really you ? Is it ? ”
“ Yes, Heathcliff," he replied, glancing from me up to the
windows, which reflected a score of glittering moons, but

showed no lights from within . “ Are they at home ? where is
she ? Nelly, you are not glad ! you needn't be so disturbed.
Is she here ? Speak ! I want to have one word with her
your mistress. Go, and say sonie person frem Gimmerton
desires to see her."
“ How will she take it ? " I exclaimed. " What will she
do ? The surprise bewilders me it will put her out of her
head ! And you are Heathcliff ! But altered ! Nay,there's
no comprehending it. Have you been for a soldier ?”
“ Go and carry my message,” he interrupted, impatiently.
" I'm in hell till you do ! ”
He lifted the latch, and I entered ; but when I got to the
parlour where Mr and Mrs Linton were, I could not persuade
myself to proceed . At length, I resolved on making an
excuse to ask if they would have the candles lighted, and I
opened the door.
They sat together in a window whose lattice lay back against
the wall, and displayed, beyond the garden trees and the wild
green park , the valley of Gimmerton, with a long line of mist
winding nearly to its top (for very soon after you pass the
chapel ,as you may have noticed, the sough that runs from
the marshes joins a beck which followsthe bend of the glen).
Wuthering Heights rose above this silvery vapour ; but our
old house was invisible ; it rather dips down on the other
side. Both the room and its occupants, and the scene they
gazed on , looked wondrously peaceful. I shrank reluctantly
from performing my errand ; and was actually going away
leaving it unsaid, after having put my question about the
candles, when a sense of my folly compelled me to return , and
mutter : " A person from Gimmerton wishes to see you,
ma'am .”
" What does he want ? " asked Mrs Linton.
“ I did not question him ," I answered .
“ Well, close the curtains, Nelly," she said ; “ and bring up
tea. I'll be back again directly ."
She quitted the apartment; Mr Edgar inquired, carelessly,
who it was.
“ Some one mistress does not expect," I replied. 6. That
Heathcliff --you recollect him , sir,who used to live at Mr
‫ܙܕ‬
Earnshaw's.
“ What! the gipsy — the ploughboy ? ” he cried. " Why
did you not say soto Catherine ?"
“ Hush ! you must not call him by those names, master," I

said. “ She'd be sadly grieved to hear you. She was nearly
heartbroken when he ran off. I guess his return will make
a jubilee to her.”
Mr Linton walked to a window on the other side of the
room that overlooked the court. He unfastened it, and leant
out. I suppose they were below , for he exclaimed quickly :
—“Don't stand there, love ! Bring the person in , if it be
any one particular." Ere long, I heard the click of the latch,
and Catherine flew up -stairs, breathless and wild ; too excited
to show gladness : indeed, by her face, you would rather have
surmised an awful calamity.
Oh, Edgar, Edgar !” she panted, flinging her arms round
his neck. Oh , Edgar, darling ! Heathcliff's come back
he is ! ” And she tightened her embrace to a squeeze.
" Well, well," cried her husband, crossly, “ don't strangle
me for that ! He never struck me as such a marvellous trea
sure. There is no need to be frantic ! "
“ I know you didn't like him ," she answered , repressing a
little the intensity of her delight. “ Yet, for my sake, you
must be friends now. Shall I tell him to come up ?"
“ Here ? ” he said, “ into the parlour ? "
66 Where else ?" she asked .
He looked vexed, and suggested the kitchen as a more
suitable place for him. Mrs Linton eyed him with a droll
expression - half angry, half laughing at his fastidiousness.
" No," she added, after a while ; “ I cannot sit in the
kitchen . Set two tables here, Ellen : one for your master and
Miss Isabella , being gentry ; the other for Heathcliff and
myself, being of the lower orders. Will that please you,
dear ? Or must I have a fire lighted elsewhere ? If so, give
directions. I'll run down and secure my guest. I'm afraid
the joy is too great to be real !"
She was about to dart off again ; but Edgar arrested her.
*** You bid him step up," he said , addressing me ; " and ,
Catherine try to be glad, without being absurd ! The whole
household need not witness the sight of your welcoming a
runaway servant as a brother.”
I descended , and found Heathcliff waiting under the porch,
evidently anticipating an invitation to enter. He followed my
guidance without waste of words, and I ushered him into the
presence of the master and mistress , whose flushed cheeks
betrayed signs of warm talking. But the lady's glowed with
another feeling when her friend appeared at the door: she

sprang forward, took both his hands, and led him to Linton ;
and then she seized Linton's reluctant fingers and crushed
them into his. Now fully revealed by the fire and candlelight,
I was amazed, more than ever, to behold the transformation of
Heathcliff. He had grown a tall, athletic, well - formed man ;
beside whom , my master seemed quite slender and youth -like.
His upright carriage suggested the idea of his having been in
the army. His countenancewas much older in expression
and decision of feature than Mr Linton's ; it locked intelligent,
and retained no marks of former degradation. A half
civilized ferocity lurked yet in the depressed brows and eyes
full of black fire, but it was subdued ; and his manner was
even dignified : quite divested of roughness, though too stern
for grace. My master's surprise equalled or exceeded mine :
he remained for a minute ata loss how to address the plough
boy , as he had called him. Heathcliff dropped his slight
hand, and stood looking at him coolly till he chose to speak .
" Sit down, sir," he said, at length. “Mrs Linton, recalling
old times, would have me give you a cordial reception; and,
of course, I am gratified when anything occurs to please her.”
" And I also ," answered Heathcliff, “ especially if it be
anything in which I have a part. I shall stay an hour or
two willingly."
He took a seat opposite Catherine, who kept her gaze fixed
on him as if she feared he would vanish were she to remove
it. He did not raise his to her often : a quick glance now and
then sufficed ; but it flashed back , each time more confidently,
the undisguised delight he drank from hers. They were too
much absorbed in their mutual joy to suffer embarrassment.
Not so Mr. Edgar : he grew pale with pure annoyance: a
feeling that reached its climax when his lady rose, and
stepping across the rug , seized Heathcliff's hands again, and
laughed like one beside herself.
I shall think it a dream to-morrow ! " she cried . " I shall
not be able to believe that I have seen, and touched , and
spoken to you once more. And yet, cruel Heathcliff ! you
don't deserve this welcome. To be absent and silent for three
years , and never to think of me !”
“ A little more than you have thought of me,” he mur
mured . “ I heard of your marriage, Cathy, not long since ;
and, while waiting in the yard below, I meditated this plan :
just to have one glimpse of your face, a stare of surprise,
perhaps, and pretended pleasure ; afterwards settle my score

with Hindley ; and then prevent the law by doing execution
on myself. Your welcome has put these ideas out of my
mind ; but beware of meeting me with another aspect next
time ! Nay, you'll not drive me off again . You were really
sorry for me, were you ? Well, there was cause. I've fought
through a bitter life since I last heard your voice ; and you
must forgive me, for I struggled only for you ! "
Catherine, unless we areto have cold tea, please to come
to the table,” interrupted Linton, striving to preserve his
ordinary tone, and a due measure of politeness. " Mr. Heath
cliff will have a long walk, wherever he may lodge to-night ;
and I'm thirsty ."
She took her post before the urn ; and Miss Isabella came,
summoned by the bell ; then , having handed their chairs for
ward, I left the room. The meal hardly endured ten minutes.
Catherine's cup was never filled : she could neither eat nor
drink. Edgar had made a siop in his saucer, and scarcely
swallowed a mouthful. Their guest did not protract his stay
that evening above an hour longer. I asked , as he departed,
if he went to Gimmerton ?
“ No, to Wuthering Heights,” he answered : “ Mr Earnshaw
invited me, when I called this morning.'
Mr Earnshaw invited him ! and he called on Mr Earnshaw !
I pondered this sentence painfully, after he was gone. Is he
turning out a bit of a hypocrite, and coming into the country
to work mischief under a cloak ? I mused : I had a presenti
ment in the bottom of my heart that he had better have
remained away.
About the middle of the night, I was wakened from my
first nap by Mrs. Linton gliding into my chamber, taking a
seat on my bedside, and pulling me by the hair to rouse me.
“ I cannot rest,Ellen ,” she said , by way of apology. “And
I want some living creature to keep me company in my
happiness ! Edgar is sulky, because I'm glad of a thing that
does not interest him : he refuses to open his mouth, except
to utter pettish , silly speeches ; and he affirmed I was cruel
and selfish for wishing to talk when he was so sick and sleepy.
He always contrives to be sick at the least cross ! I gave a few
sentences of commendation to Heathcliff, and he, either for a
headache or a pang of envy, began to cry: so I got up and
left him . ”
“What use is it praising Heathcliff to him ? ” I answered .
WUTIIERING HEIGHTS . 81
" As lads they had an aversion to each other, and Heathcliff

would hate just as much to hear him praised : it's human
nature . Let Mr Linton alone about him , unless you would
like an open quarrel between them . "
“ But does it not show great weakness ? ” pursued she.
“ I'm not envious : I never feel hurt at the brightness of
Isabella's yellow hair and the whiteness of her skin, at her
dainty elegance, and the fondness all the family exhibit for
her. Even you, Nelly, if we have a dispute sometimes, you
back Isabella at once; and I yield like a foolish mother: I
call her a darling, and flatter her into a good temper. It
pleases her brother to see us cordial, and that pleases me.
But they are very much alike : they are spoiled children ,
and fancy the world was made for their accommodation ; and,
though I humour both, I think a smart chastisement might
improve them , all the same."
You 're mistaken , Mrs Linton ," said I. “ They humour
you : I know what there would be to do if they did not. You
can well afford to indulge their passing whims as long as their
business is to anticipate all your desires. You may, however,
fall out, at last, over something of equal consequence to both
sides; and then those you term weak are very capable of being
as obstinate as you ."
“ And then we shall fight to the death, shan't we, Nelly ? "
she returned, laughing. “No ! I tell you, I have such faith
in Linton's love, that I believe I might kill him, and he
wouldn't wish to retaliate . "
I advised her to value him the more for his affection .
“ I do:" she answered, “ but he needn't resort to whining
for trifles. It is childish ; and, instead of melting into tears
because I said that Heathcliff was now worthy of any one's
regard, and it would honour the first gentleman in the country
to be his friend, he ought to have said it for me, and been
delighted from sympathy. He must get accustomed to him ,
and he may as well likehim : considering how Heathcliff has
reason to object to him , I'm sure he behaved excellently ! "
“ What do you think of his going to Wuthering Heights ? ”
1 inquired. He is reformed in every respect, apparently :
quite a Christian : offering the right hand of fellowship to his
enemies all around ! "
“ He explained it,” she replied. “ I wonder as much as
you . He said he called to gather information concerning me
from you , supposing you resided there still; and Joseph told
6
Hindley, who came out and fell to questioning him of what he

had been doing, and how he had been living; and finally,
desired him to walk in. There were some persons sitting at
cards; Heathcliff joined them ; my brother lost some money
to liim , and, finding him plentifully supplied , he requested
that he would come again in the evening: to which he con
sented. Hindley is too reckless to select his acquaintance
prudently : he doesn't trouble himself to reflect on the causes
he might have for mistrusting one whom he has basely
injured . But Heathcliff affirms his principal reason for
resuming a connection with his ancient persecutor is a wish to
install himself in quarters at walking distance from the
Grange, and an attachment to the house where we lived
together; and likewise a hope that I shall have more oppor
tunities of seeing him there than I could have if he settled in
Gimmerton. He means to offer liberal payment for permission
to lodge at the Heights; and doubtless my brother's covetous
ness will prompt him to accept the terms : he was always
greedy ; though what he grasps with one hand he flings away
with the other . "
“ It's a nice place for a young man to fix his dwelling
in ! " said I. “ Have you no fear of the consequences, Mrs
Linton ? "
“None for my friend,” she replied : " his strong head will
keep him from danger; a little for Hindley : but he can't be
made morally worse than he is ; and I stand between him and
bodily harm . The event of this evening has reb
reconciled
ell
me to
aga
God and humanity ! I had risen in angry ion inst
Providence. Oh, I've endured very, very bitter misery,
Nelly ! If that creature knew how bitter, he'd be ashamed
to cloud its removal with idle petulance. It was kindness
for him which induced me to bear it alone : had I expressed
the agony I frequently felt, he would have been taught to long
for its alleviation as ardently as I. However, it's over, and
I'll take no revenge on his folly ; I can afford to suffer any
thing hereafter! Should themeanest thing alive slapme on
the cheek, I'd not only turn the other, but, I'd ask pardon for
provoking it ; and, as a proof, I'll go make my peace with
Edgar instantly. Good night! I'm an angel !"
In this self-complacent conviction she departed; and the
success of her fulfilled resolution was obvious on the morrow :
Mr Linton had not only abjured his peevishness (though his
spirits seemed still subdued by Catherine's exuberance of
vivacity ), but he ventured no objection to her taking Isabella

with her to Wuthering Heights in the afternoon ; and she
rewarded him with such a summer of sweetness and affection
in return, as made the house a paradise for several days ;
both master and servants profiting from the perpetual
sunshine.
Heathcliff - Mr Heathcliff I should say in future - used the
liberty of visiting at Thrushcross Grange cautiously, at first:
he seemed estimating how far its owner would bear his
intrusion. Catherine, also, deemed it judicious to moderate
her expressions of pleasure in receiving him ; and he gradually
established his right to be expected . He retained a great
deal of the reserve for which his boyhood was remarkable ;
and that served to repress all startling demonstrations of
feeling. My master's uneasiness experienced a lull, and
further circumstances diverted it into another channel for a
space.
His new source of trouble sprang from the not-anticipated
misfortune of Isabella Linton evincing a sudden and irresistible
attraction towards the tolerated guest. She was at that time
a charming young lady of eighteen ; infantile in manners,
though possessed of keen wit, keen feelings, and a keen
temper, too, if irritated. Her brother, who loved her tenderly,
was appalled at this fantastic preference. Leaving aside the
degradation of an alliance with a nameless man, and the
possible fact that his property, in default of heirs male, might
pass into such a one's power, he had sense to comprehend
Heathcliff's disposition : to know that, though his exterior was
altered , his mind was unchangeable and unchanged. And he
dreaded that mind: it revolted him : he shrank forebodingly
from the idea of committing Isabella to its keeping. He would
have recoiled still more had he been aware that her attach
ment rose unsolicited, and was bestowed where it awakened
no reciprocation of sentiment ; for the minute he discovered
its existence, he laid the blame on Heathcliff's deliberate
designing
We had all remarked, during some time, that Miss Linton
fretted and pincd over something. She grew cross and weari
some ; snapping at and teazing Catherine continually, at the
imminent risk of exhausting her limited patience. We
excused her, to a certain extent, on the plea of ill-health : she
was dwindling and fading before our eyes. But one day,
when she had been peculiarly wayward, rejecting her break
fast, complaining that the servants did not do what she told
them ; that the mistress would allow her to be nothing in the
house, and Edgar neglected her ; that she had caught a cold
with the doors being left open, and we let the parlour fire go
out on purpose to vex her, with a hundred yetmore frivolous
accusations, Mrs Linton peremptorily insisted that she should
get to bed; and, having scolded her heartily, threatened to
send for the doctor. Mention of Kenneth caused her to
exclaim , instantly, that her health was perfect, and it was
only Catherine's harshness which made her unhappy.
“ How can you say I am harsh , you naughty fondling ? ”
cried the mistress, amazed at the unreasonable assertion .
“ You are surely losing your reason . When have I been
harsh, tell me ? "
Yesterday,” sobbed Isabella, " and now ! ”
“ Yesterday !” said her sister -in -law. « On what occa
sion ? "
“ In our walk along the moor : you told me to ramble
where I pleased, while you sauntered on with Mr Heath
cliff ? "
“ And that's your notion of harshness ? ” said Catherine,
laughing “ It was no hint that your company was super
fluous: we didn't care whether you kept with us or not; I
merely thought Heathcliff's talk would have nothing enter
taining for your ears .”
“ Oh no,” wept the young lady; " you wished me away ,
because you knew I liked to be there !"
“ Is she sane? ” asked Mrs. Linton, appealing to me. “ I'll
repeat our conversation, word for word, Isabella ; and you
point out any charm it could have had for you.”
“ I don't mind the conversation ," she answered : “ I wanted
97
to be with
“ Well ! ” said Catherine, perceiving her hesitate to com
plete the sentence.
“ With him : and I won't be always sent off !" she continued,
kindling up. “You are a dog in the manger, Cathy, and
desire no one to be loved but yourself ! ”
“ You are an impertinent little monkey !” exclaimed Mrs
Linton , in surprise. “But I'll not believe this idiocy ! It
is impossible that you can covet the admiration of Heathcliff
—that you consider him an agreeable person ! I hope I have
misunderstood you , Isabella ? ”
“No, you have not,” said the infatuated girl. “ I love him
more than ever you loved Edgar ; and he might love me, if
you would let him ! "
“ I wouldn't be you for a kingdom, then !” Catherine
declared , emphatically: and she seemed to speak sincerely.
“ Nelly, help me to convince her of her madness. Tell her
what Heathcliff is : an unreclaimed creature, without refine
ment, without cultivation : an arid wilderness of furze and
whinstone. I'd as soon put that little canary into the park
on a winter's day, as recommend you to bestow your heart on
him ! It is deplorable ignorance of his character, child, and
nothing else, which makes that dream enter your head. Pray,
don't imagine that he conceals depths of benevolence and
affection beneath a stern exterior ! He's not a rough diamond
-a pearl- containing oyster of a rustic : he's a fierce, pitiless,
wolfish man . I never say to him · Let this or that eneny
alone, because it would be ungenerous or cruel to harm them;'
I say ' Let them alone, because I should hate them to be
wronged :' and he'd crush you like a sparrow's egg, Isabella , if
hefound you a troublesome charge. I know he couldn't love
a Linton ; and yet he'd be quite capable of marrying your
fortune and expectations: avarice is growing with him a
besetting sin. There's my picture: and I'm his friend - s0
much so, that had he thought seriously to catch you , I should,
perhaps, have held my tongue, and let you fall into his trap.'
Miss Linton regarded her sister-in -law with indignation .
“ For shame! for shame!" she repeated, angrily, “ You are
worse than twenty foes, you poisonous friend ! ”
“Ah ! you won't believe me, then ? ” said Catherine
“ You think I speak from wicked selfishness ? ” .
“ I'm certain you do," retorted Isabella ; " and I shudder at
you ! "
“ Good ! ” cried the other.“ Try for yourself, if that be
your spirit: I have done, and yield the argument to your
saucy insolence.”
“ And I must suffer for her egotism !” she sobbed, as Mrs
Linton left the room. * All, all is against me : she has
blighted my single consolation. But she uttered falsehoods,
didn't she ? Mr Heathcliff is not a fiend : he has an
honourable soul, and a true one, or how could he remember
her ? "
“ Banish him from your thoughts, miss,” I said. " He's a
bird of bad omen : no mate for you. Mrs Linton spoke
strongly, and yet I can't contradict her. She is better
acquainted with his heart than I, or any one besides; and she
never would represent him as worse than he is. Honest 1
people don't hide their deeds. How has he been living ? how
has he got rich ? why is he staying at Wuthering Heights ,
the house of a man whom he abhors ? They say Mr Earn
shaw is worse and worse since he came. They sit up all
night together continually, and Hindley has been borrowing 1
money on his land , and does nothing but play and drink : I
heard only a week ago—it was Joseph who told me-I met
him at Gimmerton : Nelly,' he said, ' we's hae a crowner's
’quest enow, at ahr folks. One on 'em 's a'most getten his
finger cut off wi'hauding tother fro' stickin hisseln loike a
cawlf. That’s maister, yah knaw, 'at's soa up o' going tuh
t' grand ʼsizes. He's noan feared o' t' bench o' judges,norther
Paul, nur Peter, nur John, nur Mathew, nor noan on 'em, not
he ! He fair likes — he langs to set his brazened face agean 'em !
And yon bonny lad Heathcliff, yah mind, he's a rare un ?
He can girn a laugh as well 's onybody at a raight divil's jest.
Does he niver say nowt of his fine living amang us, when he
goes to t Grange ? This is t' way on 't:-up at sun - down:
dice, brandy, cloised shutters, und can'le-light till next day at
noon : then, ť fooil gangs banning un raving to his cham'er,
makking dagent fowks dig thur fingers i' thur lugs fur varry
shame; un' the knave, why he can caint his brass, un ate, un
sleep, un off to his neighbour's to gossip wi' t' wife. I'course,
he tells Dame Catherine how her fathur's goold runs into his
pocket, and her fathur's son gallops down t' broad road , while.
he flees afore to oppen t' pikes ? Now, Miss Linton, Joseph
is an old rascal, but no liar; and, if his account of Heathcliff's
conduct be true, you would never think of desiring such a
husband, would you ?”
“ You are leagued with the rest, Ellen ! " she replied. “I'll
not listen to your slanders. What malevolence you must
have to wish to convince me that there is no happiness in the
world ! "
Whether she would have got over this fancy if left to herself,
or persevered in nursing it perpetually, I cannot say : she
had little time to reflect. The day after, there was a justice
meeting at the next town ; my master was obliged to attend ;
and Mr Heathcliff, aware of his absence, called rather earlier
than usual . Catherine and Isabella were sitting in the
library, on hostile terms, but silent. The latter alarmed at
her recent indiscretion, and the disclosure she had made of
her secret feelings in a transientfit of passion ; the former, on

mature consideration, really offended with her companion ;
and, if she laughed again at her pertness, inclined to make it
no laughing matter to her. She did laugh as she saw Heath
cliff pass the window . I was sweeping the hearth, and I
noticed a mischievous smile on her lips. Isabella, absorbed
in her meditations, or a book, remained till the door opened ;
and it was too late to attempt an escape, which she would
gladly have done had it been practicable.
“ Come in , that's right !” exclaimed the mistress, gaily,
pulling a chair to the fire. " Here are two people sadly in
need of a third to thaw the ice between them ; and you are
the very one we should both of us choose. Heathcliff, I'm
proud to show you, at last, somebody that dotes on you more
than myself. I expect you to feel flattered . Nay, it's not
Nelly ; don't look at her ! My poor little sister -in -law is
breaking her heart by mere contemplation of your physical
and moral beauty. It lies in your own power to be Edgar's
brother ! No, no, Isabella , you shan't run off ,” she continued,
arresting, with feigned playfulness, the confounded girl, who
had risen indignantly. " We were quarrelling like cats about
you, Heathcliff ; and I was fairly beaten in protestations of
devotion and admiration : and, moreover, I was informed that
if I would but have the manners to stand aside, my rival, as
she will have herself to be, would shoot a shaft into your soul
that would fix you for ever, and send my image into eternal
oblivion ! ”
“ Catherine ! ” said Isabella, calling up her dignity, and
disdaining to struggle from the tight grasp that held her.
“ I'd thank you to adhere to the truth and not slander me,
even in joke ! Mr Heathcliff, be kind enough to bid this
friend of yours release me : she forgets that you and I are
not intimate acquaintances ; and what amuses her is painful
to me beyond expression .”
As the guest answered nothing, but took his seat, and
looked thoroughly indifferent what sentiments she cherished
concerning him, she turned and whispered an earnest appeal
for liberty to her tormentor.
“ By no means !” cried Mrs Linton in answer. " I won't
be named a dog in the manger again . You shall stay : now
then ! Heathcliff, why don't you evince satisfaction at my
pleasant news ? Isabella swears that the love Edgar has for
me is nothing to that she entertains for you. I'm sure she
made some speech of the kind ; did she not, Ellen ? And she
has fasted ever since the day before yesterday's walk, from
sorrow and rage that I despatched her out of your society
under the ideaof its being unacceptable."
“ I think you belie her,” said Heathcliff, twisting his chair
to face them. “ She wishes to be out of my society now , at
any rate ! ”
And he stared hard at the object of discourse, as one
might do at a strange repulsive animal: a centipede from the
Indies, for instance, which curiosity leads one to examine in
spite of the aversion it raises. The poor thing couldn't bear
that : she grew white and red in rapid succession, and, while
tears beaded her lashes, bent the strength of her small fingers
to loosen the firm clutch of Catherine; and perceiving that as
fast as she raised one finger off her arm another closed down,
and she could not remove the whole together, she began to
make use of her nails ; and their sharpness presently orna
mented the detainer's with crescents of red.
“ There's a tigress ! " exclaimed Mrs Linton, setting her
free, and shaking her hand with pain. “ Begone, for God's
sake, and hide your vixen face ! How foolish to reveal those
talons to him . Can't you fancy the conclusions he ' ll draw ?
Look, Heathcliff ! they are instruments that will do execution
—you must beware of your eyes."
“ I'd wrench them off her fingers, if they ever menaced
me,” he answered, brutally, when the door had closed after
her. “ But what did you mean by teasing the creature in
that manner, Cathy ? You were not speaking the truth , were
you ? ”
“ I assure you I was,” she returned. " She has been
dying for your sake several weeks ; and raving about you
this morning, and pouring forth a deluge of abuse, because I
represented your failings in a plain light, for the purpose of
mitigating her adoration . But don't notice it further : I
wished to punish her sauciness, that 's all. I like her too
well, my dear Heathcliff, to let you absolutely seize and
devour her up ."
“ And I like her too ill to attempt it,” said he, “except in
a very ghoulish fashion. You'd hear of odd things if I lived
alone with that mawkish , waxen face : the most ordinary
would be painting on its white the colours of the rainbow ,
and turning the blue eyes black, every day or two : they
detestably resemble Linton's.”
“ Delectably !” observed Catherine. They are dove's

eyes - angel's !"
“She's her brother's heir, is she not ? ” he asked, after a
brief silence.
“ I should be sorry to think so,” returned his companion.
“ Half a dozen nephews shall erase her title, please Heaven !
Abstract your mind from the subject at present : you are
too prone to covet your neighbour's goods ; remember this
neighbour's goods are mine. "
“ If they were mine, they would be none the less that,"
said Heathcliff ; " but though Isabella Linton may be silly,
she is scarcely mad ; and , in short, we'll dismiss the matter,
as you advise."
From their tongues, they did dismiss it ; and Catherine,
probably, from her thoughts. The other, I felt certain ,
recalled it often in the course of the evening. I saw him
smile to himself - grin rather - and lapse into ominous musing
whenever Mrs Linton had occasion to be absent from the
apartment.
I determined to watch his movements. My heart invariably
cleaved to the master's, in preference to Catherine's side : with
reason I imagined , for he was kind, and trustful, and honour
able ; and she - she could not be called the opposite, yet she
seemed to allow herself such wide latitude, that I had little
faith in her principles, and still less sympathy for her feelings.
I wanted something to happen which might have the effect
of freeing both Wuthering Heights and the Grange of Mr
Heathcliff, quietly ; leaving us as we had been prior to his
advent. His visits were a continual nightmare to me ; and ,
I suspected, to my master also. His abode at the Heights
was an oppression past explaining. I felt that God had
forsaken the stray shtep there to its own wicked wanderings,
and an evil beast prowled between it and the fold, waiting his
time to spring and destroy.
CHAPTER XI.
SOMETIMES, while meditating on these things in solitude, I've

got up in a sudden terror, and put on my bonnet to go see
how all was at the farm . I've persuaded my conscience that
it was a duty to warn him how people talked regarding his
ways ; and then I've recollected his confirmed bad habits,

and, hopeless of benefiting him, have flinched from re- enter
ing the dismal house, doubting if I could bear to be taken
at my word .
One time I passed the old gate, going out of my way, on
a journey to Gimmerton. It was about the period that my
narrative has reached : a bright frosty afternoon ; the ground
bare, and the road hard and dry. I came to a stone where
the highway branches off on to the moor at your left hand;
a rough sand-pillar, with the letters W. H. cut on its north
side, on the east, G. , and on the south -west, T. G. It serves
as a guide -post to the Grange, the Heights, and village. The
sun shone yellow on its grey head, reminding meof summer ;
and I cannot say why, but all at once, a gush of child's sen
sations flowed into my heart. Hindley and I held it a favourite
spot twenty years before. I gazed long at the weather-worn
block ; and, stooping down, perceived a hole near the bottom
still full of snail -shells andpebbles, which we were fond of
storing there with more perishable things ; and, as fresh as
reality, it appeared that I beheld my early playmate seated on
the withered turf : his dark, square head bent forward, and
his little hand scooping out the earth with a piece of slate.
“ Poor Hindley ! " I exclaimed , involuntarily. I started : my
bodily eye was cheated into a momentary belief that the child
lifted its face and stared straight into mine ! It vanished in a
twinkling ; but immediately I felt an irresistible yearning to
be at the Heights. Superstition urged me to comply with
this impulse : supposing he should be dead ! I thought - or
should die soon !-supposing it were a sign of death ! The
nearer I got to the house the more agitated I grew ; and on
catching sight of it I trembled every limb. The apparition
had outstripped me : it stood looking through the gate. That
was my first idea on observing an elf-locked, brown -eyed
boy setting his ruddy countenance against the bars. Further
reflection suggested this must be Hareton, my Hareton, not
altered greatly since I left him , ten months since.
“ God bless thee, darling !" I cried ,forgetting instantaneously
my foolish fears. “ Hareton, it's Nelly Nelly, thy nurse ."
He retreated out of arm's length , and picked up a large flint.
“ I am come to see thy father, Hareton ,” I added, guessing
from the action that Nelly, if she lived in his memory at all,
was not recognised as one with me.
He raised his missile to hurl it ; I commenced a soothing
speech, but could not stay his hand : the stone struck my
bonnet ; and then ensued, from the stammering lips of the
little fellow , a string of curses, which, whether he comprehended
them or not, were delivered with practised emphasis, and dis
torted his baby features into a shocking expression of malig
nity. You may be certain this grieved more than angered
me .
Fit to cry, I tookan orange from my pocket, and offered
it to propitiate him. . He hesitated , and then snatched it from
my hold ; as if he fancied I only intended to tempt and dis
appoint him. I showed another, keeping it out of his reach.
“Who has taught you those fine words, my bairn ? ” I
inquired. “The curate ? "
“ Damn the curate, and thee ! Gie me that,” he replied.
“ Tell us where you got your lessons, and you shall have
it,” said I. 66 Who's your master ? "
“ Devil daddy," was his answer.
“ And what do you learn from daddy ? ” I continued .
He jumped at the fruit; I raised it higher. “What does
he teach you ? ” I asked.
“ Naught," said he, “but to keep out of his gait. Daddy
cannot bide me, because I swear at him .”
“ Ah ! and the devil teaches you to swear at daddy ?” I
observed.
' Ay - nay,” he drawled.
Who, then ? "
( Heathcliff ”
" I asked if he liked Mr Heathcliff.”
“ Ay !" he answered again.
Desiring to have his reasons for liking him , I could only
gather the sentences— “ I known't : he pays dad back what he
gies to me — he curses daddy for cursing me. He says I mun
do as I will. "
“ And the curate does not teach you to read and write
then ? " I pursued.
No, I was told the curate should have his teeth
dashed down his throat, if he stepped over the threshold
-Heathcliff had promised that! ”
I put the orange in his hand, and bade him tell his father
that a woman called Nelly Dean was waiting to speak with
him , by the garden gate. He went up the walk, and entered
the house ; but, instead of Hindley, Heathcliff appeared on
the door stones ; and I turned directly and ran down the
road as hard as ever I could race, making no halt till I
gained the guide post, and feeling as scared as if I liad

raised a goblin. This is not much connected with Miss
Isabella's affair : except that it urged me to resolve further on
mounting vigilant guard, and doing my utmost to check the
spread of such bad influence at the Grange: even though I
should wake a domestic storm , by thwarting Mrs Linton's
pleasure.
The next time Heathcliff came, my young lady chanced to
be feeding some pigeons in the court. She had never spoken
a word to her sister -in - law for three days; but she had like
wise dropped her fretful complaining , and we found it a great
comfort. Heathcliff had not the habit of bestowing a single
unnecessary civility on Miss Linton, I knew. Now, as soon
as he beheld her, his first precaution was to take a sweeping
survey of the house -front. I was standing by the kitchen
window, but I drew out of sight. He then stepped across the
pavement to her, and said something : she seemed embar
; to prevent it, he laid
rassed, and desirous of getting awayher
his hand on her arm . She averted : heface apparently
put some question which she had no mind to answer.
There was another rapid glance at the house, and supposing

himself unseen, the scoundrel had the impudence to embrace
her.
“ Judas ! Traitor ! " I ejaculated. “ You are a hypocrite,
too, are you ? A deliberate deceiver. "
“ Who is, Nelly ?” said Catherine's voice at my elbow : I
had been over intent on watching the pair outside to mark her
entrance .
“ Your worthless friend !” I answered, warmly: “ the sneak
ing rascal yonder. Ah, he has caught a glimpse of us — he is
coming in ! Iwonder will he have the heart to find a plausible
excuse for making love to Miss, when he told you he hated
her ? ”
Mrs Linton saw Isabella tear herself free, and run into the
garden ; and a minute after, Heathcliff opened the door. I
couldn't withhold giving some loose to my indignation ; but
Catherine angrily insisted on silence, and threatened to order
me out of the kitchen, if I dared to be so presumptuous as to
put in my insolent tongue.
“ To hear you, people might think you were the mistress ! "
she cried . • You want setting down in your right place!
Heathcliff, what are you about, raising this stir ? I said you
must let Isabella alone I- I beg you will, unless you are tired
of being received here, and wish Linton to draw the bolts

againstyou !"
“ God forbid that he should try !” answered the black
villain. I detested him just then. “ God keep him meek and
patient! Every day I grow madder after sending him to
heaven !"
“ Hush !" said Catherine, shutting the inner door ! " Don't
vex me. Why have you disregarded my request ? Did she
come across you on purpose ? ”
“ What isit to you ?” he growled. “ I have a right to kiss
her, if she chooses; and you have no right to object. I am
not your husband : you needn't be jealous of me ! ”
“ I'm not jealous of you;" replied the mistress, “ I'm
jealous for you. Clear your face : you shan't scowl at me! If
you like Isabella,you shall marry her. But do you like her?
Tell the truth , Heathcliff! There, you won't answer. I'm
certain you don't !"
“ And would Mr Linton approve of his sister marrying that
man ?" I inquired .
" Mr Linton should approve," returned my lady, decisively.
“ He might spare himself the trouble," said Heathcliff : “ I
could do as well without his approbation. And as to you,
Catherine, I have a mind to speak a few words now, while we
are at it. I want you to be aware that I know you have
treated me infernally - infernally! Do you hear ? And if
you flatter yourself that I don't perceive it, you are a fool;
and if you think I can be consoled by sweet words, you are
an idiot; and if you fancy I'll suffer unrevenged, I'll convince
you of the contrary, in a very little while ! Meantime, thank
you for telling me your sister -in -law's secret : I swear I'll
make the most of it. And stand you aside !”
“ What new phase of his character is this ?" exclaimed Mrs
Linton, in amazement. “ I've treated you infernally — and
you 'll take your revenge! How will you take it, ungrateful
brute ? How have I treated you infernally ? ”
“ I seek no revenge on you," replied Heathcliff less vehe
mently. “ That's not the plan. The tyrant grinds down his .
slaves and they don't turn against him ; they crush those
beneath them . You are welcome to torture me to death for
your amusement, only allow me to amuse myself a little in the
same style, and refrain from insult as much as you are able.
Having levelled my palace, don't erect a hovel and compla
cently adınire yourown charity in giving me that for a home.
If I imagined you really wished me to marry Isabel, I'd cat

my throat !”
Oh, the evil is that I am not jealous, is it ? ” cried Cathe
rine. “Well, I won't repeat my offer of a wife : it is as bad
as offering Satan a lost soul. Your bliss lies, like his, in
inflicting misery. You prove it. Edgar is restored from the
ill-temper he gave way to at your coming ; I begin to be
secure and tranquil ; and you, restless to know us at peace,
appear resolved on exciting a quarrel. Quarrel with Edgar,
if you please, Heathcliff, and deceive his sister: you 'll hit on
exactly the most efficient method of revenging yourself on
me. "
The conversation ceased. Mrs Linton sat down by the fire,
flushed and gloomy. The spirit which served her was grow
ing intractable : she could neither lay nor control it. He
stood on the hearth with folded arms, brooding on his evil
thoughts; and in this position I left them to seek the master,
who was wondering what kept Catherine below so long.
« Ellen ,” said he, when I entered , “ have you seen your
mistress ? ”
“ Yes ; she's in the kitchen, sir," I answered. “ She's sadly
put out by Mr Heathcliff's behaviour : and, indeed, I do think
it's time to arrange his visits on another footing. There's
harm in being too soft, and now it's come to this ? And
I related the scene in the court, and, as near as I dared, the
whole subsequent dispute. I fancied it could not be very
prejudicial to Mrs Linton; unless she made it soafterwards,
by assuming the defensive for her guest. Edgar Linton had
difficulty inhearing me to the close. His firstwords revealed
that he did not clear his wife of blame.
“ This is insufferable ! ” he exclaimed. “It is disgraceful
that she should own him for a friend , and force his company
on me ! Call me two men out of the hall, Ellen. Catherine
shall linger no longer to argue with the low ruffian – I have
humoured her enough ."
He descended, and bidding the servants wait in the passage,
went, followed by me, to the kitchen, Its occupants had
recommenced their angry discussion : Mrs Linton , at least,
was scolding with renewed vigour ; Heathcliff had moved to
the window , and hung his head, somewhat cowed by her
violent rating apparently. He saw the master first, andmade
a hasty motion that she should be silent ; which she obeyed ,
abruptly, on discovering the reason of his intimation.
" How is this ? " said Linton, addressing her ; “ what notion
of propriety must you have to remain here, after the language
which has been held to you by that blackguard ? ' I suppose,
because it is his ordinary talk, you think nothing of it: you
are habituated to his baseness, and, perhaps, imagine I can
get used to it too ! ”
“ Have you been listening at the door, Edgar ? " asked the
mistress, in a tone particularly calculated to provoke her
husband, implying both carelessness and contempt of his
irritation. Heathcliff, who had raised his eyes at the former
speech, gave a sneering laugh at the latter ; on purpose , it
seemed, to draw Mr Linton's attention to him. He succeeded ;
but Edgar did not mean to entertain him with any high flights
of passion.
“ I have been so far forbearing with you, sir,” he said
quietly; " not that I was ignorant of your miserable, degraded
character, but I felt you were only partly responsible for that ;
and Catherine wishing to keep up your acquaintance, I acqui
esced — foolishly. Your presence is moral poison that would
contaminate the most virtuous : for that cause, and to prevent
worse consequences, I shall deny you hereafter admission into
this house, and give notice now that I require your instant
departure. Three minutes' delay will render it involuntary
and ignominious."
Heathcliff measured the height and breadth of the speaker
with an eye full of derision.
“ Cathy, this lamb of yours threatens like a bull !” he said.
“ It is in danger of splitting its skull against my knuckles.
By God ! Mr Linton, I'm mortally sorry that you are not worth
knocking down !"
My master glanced towards the passage, and signed me to
fetch the men : he had no intention of hazarding a personal
encounter. I obeyed the hint; but Mrs Linton, suspecting
something, followed ; and when I attempted to call them , she
pulled me back, slammed the door to, and locked it.
“ Fair means!” she said, in answer to her husband's look
of angry surprise. “ If you have not courage to attack him,
make an apology, or allow yourself to be beaten. It will
correct you of feigning more valour than you possess. No,
I'll swallow the key before you shall get it ! I'm delight
fully rewarded for my kindness to each ! After constant
indulgence of one's weak nature, and the other's bad one, I
earn for thanks two samples of blind ingratitude, stupid to
absurdity ! Edgar, I was defending you and yours ; and I

wish Heathcliff may flog you sick, for daring to think an evil
thought of me!”
It did not need the medium of a flogging to produce that
effect on the master. He tried to wrest the key from Cathe
rine's grasp, and for safety she flung it into the hottest part
of thefire; whereupon Mr Edgar was taken with a nervous
trembling, and his countenance grew deadly pale. For his life
he could not avert that excess of emotion: mingled anguish
and humiliation overcame him completely. He leant on the
back of a chair, and covered his face.
“ Oh, heavens ! In old days this would win you knight
hood ! ” exclaimed Mrs Linton. “ We are vanquished ! we
are vanquished! Heathcliff would as soon lift a finger at you
as the king would march his army against a colony of mice.
Cheer up ! you shan't be hurt! Your type is not a lamb, it's
a sucking leveret."
“ I wish you joy of the milk-blooded coward, Cathy !" said
her friend . “ I compliment you on your taste. And that is
the slavering, shivering thing you preferred to me! I would
not strike him with my fist, but I'dkick him with my foot,
and experience considerable satisfaction . Is he weeping, or
is he going to faint for fear ? "
The fellow approached and gave the chair on which Linton
rested a push. He'd better have kept his distance; my master
quickly sprang erect, and struck him full on the throat a
blow that would have levelled a slighter man . It took his
breath for a minute ; and while he choked, Mr Linton walked
out by the back door into the yard, and from thence, to the
front entrance .
“ There! you've done with coming here, ” cried Catherine.
“ Get away, now ; he'll return with a brace of pistols, and
half a dozen assistants. If he did overhear us, of course
he'd never forgive you. You've played me an ill turn, Heath
cliff! But go — make haste ! I'd rather see Edgar at bay
than you ."
“ Do you suppose I'm going with that blow burning in my
gullet ? ” he thundered. “By hell, no ! I'll crush his ribs in
like a rotten hazel-nut before I cross the threshold ! If I
don't floor him now, I shall murder him some time ; so, as you
value his existence, let me get at him ! "
“ He is not coming," I interposed, framing a bit of a lie.
“ There's the coachman and the two gardeners ; you'll surely
not wait to be thrust into the road by them ! Each has a

bludgeon ; and master will, very likely, be watching froin the
parlour windows, to see that they fulfil his orders."
The gardeners and coachman were there ; but Linton was
with them. They had already entered the court. Heathcliff,
on the second thoughts, resolved to avoid a struggle against
three underlings ; he seized the poker, smashed the lock from
the inner door, and made his escape as they tramped in.
Mrs Linton, who was very much excited, bade me accom
pany her up - stairs. She did not know my share in contri
buting to the disturbance, and I was anxious to keep her in
ignorance .
" I'm nearly distracted, Nelly !" she exclaimed , throwing
herself on the sofa . " A thousand smiths' hammers are
beating in my head ! Tell Isabella to shun me ; this uproar
is owing to her ; and should she or any one else aggravate
my anger at present, I shall get wild . And, Nelly, say to
Edgar, if you see him again to -night, that I'm in danger
of being seriously ill. I wish it may prove true. He has
startled and distressed me shockingly ! I want to frighten
him. Besides, he might come and begin a string of abuse
or complainings ; I'm certain I should recriminate, and God
knows where we should end ! Will you do so, my good
Nelly ? You are aware that I am no way blameable in this
matter. What possessed him to turn listener ? Heathcliftºs
talk was outrageous, after you left us ; but I could soon have
diverted him from Isabella, and the rest meant nothing.
Now all is dashed wrong ; by the fool's craving to hear evil
of self, that haunts some people like a demon ! Had Edgar
never gathered our conversation, he would never have been
the worse for it. Really, when he opened on me in that
unreasonable tone of displeasure after I had scolded Heath
cliff till I was hoarse for him , I did not care, hardly what
they did to each other ; especially as I felt that, however the
scene closed , we should all be driven asunder for nobody
knows how long ! Well, if I cannot keep Heathcliff for my
friend — if Edgar will be mean and jealous, I'll try to break
their hearts by breaking my own. That will be a prompt
way of finishing all , when I am pushed to extremity ! But
it's a deed to be reserved for a forlorn hope; I'd not take
Linton by surprise with it. To this point he has been discreet
iv. dreading to provoke me; you must represent the peril of
quitting that policy, and remind him of my passionate tempºr,
7
verging, when kindled, on frenzy. I wish you could disrniss

that apathy out of that countenance, and look rather more
anxious about me.
The stolidity with which I received these instructions was,
no doubt, rather exasperating : for they were delivered in
perfect sincerity ; but I believed a person who could plan the
turning of her fits of passion to account, beforehand, might
by exerting her will, manage to control herself tolerably,
even while under their influence ; and I did not wish to
frighten ” her husband, as she said, and multiply his annoy
ances for the purpose of serving her selfishness . Therefore I
said nothing when I met the master coming towards the
parlour ; but I took the liberty of turning back to listen
whether they would resume their quarrel together. He began
to speak first.
“ Remain where you are, Catherine,” he said ; without any
anger in his voice, but with much sorrowful despondency.
“ I shall not stay. I am neither come to wrangle nor be
reconciled ; but I wish just to learn whether, after this
evening's events, you intend to continue your intimacy
*
with
“ Oh , for mercy's sake,” interrupted the mistress, stamping
her foot, "for mercy's sake, let us hear no more of it now !
Your cold blood cannot be worked into a fever : your veins are
full of ice-water ; but mine are boiling, and the sight of such
chillness makes them dance."
“ To get rid of me, answer my question, " persevered Mr
Linton. “ You must answer it ; and that violence does not
alarm me. I have found that you can be as stoical as any one,
when you please. Will you give up Heathcliff hereafter, or
will you give up me. It is impossible for you to be my friend
ind his at the same time ; and I absolutely require to know
which you choose."
66
I require to be let alone ! ” exclaimed Catherine, furiously.
". I demand it ! Don't you see I can scarcely stand ? Edgar,
you ,you leave me ! "
She rang the bell till it broke with a twang ; I entered
leisurely. It was enough to try the temper of a saint, such
senseless, wicked rages! There she lay dashing her head
against the arm of the sofa, and grinding her teeth, so that
you might fancy she would crash them to splinters ! Mr
Linton stood looking at her in sudden compunction and fear,
He told me to fetch some water . She had no breath for
WUTHERING HEIGETS. 39
speaking. I brought a glass full; and as she would not drink ,

I sprinkled it onher face. In a few seconds she stretched
herself out stiff, and turned up her eyes, while her cheeks, at
once blanchedand livid, assumed the aspect of death . Linton
looked terrified .
“ There is nothing in the world the matter ," I whispered .
I did not want him to yield, though I could not help being
afraid in my heart.
" She has blood on her lips !” he said, shuddering.
“ Never mind ! ” I answered, tartly. And I told him how
she had resolved, previous to his coming, on exhibiting a fit of
frenzy. I incautiously gave the account aloud, and she heard
me ; for she started up — her hair flying over her shoulders,
her eyes flashing, the muscles of her neck and arms standing
out preternaturally. I made up my mind for broken bones,
at least ; but she only glared about her for an instant, and
then rushed from the room . The master directed me to follow ;
I did, to her chamber door : she hindered me from going
further by securing it against me.
As she never offered to descend to breakfast next morning,
I went to ask whether she would have some carried up.
" No !" she replied, peremptorily. The same question was
repeatedatdinner and tea ; and again on the morrow after,
and received the same answer . Mr Linton , on his part, spent
his time in the library, and did not inquire concerning his
wife's occupations. Isabella and he had had an hour's inter
view, during which he tried to elicit from her some sentiment
of proper horror for Heathcliff's advances : but he could make
nothing of her evasive replies, and was obliged to close the
examination unsatisfactorily ; adding, however, a solemn
warning, that if she were so insane as to encourage that worth
less suitor, it would dissolve all bonds of relationship between
herself and him .
CHAPTER XII.
WHILE Miss Linton moped about the park and garden , always
silent, and almost always in tears ; and her brother shut him
selfup among books that he never opened - wearying, I guessed ,
with a continual vague expectation that Catherine, repenting
.) :20 WUTHERING HEIGHTS.
her conduct, would come of her own accord to ask pardon , and
seek a reconciliation-and she fasted pertinacicusly, under the
idea, probably, that at every meal, Edgar was ready to choke
for her absence, and pride alone held him from running to
cast himself at her feet; I went about my household duties,
convinced that the Grange had but one sensible soul in its
walls, and that lodged in my body. I wasted no condolences
on Miss , nor any expostulations on my mistress ; nor did I
pay much attention to the sighs of mymaster, who yearned
to hear his lady's name, since he might not hear her voice.
I determined they should come about as they pleased for
me; and though it was a tiresomely slow process, I began to
rejoice at length in a faint dawn of its progress: as I thought
at first.
Mrs Linton, on the third day, unbarred her door, and having
finished the water in her pitcher and decanter, desired a renewed
supply, and a basin of gruel, for she believed she was dying.
That I set down as a speech meant for Edgar's ears; I believed
no such thing, so I kept it to myself and brought her some
tea and dry toast. She ate and drank eagerly ; and sank back
on her pillow again clenching her hands and groaning. « Oh ,
I will die,” she exclaimed, “ since no one cares anything about
me. I wish I had not taken that." Then a good while after
I heard her murmur, “ No, I'll not die — he'd be glad — he
does not love me at all — he would never miss me !"
“ Did you want anything, ma'am ? ” I inquired, still pre
serving my external composure, in spite of her ghastly counte
nance and strange exaggerated manner.
“What is that apathetic being doing ?" she demanded ,
pushing the thick entangled locks from her wasted face. “ Has
he fallen into a lethargy, or is he dead ? ”
“ Neither,” replied I ; “ if you mean Mr Linton . He's
tolerably well, I think, though his studies occupy him rather
more than they ought: he is continually among his books,
since he has no other society.”
I should not have spoken so, if I had known her true con
dition, but I could not get rid of the notion that she acted a
part of her disorder.
“Among his books ! " she cried, confounded . 11 And I
dying ! I on the brink of the grave! My God ! does he know
now I'm altered ? ” continued she, staring at her reflection in a
mirror hanging against the opposite wall. “ Is that Catherine
Linton ? He imagines me in a pet — in play, perhaps. Can
not you inform him that it is frightful earnest ? Nelly, if it

be not too late, as soon as I learn how he feels, I'll choose
between these two ; either to starve at once — that would
be no punishment unless he had a heart — or to recover,
and leave the country. Are you speaking the truth about
him now ? Take care. Is he actually so utterly indifferent
for my life ? "
66
Why, ma'am," I answered, “the master has no idea of
your being deranged ; and of course he does not fear that you
will let yourself die of hunger.”
“ You think not? Cannot you tell him I will ? ” she returned .
“ Persuade him ! speak of your own mind : say you are certain
I will ! ”
“No, you forget, Mrs Linton," I suggested, “ that you have
eaten some foodwith a relish this evening, and to-morrow you
will perceive its good effects ."
“ If I were only sure it would kill him ," she interrupted,
“ I'd kill myself directly ! These three awful nights, I've
never closed my lids — and oh, I've been tormented ! I've
been haunted , Nelly ! But I begin to fancy you don't like
me.
How strange ! I thought, though everybody hated and
despised each other, they could not avoid loving me. And
they have all turned to enemies in a few hours : they have,
I'm positive; the people here. How dreary to meet death ,
surrounded by their cold faces ! Isabella, terrified and
repelled, afraid to enter the room, it would be so dreadful to
watch Catherine go. And Edgar standing solemnly by to see
it over ; then offering prayers of thanks to God for restoring
peace to his house, and going back to his books ! What in the
name of all that feels has he to do with books, when I am
dying ? "
She could not bear the notion which I had put into her
head of Mr Linton's philosophical resignation . Tossing about,
she increased her feverish bewilderment to madness, and tore
the pillow with her teeth ; then raising herself up all burning,
desired that I would open the window . We were in the
middle of winter, the wind blew strong from the north -east,
and I objected. Both the expressions flitting over her face,
and the changes of her moods, began to alarm me terribly ;
and brought to my recollection her former illness, and the
doctor's injunction that she should not be crossed. A minute
previously she was violent ; now, supported on one arm, and
not noticing my refusal to obey her, she seemed to find
childish diversion in pulling the feathers from the rents she

had just made, and ranging them on the sheet according to
their different species : her mind had strayed to other asso
ciations.
“ That's a turkey's, she murmured to herself ; " and this
is a wild duck's ; and this is a pigeon's. Ah , they put pigeons'
feathers in the pillows — no wonder I couldn't die ! Let me
take care to throw it on the floor when I lie down. And here
is a moor-cock's ; and this - I should know it among a
thousand - it's a lapwing's. Bonny bird ; wheeling over our
heads in the middle of the moor. It wanted to get to its
nest, for the clouds had touched the swells, and it felt rain
coming. This feather was picked up from the heath , the
bird was not shot : we saw its nest in the winter, full of little
skeletons. Heathcliff set a trap over it, and the old ones dare
not come. I made him promise he'd never shoot a lapwing
after that, and he didn't. Yes, here are more! Did he shoot
my lapwings, Nelly ? Are they red , any of them ? Let me
look ."
“Give over with that baby-work !" I interrupted , dragging
the pillow away , and turning the holes towards the mattress,
for she was removing its contents by handfuls. 11 Lie down
and shut your eyes : you're wandering. There's a mess !
The down is flying about like snow . ”
I went here and there collecting it.
“ I see in you, Nelly," she continued, dreamily, “ an aged
woman : you have grey hair and bent shoulders. This bed is
the fairy cave under Peniston Crag, and you are gathering
elf-bolts to hurt our heifers; pretending, while I am near,
that they are only locks of wool. That's what you'll come
to fifty years hence : I know you are not so now. I'm not
wandering: you're mistaken , or else I should believe you
really were that withered hag, and I should think I was under
Peniston Crag ; and I'm conscious it's night, and there are
two candles on the table making the black press shine like
jet. "
“ The black press ? where is that ? " I asked. 6 You are
talking in your sleep !"
“ It's against the wall, as it always is,” she replied. “ It
does appear odd — I see a face in it ! "
“ There's no press in the room, and never was," said I,
resuming my seat, and looping up the curtain that I might
watch her.
WUTIIERING HEIGHTS. 103
“ Don't you see that face ?" she inquired, gazing earnestly
at the mirror.
And say what I could, I was incapable of making her com
prehend it to be her own ; so I rose and covered it with a
shawl.
“ It's behind there still ! " she pursued , anxiously. “ And
it stirred . Who is it ? I hope it will not come out when
you are gone ! Oh! Nelly, the room is haunted ! I'm afraid
of being alone!”
I took her hand in mine, and bid her be composed : for a
succession of shudders convulsed her frame, and she would
keep straining her gaze towards the glass.
" There's nobody here!” I insisted . " It was yourself, Mrs
Linton:: you knew it a while since . "
Myself !" she gasped, " and the clock is striking twelve !
It's true, then ! that's dreadful !"
Her fingers clutched the clothes, and gathered them over
her eyes. I attempted to steal to the door with an intention
of calling her husband ; but I was summoned back by a
piercing shriek — the shawl had dropped from the frame.
“Why, what is the matter? ” cried I. " Who is coward
now ? Wake up ! That is the glass — the mirror, Mrs Lin
ton ; and you see yourself in it, and there am I too, by
your side ."
Trembling and bewildered , she held me fast, but the horror
gradually passed from her countenance; its paleness gave place
to a glow of shame.
“ Oh, dear ! I thought I was at home,” she sighed. “ I
thought I was lying in my chamber at Wuthering Heights.
Because I'm weak, my brain got confused, and I screamed
unconsciously. Don't say anything ; but stay with me. I
dread sleeping : my dreams appal me.
“ A sound sleep would do you good, ma'am," I answered ;
" and I hope this suffering will prevent your trying starving
again ."
Oh, if I were but in my own bed in the old house ! ”
she went on bitterly, wringing her hands. " And that
wind sounding in the firs by the lattice. Do let me feel
it - it comes straight down the moor — do let me have one
breath !”
To pacify her, I held the casement ajar a few seconds. A
cold blast rushed through ; I closed it, and returned to my
post. She lay still now, her face bathed in tears. Exhaustion
of body had entirely subdued her spirit : our fiery Catherine

was no better than a wailing child.
“ How long is it since I shut myself in here ?" she asked,
suddenly reviving.
“ It was Monday evening ," I replied, " and this is Thursday
night, or rather Friday morning, at present.”
“ What! of the same week ? ” she exclaimed. “ Only that
brief time? ”
“ Long enough to live on nothing but cold water ad ill
temper,"observed I.
“ Well, it seems a weary number of hours," she muttered
doubtfully: “it must be more. I remember being in the
parlour after they had quarrelled, and Edgar being cruelly
provoking, and me running into this room desperate. As
soon as ever I had barred the door, utter blackness over
whelmed me, and I fell on the floor. I couldn't explain to
Edgar how certain I felt of having a fit, or going raging mad,
if he persisted in teasing me ! I had no command of tongue,
orbrain, and he did not guess myagony, perhaps : it barely
left me sense to try to escape from him and his voice. Before
I recovered sufficiently to see and hear, it began to be dawn,
and, Nelly, I'll tell you what I thought, and what has kept
recurring and recurring till I feared for my reason. I
thought as I lay there, with my head against that table leg,
and my eyes dimly discerning the grey square of the window ,
that I was enclosed in the oak -pannelled bed at home; and my
heart ached with some great grief which, just waking, I could
not recollect. I pondered, and worried myself to discover
what could be, and, most strangely, the whole last seven
years of my life grew a blank ! I did not recall that they had
been at all. I was a child ; my father was just buried , and
my misery arose from the separation that Hindley had ordered
between me and Heathcliff. I was laid alone, for the first time;
and, rousing from a dismal doze after a night of weeping, I
lifted my hand to push the panels aside : it struck the table
top! I swept it along the carpet, and then memory burst in :
my late anguish was swallowed in a paroxysm of despair. I
cannot say why I felt so wildly wretched : it must have been
temporary derangement; for there is scarcely cause. But,
supposing at twelve years old I had been wrenched from the
Heights, and every early association, and my all in all, as
Heathcliff was at that time, and been converted at a stroke
into Mrs Linton, the lady of Thrushcross Grange, and the
WUTHERING HEIGRTS . 105
wife of a stranger : an exile, and outcast, thenceforth , from

what had been my world. You may fancy a glimpse of the
abys3 where I grovelled ! Shake your head as you will,Nelly,
you have helped to unsettle me ! You should have spoken to
Edgar, indeed you should, and compelled him to leave me quiet !
Oh, I'm burning ! I wish I were out of doors! I wish I were
a girl again, half savage and hardy, and free; and laughing at
injuries, not maddening under them ! Why am I so changed ?
why does my blood rush into a hell of tumult at a few words ?
I'm sure I should be myself were I once among the heather
on those hills. Open the window again wide : fasten it open !
Quick, why don't you move ? "
“ Because I won't give you your death of cold ,” I answered.
“ You won't give me a chance of life, you mean," she said,
sullenly. “However, I'm not helpless, yet ; I'll open it
myself.”
And sliding from the bed before I could hinder her, she
crossed the room, walkingvery uncertainly, threw it back,
and bent out, careless of the frosty air that cut about her
shoulders as keen as a knife. I entreated, and finally at
tempted to force her to retire. But I soon found her delirious
strength much surpassed mine (she was delirious, I became
convinced by her subsequent actions and ravings). There
was no moon, and everything beneath lay in misty darkness :
not a light gleamed from any house, far or near — all had
been extinguished long ago ; and those at Wuthering Heights
were
never visible — still she asserted she caught their
shining
“ Look !" she cried eagerly , “that's my room with the
candle in it, and the trees swaying before it ; and the other
candle is in Joseph's garret. Joseph sits up late, doesn't he ?
He's waiting till I come home that he may lock the gate.
Well , he'll wait a while yet. It's a rough journey, and a sad
heart to travel it ; and we must pass by Gimmerton Kirk, to
go that journey ! We've braved its ghosts often together ,
and dared each other to stand among the graves and ask
them to come. But, Heathcliff, if I dare you now, will you
venture ? If you do, I'll keep you. I'll not lie there by
myself : they may bury me twelve feet deep, and throw the
church down over me, but I won't rest till you are with me
I never will I”
She paused, and resumed with a strange smile. “He's
considering - he'd rather I'd come to him ! Find a way,
then ! nou chrough that kirkyard. You are slow ! Be con

tent, you always followed me ! "
Perceiving it vain to argue against her insanity, I was
planning how I could reach something to wrap about her,
without quitting my hold of herself ( for I could not trust her
alone by the gaping lattice), when, to my consternation, I
heard the rattle of the door-handle, and Mr Linton entered .
He had only then come from the library ; and, in passing
through the lobby, had noticed our talking and been attracted
by curiosity, or fear, to examine what it signified, at that late
hour.
“ Oh, sir !" I cried, checking the exclamation risen to his
lips at the sight which met him, and the bleak atmosphere of
the chamber. “My poor mistress is ill, and she quite masters
me : I cannot manage her at all; pray, come and persuade her
to go to bed. Forget your anger, for she's hard to guide any
way but her own ."
« Catherine ill ? ” he said, hastening to us. “ Shut the
window , Ellen !. Catherine! why— "
He was silent. The haggardness of Mrs Linton's appear
ance smote him speechless, and he could only glance from her
to me in horrified astonishment.
“ She's been fretting here," I continued, " and eating scarcely
anything, and never complaining: she would admit none of us
till this evening, and so we couldn't inform you of her state as
we were not aware of it ourselves ; but it is nothing."
I felt I uttered my explanations awkwardly; the master
frowned . “ It is nothing, is it, Ellen Dean ? ” he said sternly.
“ You shall account more clearly for keeping me ignorant of
this ! ” And he took his wife in his arms, and looked at her
with anguish .
At first she gave him no glance of recognition : he was
invisible to her abstracted gaze. The delirium was not fixed ,
however ; having weaned her eyes from contemplating the
outer darkness, by degrees she centred her attention on him,
and discovered who it was that held her.
“ Ah ! you are come, are you, Edgar Linton ? ” she said,
with angry animation . “ You are oneof those things that are
ever found when least wanted, and when you are wanted, never!
Isuppose we shall have plenty of lamentations now - I see we
shall — but they can't keep ine from my narrow home out
yonder: my resting-place, where I'm bound before spring is
over ! There it is: not among the Lintons, mind, under the
chapel-roof, but in the open air, with a head-stone ; and you

may please yourself, whether you go to them or come to me ! ":
“ Catherine, what have you done ? ” commenced themaster.
“ Am I nothing to you any more ? Do you love that wretch
Heath "
“ Hush ! " cried Mrs Linton. “ Hush, this moment ! You
mention that name and I end the matter instantly, by a spring
from the window ! What you touch at present you may have ;
but my soul will be on that hill-top before you lay hands on
me again. I don't want you, Edgar : I'm past wanting you .
Return to your books. I'm glad you possess a consolation, for
all you had in me is gone."
“ Her mind wanders, sir," I interposed. " She has been
talking nonsense the whole evening; but let her have quiet,
and proper attendance, and she 'll rally. Hereafter, we must
be cautious how we vex her."
“ I desire no further advice from you ," answered Mr Linton.
“ You knew your mistress's nature, and you encouraged me
to harass her. And not to give me one hint of how she has
been these three days! It was heartless ! Months of sickness
could not cause such a change ! ”
I began to defend myself, thinking it too bad to be blamed
for another's wicked waywardness . “ I knew Mrs Linton's
nature to be headstrong and domineering," cried I ; “ but I
didn't know that you wished to foster her fierce temper ! I
didn't know that, to humour her, I should wink at Mr Heath
cliff. I performedthe duty of a faithful servantin telling you,
and I have got a faithful servant's wages ! Well, it will teach
me to be careful next time. Next time you may gather
intelligence for yourself! ”
“ The next time you bring a tale to me, you shall quit my
service, Ellen Dean ," he replied.
“You'd rather hear nothing about it, I suppose, then, Mr
Linton ? " said I. “ Heathcliff has your permission to come a
courting to miss, and to drop in at every opportunity your
absence offers, on purpose to poison the mistress against you ?”
Confused as Catherine was, her wits were alert at apply
ing our conversation.
" Ah ! Nelly has played traitor ," she exclaimed, passion
ately. “Nelly is my hidden enemy. You witch ! So you
do seek elf - bolts to hurt us ! Let me go, and I'll make her
rue ! I'll make her howl a recantation ! ”
A maniac's fury kindled under her brows ; she struggled
desperately to disengage herself from Linton's arms. I felt no

inclination to tarry the event ; and, resolving to seek medical
aid on my own responsibility , I quitted the chamber.
In passing the garden to reach the road , at a place where
a bridle hook is driven into the wall, I saw something white
moved irregularly, evidently by another agent than the wind.
Notwithstandingmy hurry, I stayed to examine it, lest ever
after I should have the conviction impressed on my imagina
tion that it was a creature of the other world . My surprise
and perplexity were great on discovering, by touch more than
vision, Miss Isabella's springer, Fanny, suspended by a hand
kerchief, and nearly at its last gasp. I quickly released the
animal, and lifted it into the garden. I had seen it follow its
mistress up -stairs when she went to bed ; and wondered much
how it could have got out there, and what mischievous person
had treated it so. While untying the knot round the hook, it
seemed to me that I repeatedly caught the beat of horses' feet
galloping at some distance ; but therewere such a number of
things to occupy my reflections that I hardly gave the circum
stance a thought : though it was a strange sound , in that
place, at two o'clock in the morning.
Mr Kenneth was fortunately just issuing from his house
to see a patient in the village as I came up the street ; and
my account of Catherine Linton's malady induced him to
accompany me back immediately. He was a plain rough
man ; and he made no scruple to speak his doubts of her
surviving this second attack ; unless she were more submis
sive to his directions than she had shown herself before.
“ Nelly Dean," said he, “ I can't help fancying there's an
extra cause for this. What has there been to do at the
Grange ? We've odd reports up here. A stout, hearty lass
like Catherine, does not fall ill for a trifle ; and that sort of
people should not either. It's hard work bringing them
through fevers, and such things. How did it begin ? "
56 The master will inform you," I answered ; “ but you are
acquainted with the Earnshaws' violent dispositions, and Mrs
Linton caps them all. I may say this; it commenced in a
quarrel. She was struck during a tempest of passion with a
kind of fit. That's her account, at least ; for she flew off in
the height of it, and locked herself up. Afterwards, she
refused to eat, and now she alternately raves and remains in
a half dream ; knowing those about her, but having her mind
filled with all sorts of strange ideas and illusions."
“ Mr Linton will be sorry ?” observed Kenneth, interroga

tively.
“ Sorry ? he'll break his heart should anything happen !”
I replied . " Don't alarm him more than nece
ecessary."
66
Well, I told him to beware,” said my companion ; " and
he must bide the consequences of neglecting my warning !
Hasn't he been intimate with Mr Heathcliff lately ? ”
“ Heathcliff frequently visits at the Grange," answered I,
“though more on the strength of the mistress having known
him when a boy, than because the master likes his company
At present, he's discharged from the trouble of calling ; owing
to some presumptuous aspirations after Miss Linton which he
manifested. I hardly think he'll be taken in again ."
“ And does Miss Linton turn a cold shoulder on him ? "
was the doctor's next question .
“ I'm not in her confidence," returned I, reluctant to
continue the subject.
“No, she's a sly one,” he remarked, shaking his head.
“ She keeps her own counsel ! But she's a real little fool.
I have it from good authority, that, last night (and a pretty
night it was !) she and Heathcliff were walking in the planta
tion at the back of your house, above two hours ; and he
pressed her not to go in again, but just mount his horse and
away with him ! My informant said she could only put him
off by pledging her word of honour to be prepared on their
first meeting after that : when it was to be, he didn't hear ;
but you urge Mr Linton to look sharp !”
This news filled me with fresh fears ; I outstripped Kenneth,
and ran most of the way back. The little dog was yelping
in the garden yet. I spared a minute to open the gate for it,
but instead of going to the house door, it coursed up and
down snuffing the grass, and would have escaped to the road,
had I not seized and conveyed it in with me. On ascending
to Isabella's room , my suspicions were confirmed : it was
empty. Had I been a few hours sooner, Mrs. Linton's illness
might have arrested her rash step. But what could be done
now ? There was a bare possibility of overtaking them if
pursued instantly. I could not pursue them, however ; and
I dare not rouse the family, and fill the place with confusion ;
still less unfold the business to my master, absorbed as he was
in his present calamity, and having no heart to spare for a
second grief ! I saw nothing for it but to hold my tongue,
and suffer matters to take their course ; and Kenneth being
arrived , Iwent with a badly composed countenance to announce

him. Catherine lay in a troubled sleep : her husband had
succeeded in soothing the excess of frenzy; he now hung over
her pillow, watching every shade, and every change of her
painfully expressive features.
The doctor, on examining the case for himself, spoke hope
fully to him of its having a favourable termination, if we
could only preserve around her perfect and constant tran
quillity. To me, he signified the threatening danger was not
so much death , as permanent alienation of intellect.
I did not close my eyes that night, nor did Mr Linton :
indeed, we never went to bed ; and the servants were all up
long before the usual hour, moving through the house with
stealthy tread, and exchanging whispers as they encountered
each other in their vocations. Every one was active, but
Miss Isabella ; and they began to remark how sound she slept :
her brother, too, asked if she had risen , and seemed impatient
for her presence, and hurt that she showed so little anxiety for
her sister-in-law. I trembled lest he should send me to call
her; but I was spared the pain of being the first proclaimant
of her flight. One of the maids, a thoughtless girl, who had
been on an early errand to Gimmerton , came panting up -stairs,
open mouthed, and dashed into the chamber,crying :
66
Oh, dear, dear ! What mun we have next ? Master,
master, our young lady
“ Hold your noise ! ” cried I hastily, enraged at her
clamorous manner .
“Speak lower, Mary - What is the matter ? " said Mr
Linton ." What ails your young lady ? ”
“ She's gone, she's gone! Yon Heathcliff's run off wi'
her ! " gasped the girl.
" That is not true !” exclaimed Linton, rising in agitation.
" It cannot be : how has the idea entered your head ? Ellen
Dean, go and seek her. It is incredible : it cannot be . "
As he spoke he took the servant to the door, and then
repeated his demand to know her reasons for such an
assertion.
“Why, I met on the road a lad that fetches milk here, ”
she stammered, “ and he asked whether we wern't in trouble
at the Grange. I thought he meant for missis's sickness, so
I answered, yes. Then says he, ' There's somebody gone after
'em, I guess ? ' I stared. He saw I knew nought about it,
and he told how a gentleman and lady had stopped to have a
horse's shoe fastened at a blacksmith's shop, two miles out of

Gimmerton, not very long after midnight ! and how the black
smith's lass had got up to spy who they were : she knew them
both directly. And she noticed the man - Heathcliff it was,
she felt certain : nob'dy could mistake him, besides-put a
sovereign in her father's hand for payment. The lady had a
cloak about her face ; but having desired a sup of water,
while she drank, it fell back, and she saw her very plain.
Heathcliff held both bridles as they rode on , and they set
their faces from the village, and went as fast as the rough
roads would let them . The lass said nothing to her father,
but she told it all over Gimmerton this morning .”
I ran and peeped, for form's sake, into Isabella's room ;
confirming, when I returned , the servant's statement. Mr
Linton had resumed his seat by the bed ; on my re- entrance,
he raised his eyes, read the meaning of my blank aspect , and
dropped them without giving an order , or uttering a word.
" Are weto try any measures
her back ," I inquired .
for overtaking and bringing
" How should we do ? ”
“ She went of her own accord ,” answered the master ; she
had a right to go if she pleased. Trouble me no more about
her. Hereafter she is only my sister in name : not because I
disown her, but because she has disowned me.”
And that was all he said on the subject : he did not make
a single inquiry further, or mention her in any way, except
directing me to send what property she had in the house to
her fresh home, wherever itwas, when I knew it.
CHAPTER XIII.
For two months the fugitives remained absent ; in those two

months, Mrs Linton encountered and conquered the worst
shock of what was denominated a brain fever. No mother
could have nursed an only child more devotedly than Edgar
tended her. Day and night he was watching, and patiently
enduring all the annoyances that irritable nerves and a shaken
reason could inflict; and, though Kenneth remarked that
what he saved from the grave would only recompense his care
by forming the source of constant future anxiety - in fact,
that his health and strength were being sacrificed to preserve
a mere ruin of humanity — he knew no limits in gratitude

and joy when Catherine's life was declared out of danger ;
and hour after hour he would sit beside her, tracing the
gradual return to bodily health, and flattering his too sanguine
hopes with the illusion that her mind would settle back to its
right balance also, and she would soon be entirely her former
self.
The first time she left her chamber was at the commence
ment of the following March . Mr. Linton had put on her
pillow, in the morning, a handful of golden crocuses ; her eye ,
long stranger to any gleam of pleasure, caught them in
waking, and shone delighted as she gathered them eagerly
together.
“ These are the earliest flowers at the Heights," she
exclaimed. “ They remind me of soft thaw winds, and
warm sunshine, and nearly melted snow. Edgar, is there
not a south wind , and is not the snow almost gone ? "
“ The snow is quite gone down here, darling ," replied her
husbandl ; “ and I only see two white spots on the whole
range of moors : the sky is blue, and the larks are singing,
and the becks and brooks are all brim full. Catherine, last
spring at this time, I was longing to have you under this
roof ; now, I wish you were a mile or two up those hills : the
air blows so sweetly , I feel that it would cure you."
“ I shall never be there but once more," said the invalid ;
“ and then you 'll leave me, and I shall remain for ever. Next
spring you 'll long again to have me under this roof, and you'll
look back and think you were happy to -day.”
Linton lavished on her the kindest caresses, and tried to
cheer her by the fondest words ; but, vaguely regarding the
flowers, she let the tears collect on her lashes and stream
down her cheeks unheeding. We knew she was really
better, and, therefore, decided that long confinement to a
single place produced much of this despondency, and it might
be partially removed by a change of scene. The master told
me to light a fire in the many -weeks deserted parlour, and to
set an easy -chair in the sunshine by the window ; and then
he brought her down, and she sat a long while enjoying the
genial heat, and, as we expected , revived by the objects round
her : which , though familiar, were free from the dreary asso
ciations investing her hated sick chamber.
seemed greatly exhausted ; yet no argumente
her to return to that apartment, and I hac 3
parlour sofa forher bed,till another room could be prepared.

To obviate the fatigue of mounting and descending the stairs,
we fitted up this, where you lie at present : on the same floor
with the parlour ; and she was soon strong enoughto move
from one to the other, leaning on Edgar's arm . Ah , I thought
myself, she might recover, so waited on as she was. And
there was double cause to desire it, for on her existence
depended that of another: we cherished the hope that in a
little while, Mr Linton's heart would be gladdened, and his
lands secured from a stranger's gripe, by the birth of an heir.
I should mention that Isabella sent to her brother, some
six weeks from her departure, a short note, announcing her
marriage with Heathcliff. It appeared dry and cold ; but at
the bottom was dotted in with pencil an obscure apology, and
an entreaty for kind remembrance and reconciliation ,if her
proceeding had offended him : asserting that she could not
help it then , and being done, she had now no power to repeal
it. Linton did not reply to this, I believe ; and, in a fortnight
more, I got a long letter which I considered odd, coming from
the of a bride just out of the honeymoon.
pen I'll read it :
for I keep it yet. Any relic of the dead is precious, if they
were valued living.
DEAR ELLEN, it begins.
I came last night to Wuthering Heights, and heard, for
the first time, that Catherine has been, and is yet, very ill. I
must not write to her, I suppose, and my brother is either
too angry or too distressed to answer what I sent him.
Still, I must write to somebody, and the only choice left me
is you .
Inform Edgar that I'd give the world to see his face again ,
that my heart returned to Thrushcross Grange in twenty -four
hours after I left it, and is there at this moment, full of warm
feelings for him, and Catherine ! I can't follow it, though ,
(those words are underlined ) they need not expect me, and
they may draw what conclusions they please ; taking care,
however , to lay . nothing at the door of my weak will or
deficient affection .
The remainder of the letter is for yourself alone. I want to
ask you two questions: the first is,-How did you contrive to
preserve the common sympathies of human nature when you
resided here ? I cannot recognise any sentiment which those
around share with me.
8
The second question, I have great interest in ; it is this

Is Mr Heathcliff a man ? If so, is he mad ? And if not, is
he a devil ? I shan't tell my reasons for making this inquiry ;
but, I beseech you to explain , if you can, what Ihave married :
that is, when you call to see me ; and you must call, Ellen ,
very soon . Don't write, but come, and bring me something
from Edgar.
Now, you shall hear how I havebeen received in my new
home, as I am led to imagine the Heights will be. It is to
amuse myself that I dwell on such subjects as the lack of
external comforts: they never occupy my thoughts, except at
the moment when I miss them. I should laugh and dance for
joy, if I found their absence was the total of my miseries, and
the rest was an unnatural dream !
The sun set behind the Grange, as we turned on to the
mnoors ; by that, I judged it to be six o'clock ; and my com
panion halted half an hour, to inspect the park, and the
gardens, and, probably, the place itself, as well as he could ;
so it was dark when we dismounted in the paved yard of the
farm -house, and your old fellow - servant, Joseph, issued out to
receive us by the light of a dip candle. He did it with a
courtesy that redounded to his credit. His first act was to
elevatehis torch to a level with my face, squint malignantly,
project his under lip, and turn away. Then he took the two
horses, and led them into the stables ; reappearing for the
purpose of locking the outer gate, as if we lived in an ancient
castle.
Heathcliff stayed to speak to him , and I entered the
kitchen — a dingy, untidy hole; I dare say you would not
know it, it is so changed since it was in your charge. Ву
the fire stood a ruffianly child, strong in limb and dirty in
garb, with a look of Catherine in his eyes and about his
mouth .
“ This is Edgar's legal nephew ," I reflected— " mine in a
manner ; I must shake hands, and - yes - I must kiss him.
It is right to establish a good understanding at the be
ginning ."
I approached, and, attempting to take his chubby fist,
said
“ How do you do, my dear ? "
He repliedin a jargon I did not comprehend.
“Shall you and I be friends, Hareton ? " was my next
essay at conversation .
WUTIIERING HEIGHTS. 115
An oath , and a threat to set Throttler on me if I did not

" frame off" rewarded my perseverance.
“ Hey, Throttler, lad !" whispered the little wretch, rousing
a half -bred bull-dog from its lair in a corner. “ Now , wilt
thou be ganging ? ” he asked authoritatively.
Love for my life urged a compliance ; I stepped over the
threshold to wait till the others should enter. Mr Heathcliff
was nowhere visible ; and Joseph, whom I followed to the
stables, and requested to accompany me in, after staring and
muttering to himself, screwed up his nose and replied—
“ Mim ! mim ! mim ! Did iver Christian body hear aught
like it ? Minching un' munching ! How can I tell whct ye
say ? "
“ I say , I wish you to come with me into the house !"
I cried , thinking him deaf, yet highly disgusted at his
rudeness .
“ None o' me ! I getten summut else to do ,” he answered,
and continued his work ; moving his lantern jaws meanwhile,
and surveying my dress and countenance (the former a great
deal too fine, but the latter I'm sure, as sad as he could
desire) with sovereign contempt.
I walked round the yard, and through a wicket, to another
door, at which I took the liberty of knocking, in hopes some
more civil servant might show himself. After a short suspense,
it was opened by a tall, gaunt man, without neckerchief, and
otherwise extremely slovenly ; his features were lost in
masses of shaggy hair that hung on his shoulders; and his
eyes, too, were like a ghostly Catherine's with all their beauty
annihilated.
“ What 's your business here ? ” he demanded, grimly.
« Who are you ?
“ My name was Isabella Linton ," I replied. 6 You've
seen me before, sir. I'm lately married to Mr Heathcliff,
and he has brought me here — I suppose by your per
mission .”
“Is he come back , then ? " asked the hermit, glaring like a
hungry wolf.
“ Yes
es — 1we came just now ," I said ; " but he left me by the
kitchen door ; and when I would have gone in, your little boy
playedsentinelover the place, and frightened me off by the
help of a bull -dog."
67 It's well the hellish villain has kept his word ! ” growled
my future host, searching the darkness beyond me in ex
pectation of discovering Heathcliff; and then he indulged in a

soliloquy of execrations, and threats of what he would have
done had the “ fiend ” deceived him .
I repented having tried this second entrance, and was
almost inclined to slip away before he finished cursing, but
ere I could execute that intention, he ordered me in, and shut
and re-fastened the door. There was a great fire, and that
was all the light in the huge apartment, whose floor had
grown a uniform grey ; and the once brilliant pewter dishes,
which used to attract my gaze when I was a girl, partook of
a similar obscurity, created by tarnish and dust. I inquired
whether I might call the maid , and be conducted to a bed
room ? Mr Earnshaw vouchsafed no answer. He walked up
and down, with his hands in his pockets , apparently quite
forgetting my presence ; and his abstraction was evidently so
deep, and his whole aspect so misanthropical , that I shrank
from disturbing him again.
You 'll not be surprised, Ellen, at my feeling particularly
cheerless, seated in worse than solitude on that inhospitable
hearth, and remembering that four miles distant lay my
delightful home, containing the only people I loved on earth ;
and there might as well be the Atlantic to part us, instead of
those four miles: I could not overpass them ! I questioned
with myself — where must I turn for comfort ? and - mind you
don't tell Edgar, or Catherine - above every sorrow beside,
this rose pre-eminent: despair at finding nobody who could or
would be my ally against Heathcliff! I had sought shelter at
Wuthering Heights, almost gladly , because I was secured by
that arrangement from living alone with him ; but he knew
the people we were coming amongst, and he did not fear their
intermeddling
I sat and thought a doleful time : the clock struck eight,
and nine, and still my companion paced to and fro, his head
bent on his breast, and perfectly silent, unless a groan or a
bitter ejaculation forced itself out at intervals. I listened to
detect a woman's voice in the house, and filled the interim
with wild regrets and dismal anticipations, which, at last,
spoke audibly in irrepressible sighingand weeping. I was not
aware how openly I grieved, tillEarnshaw halted opposite, in
his measured walk, and gave me a stare of newly -awakened
surprise. Taking advantage of his recovered attention, I
exclaimed
“ I'm tired with my journey, and I want to go to bed I
Where is the maid -servant ? Direct me to her, as she won't

come to me ! ”
“ We have none,” he answered ; “ you must wait on your
self ! "
“Where must I sleep, then ? ” I sobbed ; I was beyond
regarding self -respect, weighed down by fatigue and wretched
ness .
“Joseph will show you Heathcliff's chamber," said he ;

open that door - he's in there. "
I was going to obey, but he suddenly arrested me, and
added in the strangest tone
“ Be so good as to turn your lock, and draw your bolt
don't omit it ! "
16 Well !" I said. “ But why, Mr Earnshaw ?" I did
not relish the notion of deliberately fastening myself in with
Heathcliff.
“ Look here !” he ' replicd, pulling from his waistcoat a
curiously constructed pistol, having a double -edged spring
knife attached to the barrel. " That's a great tempter to a
desperate man, is it not ? I cannot resist going up with this
every night, and trying his door. If once I find it open he's
done for! I do it invariably, even though the minute before
I have been recalling a hundred reasons that should make
ne refrain : it is some devil that urges me to thwart my
own schemes by killing him. You fight against that devil for
love as long as you may ; when the time comes , not all the
angels in heaven shall save him ! ”
I surveyed the weapon inquisitively. A hideous notion
struck me: how powerful I should be possessing such an
instrument ! I took it from his hand, and touched the blade.
He looked astonished at the expression my face assumed during
a brief second : it was not horror, it was covetousness. He
snatched the pistol back, jealously ; shut the knife, and returned
it to its concealment.
“ I don't care if you tell him ," said he. “ Put him on his
guard, and watch for him. You know the terms we are on, I
see : his danger does not shock you ."
“ What has Heathcliff done to you ? ” I asked. “ In what
has he wronged you, to warrant this appalling hatred ?
Wouldn't it be wiser to bid him quit the house ? "
“ No ! ” thundered Earnshaw , " should he offer to leave me,
he's a dead man : persuade him to attempt it, and you are a
murderesș ! Am I to lose all, without a chance of retrieval ?
Is Hareton to be a beggar ? Oh, damnation ! I will have it

back : and I'll have his gold too ; and then his blood ; and
hell shall have his soul ! It will be ten times blacker with
that guest than ever it was before ! ”
You ’ve acquainted me, Ellen, with your old master's habits.
He is clearly on the verge of madness : he was so last night at
least. I shuddered to be near him, and thought on the servant's
ill-bred moroseness as comparatively agreeable. He now
recommenced his moody walk , and I raised the latch , and
escaped into the kitchen . Joseph was bending over the fire,
peering into a large pan that swung above it ; and a wooden
bowl of oatmeal stood on the settle close by. The contents of
the pan began to boil, and he turned to plunge his hand into
the bowl; I conjectured that this preparation was probably for
our supper, and, being hungry, I resolved it should be eatable;
so, crying out sharply, “ I'll make the porridge !" I removed
the vessel out of hisreach, and proceeded to take off my hat
and riding habit. “ Mr Earnshaw ," I continued, " directs me
to wait on myself : I will. I'm not going to act the lady
among you, for fear I should starve."
“Gooid Lord ! ” he muttered, sitting down, and stroking his
ribbed stockings from the knee to the ankle. “ If there's to be
fresh ortherings — just when I getten used to two maisters, if
I mun hev a mistress set o'er my heead, it 's like time to be
flitting. I niver did think to see t' day that I mud lave th' owld
place — but I doubt it's nigh at hand !"
This lamentation drew no notice from me : I went briskly
to work, sighing to remember a period when it would have
been all merry fun ; but compelled speedily to drive off the
remembrance. It racked me to recall pasthappiness and the
greater peril there was of conjuring up its apparition, the
quicker the thible ran round , and the faster the handfuls of
meal fell into the water . Joseph beheld my style of cookery
with growing indignation.
“ Thear !” he ejaculated. “ Hareton, thou willn't sup thy
porridge to -neeght; they'll be naught but lumps as big as my
neive. Thear, agean ! i'd fling in bowl un all, if I wer ye!
There, pale t' guilp off, un' then ye'll hae done wi 't. Bang,
bang. It 's a mercy t’ bothom isn't deaved out ! "
It was rather a rough mess, I own, when poured into the
basins ; four had been provided, and a gallon pitcher of new
milk was brought from the dairy, which Hareton seized and
commenced drinking and spilling from the expansive lip. I
expostulated, and desired that he should have his in a mug ;

affirming that I could not taste the liquid treated so dirtily.
The old cynic chose to be vastly offended at this nicety;
assuring me, repeatedly, that the barn was every bit as
good ” as I, " and every bit as wollsome," and wondering how
I could fashion to be so conceited . Meanwhile, the infant
ruffian continued sucking ; and glowered up at me defyingly,
as he slavered into the jug.
“ I shall have my supper in another room ," I said. " Ilave
you no place you call a parlour ? "
“ Parlour ! ” he echoed, sneeringly, “ parlour ! Nay, we've
noa parlours. If yah dunnut loike wer company, there's
maister's ; un' if yah dunnut loikemaister, there's us.”
“ Then I shall go up -stairs," I answered ; 66 show me a
chamber ."
I put my basin on a tray, and went myself to fetch some
more milk. With great grumblings, the fellow rose, and
preceded me in my ascent : we mounted to the garrets ; he
opened a door, now and then, to look into the apartments we
passed.
“ Here's a rahm," he said , at last, flinging back a cranky
board on hinges. “ It's weel eneugh to ate a few porridge in.
There's a pack o' corn i't' corner, thear, meeterly clane ; if
ye' refeared o' muckying yer grand silk cloes, spread yer
hankerchir o' t' top on 't.”
The “ rahm ” was a kind of lumber -hole smelling strong of
malt and grain ; various sacks of which articles were piled
around , leaving a wide, bare space in the middle.
Why, man!” I exclaimed , facing him angrily, 16 this is not
a place to sleep in. I wish to see my bed - room ."
“ Bed -rume] ” he repeated, in a tone of mockery . 16 Yah 's
see all t bed -rumes thear is — yon 's mine. "
He pointed into the second garret, only differing from the
first in being more naked about the walls, and having a large,
low, curtainless bed, with an indigo -coloured quilt, at one end.
“What do I want with yours ? ” I retorted. “ I suppose
Mr Heathcliff does not lodge at the top of the house, does he ?"
“ Oh ! it's Maister Hathecliff's ye're wanting ?” cried he,
as if making a new discovery. " Couldn't ye ha' said soa, at
onst ? un then, I mud ha' telled ye, baht all this wark , that
that's just one ye cannut see— he allas keeps it locked, un'
nob’dy iver mells on 't but hisseln .”
" You've a nice house, Joseph,” I could not refrain from
120 WUTHIERING HEIGHTS .
observing, “ and pleasant inmates ; and I think the concen

trated essence of all the madness in the world took up its
abode in my brain the day I linked my fate with theirs !
However, that is not to the present purpose — there are other
rooms. For Heaven's sake be quick , and let me settle some
where ! "
He made no reply to this adjuration ; only plodding dog
gedly down the wooden steps, and halting before an apartment
which, from that halt and the superior quality of its furniture,
I conjectured to be the best one. There was a carpet : a
good one, but the pattern was obliterated by dust ; a fireplace
hung with cut paper, dropping to pieces ; a handsome oak
bedstead with ample crimson curtains of rather expensive
material and modern make ; but they had evidently experi
enced rough usage : the valances hung in festoons, wrenched
from their rings, and the iron rod supporting them was bent
in an arc on one side, causing the drapery to trail upon the
floor. The chairs were also damaged, many of them severely ;
and deep indentations deformed the panels of the walls. I
was endeavouring to gather resolution for entering and taking
possession, when my fool of a guide announced . “ This here is
tº maister's.” My supper by this time was cold, my appetite
gone, and my patience exhausted. I insisted on being pro
vided instantlywith a place of refuge, and means of repose.
“Whear the divil ? ” began the religious elder. “ The Lord
bless us ! The Lord forgie us ! Whear the hell wold ye
gang ? ye marred, wearisome nowt ! Ye've seen all but
Hareton's bit of a cham'er. There's not another hoile to lig
down in i' th ' hahse !"
I was so vexed , I flung my tray and its contents on the
ground ; and then seated myself at the stairs-head, hid my
face in my hands, and cried.
" Ech ! ech !” exclaimed Joseph. « Weel done, Miss Cathy!
weel done, Miss Cathy! Howsiver, t' maister sall just tum'le
o'er them brocken pots ; un' then we's hear summut ; we's
hear how it's to be. Gooid -for -naught madling ! ye desarve
pining fro' this to Churstmas, flinging t precious gifts o' God
under fooit i' yer flaysome rages ! But, I'm mista'en if ye
shew yer sperrit lang. Will Hathecliff bide sich bonny ways,
think ye ? I nobbut wish he may catch ye i' that plisky. I
nobbut wish he may ."
And so he went on scolding to his den beneath , taking the
candle with him ; and I remained in the dark . The period
of reflection succeeding this silly action , compelled me to

admit the necessity of smothering my pride and choking my
wrath, and bestirring myself to remove its effects. An unex
pected aid presentlyappeared in the shape of Throttler, whom
I now recognised as ason of our old Skulker : it had spent its
whelphood at the Grange, and was given by my father to Mr
Hindley. I fancy it knew me : it pushed its nose against mine
by way of salute, and then hastened to devour the porridge ;
while I groped from step to step, collecting the shattered
earthenware, and drying the spatters of milk from the banister
with my pocket-handkerchief. Our labours were scarcely
over when I heard Earnshaw's tread in the passage ; my
assistant tucked in his tail, and pressed to the wall ; I stole
into the nearest doorway. The dog's endeavour to avoid liim
was unsuccessful; as I guessed by a scutter down -stairs, and
a prolonged, piteous yelping. I had better luck : he passed
on , entered his chamber, and shut the door. Directly after
Joseph came up with Hareton, to put him to bed. I had
found shelter in Hareton's room, and the old man on seeing
me, said
They's rahm for boath ye un yer pride, now, I sud think
i' the habse. It's empty; ye may hev it all to yerseln, un
Him as allas maks a third, i' sich ill company !"
Gladly did I take advantage of this intimation ; and the
minute I flung myself into a chair, by the fire, I nodded, and
slept. My slumber was deep and sweet, though over far too
soon .Mr Heathcliff awoke me ; he had just come in , and
demanded, in his loving manner, what I was doing there ? I
told him the cause of my staying up so late — that he had
the key of our room in his pocket. The adjective our gave
mortal offence . He swore it was not, nor ever should be,
mine ; and he'd - But I'll not repeat his language, nor
describe his habitual conduct : he is ingenious and unresting
in seeking to gain my abhorrence ! I sometimes wonder at
him with an intensity that deadens myfear : yet, I assure you ,
a tiger or a venomous serpent could not rouse terror in me
equal to that which he wakens. He told me of Catherine's
illness, and accused my brother of causing it ; promising that
I should be Edgar's proxy in suffering, till he could get hold
of him.
I do hate him—I am wretched — I have been a fool! Beware
of uttering one breath of this to any one at the Grange. I
shall expect you every day - don't disappoint me ! ISABELLA.
CHAPTER XIV .
As soon as I had perused this epistle, I went to the master,

and informed him that his sisterhad arrived at the Heights,
and sent me a letter expressing her sorrow for Mrs Linton's
situation, and her ardent desire to see him ; with a wish that
he would transmit to her, as early as possible, some token of
forgiveness by me.
“ I have nothing to for
Forgiveness ! ” said Linton.
give her, Ellen. You may call at Wuthering Heights this
afternoon, if you like, and say that I am not angry, but I'm
sorry to have lost her ; especially as I can never think she 'll
be happy. It is out of the question my going to see her,
however : we are eternally divided; and should she really
wish to oblige me, let her persuade the villain she has married
to leave the country.”
“ And you won't write her a little note, sir ? ” I asked ,
imploringly.
66
No,” he answered. “ It is needless. My communication
with Heathcliff's family shall be as sparing as his with mine.
It shall not exist ! ”
Mr Edgar's coldness depressed me exceedingly; and all the
way from the Grange I puzzled my brains how to put more
heart into what he said, when I repeated it ; and how to soften
his refusal of even a few lines to console Isabella . I dare say
she had been on the watch for me since morning : I saw her
looking through the lattice, as I came up the garden causeway ,
and I nodded to her ; but she drew back, as if afraid of being
observed. I entered without knocking. There never was
such a dreary, dismal scene as the formerly cheerful house
presented ! I must confess, that if I had been in the young
lady's place, I would , at least, have swept the hearth, and
wiped the tables with a duster. But she already partook of
the pervading spirit of neglect which encompassed her. Her
pretty face was wan and listless ; her hair uncurled : some
locks hanging lankly down, and some carelessly twisted round
her head . Probably she had not touched her dress since
yester evening. Hindley was not there. Mr Heathcliff sat at
a table, turning over some papers in his pocket-book ; but he
rose when I appeared, asked me how I did, quite friendly, and
offered me a chair. He was the only thing there that seemed
decent ; and I thought he never looked better. So much had

circumstances altered their positions, that he would certainly
have struck a stranger as a born and bred gentleman ; and
his wife as a thorough little slattern ! She came forward
eagerly to greet me; and held out one hand to take the ex
pected letter. I shook my head. She wouldn't understand
the hint, but followed me to a sideboard , where I went to lay
my bonnet, and importuned me in a whisper to give her
directly what I had brought. Heathcliff guessed the meaning
of her maneuvres, and said —
“ If you have got anything for Isabella (as no doubt you
have, Nelly ), giveit to her. You needn't make a secret of it :
we have no secrets between us. "
“ Oh, I have nothing," I replied , thinking it best to speak
the truth at once. “My master bid me tell his sister that she
must not expect either a letter or a visit from him at present.
He sends his love, ma'am , and his wishes for your happiness,
and his pardon for the grief you have occasioned; but he
thinks that after this time, his household and the household
here should drop intercommunication , as nothing could come
of keeping it up.
Mrs Heathcliff's lip quivered slightly, and she returned to
her seat in the window . Her husband took his stand on the
hearthstone, nearme, and began to put questions concerning
Catherine. I told him as much as I thought proper of her
illness, and he extorted from me, by cross-examination, most
of the facts connected with its origin. I blamed her, as she
deserved, for bringing it all on herself; and ended by hoping
that he would follow Mr Linton's example and avoid future
interference with his family, for good or evil.
“ Mrs Linton is now just recovering,” I said, “ she'll never
be like she was, but her life is spared ; and if you really have
a regard for her, you 'll shun crossing her way again : nay ,
you 'll move out of this country entirely ; and that you may
not regret it, I'll inform you Catherine Linton is as different
now from your old friend Catherine Earnshaw, as that young
lady is different from me. Her appearance is changed greatly,
her character much more so ; and the person who is com
pelled, of necessity, to be her companion,will only sustain his
affection hereafter by the remembrance of what she once was,
by common humanity, and a sense of duty ! ”.
“ That is quite possible,” remarked Heathcliff, forcing him
self to seem calm: “ quite possible that your master should
have nothing but common humanity and a sense of duty to

fall back upon. But do you imagine that I shall leave Cathe
rine to his duty and humanity ? and can you compare my
feelings respecting Catherine to his ? Before you leave this
house, I must exact a promise from you , that you'll get me an
interview with her : consent, or refuse, I will see her ! What
do you say ? ”
" I say, MrHeathcliff," I replied, “ you must not : you never
shall, through my means . Another encounter between you
and the master would kill her altogether."
“ With your aid, that may be avoided ," he continued ; " and
should there be danger of such an event - should he be the
cause of adding a single trouble more to her existence — why,
I think I shall be justified in going to extremes! I wish you
had sincerity enough to tell me whether Catherine would
suffer greatly from his loss : the fear that she would restrains
me.
And there you see the distinction between our feelings:
had he been in my place and I in his, though I hated him
with a hatred that turned my life to gall , I never would have
raised a hand against him . You may look incredulous, if
you please ! I never would have banished him from her
society as long as she desired his. The moment her regard
ceased, I would have torn his heart out, and drunk his blood !
But, till then — if you don't believe me, you don't know me
till then , I would have died by inches before I touched a single
hair of his head !”
“ And yet," I interrupted, " you have no scruples in com
pletelyruiningall hopes of her perfect restoration,by thrusting
yourself into her remembrance now, when she has nearly
forgotten you, and involving her in a new tumult of discord
and distress ."
“ You suppose she has nearly forgotten me ? ” he said.
“ Ch, Nelly ! you know she has not ! You know as well as I
do, that for every thought she spends on Linton , she spends a
thousand on me ! At a most miserable period of my life, I
had a notion of the kind : it haunted me on my return to the
neighbourhood last summer; but only her own assurance
could make me admit the horrible idea again. And then,
Linton would be nothing, nor Hindley, nor all the dreams
that ever I dreamt. Two words wouldcomprehend my future
—death and hell : existence, after losing her, would be hell.
Yet I was a fool to fancy. for a moment that she valued Edgar x
Linton's attachment more than mine. If he loved with all the
powers of his puny being, he couldn't love as much in eighty

years as I could in a day. And Catherine has a heart as
deep as I have: the sea could be as readily contained in that
horse-trough, as her whole affection be monopolized by him .
Tush ! He is scarcely a degree dearer to her than her dog, or
her horse. It is not in him to be loved like me : how can she
love in him what he has not ? "
“ Catherine and Edgar are as fond of each other as any two
people can be,” cried Isabella , with sudden vivacity. “ No
one has a right to talk in that manner, and I won't hear my
brother depreciated in silence !”
“ Your brother is wondrous fond of you too, isn't he ? " ob
served Heathcliff , scornfully . “ He turns you adrift on the
world with surprising alacrity .”
“ He is not aware ofwhatI suffer," she replied. “ I didn't
tell him that."
“ You have been telling him something, then : you have
written , have you ? ”
“ To say that I was married, I did write — you saw the
note ."
“ And nothing since ? "
No. "
My young lady is looking sadly the worse for 'her change
of condition," I remarked. “Somebody's love comes short
in her case, obviously: whose, I may guess ; but, perhaps, I
shouldn't say."
“ I should guess it was her own,” said Heathcliff. 66 She
degenerates into a mere slut ! She is tired of trying to please
me uncommonly early. You'd hardly credit it, but the very
morrow of our wedding, she was weeping to go home. How
ever, she'll suit this house so much the better for not being
over nice, and I'll take care she does not disgrace me by
rambling abroad ."
“ Well, sir,” returned I, “ I hope you 'll consider that Mrs
Heathcliff is accustomed to be lookedafter and waited on ; and
that she has been brought up like an only daughter, whom
every one was ready to serve. You must let her have a maid
to keep things tidyabout her, and you must treat her kindly.
Whatever be your notion of Mr Edgar, you cannot doubt
that she has a capacity for strong attachments, or she wouldn't
have abandoned the elegancies, and comforts, and friends of
her former home, to fixcontentedly, in such a wilderness as
this, with you."
“ She abandoned them under a delusion ," he answered;

“picturing in me a hero of romance, and expecting unlimited
indulgences from my chivalrous devotion. I can hardly
regard her in the light of a rational creature, so obstinately
has she persisted in forming a fabulous notion of my character
and acting on the false impressions she cherished. But, at
last, I think she begins to know me: I don't perceive the silly
smiles and grimaces that provoked me at first ; and the
senseless incapability of discerning that I was in earnest when
I gave her my opinion of her infatuation and herself. It was
a marvellous effort of perspicacity to discover that I did not
love her. I believed, at one time, no lessons could teach her
that ! And yet it is poorly learnt; for this morning she
announced, as a piece of appalling intelligence, that I had
actually succeeded in makingher hate me ! A positive labour
of Hercules, I assure you ! If it be achieved, I have cause to
return thanks. Can I trustyour assertion, Isabella ? Are
you sure you hate me ? If I let you alone for half a day,
won't you come sighing and wheedling to me again ? I dare
say she would rather I had seemed all tenderness before you :
it wounds her vanity to have the truth exposed. But I don't
care who knows that the passion was wholly on one side ; and
I never told her a lie about it. She cannot accuse me of
showing one bit of deceitful softness. The first thing she saw
me do, on coming out of the Grange, was to hang up her little
dog ; and when she pleaded for it, the first words I uttered
were a wish that I had the hanging of every being belonging
to her, except one : possibly she took that exception for
herself. But no brutality disgusted her : I suppose she has
an innate admiration of it, if only her precious person were
secure from injury ! Now , was it not the depth of absurdity
—of genuine idiocy, for that pitiful, slavish, mean -minded
brachto dream that I could love her ? Tell your master ,
Nelly, that I never, in all my life, met with such an abject
thing as she is. She even disgraces the name of Linton ; and
I've sometimes relented, from pure lack of invention, in
my experiments on what she could endure, and still creep
shamefully cringing back ! But tell him , also, to set his
fraternal and magisterial heart at ease : that I keep strictly
within the limits of the law. I have avoided , up to this
period, giving her the slightest right to claim a separation ;
and, what's more, she'd thank nobody for dividing us.
If she desired to go, she might: the nuisance of her presence
outweighs the gratification to be derived from tormenting

her ! "
“ Mr Heathcliff ,” said I, “ this is the talk of a madman ;
your wife, most likely, is convinced you are mad ; and, for
that reason, she has borne with you hitherto : but now that
doubtless avail
may go, she 'll bewitched,
you say sheYou herself of the per
mission. are not so ma'am, are you, as to
remain with him of your own accord ? ”
" Take care , Ellen !" answered Isabella , her eyes sparkling
irefully ; there was no misdoubting by their expression the full
success of her partner's endeavours to make himself detested.
“ Don't put faith in a single word he speaks. He's a lying
fiend ! a monster, and not a human being ! I've been told I
might leave him before; and I've made the attempt, but I
dare not repeat it! Only Ellen, promise you 'll not mention a
syllable of his infamous conversation to my brother or
Catherine. Whatever he may pretend, he wishes to provoke
Edgar to desperation : he says he has married me on purpose
to obtain power over him ; and he shan't obtain it — I 'll die
first! I just hope, I pray, that he may forget his diabolical
prudence and kill me ! The single pleasure I can imagine is
to die, or to see him dead ! ”
“ There — that will do for the present !” said Heathcliff.
If you are called upon in a court of law, you 'll remember
her language, Nelly ! And take a good look at that coun
tenance : she's near the point which would suit me. No ;
you' re not fit to be your own guardian , Isabella, now ; and I,
beingyour legalprotector,
however distasteful
must retainyou in my custody,
the obligation may be. Go up-stairs; I
have something to say to Ellen Dean in private. That's not
the way : up-stairs, I tell you ! Why, this is the road up
stairs, child ! "
He seized, and thrust her from the room ; and returned
muttering
“ I have no pity ! I have no pity ! The more the worms
writhe, the more I yearn to crush out their entrails ! It is a
moral teething; and I grind with greater energy, in proportion
to the increase of pain .
“ Do you understand what the word pity means ? ” I said,
hastening to resume my bonnet. “ Did you ever feel a touch
of it in your life ? "
“ Put that down ! ” he interrupted , perceiving my intention
to depart. “ You are not going yet. Come here now , Nelly :
128 WUTIIERING HEIGHTS.
I must either persuade or compel you to aid me in fulfilling

my determination to see Catherine, and that without delay. I
swear that I meditate no harm : I don't desire to cause any
disturbance, or to exasperate or insult Mr Linton ; I only
wish to hear from herself how she is, and why she has been
ill ; and to ask if anything that I could do would be of use to
her. Last night, I was in the Grange garden six hours, and
I'll return there to -night; and every night I'll haunt the
place, and every day, till I find an opportunity of entering.
If Edgar Linton meets me, I shall not hesitate to knock him
down,and give him enough to insure his quiescence while I
stay. If his servants oppose me, I shall threaten them off
with these pistols. But wouldn't it be better to prevent my
coming in contact with them , or their master ? And you
could do it so easily. I'd warn you when I came, and then
you might let me in unobserved, as soon as she was alone, and
watch till I departed, your conscience quite calm : you would
be hindering mischief.”
I protested against playing that treacherous part in my
employer's house : and, besides, I urged the cruelty and
selfishness of his destroying Mrs Linton's tranquillity for his
satisfaction . “ The commonest occurrence startles her pain
fully," I said . “ She's all nerves, and she couldn't bear the
surprise, I'm positive. Don't persist, sir ! or else, I shall be
obliged to inform my master of your designs; and he'll take
measures to secure his house and its inmates from any such
unwarrantable intrusions !"
“ In that case, I'll take measures to secure you, woman ! "
exclaimed Heathcliff, " you shall not leave Wuthering Heights
till to -morrow morning. It is a foolish story to assert that
Catherine could not bear to see me ; and as to surprising
her, I don't desire it : you must prepare her — ask her if I
may come . You say she never mentions my name, and that
I am never mentioned to her. To whom should she mention
me if I am a forbidden topic in the house ? She thinks you
are all spies for her husband. Oh, I've no doubt she's in hell
among you ! I guess by her silence, as much as anything ,
what she feels. You say she is often restless , and anxious
looking : is that a proof of tranquillity ? You talk of her
mind being unsettled. How the devil could it be otherwise in
her frightful isolation ? And that insipid , paltry creature
attending her from duty and humanity ! From pity and
charity ! He might as well plant an oak in a flower-pot, and
expect it to thrive, as imagine he can restore her to vigour in

the soil of his shallow cares ! Let us settle it at once : will
you stay here, and am I to fightmy way to Catherine over
Linton and his footman ? Or will you be iny friend, as you
have been hitherto, and do what I request ? Decide ! because
there is no reason for my lingering another minute, if you
persist in your stubborn ill -nature ! "
Well, Mr Lockwood, I argued and complained, and flatly
refused him fifty times ; but in the long run he forced me to
an agreement. I engaged to carry a letter from him to my
mistress ; and should she consent, I promised to let him have
intelligence of Linton's next absence from home, when he
might come, and get in as he was able : I wouldn't be there,
and my fellow -servants should be equally out of the way .
Was it right or wrong ? I fear it was wrong, though expe
dient. I thought I prevented another explosion by my
compliance ; and I thought, too, it might create a favourable
crisis in Catherine's mental illness : and then I remembered
Mr Edgar’s stern rebuke of my carrying tales ; and I tried
to smooth away all disquietude on the subject, by affirming,
with frequent iteration, that that betrayal of trust, if it
merited so harsh an appellation, should be the last. Not
withstanding, my journey homeward was sadder than my
journey thither ; and many misgivings I had , ere I could
prevail on myself to put the missive into Mrs Linton's hand.
But here is Kenneth ; I'll go down, and tell him how much
betteryou are . My history is dree, as we say, and will serve
to while away another morning.
Dree, and dreary ! I reflected as the good woman descended
to receive the doctor ; and not exactly of the kind which I
should have chosen to amuse me. But never mind ! I'll
extract wholesome medicines from Mrs Dean's bitter herbs ;
and firstly, let me beware the fascination that lurks in Cathe
rine Heathcliff's brilliant eyes. I should be in a curious
taking if I surrendered my heart to that young person, and
the daughter turned out a second edition of the mother !
9
CHAPTER XV .
ANOTHER week over -- and I am so many days nearerhealth ,

and spring ! I have now heard all my neighbour's history,
at different sittings, as the housekeeper could spare time from
more important occupations. I'll continue it in her own
words, only a little condensed. She is, on the whole, a very
fair narrator, and I don't think I could improve her style.
In the evening, she said, the evening of my visit to the
Heights, I knew , as well as if I saw him , that Mr Heathcliff
was about the place ; and I shunned going out, because I still
carried his lctter in my pocket, and didn't want to be threatened
or teased any more. I had made up my mind not to give it
till my master went somewhere, as I could not guess how its
receipt would affect Catherine. The consequence was, that it
did not rcach her before the lapse of three days. The fourth
was Sunday, and I brought it into her room after the family
were gone to church .
There was a man -servant left to keep
the house with me, and we generally made a practice of
locking the doors during the hours of service ; but on that
occasion the weather was so warm and pleasant that I set
them wide open , and , to fulfil my engagement, as I knew who
would be coming, I told my companion that the mistress
wished very much for some oranges, and he must run over to
the village and get a few , to be paid for on the morrow . He
departed, and I went up -stairs.
Mrs Linton sat in aloose, white dress, with a light shawl
over hershoulders, in the recess of the open window, as usual.
Her thick, long hair, had been partly removed at the beginning
of her illness , and now she wore it simply combed in its
natural tresses over her temples and neck . Her appearance .
was altered , as I had told Heathcliff ; but when she was calm ,
there seemed unearthly beauty in the change. The flash of
her eyes had been succeeded by a dreamy and melancholy
softness ; they no longer gave the impression of looking at
the objects around her: they appeared always to gaze beyond,
and far beyond — you would have said out of this world .
Then, the paleness of her face — its haggard aspect having
vanished as she recovered flesh - and thepeculiar expression
arising from her mental state, though painfully suggestive of
their causes, added to the touching interest which sheawakened ;
and — invariably to me, I know, and to any person who saw

her, I should think — refuted more tangible proofs of conva
lescence, and stamped her as one doomed to decay.
A book lay spread on the sill before her, and the scarcely
perceptible wind fluttered its leaves at intervals. I believe
Linton had laid it there : for she never endeavoured to divert
herself with reading, or occupation of any kind, and he would
spend many an hour in trying to entice her attention to some
She was
subject which had formerly been her amusement.
conscious of his aim, and in her better moods endured his
efforts placidly, only showing their uselessness by now and
then suppressing a wearied sigh , and checking him at last
with the saddest of smiles and kisses. At other times , she
would turn petulantly away, and hide her face in her hands,
or even push him off angrily ; and then he took care to let
her alone, for he was certain of doing no good .
Gimmerton chapel bells were still ringing ; and the full,
mellow flow of the beck in the valley came soothingly on the
ear .
It was a sweet substitute for the yet absent murmur of
the summer foliage, which drowned that music about the
Grange when the trees were in leaf. At Wuthering Heights
it always sounded on quiet days following a great thaw or
a season of steady rain. And of Wuthering Heights Cathe
rine was thinking as she listened : that is, if she thought or
listened at all ; but she had the vague, distant look I mentioned
before, which expressed no recognition of material things
either by ear or eye.
“There's a letter for you, Mrs Linton ,” I said, gently
inserting it in one hand that rested on her knee. 46 You must
read it immediately , because it wants an answer. Shall I
break the seal ? " “ Yes," she answered , without altering the
direction of her eyes. I opened it — it was very short. “ Now ,”
I continued , “ read it.” She drew away her hand , and let it
fall. I replaced it in her lap, and stood waiting till it should
please her to glance down ; but that movement was so long
delayed that atlast I resumed
“ Must I read it, ma'am ? It is from Mr Heathcliff. ”
There was a start and a troubled gleam of recollection, and
a struggle arrange her ideas. She lifted the letter, and
seemed to peruse it; and when she came to the signature she
sighed : yet still I found she had not gathered its import, for,
upon my desiring to hear her reply , she merely pointed to
the name, and gazed at me with mournful and questioning

cagerness.
Well, he wishes to see you ,” said I, guessing her need of
an interpreter. “ He's in the garden by this time, and im
patient to know what answer I shall bring ."
As I spoke, I observed a large dog lying on the sunny grass
beneath raise its ears as if about to bark , and then smoothing
them back , announce, by a wag of the tail , that some one
approached whom it did not consider a stranger. Mrs Linton
bent forward, and listened breathlessly. The minute after a
step traversed the hall; the open house was too tempting for
Heathcliff toresist walking in : most likely he supposed that
I was inclined to shirk my promise, and so resolved to trust to
his own audacity . With straining eagerness Catherine gazed
towards the entrance of her chamber. He did not hit the
right room directly, she motioned me to admit him , but he
found it out ere I could reach the door, and in a stride or two
was at her side, and had her grasped in his arms.
He neither spoke nor loosed his hold for some five minutes,
during which period he bestowed more kisses than ever he
gave in his life before, I dare say : but then my mistress had
kissed him first, and I plainly saw that he could hardly bear,
for downright agony, to look into her face! The same con
viction had stricken him as me, from the instant he beheld
her, that there was no prospect of ultimate recovery there
she was fated, sure to die.
16
Oh , Cathy ! Oh, my life ! how can I bear it ? ” was the
first sentence he uttered, in a tone that did not seek to disguise
his despair. And now he stared at her so earnestly that I
thought the very intensity of his gaze would bring tears into
his eyes; but they burned with anguish : they did not melt.
“ What now ? ” said Catherine, leaning back, and returning
his look with a suddenly clouded brow: her humour was a
mere vane for constantly varying caprices. “ You and Edgar
have broken my heart, Heathcliff! And you both come to
bewail the deed to me, as if you were the people to be pitied !
I shallnot pity you , not I. You have killed me
-and thriven
on it, I think. How strong you are ! How many years do
mean to live after I am gone ? ”
Heathcliff had knelt on one knee to embrace her ; he
attempted to rise, but she seized his hair, and kept him down.
“ I wish I could hold you," she continued, bitterly , " till we
were both dead ! I shouldn't care what you suffered . I care

nothing for your sufferings. Why shouldn't you suffer ? I
do ! Will you forget me ? Will you be happy when I am in
the earth ? Will you say twenty years hence, That's the
grave of CatherineEarnshaw. I loved her long ago, and was
wretched to lose her ; but it is past. I've loved many others
since : my children are dearer to me than she was ; and , at
death, I shall not rejoice that I am going to her : I shall be
sorry thatI must leave them ! ' Will you say so, Heathcliff ? ”
“Don't torture me till I'm as mad as yourself,” cried he,
wrenching his head free, and grinding his teeth .
The two, to a cool spectator, made a strange and fearful
picture. Well might Catherine deem that heaven would be a
land of exile to her, unless with her mortal body she cast away
her moral character also. Her present countenance had a
wild vindictiveness in its white cheek, and a bloodless lip and
scintillating eye ; and she retained in her closed fingers a
portion of the locks she had been grasping. As to her com
panion, while raising himself with one hand, he had taken her
arm with the other ; and so inadequate was his stock of gentle
ness to the requirements of her condition, that on his letting
go I saw four distinct impressions left blue in the colourless
skin.
“ Are you possessed with a devil,” he pursued savagely , " to
talk in that manner to me when you are dying ? Do you
reflect that all those words will be branded in my memory,
and eating deeper eternally after you have left me ? ' You know
you lie to say I have killed you : and, Catherine, you know
that I could as soon forget you as my existence ! Is it not
sufficient for your infernal selfishness, that while you are at
peace I shall writhe in the torments of hell ?
“ I shall not be at peace," moaned Catherine, recalled to a
sense of physical weakness by the violent, unequal throbbing
of her heart, which beat visibly and audibly under this excess
of agitation . She said nothing further till the paroxysm was
over ; then she continued, more kindly—
“ I'm not wishing you greater torment than I have, Heath
cliff. I only wish us never to be párted : and should a word
of mine distress you hereafter, think I feel the same distress
underground, and for my own sake, forgive me ! Come here
and kneel down again ! You never harmed me in your life.
Nay, if you nurse anger, that will be worse to remember than
myharsh words! Won't you come here again ? Doi"
Heathcliff went to the back of her chair, and leant over, but
not so far as to let her see his face, which was livid with
emotion. She bent round to look at him ; he would not per
mit it : turning abruptly, he walked to the fireplace, where he
stood, silent, with his back towards us. Mrs Linton's glance
followed him suspiciously : every movement woke a new
sentiment in her. After a pause and a prolonged gaze ,she
resumed ; addressing me in accents of indignant disappoint
ment:
Oh1,, you see, Nelly, he would not relent a moment to keep
me out of the grave. That is how I'm loved ! Well, never
mind. That is not my Heathcliff. I shall love mine yet ; and
take him with me : he's in my soul. And ," added she musingly,
“the thing that irks me most is this shattered prison, after all.
I'm tired of being enclosed here. I'm wearying to escape
into that glorious world, and to be always there: not seeing it
dimly through tears, and yearning for it through the walls of
an aching heart; but really with it, and in it. Nelly , you
think you are better and more fortunate than I ; in full health
and strength : you are sorry for me - very soon that will be
altered . I shall be sorry for you. I shall be incomparably
beyond and above you all. I wonder he won't be near me !"
She went on to herself. “ I thought he wished it. Heathcliff,
dear! you should not be sullen now. Do come to me,
Heathcliff.”
In her eagerness she rose and supported herself on the arm
of the chair. At that earnest appeal he turned to her, looking
absolutely desperate. His eyes, wide and wet, at last flashed
fiercely on her ; his breast heaved convulsively. An instant
they held asunder, and then how they met I hardly saw ,
but Catherine made a spring, and he caught her, and they
were locked in an embrace from which I thought my mistress
would never be released alive : in fact, to my eyes, she seemed
directly insensible. He flung himself into the nearest seat,
and on my approaching hurriedly to ascertain if she had
fainted , he gnashed at me, and foamed like a mad dog, and
gathered her to him with greedy jealousy. I did not feel as
if I were in the company of a creature of my own species :
it appeared that he would not understand, though I spoke
to him ; so I stood off, and held my tongue, in great per
plexity.
A movement of Catherine's relieved me a little presently :
she put up her hand to clasp his neck, and bring her cheek to
his as he held her ; while he, in return , covering her with frantic
caresses, said wildly
“ You teach me now how cruel you've been — cruel and
false . Why did you despise me ? Why did you betray your
own heart, Cathy ? I have not one word of comfort. You
deserve this. You have killed yourself . Yes, you may kiss
me, and cry ; and ring out my kisses and tears: they'll blight
you — they'll damn you. You loved me — then what right had
you to leave me ? What right- answer mee for the poor
fancy you felt for Linton ? Because misery and degradation,
and death, and nothing that God or Satan could inflict would
have parted us, you, of your own will , did it. I have not
broken your heart — you have broken it ; and in breaking it,
you have broken mine . So much the worse for me, that I am
strong. Do I want to live ? What kind of living will it be
when you — oh, God I would you like to live with your soul in
the grave ? "
“ Let me alone. Let me alone,” sobbed Catherine. « If
I've done wrong, I'm dying for it. It is enough 1 You
left me too : but I won't upbraid you ! I forgive you. For
give me ! "
“ It is hard to forgive, and to look at those eyes, and feel
those wasted hands,” he answered. “Kiss me again ; and don't
let me see your eyes ! I forgive what you have done to me.
I love my murderer - but yours ! How can I ? "
They were silent — their faces hid against each other, and
washed by each other's tears. At least, I suppose the weeping
was on both sides ; as it seemed Heathcliff could weep on a
great occasion like this.
I grew very uncomfortable, meanwhile ; for the afternoon
wore fast away, the man whom I had sent off returned from
his errand, and I could distinguish, by the shine of the
western sun up the valley, a concourse thickening outside
Gimmerton chapel porch .
“ Service is over ," I announced . My master will be here
in half an hour."
Heathcliff groaned a curse, and strained Catherine closer :
she never moved.
Ere long I perceived a group of the servants passing up
the road towards the kitchen wing. Mr Linton was not far
behind ; he opened the gate himself and sauntered slowly up,
probably enjoying the lovely afternoon that breathed as soft as
summer .
“Now he is here," I exclaimed. “ ForHeaven's sake,hurry

down ! You 'll not meet any one on the front stairs. Do be
quick ; and stay among the trees till he is fairly in .”
“ I must go, Cathy," said Heathcliff, seeking to extricate
himself fromhis companion's arms. " But if I live, I 'll see
you again before you are asleep. I won't stray five yards
from your window . "
“ You must not go !" she answered, holding him as firmly
as her strength allowed. “ You shall not, I tell you ."
“ For one hour," he pleaded earnestly.
“ Not for one minute,” she replied.
“ I must - Linton will be up immediately," persisted the
alarmed intruder.
He would have risen, and unfixed her fingers by the act
-she clung fast, gasping : there was mad resolution in her
face .
" No !” she shrieked . Oh , don't, don't go. It is the last
time ! Edgar will not hurt us. Heathcliff, I shall die ! I
shall die ! "
“ Damn the fool! There he is," cried Heathcliff, sinking
back into his seat. “ Hush , my darling ! Hush, hush,
Catherine! I'll stay. If he shot me so, I'd expire with a
blessing on my lips."
And there they were fast again. I heard my master
mounting the stairs—the cold sweat ran from my forehead :
I was horrified.
“Are you going to listen to her ravings ? " I said , passion
ately. " She does not know what she says. Will you ruin
her, because she has not wit to help herself ? Get up ! You
could be freeinstantly. That is the most diabolical deed that
ever you did. We are all done for - master, mistress, and
servant."
I wrung my hands, and cried out; and Mr Linton hastened
his step at the noise. In the midst of my agitation, I was
sincerely glad to observe that Catherine's arms had fallen
relaxed, and her head hung down.
“ She's fainted , or dead," I thought: so much the better.
Far better that she should be dead, than lingering a burden
and a misery -maker to all about her."
Edgar sprang to his unbidden guest, blanched with astonish
ment and rage. What he meant to do, I cannot tell ; however,
the other stopped all demonstrations, at once, by placing the
lifeless -looking form in his arms.
“ Look there !” he said, “ Unless you be a fiend, help her

first — then you shall speak to me ! ”
He walked into the parlour, and sat down. Mr Linton
summoned me, and with great difficulty, and after resorting to
manymeans, we managed to restore her to sensation ; but she
was all bewildered ; she sighed,and moaned, and knew nobody.
Edgar, in his anxiety for her, forgot her hated friend. I did
not. I went, at the earliest opportunity, and besought him to
depart ; affirming that Catherine was better, and he should
hear from me in the morning how she passed the night.
“ I shall not refuse to go out of doors,” he answered ; " but
I shall stay in the garden : and, Nelly, mind you keep your
word to-morrow. I shall be under those larch trees. Mind I
or I pay another visit, whether Linton be in or not.”
He sent a rapid glance through the half -open door of the
chamber, and, ascertaining that what I stated was apparently
true, delivered the house of his luckless presence.
CHAPTER XVI.
ABOUT twelve o'clock that night, was born the Catherine you
saw at Wuthering Heights : a puny, seven months' child ; and
two hours after the mother died, having never recovered suffi
cient consciousness to miss Heathcliff, or know Edgar. The
latter's distraction at his bereavement is a subject too painful
to be dwelt on ; its after effects showed how deep the sorrow
sunk. A great addition, in my eyes, was his being left with
out an heir. I bemoaned that, as I gazed on the feeble
orphan ; and I mentally abused old Linton for ( what was
only natural partiality ) the securing his estate to his own
daughter, instead of his son's. An unwelcomed infant it was,
poor thing ! It might have wailed out of life, and nobody
cared a morsel, during those first hours of existence. We
redeemed the neglect afterwards; but its beginning was as
friendless as its end is likely to be.
Next morning - bright and cheerful out of doors - stole
softened in through the blinds of the silent room, and suffused
the couch and its occupant with a mellow, tender glow. Edgar
Linton had his head laid on the pillow, and his eyes shut. His
young and fair features were almost as deathlike as those of
the form beside him, and almost as fixed : but his was the
hush of exhausted anguish, and hers of perfect peace. Her
brow smooth, her lids closed, her lips wearing the expression
of a smile ; no angel in heaven could be more beautiful than
she appeared. And I partook of the infinite calm in which
she lay : my mind was never in a holier frame than while
I gazed on that untroubled image of Divine rest. I instinc
tively echoed the words she had uttered a few hours before :
“ Incomparably beyond and above us all ! Whether still on
earth or now in heaven, her spirit is at home with God ! "
I don't know if it be a peculiarity in me, but I am seldom
otherwise than happy while watching in the chamber of death ,
should no frenzied or despairing mourner share the duty with
me . I see a repose that neither earth nor hell can break, and
I feel an assurance of the endless and shadowless hereafter
the Eternity they have entered—where life is boundless in its
duration, and love in its sympathy, and joy in its fulness. I
noticed on that occasion how much selfishness there is even in
a love like Mr Linton's, when he so regretted Catherine's
blessed release ! To be sure , one might have doubted, after
the wayward and impatient existence she had led, whether she
merited a haven of peace at last. One might doubt in seasons
of cold reflection ; but not then , in the presence of her corpse.
It asserted its own tranquillity, which seemed a pledge of equal
quiet to its former inhabitants.
Do you believe such people are happy in the other world ,
sir ? I'd give a great deal to know.
I declined answering Mrs Dean's question, which struck
me as something heterodox . She proceeded :
Retracing the course of Catherine Linton, I fear we have
no right to think she is ; but we'll leave her with her Maker.
The master looked asleep, and I ventured soon after sunrise
to quit the room and steal out to the pure refreshing air.
The servants thought me gone to shake off the drowsiness of
my protracted watch ; in reality, my chief motive was seeing
Mr Heathcliff. If he had remained among the larches all
night, he would have heard nothing of the stir at the Grange ;
unless, perhaps, he might catch the gallop of the messenger
going to Gimmerton . If he had come nearer, he would pro
bably be aware, from the lights flitting to and fro, and the
opening and shutting of the outer doors, that all was not
right within. I wished, yet feared , to find him. I felt the
terrible news must be told, and I longed to get it over ; but
how to do it, I did not know. He was there — at least a few

yards further in the park ; leant against an old ash tree, his
hat off, and his hair soaked with the dew that had gathered
on the budded branches, and fell pattering round him. He
had been standing a long time in that position, for I saw a
pair of ousels passing and repassing scarcely three feet from
him , busy in building their nest, and regarding his proximity
no more than that of a piece of timber. They flew off at my
approach , and he raised his eyes and spoke :
“ She's dead !” he said ; “ I've not waited for you to learn
that. Put your handkerchief away — don't snivel before me.
Damn you all ! she wants none of your tears ! ”
I was weeping as much for him as her : we do sometimes
pity creatures that have none of the feeling either for them
selves or others. When I first looked into his face, Iperceived
that he had got intelligence of the catastrophe ; anda foolish
notion struck me that his heart was quelled and he prayed,
because his lips moved and his gaze was bent on the ground.
“ Yes, she's dead ! " I answered, checking my sobs and
drying my cheeks. “ Gone to heaven , I hope ; where we
may, every one, join her, if we take due warning and leave
our evil ways to follow good !"
“ Did she take due warning, then ?” asked Heathcliff,
attempting a sneer. “ Did she die like a saint ? Come, give
me a true history of the event. How did
He endeavoured to pronounce the name, but could not
manage it ; and compressing his mouth he held a silent
combat with his inward agony, defying, meanwhile, my sym
pathy with an unflinching ferocious stare. " How did she
die ? ” he resumed, at last — fain , notwithstanding his hardi
hood, to have a support behind him ; for, after the struggle,
he trembled, in spite of himself, to his very finger- ends.
“ Poor wretch " I thought ; “ you have a heart and nerves
the same as your brother men ! Why should you be anxious
to conceal them ? Your pride cannot blind God ! You tempt
him to wring them, till he forces a cry of humiliation . "
Quietly as a lamb !” I answered, aloud . " She drew a
sigh, and stretched herself,like a child reviving, and sinking
again to sleep ; and five minutes after I felt one little pulse at
her heart, and nothing more !"
“ And — did she ever mention me ? ” he asked , hesitating,
as if he dreaded the answer to his question would introduce
details that he could not bear to hear.
“ Her senses never returned : she recognised nobody from

the time you left her,” I said: “ She lies with a sweet smile
on her face ; and her latest ideas wandered back to pleasant
early days. Her life closed in a gentle dream — may she wake
as kindly in the other world !"
“ May she wake in torment !” he cried, with frightful
vehemence, stamping his foot, and groaning in a sudden
paroxysm of ungovernable passion. “ Why, she's a liar to
the end ! Where is she ? Not there — not in heaven - not
perished — where ? Oh ! you said you cared nothing for my
sufferings ! And I pray one prayer - I repeat it till my tongue
stiffens — Catherine Earnshaw , may you not rest as long as I
am living ! You said I killed you — haunt me, then . The
murdered do haunt their murderers, I believe. I know that
ghosts have wandered on earth. Be with me always — take
any form — drive me mad ! only do not leave me in this abyss,
where I cannot find you ! Oh , God ! it is unutterable ! I
cannot live without my life ! I cannot live without my soul !"
He dashed his head against the knotted trunk ; and , lifting
up his eyes, howled, not like a man , but like a savage beast
being goaded to death with knives and spears. I observed
severalsplashes of blood about the bark of the tree, and his
hand and forehead were both stained ; probably the scene I
witnessed was a repetition of others acted during the night.
It hardly moved my compassion — it appalled me : still, I felt
reluctant to quit him so. But the moment he recollected
himself enough to noticeme watching, he thundered a com
mand for me to go, and I obeyed. He was beyond my skill
to quiet or console !
Mrs Linton's funeral was appointed to take place on the
Friday following her decease ; and till then her coffin remained
uncovered, and strewn with flowers and scented leaves, in the
great drawing-room. Linton spent his days and nights there,
a sleepless guardian; and—a circumstance concealed from all
but me - Heathcliff spent his nights, at least, outside, equally
a stranger to repose. I held no communication with him :
still, I was conscious of his design to enter, if he could ; and
on the Tuesday, a little after dark, when my master, from
sheer fatigue, had been compelled to retire a couple of hours,
I went and opened one of the windows ; moved by his perse
verance , to give him a chance of bestowing on the faded
image of his idol one final adieu. He did not omit to avail
himself of the opportunity, cautiously and briefly : too cau
tiously to betray his presence by the slightest noise. Indeed,

I shouldn't have discovered that he had been there, except for
the disarrangement of the drapery about the corpse's face, and
for observing on the floor a curl of light hair, fastened with a
silver thread ; which , on examination, I ascertained to have
been taken from a locket hung round Catherine's neck.
Heathcliff had opened the trinket and cast out its contents,
replacing them by a black lock of his own. I twisted the two,
and enclosed them together.
Mr Earnshaw was, of course, invited to attend the remains
ofhis sister to the grave ; he sent no excuse, but he never
came ; so that, besides her husband, the mourners were
wholly composed of tenants and servants. Isabella was not
asked.
The place of Catherine's interment, to the surprise of the
villagers, was neither in the chapel under the carved monu
ment of the Lintons, nor yet by the tombs of her own relations,
outside. It was dug on a green slope in a corner of the kirk
yard, where the wall is so low that heath and bilberry plants
have climbed over it from the moor ; and peat mould almost
buries it. Her husband lies in the same spot now ; and they
have each a simple headstone above, anda plain grey block
at their feet, to mark the graves.
CHAPTER XVII.
That Friday made the last of our fine days for a month . In
the evening, the weather broke: the wind shifted from south
to north -east, and brought rain first, and then sleet and snow.
On the morrow one could hardly imagine that there had been
three weeks of summer : the primroses and crocuses were
hidden under wintry drifts ; the larks were silent, the young
leaves of the early trees smitten and blackened . And dreary,
and chill, and dismal, that morrow did creep over ! My
master kept his room ; I took possession of the lonely parlour,
converting it into a nursery : and there I was, sitting with
the moaning doll of a child laid on my knee ; rocking it to
and fro, and watching, meanwhile, the still driving flakes
build up the uncurtained window, when the door opened, and
some person entered , out of breath and laughing ! My anger
was greater than my astonishment for a minute. I supposed

it one of the maids , and I cried
“ Have done ! How dare you show your giddiness here ?
What would Mr Linton say if he heard you ? "
“Excuse me ! ” answered a familiar voice ; “ but I know
Edgar is in bed, and I cannot stop myself.”
With that the speaker came forward to the fire, panting and
holding her hand to her side.
“ I have run the whole way from Wuthering Heights ! ”
she continued, after a pause ; “ except where I've flown. I
couldn't count the number of falls I've had. Oh, I'm aching
all over ! Don't be alarmed ! There shall be an explanation
as soon as I can give it ; only just have the goodness to step
out and order the carriage to take me on to Gimmerton, and
tell a servant to seek upa few clothes in my wardrobe . ”
The intruder was Mrs Heathcliff. She certainly seemed in
no laughing predicament: her hair streamed on her shoulders,
dripping with snow and water ; she was dressed in the girlish
dress she commonly wore, befitting her age more than her
position : a low frock with short sleeves, and nothing on either
head or neck. The frock was of light silk, and clung to her
with wet, and her feet were protected merely by thin slippers;
add to this a deep cut under one ear, which only the cold pre
vented from bleeding profusely, a white face scratched and
bruised, and a frame hardly able to support itself, through
fatigue ; and you may fancy my first fright was not much
allayed when I had 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 dry things ; and certainly you shall
not go to Gimmerton to-night, so it is needless to order the
carriage."
66
Certainly, I shall,” she said ; " walking or riding : yet
I've no objection to dress myself decently. And - ah, see
how it flows down my neck now ! The fire does make it
smart.”
She insisted on my fulfilling her directions, before she would
let me touch her ; and not till after the coachman had been
instructed to get ready, and a maid set to packup some neces
sary attire, did I obtain her consent for binding the wound
and helping to change hergarments.
“ Now , Ellen,” she said , when my task was finished and
she was seated in an easy chair on the hearth , with a cup of
tea before her, “ you sit down opposite me, and put poor
Catherine's baby away: I don't like to see it ! You mustn't
think I care little for Catherine, because I behaved so foolishly
on entering: I've cried, too, bitterly — yes, more than any one
else has reason to cry . We parted unreconciled, you remem
ber, and I shan't forgive myself. But, for all that, I was not
going to sympathize with him — the brute beast ! O, give me
the poker ! This is the last thing of his I have about me:"
she slipped the gold ring from her third finger, and threw it
on the floor. “ I'll smash it ! ” she continued, striking it with
childish spite, “ and then I'll burn it ! " and she took and
dropped the misused article among the coals. 66 There ! he
shall buy another, if he gets me back again. He'd be capable
of coming to seek me, to tease Edgar. I dare not stay, lest
that notion should possess his wicked head ! And besides,
Edgar has not been kind, has he ? And I won't come suing
for his assistance ; nor will I bring him into more trouble.
Necessity compelled me to seek shelter here ; though, if I had
not learned he was out of the way , I'd have halted at the
kitchen , washed my face, warmed myself, got you to bring
what I wanted, and departed again to anywhere 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 not his match in strength : I wouldn't have run
till I'd seen him all but demolished, had Hindley been able
to do it ! "
“ Well, don't talk so fast, miss !" I interrupted, " you 'll
disorder the handkerchief I have tied round your face, and
make the cut bleed again. Drink your tea, and take breath
and give over laughing : laughteris sadly out of place under
this roof, and in your condition ! ”
“ An undeniable truth," she replied. “ Listen to that child !
It maintains a constant wail - send it out of my hearing for an
hour ; I shan't stay any longer.”
I rang the bell, and committed it to a servant's care ; and
then I inquired what had urged her to escape from Wuther
ing Heights in such an unlikely plight, and where she meant
to go, as she refused remaining with us.
“ I ought, and I wish to remain ," answered she, “ to cheer
Edgar and take care of the baby, for two things, and because
the Grange is my right home. But I tell you he wouldn't let
me ! Do you think he could bear to see me grow fat and
merry - could bear to think that we were tranquil, and not
resolve on poisoning our comfort ? Now, I have the satisfac

tion of being sure that he detests me, to the point of its annoy
ing him seriously to have me within earshot or eyesight : I
notice, when I enter his presence, the muscles of his counte
nance are involuntarily distorted into an expression of hatred ;
partly arising from his knowledge of the good causes I have
to feel that sentiment for him , and partly from original
aversion . It is strong enough to make me feel pretty certain
that he would not chaseme over England, supposing I contrived
a clear escape ; and therefore I must get quite away . I've
recovered from my first desire to be killed by him : I'd rather
he'd kill himself ! He has extinguished my love effectually,
and so I'm at my ease. I can recollect yet how I loved him ;
and can dimly imagine that I could still be loving him, if
no, no ! Even if he had doted on me, the devilish nature
would have revealed its existence somehow . Catherine had
an awfully perverted taste to esteem him so dearly, knowing
him so well. Monster ! would that he could be blotted out of
creation, and out of my memory ! ”
“ Hush , hush ! He's a human being,” I said. 56 Be more
charitable : there are worse men than he is yet ! ”
“ He's not a human being,” she retorted ; 66 and he has no
claim on my charity . I gave him my heart , and he took and
pinched it to death , and flung it back to me. People feel
with their hearts, Ellen : and since he has destroyed mine, I
have not power to feel for him : and I would not, though he
groaned from this to his dying day, and wept tears of blood
for Catherine ! No, indeed, indeed, I wouldn't !” And here
Isabella began to cry ; but, immediately dashing the water
from her lashes, she recommenced . “ You asked , what has
driven me to flight at last ? I was compelled to attempt it,
because I had succeeded in rousing his rage a pitch above his
malignity. Pulling out the nerves with red hot pincers
requires more coolness than knocking on the head. Ile was
worked up to forget the fiendish prudence he boasted of, and
proceeded to murderous violence . I experienced pleasure in
being able to exasperate him : the sense of pleasure woke my
instinct of self-preservation , so I fairly broke free ; and if ever
I come into his hands again he is welcome to a signal revenge .
Yesterday, you know, Mr Earnshaw should have been
at the funeral. He kept himself sober for the purpose
tolerably sober : not going to bed mad at six o'clock and
getting up drunk at twelve . Consequently, he rose , in suicidal
low spirits, as fit for the church as for a dance ; and instead ,
he sat down by the fire and swallowed gin or brandy by
tumblerfuls.
“ Heathcliff — I shudder to name him ! has been a stranger
in the house from last Sunday till to-day. Whether the angels
have fed him , or his kin beneath, I cannot tell ; but he has
not eaten a meal with us for nearly a week. 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 ! There he has continued, praying like a methodist :
only the deity he implored is senseless dust and ashes ; and
God, when addressed, was curiously confounded with his own
black father! After concluding these precious orisons — and
they lasted generally till he grew hoarse and his voice was
strangled in his throat — he would be off again ; always
straight down to the Grange ! I wonder Edgar did not send
for a constable, and give him into custody ! For me, grieved
as I was about Catherine, it was impossible to avoid regarding
this season of deliverance from degrading oppression as a
holiday.
“ I recovered spirits sufficient to hear Joseph's eternal
lectures without weeping, and to move up and down the
house less with the foot of a frightened thief than formerly.
You wouldn't think that I should cry at anything Joseph
could say ; but he and Hareton are detestable companions.
I'd rather sit with Hindley, and hear his awful talk, than with
8
' t little maister ' and his stanch supporter, that odious old
man! When Heathcliff is in , I'm often obliged to seek the
kitchen and their society, or starve among the damp unin- '
habited chambers ; when he is not, as was the case this week,
I establish a table and chair at one corner of the house fire,
and never mind how Mr Earnshaw may occupy himself ; and
he does not interfere with my arrangements. He is quieter
now than he used to be, if no one provokes him : more sullen
and depressed, and less furious. Joseph affirms he's sure he's
an altered man : that the Lord has touched his heart, and he
is saved ‘ so as by fire .' I'm puzzled to detect signs of the
favourable change : but it is not my business.
“ Yester -evening I sat in my nook reading some old books
till late on towards twelve. It seemed so dismal to go up
stairs, with the wild snow blowing outside, and my thoughts
continually reverting to the kirkyard and the new -made
grave ! I dared hardly lift my eyes from the page before
10
me, that melancholy scene so instantly usurped its place.

Hindley sat opposite, his head leant on his hand ; perhaps
meditating on the same subject. He had ceased drinking at
a point below irrationality, and had neither stirred nor spoken
during two or three hours. There was no sound through the
house but the moaning wind, which shook the windows every
now and then, the faint crackling of the coals, and the click
of my snuffers as removed at intervals the long wick of the
candle. Hareton and Joseph were probably fast asleep in
bed. It was very, very sad : and while I read I sighed, for it
seemed as if all joy had vanished from the world, never to be
restored .
“ The doleful silence was broken at length by the sound of
the kitchen latch : Heathcliff had returned from his watch
earlier than usual ; owing, I suppose, to the sudden storm.
That entrance was fastened, and we heard him coming round
to get in by the other. I rose with an irrepressible expres
sion 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't object ? '
“ No, you may keep him out the whole night for me,' I
answered . Do ! put the key in the lock, and draw the bolts.'
“ Earnshaw accomplished this ere his guest reached the
front; he then came and brought his chair to the other side
of my table, leaning over it, and searching in my eyes for a
sympathy with the burning hate that gleamed from his : as
he both looked and felt like an assassin , he couldn't exactly
find that ; but he discovered enough to encourage him to
speak.
“ You, and I,' he said, " have each a great debt to settle
with the man out yonder ! If we were neither of us cowards,
we might combine to discharge it. Are you as soft as your
brother ? Are you willing to endure to the last, and not once
attempt a repayment?'
" I'm weary of enduring now,' I replied ; and I'd be glad
of a retaliation that wouldn't recoil on myself ; but treachery
and violence are spears pointed at both ends: they wound those
who resort to them worse than their enemies .'
“ Treachery and violence are a just return for treachery
and violence !' cried Hindley . ' Mrs Heathcliff, I'll ask you
to do nothing; but sit still and be dumb. Tell me now, can
you ? I'm sure you would have as much pleasure as I in

witnessing the conclusion of the fiend's existence ; he'll be your
death unless you overreach him ; and he'll be my ruin . Damn
the hellish villain ! He knocks at the door as if he were master
here already! Promise to hold your tongue, and before that
clock strikes -- it wants three minutes ofone-you 're a free
woman ! ”
“ He took the implements which I described to you in my
letter from his breast, and would have turned down the candle.
I snatched it away, however, and seized his arm .
" I'll not hold my tongue ! ' I said ; 'you mustn't touch
hiin . Let the door remain shut, and be quiet !'
“ No! I've formed my resolution , and by God I'll execute
it ! ' cried the desperate being . “ I'll do you a kindness in
spite of yourself, and Hareton justice ! And you needn't
trouble your head to screen me ; Catherine is gone. Nobody
alive would regret me, or be ashamed, though I cut my throat
this minute - and it's time to make an end ! '
I might as well have struggled with a bear, or reasoned
with a lunatic. The only resource left me was to run to a
lattice and warn his intended victim of the fate which awaited
him.
" You'd better seek shelter somewhere else to-night ! ' I
exclaimed in rather a triumphant tone. • Mr Earnshaw has a
mind to shoot you , if you persist in endeavouring to enter.'
6. You'd better open the door, you he answered ,
addressing meby some elegant term that I don't care to repeat.
" I shall not meddle in the matter,' I retorted again. Come
in and get shot, if you please ! I've done my duty .'
“ With that I shut the window and returned to my place
by the fire; having too small a stock of hypocrisy at my
command to pretend any anxiety for the danger that menaced
him . Earnshaw swore passionately at me :affirming that I
loved the villain yet ; and calling me all sorts of names for
the base spirit I evinced. And I, in my secret heart ( and
conscience never reproached me), thought what a blessing it
would be for him should Heathcliff put him out of misery ;
and what a blessing for me should he send Heathcliff to his
right abode ! As sat nursing these reflections, the casement
behind me was banged on to the floor by a blow from the
latter individual, and his black countenance looked blight
ingly through. The stanchions stood too close to suffer his
shoulders to follow , and I smiled, exulting in my fancied
security. His hair and clothes were whitened with snow, and
his sharp cannibal teeth , revealed by cold and wrath, gleamed
through the dark.
“ Isabella, letme in, or I'll make you repent! ' he girned ,'
as Joseph calls it.
" I cannot commit murder,' I replied. “ Mr Hindley
stands sentinel with a knife and loaded pistol.'
" Let me in by the kitchen door,' he said.
“ Hindley will be there before me,' I answered : ( and
that 's a poor love of yours that cannot bear a shower of
snow ! We were left at peace in our beds as long as the
summer moon shone, but the moment a blast of winter
returns, you must run for shelter ! Heathcliff, if I were you ,
I'd go stretch myself over her grave and die like a faithful
dog . The world is surely not worth living in now , is it ?
You had distinctly impressed on me the idea that Catherine
was the whole joy of your life: I can't imagine how you think
of surviving her loss.'
“ He's there , is he ? ' exclaimed my companion , rushing to
the gap . ' If I can get my arm out I can hit him ! '
“ I'm afraid, Ellen, you 'll set me down as really wicked ;
but you don't know all, so don't judge. I wouldn't have aided
or abetted an attempt on even his life for anything. . Wish
that he were dead, I must ; and therefore I was fearfully dis
appointed, and unnerved by terror for the consequences of my
taunting speech , when he flung himself on Earnshaw's weapon
and wrenched it from his grasp.
“ The charge exploded, and the knife, in springing back,
closed into its owner's wrist. Heathcliff pulled it away by
main force, slitting up the flesh as it passed on , and thrust it
dripping into his pocket. He then took a stone, struck down
the division between two windows, and sprang in. His
adversary had fallen senseless with excessive pain and the flow
of blood, that gushed from an artery or a large vein. The
ruffian kicked and trampled on him, and dashed his head
repeatedly against the flags, holding me with one hand, mean
time, to prevent me summoning Joseph. He exerted preter
human self -denial in abstaining from finishing him completely ;
but getting out of breath he finally desisted ,and dragged the
apparently inanimate body on to the settle. There he tore off
the sleeve of Earnshaw's coat, and bound up the wound with
brutal roughness ; spitting and cursing during the operation
as energetically as he had kicked before. Being at liberty, I
lost no time in seeking the old servant; who, having gathered

by degrees the purport of my hasty tale, hurried below , gasp
ing, as he descended the steps two at once.
66. What is ther to do, now ? what is ther to do, now ? '
" . There's this to do,' thundered Heathcliff, 6 that your
master's mad ; and should he last another month, I'll have
him to an asylum . And how the devil did you come to fasten
me out, you toothless hound ? Don't stand muttering and
mumbling there. Come, I'm not going to nurse him . Wash
that stuff away ; and mind the sparks of your candle — it is
more than half brandy !'
" . And so, ye 've been murthering on him ? ' exclaimed
Joseph, lifting his hands and eyes in horror. If iver I seed
7
a seeght
66
loike this ! May the Lord
Heathcliff gave him a push on to his knees in the middle
of the blood, and flung a towel to him ; but instead of pro
ceeding to dry it up, he joined his hands and began a prayer,
which excited my laughter from its odd phraseology. I was
in the condition of mind to be shocked at nothing : in fact, I
was as reckless as some malefactors show themselves at the
foot of the gallows.
Oh, I forgot you,' said the tyrant. “ You shall do that.
Down with you. And you conspire with him against me, do
you, viper ? There, that is work fit for you ! '
“ He shook me till my teeth rattled, and pitched me beside
Joseph, who steadily concluded his supplications and then
rose, vowing he would set off for the Grange directly. Mr
Linton was a magistrate, and though he had fifty wives dead,
he should inquire into this. He was so obstinate in his reso
lution, that Heathcliff deemed it expedient to compel from
my lips a recapitulation of what had taken place ; standing
over me, heaving with malevolence, as I reluctantly delivered
the account in answer to his questions. It required a great
deal of labour to satisfy the old man that Heathcliff was not
the aggressor ; especially with my hardly-wrung replies.
However, Mr Earnshaw soon convinced him that he was
alive still ; Joseph hastened to administer a dose of spirits,
and by their succour his master presently regained motion
and consciousness. Heathcliff, aware that his opponent was
ignorant of the treatment received while insensible, called him
deliriously intoxicated ; and said he should not notice his
atrocious conduct further, but advised him to get to bed. To
my joy, he left us, after giving this judicious counsel, and
Hindley stretched himself on the hearthstone. I departed to

my own room, 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 as gaunt and ghastly , leant
against the chimney. Neither appeared inclined to dine,
and, having waitéd till all was cold on the table, I commenced
alone. Nothing hindered me from eating heartily, and I
experienced
intervals,
a certain sense of satisfaction andcompanions,
superiority, as,
at I cast a look towards my silent and
felt the comfort of a quiet conscience within me. After I had
done, I ventured on the unusual liberty of drawing near the
fire, going round Earnshaw's seat, and kneeling in the corner
beside him.
“ Heathcliff did not glance my way, and I gazed up, and
contemplated his featuresalmost as confidently as if they had
been turned to stone. His forehead , that I once thought so
manly, and that I now think so diabolical, was shaded with a
heavy cloud ; his basilisk eyes were nearly quenched by sleep
lessness, and weeping, perhaps, for the lashes were wet then ;
his lips devoid of their ferocious sneer , and sealed in an
expression of unspeakable sadness. Had it been another, I
would have covered my face in the presence of such grief.
In his case , I was gratified ; and, ignoble as it seems to insult
a fallen enemy, I couldn't miss this chance of sticking in a
dart : his weakness was the only time when I could taste the
delight of paying wrong for wrong ."
“ Fie, fie, miss !" I interrupted . “ One might suppose you
had never opened a Bible in your life. If God afflict your
enemies, surely that ought to suffice you. It is both mean
and presumptuous to add your torture to his ! "
“In general l' ll allow that it would be, Ellen ," she con
tinued ; “ but what misery laid on Heathcliff could content
me, unless I have a hand in it ? I'd rather he suffered less,
if I might cause his sufferings and he might know that I
was the cause. Oh, I owe him so much. On only one con
dition can I hope to forgive him. It is, if I may take an
eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth ; for every wrench of
agony return a wrench : reduce him to my level. As he
was the first to injure, make him the first to implore
pardon ; and then — why then , Ellen, I might show you
some generosity . But it is utterly impossible I can ever
be revenged, and therefore I cannot forgive him . Hindley
wanted some water, and I handed him a glass, and asked him
how he was.
“ Not as ill as I wish,' he replied. “ But leaving out my
arm , every inch of me is as sore as if I had been fighting
with a legion of imps ! '
“Yes, no wonder,' was my next remark . Catherine used
to boast that she stood between you and bodily harm : she
meant that certain persons would not hurt you for fear of
offending her. It's well people don't really rise from their
grave, or, last night, she might have witnessed a repulsive
scene ! Are not you bruised, and cut over your chest and
shoulders ? ”
" I can't say ,' he answered : " but what do you mean ? Did
he dare to strike me when I was down ? '
" He trampled on and kicked you, and dashed you on the
ground ,' I whispered. And his mouth watered to tear you
with his teeth ; because he's only half 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 in
sensible to anything around him : the longer he stood, the
plainer his reflections revealed their blackness through his
features.
" Oh, if God would but give me strength to strangle him
in my last agony, I'd go to hell with joy,' groaned the im
patient man, writhing to rise, and sinking back in despair,
convinced of his inadequacy for the struggle.
“ Nay, it's enough that he has murdered one of you,' I
observed aloud. “ At the Grange, every one knows your
sister would have been living now, had it not been for Mr
Heathcliff. After all, it is preferable to be hatedthan loved
by him. When I recollect howhappy we were — how happy
Catherine was before he came — I'm fit to curse the day.'
“ Most likely, Heathcliff noticed more the truth ofwhat was
said, than the spirit of the person who said it. His attention
was roused, I saw , for his eyes rained down tears among the
ashes, and he drew his breath in suffocating sighs. I stared
full at him , and laughed scornfully. The clouded windows of
hell flashed a moment towards me ; the fiend which usually
looked out, however, was so dimmed and drowned that I did
not fear to hazard another sound of derision.
Get up , and begone out of my sight,' said the mourner.
“ I guessed he uttered those words, at least, though his voice

was hardly intelligible.
“ I beg your pardon,' I replied. But I loved Catherine
too ; and her brother requires attendance, which, for her sake,
I shall supply. Now that she's dead, I see her in Hindley :
Hindley has exactly her eyes,if you had not tried to gouge
them out, and made them 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 poor Catherine had trusted you, and assumed the ridi
culous, contemptible, degrading title of Mrs Heathcliff, she
would soon have presented a similar picture! She wouldn't
have borne your abominable behaviour quietly : her detesta
tion and disgust must have found voice.'
“ The back of the settle and Earnshaw's person interposed
between me and him ; so instead of endeavouring to reach me,
he snatched a dinner knife from the table and flung it at my
head. It struck beneath my ear, and stopped the sentence I
was uttering ; but, pulling it out, I sprang to the door and
delivered another ; which I hope went a little deeper than his
missile. The last glimpse I caught of him was a furious rush
on his part, checked by the embrace of his host ; and both
fell locked together on the hearth . In my flight through the
kitchen I bid Joseph speed to his master ; I knocked over
Hareton, who was hanging a litter of puppies from a chair
back in the doorway ; and , blest as a soulescaped from purga
tory, I bounded, leaped , and flew down the steep road ; then,
quitting its windings, shotdirect across the moor, rolling over
banks, and wading through marshes : precipitating myself, in
fact, towards the beacon light of the Grange. And far rather
would I be condemned to a perpetualdwelling in the infernal
regions, than, even for one night, abide beneath the roof of
Wuthering Heights again ."
Isabella ceased speaking, and took a drink of tea ; then she
rose, and bidding me put on her bonnet, and a great shawl I
had brought, and turning a deaf ear to my entreaties for her
to remain another hour, she stepped on to a chair, kissed
Edgar's and Catherine's portraits, bestowed a similar salute on
me, and descended to the carriage, accompanied by Fanny,
who yelped wild with joy at recovering her mistress. She
was driven away, never to revisit this neighbourhood : but a

regular correspondence was established between her and my
master when things were more settled. I believe her new
abode was in the south, near London ; there she had a son
born , a few months subsequent to her escape. He was
christened Linton, and, fromthe first, she reported him to be
an ailing, peevish creature.
Mr Heathcliff, meeting me one day in the village, inquired
where she lived. I refused to tell. He remarked that it was
not of any moment, only she must beware of coming to her
brother : she should not be with him, if he had to keep her
himself. Though I would give no information, he discovered,
through some of the other servants, both her place of resi
dence and the existence of the child. Still he didn't molest
her : for which forbearance she might thank his aversion, I
suppose. He often asked about the infant, when he saw me ;
andon hearing its name, smiled grimly, 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 years after the decease of Catherine, when Linton was
twelve, or a little more.
On the day succeeding Isabella's unexpected visit, I had no
opportunity of speaking to my master : he shunned conver
sation, and was fit for discussing nothing. When I could get
him to listen, I saw it pleased him thathis sister had left her
husband ; whom he abhorred with an intensity which the
mildness of his nature would scarcely seem to allow . So deep
and sensitive was his aversion, that he refrained from going
anywhere where he was likely to see or hear of Heathcliff.
Grief, and that together, transformed him into a complete
hermit : he threw up his office of magistrate, ceased even to
attend church , avoided the village on all occasions, and spent
a life of entire seclusion within the limits of his park and
grounds ; only varied by solitary rambles on the moors, and
visits to the grave of his wife , mostly at evening, or early
morning before other wanderers were abroad. But he was
too good to be thoroughly unhappy long. He didn't pray for
Catherine's soul to haunt him . Time brought resignation ,
and a melancholy sweeter than common joy. He recalled he
memory with ardent, tender love, and hopeful aspiring to the

better world ; where he doubted not she was gone.
And he had earthly consolation and affections also. For
a few days, I said, he seemed regardless of the puny successor
to the departed : that coldness melted as fast assnow in April,
and ere the tiny thing could stammer a word or totter a step,
it wielded a despot's sceptre in his heart. It was named
Catherine ; but he never called it the name in full, as he had
never called the first Catherine short: probably because
Heathcliff had a habit of doing so. The little one was always
Cathy : it formed to him a distinction from the mother, and
yet a connection with her ; and his attachment sprang from
its relation to her, far more than from its being his own .
I used to draw a comparison between him and Hindley
Earnshaw , and perplex myself to explain satisfactorily why
their conduct was so opposite in similar circumstances. They
had both been fond husbands, and were both attached to their
children ; and I could not see how they shouldn't both have
taken the same road , for good or evil. But, I thought in my
mind, Hindley, with apparently the stronger head, has shown
himself sadly the worse and the weaker man . When his ship
struck, the captain abandoned his post ; and the crew , instead
of trying to save her, rushed into riot and confusion, leaving
no hope for their luckless vessel. Linton, on the contrary,
displayed the true courage of a loyal and faithful soul : he
trusted God ; and God comforted him . One hoped, and the
other despaired : they chose their own lots, and were righte
ously doomed to endure them. But you'll not want to hear
my moralizing, Mr Lockwood ; you 'll judge as well as I can,
all these things : at least, you 'll think you will and that's
the same . The end of Earnshaw was what might have been
expected ; it followed fast on his sister's: there were scarcely
six months between them . We, at the Grange, never got a
very succinct account of his state preceding it; all that I did
learn, wason occasion of going to aid in the preparations for
the funeral. Mr Kenneth came to announce the event to my
master.
" Well, Nelly,” said he, riding into the yard one morning,
too early not to alarm me with an instant presentiment of bad
news, “ It's yours and my turn to go into mourning at present.
Who's given us the slip now , do you think ? ”
“Who ? ” I asked in a flurry .
“ Why, guess ! ” he returned, dismounting, and slinging his
bridle on a hook by the door. “And nip up the corner of

your apron : I'm certain you 'll need it. "
“Not Mr 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've just seen him . He's rapidly 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 wicked gossip : though he's been too wild for me
this long while. There ! I said we should draw water. But
cheer up ! He died true to his character : drunk as a lord.
Poor lad ; I'm sorry , too. One can't help missing an old
companion : though he had the worst tricks with him that
ever man imagined, and has done me many a rascally turn.
He's barely twenty -seven, it seems; that's your own age :
who would have thought you were born in one year ? ”
I confess this blow was greater to me than the shock of
Mrs Linton's death : ancient associations lingered round my
heart ; I sat down in the porch and wept as for a blood rela
tion, desiring Mr Kenneth to get another servant to introduce
him to the master. I could not hinder myself from pondering
on the question- " Had he had fair play ? ” Whatever I did,
that idea would bother me : it was so tiresomely pertinacious
that I resolved on requesting leave to goto Wuthering Heights,
and assist in the last duties to the dead . Mr Linton was
extremely reluctant to consent, but I pleaded eloquently for
the friendless condition in which he lay ; and I said my old
master and foster -brother had a claim on my services as strong
as his own . Besides, I reminded him that the child Hareton
was his wife's nephew, and, in the absence of nearer kin , he
ought to act as its guardian ; and he ought to and must inquire
how the property was left, and look over the concerns of his
brother -in -law. He was unfit for attending to such matters
then, but he bid me speak to his lawyer ; and at length
permitted me to go. His lawyer had been Earnshaw's also :
Î called at the village, and asked him to accompany me. He
shook his head , and advised that Heathcliff should be let
alone ; affirming, if the truth were known , Hareton would be
found little else than a beggar.
“ His father died in debt,” he said ; “ the whole property is
mortgaged, and the sole chance for the natural heir is to
allow him an opportunity of creating some interest in the
creditor's heart, that he may be inclined to deal leniently

towards him ."
When I reached the Heights, I explained that I had come to
see everything carried on decently; and Joseph, who appeared
in sufficient distress, expressed satisfaction at my presence.
Mr Heathcliff said he did not perceive that I was wanted; but
I might stay and order the arrangements for the funeral, if I
chose.
“ Correctly," he remarked, “ that fool's body should be
buried at the cross-roads, without ceremony of any kind. I
happened to leave him ten minutes yesterday afternoon , and
in that interval he fastened the two doors of the house against
me , and he has spent the night in drinking himself to death
deliberately ! We broke in this morning, for we heard him
snorting like a horse ; and there he was, laid over the settle :
flaying and scalping would not have wakened him. I sent
for Kenneth, and he came; but not till the beast had changed
into carrion : he was both dead and cold, and stark ; and so
you ’ll allow it was useless making more stir about him ! "
The old servant confirmed this statement, but muttered,
“ 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 might have my own way there too : only, he desired me
to remember that the money for the whole affair came out of
his pocket. He maintained a hard , careless deportment,
indicative of neither joy nor sorrow : if anything, it expressed
a flinty gratification at a piece of difficult work successfully
executed. I observed once, indeed, something like exultation
in his aspect: it was just when the people were bearing the
coffin from the house. He had the hypocrisy to represent
a mourner : and previous to following with Hareton, he lifted
the unfortunate child on to the table and muttered, with
peculiar gusto, " Now , my bonny lad you are mine! And
we'll see if one tree won't grow as crooked as another, with
the same wind to twist it !" The unsuspecting thing was
pleased at this speech : he played with Heathcliff's whiskers,
and stroked his cheek ; but I divined its meaning, and
observed tartly, “ That boy must go back with me to Thrush
cross Grange, sir. There is nothing in 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 : but I have a fancy to try my hand at rearing a young
one ; so intimate to your master that I must supply the place
of this with my own, if he attempt to remove it. I don't
engage to let Hareton go undisputed ; but I'll be pretty sure
to make the other come ! Remember to tell him .”
This hint was enough to bind our hands. I repeated its
substance on my return ; and Edgar Linton, little interested
at the commencement, spoke no more of interfering. I'm not
aware that he could have done it to any purpose, had he been
ever so willing
The guest was now the master of Wuthering Heights : he
held firm possession, and proved to the attorney — who, in his
turn , proved it to Mr Linton — that Earnshaw had mortgaged
every yard of land he owned ,for cash to supply his mania for
gaming ; and he, Heathcliff, was the mortgagee. In that
manner Hareton, who should now be the first gentleman in the
neighbourhood, was reduced to a state of complete dependence
on his father's inveterate enemy ; and lives in his own house
as a servant, deprived of the advantage of wages : quite unable
to right himself, because ofhis friendlessness, and his ignorance
thathe has been wronged.
CHAPTER XVIII.
The twelve years, continued Mrs Dean, following that dismal

period, were the happiest of my life: my greatest troubles in
their passage rose from our little lady's trifling illnesses,
which she had to experience in common with all children,
rich and poor. For the rest, after the first six months, she
grew like a larch, and could walk and talk too, in her own
way, before the heath blossomed a second time over Mrs
Linton's dust. She was the most winning thing that ever
brought sunshine into a desolate house : a real beauty in face,
with the Earnshaws' handsome dark eyes, but the Lintons'
fair skin and small features, and yellow curling hair. Her
spirit was high, though not rough, and qualified by a heart
sensitive and lively to excess in its affections. That capacity
for intense attachments reminded me of her mother : still

she did not resemble her ; for she could be soft and mild as a
dove, and she had a gentle voice and pensive expression : her
anger was never furious ; her love never fierce : it was deep
and tender. However, it must be acknowledged, she had
faults to foil her gifts. A propensity to be saucy was one ;
and a perverse will, that indulged children invariably acquire,
whether they be good -tempered or cross. If a servant chanced
to vex her, it was always -- " I shall tell papa !" And if he
reproved her, even by a look, you would have thought it a
heart-breaking business : I don't believe he ever did speak a
harsh word to her. He took her education entirely on him
self, and made it an amusement. Fortunately, curiosity and
a quick intellect made her an apt scholar : she learned rapidly
and eagerly, and did honour to his teaching.
Till she reached the age of thirteen, she had not once been
beyond the range of the park by herself. Mr Linton would
take her with him a mile or so outside, on rare occasions; but
he trusted her to no one else. Gimmerton was an unsub
stantial name in her ears ; the chapel, the only building she
had approached or entered , except herown home. Wuthering
Heights and Mr Heathcliff did not exist for her : she was a
perfect recluse ; and, apparently, perfectly contented . Some
times, indeed, while surveying the country from her nursery
window, she would observem
Ellen, how long will it be before I can walk to the top
of those hills ? I wonder what lies on the other side is it
the sea ? ”
“ No, Miss Cathy," I would answer ; "it is hills again , just
like these .”
“ And what are those golden rocks like when you stand
under them ? ” she once asked.
The abrupt descent of Penistone Crags particularly attracted
her notice ; especially when the setting sun shone on it and
the topmost heights, and the whole extent of landscape besides
lay in shadow . I explained that they were bare masses of
stone, with hardly enough earth in their clefts to nourish a
stunted tree.
“ And why are they bright so long after it is evening here ?"
she pursued .
“ Because they are a great deal higher up than we are,”
replied I; " you could not climb them, they are too high and
steep. In winter the frost is always there before it comes to
us; and deep into summer I have found snow under that
black hollow on the north - east side ! ”
“ Oh , you have been on them ! ” she cried gleefully.
“ Then I can go, too, when I am a woman. Has papa been,
Ellen ? "
“ Papa would tell you, miss, " I answered, hastily, “that
they are not worth the trouble of visiting. The moors, where
you ramble with him , are much nicer ; and Thrushcross -park
is the finest place in the world . "
“ But I know the park, and I don't know those," she
murmured to herself. “ And I should delight to look round
me from the brow of that tallest point : my little pony Minny
shall take me some time. "
One of the maids mentioning the Fairy Cave, quite turned
her head with a desire to fulfil this project: she teased Mr
Linton about it ; and he promised she should have the
journey when she got older. But Miss Catherine measured
her age by months, and, “Now, am I old enough to go to
Penistone Crags ? ” was the constant question in her mouth .
The road thither wound close by Wuthering Heights. Edgar
had not the heart to pass it ; so she received as constantly the
answer , “ Not yet, love : not yet.”
I said Mrs Heathcliff lived above a dozen years after
quitting her husband. Her family were of a delicate consti
tution : she and Edgar both lacked the ruddy health that you
will generally meet in these parts. What her last illness was,
I am not certain : I conjecture, they died of the same thing, a
kind of fever, slow at its commencement, but incurable, and
rapidly consuming life towards the close. She wrote to inform
her brother of the probable conclusion of a four months'
indisposition under which she had suffered, and entreated him
to come to her, if possible ; for she had much to settle, and
she wished to bid him adieu, and deliver Linton safely into
his hands. Her hope was, that Linton might be left with
him, as he had been with her : his father , she would fain
convince herself, had no desire to assume the burden of his
maintenance or education. My master hesitated not a moment
in complying with her request : reluctant as he was to leave
home at ordinary calls, he flew to answer this ; commending
Catherine to my peculiar vigilance, in his absence, with
reiterated orders that she must not wander out of the park,
even under my escort : he did not calculate on her going
unaccompanied.
He was away three weeks. The first day or two, my

charge sat in a corner of the library, too sad for either
reading or playing : in that quiet state she caused me little
trouble; but it was succeeded by an interval of impatient,
fretful weariness ; and being too busy, and too old then, to
run up and down amusing her, I hit on a method by which
she might entertain herself. I used to send her on her travels
round the grounds -- now on foot, and now on a pony ; indulg
ing her with a patient audience of all her real and imaginary
adventures , when she returned.
The summer shone in full prime ; and she took such a taste
for this solitary rambling that she often contrived to remain
out from breakfast till tea ; and then the evenings were spent
in recounting her fanciful tales. I did not fear her breaking
bounds; because the gates were generally locked , and I thought
she would scarcely venture forth alone, if they had stood wide
open. Unluckily , my confidence proved misplaced. Catherine
came to me, one morning, at eight o'clock, and said she was
that day an Arabian merchant, going to cross the Desert with
his caravan ; and I must give her plenty of provision for
herself and beasts : a horse, and three camels, personated by
a large hound and a couple of pointers. I got together good
store of dainties,and slung them in a basket on one side of
the saddle ; and she sprang up as gay as a fairy, sheltered by
her wide-brimmed hat and gauze veil from the July sun, and
trotted off with a merry laugh, mocking my cautious counsel
to avoid galloping, and comeback early. The naughty thing
never made her appearance at tea. One traveller, the hound,
being an old dog and fond of its ease, returned ; but neither
Cathy, nor the pony, nor the two pointers were visible in any
direction : I despatched emissaries down this path , and that
path, and at last went wandering in search of her myself.
There was a labourer working at a fence round a plantation,
on the borders of the grounds. I inquired of himif he had
seen our young lady.
“ I saw her at morn ,” he replied ; " she would have me to
cut her a hazel switch, and then she leapt her Galloway over
the hedge yonder, where it is lowest, and galloped out of
sight”
You may guess how I felt at hearing this news. It struck
me directly she must have started for Penistone Crags. “ What
will become of her ? ” I ejaculated, pushing through a gap
which the man was repairing, and making straight to the high
road. I walked as if for a wager, mile after mile, till a turn

brought me in view ofthe Heights ; but no Catherine could
I detect, far or near. The Crags lie about a mile and a ha!f
beyond Mr Heathcliff's place, and that is four from the
Grange, so I began to fear night would fall ere I could reach
them . “ And what if she should have slipped in clambering
among them ," I reflected, “ and been killed , or broken some of
her bones?” My suspense was truly painful; and, at first, it
gave me delightful relief to observe, in hurrying by the farm
house, Charlie, the fiercest of the pointers, lying under a
window, with swelled head and bleeding ear. I opened the
wicket and ran to the door, knocking vehemently for admit
tance. A woman whom I knew, and who formerly lived at
Gimmerton, answered : she had been servant there since the
death of Mr Earnshaw.
Ah," said she, " youare come a seeking your little mistress !
don't be frightened . She's here safe : but I'm glad it isn't
the master .'
“ He is not at home then, is he ? ” I panted, quite breath
less with quick walking and alarm.
“ No, no,” she replied : " both he and Joseph are off, and
I think they won't return this hour or more. Step in and
rest you a bit.”
I entered , and beheld my stray lamb seated on the hearth ,
rocking herself in a little chair that had been her mother's
when a child. Her hat was hung against the wall, and she
seemed perfectly at home, laughing and chattering, in the
best spirits imaginable, to Hareton — now a great, strong lad
of eighteen — who stared at her with considerable curiosity
and astonishment : comprehending precious little of the fluent
succession of remarks and questions which her tongue never
ceased pouring forth .
“ Very well, miss ! " I exclaimed, concealing my joy under
an angry countenance. “ This is your last ride, till papa
comes back . I'll not trust you over the thresholdagain,you
naughty , naughty girl ! "
“ Aha, Ellen !" she cried, gaily, jumping up and running
to my side. “ I shall have a pretty story to tell to -night:
and so you've found me out. Have you ever been here in
your life before ?”
“ Put that hat on, and home at once," said I. “ I'm dread
fully grieved at you, Miss Cathy : you've done extremely
wrong! It's no use pouting and crying : that won't repay
11
the trouble I've had, scouring the country after you . lo

think how Mr Linton charged meto keep you in ; and you
stealing off so ! it shows you are a cunning little fox, and
nobody will put faith in you any more.”
“ What have I done ? ” sobbed she, instantly checked .
“ Papa charged me nothing : he'll not scold me, Ellen - he's
never cross, like you ! "
“ Come, come ! " I repeated. “ I'll tie the riband. Now ,
let us have no petulance. Oh, for shame ! You thirteen
years old, and such a baby ! "
This exclamation was caused by her pushing the hat from
her head, and retreating to the chimney out of my reach .
Nay,” said the servant, “ don't be hard on the bonny lass,
Mrs Dean . We made her stop : she'd fain have ridden for
wards, afeard you should be uneasy. Hareton offered to go
with her, and I thought he should : it's a wild road over the
hills . ”
Hareton, during the discussion, stood with his hands in his
pockets, too awkward to speak ; though he looked as if he
did not relish my intrusion .
“How long am I to wait ?” I continued , disregarding the
woman's interference. " It will be dark in ten minutes.
Where is the pony, Miss Cathy ? And where is Phænix ? I
shall leave you, unless you be quick ; so please yourself.”
“ The pony is in the yard ,” she replied, “ and Phenix is
shut in there. He's bitten - and so is Charlie. I was going
to tell you all about it ; but you are in a bad temper, and
don't deserve to hear . "
I picked up her hat, and approached to reinstate it ; but
perceiving that the people ofthe house took her part, she com
menced capering round the room ; and on my giving chase,
ran like a mouse over and under and behind the furniture,
rendering it ridiculous for me to pursue. Hareton and the
woman laughed,and she joined them , and waxed more imper
tinent still ; till I cried, in great irritation ,
“ Well, Miss Cathy, if you were aware whose house this
is, you'd be glad enough to get out.”
" It's your father's, isn't it ? ” said she, turning to Hareton .
“ Nay,” he replied, looking down, and blushing hash
fully.
He could not stand a steady gaze from her eyes, though
they were just his own .
“ Whose then your master's ? " she asked.
He coloured deeper, with a different feeling, muttered an

oath , and turned away.
“ Who is his master ? " continued the tiresome girl, appeal
ing to me. “ He talked about our house, and our folk .' I
thought he had been the owner's son. And he never said,
miss : he should have done, shouldn't he, if he's a servant ? "
Hareton grew black as a thunder -cloud, at this childish
speech. I silently shook my questioner, and at last succeeded
in equipping her for departure.
“Now, get my horse,” she said, addressing her unknown
kinsman as she would one of the stable -boys at the Grange.
“ And you may come with me. I want to see where the
goblin -hunter rises in the marsh, and to hear about thefairishes,
as you call them : but make haste ! What's the matter ?
Get my horse, I say."
“ I'll see thee damned before I be thy servant !" growled
the lad.
“ You 'll see me what?" asked Catherine in surprise.
66 Damned — thou saucy witch !” he replied .
“ There, Miss Cathy you see you have got into pretty
company ," I interposed. “ Nice words to be used to a young
lady ! Pray don't begin to dispute with him. Come,let us
seek for Minny ourselves, and begone."
"But Ellen," cried she, staring, fixed in astonishment,
“ how dare he speak so to mę ? Mustn't he be made to do
as I ask him ? You wicked creature, I shall tell рара what
you said.Now , then !"
Hareton did not appear to feel this threat ; so the tears
sprang into her eyes with indignation. “ You bring the
pony," she exclaimed , turning to the woman, " and let my
dog free this moment ! ”
Softly, miss," answered she addressed : " you'll lose
nothing by being civil. Though Mr Hareton, there, be not the
master's son, he's your cousin ; and I was never hired to
serve you."
66
He my cousin !" cried Cathy, with a scornful laugh.
“ Yes, indeed ,” responded her reprover.
“ Oh, Ellen ! don't let them say such things," she pursued
in great trouble. “Papa is gone to fetch my cousin from
London : my cousin is a gentleman's son. That my— " she
stopped, and wept outright ; upset at the bare notion of rela
tionship with such a clown .
“ Hush, hush !" I whispered , " people can have many
cousins and of all sorts, Miss Cathy, without being any the
worse for it ; only they needn't keep their company, if they
be disagreeable and bad."
“He's not — he's not my cousin, Ellen ! ” she went on,
gathering fresh grief from reflection , and flinging herself into
my arms for refuge from the idea.
I was much vexed at her and the servant for their mutual
revelations ; having no doubt of Linton's approaching arrival,
communicated by the former, being reported to Mr Heath
cliff ; and feeling as confident that Catherine's first thought
on her father's return , would be to seek an explanation of the
latter's assertion concerning her rude -bred kindred. Hareton ,
recovering from his disgust at being taken for a servant,
seemed moved by her distress ; and, having fetched the pony
round to the door, he took ,to propitiate her, a fine crooked
legged terrier whelp from the kennel, and putting it into her
hand bid her whist! for he meant nought. Pausing in her
lamentations, she surveyed him with a glance of awe and
horror, then burst forth anew.
I could scarcely refrain from smiling at this antipathy to
the poor fellow ; who was a well-made, athletic youth, good
looking in features, and stout and healthy, but attired in
garments befitting his daily occupations of working on the
farm , and lounging among the moors after rabbits and game.
Still, I thought I could detect in his physiognomy a mind
owning better qualities than his father ever possessed. Good
things lost amid a wilderness of weeds, to be sure, whose
rankness far over -topped their neglected growth ; yet, not
withstanding , evidence of a wealthy soil, that might yield
luxuriant crops under other and favourable circumstances.
Mr Heathcliff, I believe , had not treated him physically ill ;
thanks to his fearless nature, which offered no temptation to
that course of oppression : he had none of the timid suscep
tibility that wouldhave given zest to ill-treatment, in Heath
cliff'sjudgment. He appeared to have bent his malevolence
on making him a brute : he was never taught to read or
write ; never rebuked for any bad habit which did not annoy
his keeper ; never led a single step towards virtue, or guarded
by a single precept against vice. And from what I heard ,
Joseph contributed much to his deterioration, by a narrow
minded partiality which prompted him to flatter and pet him ,
as a boy, because he was the head of the old family. And as
he had been in the habit of accusing Catherine Earnshaw and
Heathcliff, when children, of putting the master past his

patience, and compelling him to seek solace in drink by what
he termed their “ offalld ways," so at present he laid the whole
burden of Hareton's faults on the shoulders of the usurper of
his property. If the lad swore, he wouldn't correct him :
nor however culpably he behaved. It gave Joseph satisfac
tion, apparently , to watch him go the worst lengths : he
allowed that the lad was ruined : that his soul was abandoned
to perdition ; but then, he reflected that Heathcliff must
answer for it. Hareton's blood would be required at his
hands; and there lay immense consolation in that thought.
Joseph had instilled into him a pride of name, and of his
lineage; he would, had he dared, have fostered hate between
him and the present owner of the Heights : but his dread of
that owner amounted to superstition ; and he confined his
feelings regarding him to muttered inuendos and private com
minations. I don't pretend to be intimately acquainted with
the mode of living customary in those days at Wuthering
Heights : I only speak from hearsay; for I saw little. The
villagers affirmed Mr Heathcliff was near, and a cruel hard
landlord to his tenants ; but the house, inside, had regained
its ancient aspect of comfort under female management, and
the scenes of riot common in Hindley's time were not now
enacted within its walls. The master was too gloomy to seek
companionship with any people, good or bad ; and he is yet.
This, however, is not making progress with my story. Miss
Cathy rejected the peace -offering ofthe terrier, and demanded
her own dogs, Charlie and Phenix. They came limping, and
hanging their heads ; and we set out for home, sadly out of
sorts, every one of us. I could not wring from my little lady
how she had spent the day; except that, as I supposed, the
goal of her pilgrimage was Penistone Crags ; and she arrived
without adventure tothe gate of the farmhouse, when Hareton
happened to issue forth , attended by some canine followers,
who attacked her train . They had a smartbattle, before their
owners could separate them : that formed an introduction .
Catherine told Hareton who she was, and where she was
going ; and asked him to show her the way: finally, beguiling
him to accompany her. He opened the mysteries of the Fairy
Cave, and twenty other queer places. But, being in disgrace,
I was not favoured with a description of the interesting objects
she saw . I could gather, however, that her guide had been a
favourite till she hurt his feelings by addressing him as a
servant ; and Heathcliff's housekeeper hurt hers by calling

him her cousin. Then the language he had held to her
rankled in her heart ; she who was always “ love," and
“ darling,” and “ queen,” and “ angel,” with everybody at the
Grange , to be insulted so shockingly by a stranger ! She did
not comprehend it ; and hard work I had to obtain a promise
that she would not lay the grievance before her father. I
explained how he objected to the whole household at the
Heights, and how sorry he would be to find she had been
there; but I insisted most on the fact, that if she revealed my
negligence of his orders, he would perhaps be so angry, that
I should have to leave ; and Cathy couldn't bear that prospect:
she pledged her word, and kept it, for my sake. After all,
she was a sweet little girl.
CHAPTER XIX .
A LETTER, edged with black, announced the day of my master's

return. Isabella was dead ; and he wrote to bid me get
mourning for his daughter, and arrange a room , and other
accommodations, for his youthful nephew . Catherine ran
wild with joy at the idea of welcoming her father back ; and
indulged most sanguine anticipations of the innumerable
excellences of her " real" cousin . The evening of their
expected arrival came. Since early morning , she had been
busy ordering her own small affairs , and now, attired in her
new black frock - poor thing ! her aunt's death impressed
her with no definite sorrow — she obliged me, by constant
worrying, to walk with her down through the grounds to
meet them.
“Linton is just six months younger than I am ," she chat
tered, as we strolled leisurely over the swells and hollows of
mossy turf, under shadow of the trees. “ How delightful it
will be to havehim for a playfellow! Aunt Isabella sent papa
a beautiful lock of his hair ; it was lighter than mine - more
flaxen, and quite as fine. I have it carefully pres rved in a
little glass box ; and I've often thought what pleasure it would
be to see its owner . Oh ! I am happy — and papa, dear, dear
papa ! Come, Ellen, let us run ! come, run."
She ran , and returned and ran again, many times before
my sober footsteps reached the gate, and then she seated her
self on the grassy bank beside the path, and tried to wait
patiently ; but that was impossible : she couldn't be still a
minute .
“ How long they are !" she exclaimed. “ Ah, I see some
dust on the road — they are coming ! No! When will they
be here ? May we not go a little way - half a mile, Ellen:
only just half a mile ? Do say Yes: to that clump of birches
at the turn !”
I refused stanchly. At length her suspense was ended :
the travelling carriage rolled in sight. Miss Cathy shrieked
and stretched out her arms, as soon as she caught her father's
face looking from the window. He descended, nearly as eager
as herself ; and a considerable interval elapsed ere they had
a thought to spare for any but themselves. While they
exchanged caresses, I took apeep in to see after Linton . He
was asleep in a corner, wrapped in a warm , fur- lined cloak,
as if it had been winter. A pale, delicate, effeminate boy,
who might have been taken for my master's younger brother,
so strong was the resemblance : but there was a sickly
peevishness in his aspect, that EdgarLinton never had. The
latter saw me looking ; and having shaken hands, advised me
to close the door, and leave him undisturbed ; for the journey
had fatigued him. Cathy would fain have taken one glance,
but her father told her tocome, and they walked together up
the park , while I hastened before to prepare the servants.
“ Now, darling," said Mr Linton, addressing his daughter,
as they halted at the bottom of the front steps : your cousin
is not so strong or so merry as you are, and he has lost his
mother, remember, a very short time since ; therefore, don't
expect him to play and run about with you directly. And
don't harass him much by talking : let him be quiet this
evening, at least, will you ? "
Yes, yes, papa," answered Catherine : 66 but I do want to
see him ; and he hasn't once looked out.”
The carriage stopped ; and the sleeper being roused , was
lifted to the ground by his uncle.
“ This is your cousin Cathy, Linton," he said, putting their
little hands together. “ She's fond of you already ; and mind
you don't grieve her by crying to -night. Try to be cheerful
now ; the travelling is at an end, and you have nothing to do
but rest and amuse yourself as you please .”
“ Let me go to bed, then," answered the boy, shrinking
168 WUTHERING HEIGETS .
from Catherine's salute ; and he put his fingers to remove

incipient tears.
“ Come, come, there's a good child ," I whispered, leading
him in . “ You ' ll make her weep too — see how sorry she is
for you ! "
I do not know whether it was sorrow for him , but his cousin
put on as sad a countenance as himself, and returned to her
father. All three entered , and mounted to the library, where
tea was laid ready. I proceeded to remove Linton's cap and
mantle, and placed him on a chair by the table; but he was
no sooner seated than he began to cry afresh . My master
inquired what was the matter.
“ I can't sit on a chair,” sobbed the boy.
“ Go to the sofa, then, and Ellen shall bring you some tea,"
answered his uncle, patiently.
He had been greatly tried , during the journey, I felt con
vinced, by his fretful ailing charge. Linton slowly trailed
himself off, and lay down. Cathy carried a footstool and her
cup to his side. At first she sat silent ; but that could not
last: she had resolved to make a pet of her little cousin, as she
would have him to be ; and she commenced stroking his curls,
and kissing his cheek, and offering him tea in her saucer, like
a baby. This pleased him, for he was not much better : he
dried his eyes, and lightened into a faint smile.
“ Oh, he'll do very well,” said the master to me, after
watching them a minute. “ Very well, if we can keep him,
Ellen . The company of a child of his own age will instil
new spirit into him soon, and by wishing for strength he'll
gain it."
Ay, if we can keep him ! ” I mused to myself ; and sore
misgivings came over me that there was slight hope of that.
And then, I thought, however will that weakling live at
Wuthering Heights ? Between his father and Hareton, what
playmates and instructors they'll be. Our doubts were
presently decided - even earlier than I expected. I had just
taken the children up -stairs, after tea was finished, and seen
Linton asleep — he would not suffer me to leave him till that
was the case — I had comedown, and was standing by the table
in the hall, lighting a bedroom candle for Mr Edgar, when a
maid stepped out of the kitchen and informed me that Mr
Heathcliff's servant Joseph was at the door, and wished to
speak with the master.
“ I shall ask him what he wants first," I said, in consider
able trepidation. “ A very unlikely hour to be troubling

people, and the instant they have returned from a long
journey. I don't think the master can see him .”
Joseph had advanced through the kitchen as I uttered these
words, and now presented himself in the hall. He was
donned in his Sunday garments, with his most sanctimonious
and sourest face, and, holding his hat in one hand and his
stickin the other, he proceeded to clean his shoes on the mat.
“ Good - evening, Joseph,” I said, coldly. “ What business
brings you here to -night? "
“ It's Maister Linton I mun spake to,” he answered, waving
me disdainfully aside.
“ Mr Linton is going to bed ; unless you have something
particular to say , I'm sure he won't hearit now ,” I continued .
1. You had better sit down in there, and entrust your message
to me. "
“ Which is his rahm ? ” pursued the fellow , surveying the
range of closed doors.
I perceived he was bent on refusing my mediation, so very
reluctantly I went up to the library, and announced the
unseasonable visitor, advising that he should be dismissed till
next day. Mr Linton had no time to empower me to do so,
for Joseph mounted close at my heels, and, pushing into the
apartment, planted himself at the far sideof the table, with his
two fists clapped on the head of his stick , and began in an
elevated tone, as if anticipating opposition
“ Hathecliff has sent me for his lad, and I munn't goa back
'bout him ."
Edgar Linton was silent a minute; an expression of ex
ceeding sorrow overcast his features : he would have pitied
the child on his own account ; but, recalling Isabella's hopes
and fears, and anxious wishes for her son, and her commenda
tions of him to his care , he grieved bitterly at the prospectof
yielding him up, andsearched in his heart how it might be
avoided. No plan offered itself : the very exhibition of any
desire to keep him would have rendered the claimant more
peremptory : there was nothing left but to resign him. How
ever, he was not going to rouse him from his sleep.
“ Tell Mr Heathcliff,” he answered calmly, “ that his son
shall come to Wuthering Heights to -morrow . He is in bed ,
and too tired to go the distance now . You may also tell him
that the mother of Linton desired him to remain under my
guardianship ; and, at present, his health is very precarious.”
“ Noa !” said Joseph, giving a thud with his prop on the

floor, and assuming an authoritative air : “ Noa ! that means 1
naught. Hathecliff maks noa 'count o' t mother, nor ye
norther; but he'll hev his lad ; und I mun tak him-soa now
ye knaw !"
“ You shall not to -night ! " answered Linton decisively.
“ Walk down -stairs at once, and repeat to your master what I
have said . Ellen, show him down. Go
And, aiding the indignant elder with a lift by the arm , he
rid the room of him, and closed the door.
“ Varrah weell ! " shouted Joseph, as he slowly drew off.
“ To morn, he's come hisseln, and thrust him out, if ye darr ! ”
CHAPTER XX .
To obviate the danger of this threat being fulfilled, Mr Linton

commissioned me to take the boy home early, on Catherine's
pony ; and, said he
“ As we shall now have no influence over his destiny, good
or bad, you must say nothing of where he is gone, to my
daughter: she cannot associate with him hereafter, and it is
better for her to remain in ignorance of his proximity ; lest
she should be restless, and anxious to visit the Heights.
Merely tell her his father sent for him suddenly, and he has
been obliged to leave us .”
Linton was very reluctant to be roused from his bed at five
o'clock , and astonished to be informed that he must prepare
for further travelling ; but I softened off the matter by stating
that he was going to spend some time with his father, Mr
Heathcliff, who wished to see him so much , he did not like to
defer the pleasure till he should recover from his late journey.
“My father !” he cried, in strange perplexity. “ Mamma
never told me I had a father. Where does he live ? I'd
rather stay with uncle .”
“ He lives a little distance from the Grange," I replied ;
" just beyond those hills : not so far, but you may walk over
here when you get hearty. And you should be glad to go
home, and to see him . You must try to love him, as you did
your mother,and then he will love you."
“ But why have I not heard of him before ? ” asked Linton ,
" Why didn't mamma and he live together, as other people

do ? "
“He had business to keep him in the north ," I answered,
" and your mother's health required her to reside in the
south .”
“ And why didn't mamma speak to me about him ? ” per
severed the child. “ She often talked of uncle, and I learnt to
love him long ago. How am I to love papa ? I don't know
him ."
" Oh, all children love their parents,” I said. " Your
mother, perhaps, thought you would want to be with him if
she mentioned him often to you. Let us make haste. An
early ride on such a beautiful morning is much preferable to
an hour's more sleep .”
" Is she to go with us," he demanded : “ the little girl I
saw yesterday ? ”
“ Not now," replied I.
“ Is uncle ? ” he continued .
“No, I shall be your companion there," I said.
Linton sank back on his pillow and fell into a brown study.
“ I won't go without uncle,” he cried at length : “ I can't
tell where you mean to take me."
I attempted to persuade him of the naughtiness of showing
reluctance to meet his father ; still he obstinately resisted any
progress towards dressing, and I had to call for my master's
assistance in coaxing him out of bed. The poor thing was
finally got off, with several delusive assurances that his
absence should be short ; that Mr Edgar and Cathy would
visit him, and other promises, equally ill-founded, which I
invented and reiterated at intervals throughout the way. The
pure heather-scented air, the bright sunshine, and the gentle
canter of Minny, relieved his despondency after a while.
began to put questions concerning his new home, and its
inhabitants, with greater interest and liveliness.
“ Is Wuthering Heights as pleasant a place as Thrushcross
Grange ? ” he inquired, turning to take a last glance into the
valley, whence a light mist mounted and formed a fleecy cloud
on the skirts of the blue.
" It is not so buried in trees," I replied, “ and it is not quite
so large, but you can see the country beautifully all round ;
and the air is healthier for you — fresher and dryer. You
will, perhaps, think the building old and dark at first; though
it is a respectable house : the next best in the neighbourhood.
And you will have such nice rambles on the moors. Hareton
Earnshaw — that is Miss Cathy's other cousin, and so yours in
a manner-will show you all the sweetest spots ; and you can
bring a book in fine weather, and make a green hollow your
study ; and , now and then, your uncle may join you in a
walk : he does, frequently, walk out on the hills. "
“ And what is my father like ?” he asked. “ Is he as
young and handsome as uncle ? "
“ He's as young ,” said I ; “ buthehas black hair and eyes,
and looks sterner; and he is taller and bigger altogether.
He'll not seem to you so gentle and kind at first, perhaps,
because it is not his way : still, mind you, be frank and
cordial with him ; and naturally he 'll be fonder of you than
any uncle, for you are his own.'
“ Black hair and eyes ! ” mused Linton. “ I can't fancy
him. Then I am not like him , am I? ”
“ Not much," I answered : not a morsel, I thought, survey
ing with regret the white complexion and slim frame of my
companion, and his large languid eyes - his mother's eyes,
save that, unless a morbid touchiness kindled them a moment,
they had not a vestige of her sparkling spirit.
“ How strange that he should never come to see mamma
and me ! ” he murmured. “ Has he ever seen me ? If he
has, I must have been a baby. I remember not a single
thing about him !”
“Why, Master Linton ," said I, “ three hundred miles is
a great distance ; and ten years seem very different in length
to a grown up person compared with what they do to you.
It is probable Mr Heathcliff proposed going from summer to
summer, but never found a convenient opportunity ; and now
it is too late. Don't trouble him with questions on the
subject : it will disturb him, for no good .”
The boywas fully occupied with his own cogitations for
the remainder of the ride, till we halted before the farm
house garden gate. I watched to catch his impressions in
his countenance. He surveyed the carved front and low
browed lattices, the straggling gooseberry bushesand crooked
firs, with solemn intentness, and then shook his head : his
private feelings entirely disapproved of the exterior of his new
abode. But he had sense to postpone complaining : there
might be compensation within. Before he dismounted, I went
and opened the door. It was half -past six'; the family had
just finished breakfast : the servant was clearing and wiping
down the table. Joseph stood by his master's chair telling

some tale concerning a lame horse ; and Hareton was pre
paring for the hay- field.
Hallo, Nelly !” said Mr Heathcliff, when he saw me.
61 I feared I should have to come down and fetch my property
myself. You've brought it, have you ? Let us see what we
can make of it.”
He got up and strode to the door : Hareton and Joseph
followed in gaping curiosity. Poor Linton ran a frightened
eye over the faces of the three.
Sure-ly,” said Joseph after a grave inspection , “ he's
swopped wi ye, maister, an 'yon's his lass ! ”
Heathcliff, having stared his son into an ague of confusion ,
uttered a scornful laugh .
“God ! what a beauty ! what a lovely, charming thing ! "
he exclaimed . “ Hav'n't they reared it on snails and sour
milk, Nelly ? Oh, damn my soul! but that's worse than I
expected — and the devil knows I was not sanguine !"
I bidthetrembling and bewildered child get down, and
enter. He did not thoroughly comprehend the meaning of
his father's speech, or whether it were intended for him :
indeed, he was not yet certain that the grim , sneering stranger
was his father. But he clung to me with growing trepida
tion ; and on Mr Heathcliff's taking a seat and bidding him
come hither ” he hid his face on my shoulder and wept.
“ Tut, tut ! " said Heathcliff, stretching out a hand and
dragging him roughly between his knees, and then holding
up his head by the chin. “ None of that nonsense ! We're
not going to hurt thee, Linton — isn't that thy name? Thou
art thy mother's child , entirely ! Where is my share in thee,
puling chicken ? "
Hetook off the boy's cap and pushed back his thick flaxen
curls, felt his slender arms and his small fingers ; during
which examination , Linton ceased crying, and lifted his great
blue eyes to inspect the inspector.
“Do you know me ?" asked Heathcliff, having satisfied
himself that the limbs were all equally frail and feeble.
“ No,” said Linton , with a gaze of vacantfear.
" You've heard of me, I dare say ?"
" No ," he replied again.
“ No ! What a shame of your mother, never to waken
your filial regard for me ! You are my son, then, I'll tell
you ; and your mother was a wicked slut to leave you in
ignorance of the sort of father you possessed. Now, don't

wince, and colour up ! Though it is something to see you
have not white blood. Be a good lad ; and I'll do for you.
Nelly, if you be tired you may sit down ; if not, get home
again. I guess you 'll report what you hear and see to the
cipher at the Grange ; and this thing won't be settled while
you linger about it.”
“ Well,” replied I, “ I 'hope you 'll be kind to the boy, Mr
Heathcliff, or you'll not keep him long ; and he's all you
have akin in the wide world, that you will ever know
remember."
“ I'll be very kind to him, you needn't fear," he said,
laughing. “Only nobody else must be kind to him : I'm
jealous of monopolizing his affection . And, to begin my
kindness, Joseph, bring the lad some breakfast. Hareton,
you infernal calf, begone to your work . Yes, Nell,” he added,
when they had departed, “ my son is prospective owner of
your place, and I should not wish him to die till I was certain
of being his successor . Besides, he's mine, and I want the
triumphof seeing my descendant fairly lord of their estates :
my child hiring their children to till their fathers' lands for
wages. That is the sole consideration which can make me
endure the whelp : I despise him for himself, and hate him
for the memories he revives ! But that consideration is suffi
cient : he's as safe with me, and shall be tended as carefully
as your master tends his own . I have a room up -stairs,
furnished for him in handsome style ; I've engaged a tutor,
also, to come three times a week, from twenty miles distance,
to teach him what he pleases to learn . I've ordered Hareton
to obey him : and in fact I've arranged everything with a
view to preserve the superior and the gentlemanin him , above
his associates. I do regret, however, that he so little deserves
the trouble : if I wished any blessing in the world, it was to
find him a worthy object of pride ; and I'm bitterly disap
pointed with the whey -faced whining wretch !"
While he was speaking, Joseph returned bearing a basin of
milk -porridge, and placed it before Linton ; who stirred round
the homely mess with a look of aversion, and affirmed he
could not eat it. I saw the old man - servant shared largely in
his master's scorn of the child ; though he was compelled to
retain the sentiment in his heart, because Heathcliff plainly
meant his underlings to hold him in honour.
“ Cannot ate it ? ” repeated he, peering in Linton's face, and
subduing his voice to a whisper, for fear of being overheard.

" But Maister Hareton nivir ate naught else, when he wer a
little un ; and what wer gooid eneugh for him 's gooid eneugh
for ye, I's rayther think ! "
" I shan't eat it I" answered Linton , snappishly. “Take it
away ."
Joseph snatched up the food indignantly, and brought it
to us.
“Is there aught ails th ' victuals ?" he asked, thrusting the
tray under Heathcliff's nose.
" What should ail them ? ” he said .
“ Wah !” answered Joseph , “ yon dainty chap says he cannut
ate 'em. But I guess it's raight! His mother wer just soa—
we wer a’most too mucky to sow t corn for makking her
breead .”
“ Don't mention his mother to me," said the master angrily.
“ Get him something that he can eat, that's all. What is his
usual food, Nelly ? ”
I suggested boiled milk or tea ; and the housekeeper received
instructions to prepare some. Come, I reflected,his father's
selfishness may contribute to his comfort. He perceives his
delicate constitution, and the necessity of treating him tolerably.
I'll console Mr Edgar by acquainting him with the turn
Heathcliff's humour has taken. Having no excuse for linger
ing longer, I slipped out, while Linton was engaged in timidly
rebuffing the advances of a friendly sheep -dog. But he was
too much on the alert to be cheated : as I closed the door,
I heard a cry, and a frantic repetition of the words
“ Don't leave me ! I'll not stay here ! I'll not stay here!"
Then the latch was raised and fell: they did not suffer him
to come forth . I mounted Minny, and urged her to a trot ;
oud so my brief guardianship ended.
CHAPTER XXI.
We had sad work with little Cathy that day : she rose in high
glee, eager to join her cousin, and such passionate tears and
lamentations followed the news of his departure, that Edgar
himself was obliged to soothe her, by affirming he should
come back soon : he added, however, “ if I can get him ; " and
sre were no hopes of that. This promise poorly pacified
her : but time was more potent; and though still at intervals
she inquired of her father when Linton would return, before
she did see him again his features had waxed so dim in her
memory that she did not recognise him.
When I chanced to encounter the housekeeper of Wuthering
Heights, in paying business-visits to Gimmerton, I used to
ask how the young master got on ; for he lived almost as
secluded as Catherine herself, and was never to be seen. I
could gather from her that he continued in weak health, and
was a tiresome inmate. She said Mr Heathcliff seemed to
dislike him ever longer and worse, though he took some
trouble to conceal it : he had an antipathy to the sound of his
voice, and could not do at all with his sitting in the same room
with him many minutes together. There seldom passed much
talk between them : Linton learnt his lessons and spent his
evenings in a small apartment they called the parlour: or else
lay in bed all day : for he was constantly getting coughs, and
colds, and aches, and pains of some sort.
66 And I never knew su a faint-hearted creature,” added
the woman ; nor one so careful of hisseln. He will go on,
if I leave the window open a bit late in the evening. Oh ! it's
killing, a breath of night air ! And he must have a fire in the
middle of summer ; and Joseph's bacca pipe is poison ;and he
must always have sweets and dainties, and always milk , milk
for ever — heeding naught how the rest of us are pinched in
winter; and there he 'll sit, wrapped in his furred cloak in his
chair by the fire, with some toast and water or other slop on
the hob to sip at ; and if Hareton , for pity, comes to amuse
him - Hareton is not bad -natured, though he's rough
they ’re sure to part, one swearing and the other crying. I
believe the master would relish Earnshaw's thrashing him
to a mummy, if he were not his son ; and I'm certain he
would be fit to turn him out of doors, if he knew half the
nursing he gives hisseln . But then, he won't go into danger
of temptation: he never enters the parlour, and should Linton
show those ways in the house where he is, he sends him up
stairs directly."
I divined, from this account, that utter lack of sympathy
had rendered young Heathcliff selfish and disagreeable, if he
were not so originally; and my interest in him, consequently,
decayed : though still I was moved with a sense of grief at his
lot, and a wish that he had been left with us. Mr Edgar
encouraged me to gain information : he thought a great deal
about him, I fancy, and would have run some risk to see him ;
and he told me once to ask the housekeeper whether he ever
came into the village ? She said he had only been twice, on
horseback , accompanying his father; and both times he pre
tended to be quite knocked up for three or four days after
wards. That housekeeper left, if I recollect rightly, two
years after he came ; and another, whom I did not know , was
her successor : she lives there still.
Time wore on at the Grange in its former pleasant way, till
Miss Cathy reached sixteen. On the anniversary of her birth
we never manifested any signs of rejoicing, because it was also
the anniversary of my late mistress's death . Her father
invariably spent that day alone in the library ; and walked ,
at dusk , as far as Gimmerton kirkyard, where he would
frequently prolong his stay beyond midnight. Therefore
Catherine was thrown on her own resources for amusement.
This twentieth of March was a beautiful spring day, and when
her father had retired, my young lady came down dressed for
going out, and said she asked to have a ramble on the edge of
the moor with me : Mr Linton had given her leave, if we went
only a short distance and were back within the hour.
“ So make haste, Ellen !" she cried. " I know where I
wish to go ; where a colony of moor game are settled : I want
to see whether they have made their nests yet.”
“ That must be a good distance up ," I answered ; "they
don't breed on the edge of the moor .
“ No, it's not,” she said. “ I've gone very near with
papa ."
I put on my bonnet and sallied out, thinking nothing more
of the matter. She bounded before me, and returned to my
side, and was off again like a young greyhound ; and, at first,
I found plenty of entertainment in listening to the larks singing
far and near, and enjoying the sweet, warm sunshine; and
watching her, my pet, and my delight, with her golden ringlets
flying loose behind, and her bright cheek , as soft and pure in
its bloom as a wild rose, and her eyes radiant with cloudless
pleasure. She was a happy creature, and an angel, in those
days. It's a pity she could not be content.
“Well,” said I , “ where are your moor-game, Miss Cathy ?
We should be at them : the Grange park -fence is a great way
off now .”
“ Oh , a little further - only a little further, Ellen,” was her
answer, continually. 6 Climb to that hillock, pass that bank ,
12
and by the time you reach the other side I shall have raised
the birds.”
But there were so many hillocks and banks to climb and
pass, that, at length, I began to be weary , and told her we
must halt, and retrace our steps. I shouted to her, as she
had outstripped me a long way ; she either did not hear or did
not regard, for she still sprang on, and I was compelled to
follow . Finally, she dived into a hollow ; and before I came
in sight of her again, she was two miles nearer Wuthering
Heights than her own home ; and I beheld a couple of persons
arrest her, one of whom I felt convinced was Mr Heathcliff
himself.
Cathy had been caught in the fact of plundering, or, at
least, hunting out the nests of the grouse. The Heights were
Heathcliff's land, and he was reproving the poacher.
“ I've neither taken any nor found any,” she said, as I
toiled to them , expanding her hands in corroboration of the
statement. “ I didn't mean to take them ; but papa told me
there were quantities up here, and I wished to see the eggs."
Heathcliff glanced at me with an ill-meaning smile, ex
pressing his acquaintance with the party, and, conse
quently, his malevolence towards it, and demanded who
papa ” was ?
“ Mr Linton of Thrushcross Grange," she replied. “ I
thought you did not know me, or you wouldn't have spoken
in that way."
.
“ You suppose papa is highly esteemed and respected then ?”

he said , sarcastically.
“ And what are you ? ” inquired Catherine, gazing curiously
on the speaker. " That man I've seen before. Is he your
son ? "
She pointed to Hareton, the other individual, who had
gained nothing but increased bulk and strength by the
addition of two years to his age : he seemed as awkward and
rough as ever.
“ Miss Cathy ,” I interrupted, “ it will be three hours
instead of one that we are out, presently. We really must go
back .”
“ No, thatman is not my son," answered Heathcliff, pushing
me aside. “ But I have one, and you have seen him before
too; and, though your nurse is in a hurry, I think both you
and she would be the better for a little rest. Will you just
turn this nab of heath , and walk into my house ? You 'll get
home earlier for the ease ; and you shall receive a kind
welcome.”
I whispered Catherine that she mustn't, on any account,
accede to the proposal : it was entirely out of the question.
Why ? " she asked, aloud. “I'm tired of running, and
the ground is dewy : I can't sit here. Let us go, Ellen.
Besides, he says I have seen his son. He's mistaken, I think ;
but I guess where he lives : at the farm -house I visited in
coming from Penistone Crags. Don't you ?"
“ I do. Come, Nelly, hold your tongue — it will be a treat
for her to look in on us. Hareton, get forwards with the lass.
You shall walk with me, Nelly .”
"No, she's not going to any such place," I cried, struggling
to release my arm ,which he had seized : but she was almost
at the door-stones already, scampering round the brow at full
speed. Her appointed companion did not pretend to escort
her: he shied off by the road-side, and vanished.
“ Mr Heathcliff, it's very wrong," I continued : “ you know
you mean no good. And there she ' ll see Linton, and all will
be told as soon as ever we return ; and I shall have the blame.”
“ I want her to see Linton ,” he answered ; “ he's looking
better these few days: it's not often he's fit to be seen. And
we'll soon persuade her to keep the visit secret : where is the
harm of it ? ”
“ The harm of it is, that her father would hate me if he
found I suffered her to enter your house; and I am convinced
you have a bad design in encouraging her to do so," I replied .
“ My design is as honest as possible. I'll inform you of
its whole scope,” he said . “ That the two cousins may fall in
love, and get married. I'm acting generously to your master :
his young chit has no expectations, and should she second my
wishes, she'll be provided for at once as joint successor with
Linton ."
.“ IfLinton died,” I answered , " and his life is quite uncer
tain, Catherine would be the heir.”
“ No, she would not,” he said. " There is no clause in the
will to secure it so : his property would go to me ; but, to
prevent disputes, I desire their union , and am resolved to
bring it about."
“ And I'm resolved she shall never approach your house
with me again,” I returned, as we reached the gate, where
Miss Cathy waited our coming.
Heathcliff bade me be quiet ; and, preceding us up the
path, hastened to open the door. My young lady gave him

several looks, as if she could not exactly make up her mind
what to think of him ; but now he smiled when he met her
eye, and softened his voice in addressing her ; and I was
foolish enough to imagine the memory of her mother might
disarm him from desiring her injury. Linton stood on the
hearth. He had been out walking in the fields, for his cap
was on , and he was calling to Joseph to bring him dry shoes.
He had grown tall of his age, still wanting some months of
sixteen. His features were pretty yet, and his eye and
complexion brighter than I remembered them , though with
merely temporary lustre borrowed from the salubrious air and
genial sun.
“ Now , who is that ?" asked Mr Heathcliff, turning to
Cathy. 66 Can you tell ? "
" Your son ?" she said, having doubtfully surveyed, first
one and then the other.
Yes, yes,” answered he : “ but is this the only time you
have beheld him ? Think ! Ah ! you have a short memory .
Linton, don't you recall your cousin, that you used to tease us
so with wishing to see ? ”
“ What, Linton ! " cried Cathy, kindling into joyful surprise
at the name . “ Is that little Linton ? He's taller than I am !
Are you Linton ? "
The youth stepped forward, and acknowledged himself: she
kissed him fervently, and they gazed with wonder at the
change time had wrought in the appearance of each. Cathe
rine had reached her full height ; her figure was both plump
and slender, elastic as steel, and her whole aspect sparkling
with health and spirits. Linton's looks and movements were
very languid, and his form extremely slight ; but there was a
grace in his manner that mitigated these defects, and rendered
him not unpleasing. After exchanging numerous marks of
fondness with him , his cousin went to Mr Heathcliff, who
lingered by the door, dividing his attention between the objects
inside and those that lay without : pretending, that is, to
observe the latter, and really noting the former alone.
“ And you are my uncle, then ! ” she cried, reaching up to
salute him . “ I thought I liked you, though you were cross
at first. Why don't you visit at the Grange with Linton ?
To live all these years such close neighbours, and never see
us, is odd : what have you done so for ?”
“ I visited it once or twice too often before you were born , ”
he answered . “ There - damn it ! If you have any kisses to

spare , give them to Linton : they are thrown away on me.”
“ Naughty Ellen !” exclaimed Catherine, flying to attack
me next with her lavish caresses. “ Wicked Ellen ! to try to
hinder me from entering. But I'll take this walk every
morning in future : may I, uncle ? and sometimes bring papa.
Won't you be glad to see us ? ”
“ Of course !” replied the uncle, with a hardly suppressed
grimace, resulting from his deep aversion to both the proposed
visitors. “ But stay ,” he continued , turning towards the
young lady. “ Now I think of it, I'd better tell you. Mr
Linton has a prejudice against me : we quarrelled at one tince
of our lives, with unchristian ferocity ; and, if you mention
coming here to him, he'll put a veto on your visits altogether.
Therefore, you must not mention it, unless you be careless of
seeing your cousin hereafter : you may come, if you will, but
you must not mention it. "
Why did you quarrel?” asked Catherine, considerably
crest -fallen .
“ He thought me too poor to wed his sister," answered
Heathcliff, “ and was grieved that I got her : his pride was
hurt, and he 'll never forgive it."
“ That's wrong !" said the young lady : “some time, I'll
tell him so. But Linton and I have no share in your quarrel.
I'll not come here, then ; he shall come to the Grange .”
“ It will be too far for me," murmured her cousin : to
walk four miles would kill me. No, come here, Miss Cathe
rine, now and then : not every morning, but once or twice a
week .”
The father launched towards his son a glance of bitter
contempt.
“ I am afraid, Nelly, I shall lose my labour,” he muttered
to me. “ Miss Catherine, as the ninny calls her, will discover
his value, and send him to the devil. Now, if it had been
Hareton I-Do you know that, twenty times a day, I covet
Hareton, with all his degradation ? I'd have loved the lad
had he been some one else. But I think he's safe from her
love. I'll pit him against that paltry creature , unless it
bestir itself briskly. We calculate it will scarcely last till
it is eighteen. Oh, confound the vapid thing ! He's absorbed
in drying his feet, and never looks at her. - Linton ! "
“ Yes, father,” answered the boy.”
" Have you nothing to show your cousin anywhere about ?
not even a rabbit or a weasel's nest ? Take her into the

garden, before you change your shoes ; and into the stable to
see your horse ."
“ Wouldn't you rather sit here ? ” asked Linton, addressing
Cathy in a tone which expressed reluctance to move again .
“ I don't know ," she replied, casting a longing look to the
door, and evidently eager to be active.
He kept his seat, and shrank closer to the fire. Heathcliff
rose, and went into the kitchen, and from thence to the yard ,
calling out for Hareton. Hareton responded, and presently
the two re -entered. The young man had been washing him
self, as was visible by the glow on his cheeks and his wetted
hair .
“ Oh, I'll ask you, uncle," cried Miss Cathy, recollecting the
housekeeper's assertion. “ That is not my cousin, is he ? ”
66
Yes," he replied, “your mother's nephew . “ Don't you
like him ? "
Catherine looked queer.
“ Is he not a handsome lad ? ” he continued .
“ The uncivil little thing stood on tiptoe, and whispered a
sentence in Heathcliff's ear. He laughed ; Hareton darkened :
I perceived he was very sensitive to suspected slights, and had
obviously a dim notion of his inferiority. But his master or
guardian chased the frown by exclaiming
“ You'll be the favourite among us, Hareton ! She says
you are a - What was it ? Well, something very flattering.
Herel you go with her round the farm . And behave like a
gentleman , mind ! Don't use any bad words ; and don't stare
when the young lady is not looking at you and be ready to
hide your face when she is ; and, when you speak , say your
words slowly, and keep your hands out ofyour pockets. Be
off, and entertain her as nicely as you can."
He watched the couple walking past the window. Earnshaw
had his countenance completely averted from his companion.
He seemed studying the familiar landscape with a stranger's
and an artist's interest. Catherine took a sly look at him,
expressing small admiration . She then turned her attention
to seeking out objects of amusement for herself, and tripped
merrily on, lilting a tune to supply the lack of conversation .
“ I've tied his tongue," observed Heathcliff. " He'll not
venture a single syllable, all the time ! Nelly, you recollect
me at his age — nay, some years younger. Did I ever look so
stupid : so ' gaumless,' as Joseph calls it ? "
“Worse," I replied, " because more sullen with it ."

“ I've a pleasure in him ,” he continued reflecting aloud.
“ He has satisfied my expectations. If he were a born fool
I should not enjoy it half so much. But he's no fool; and
I can sympathise with all his feelings, having felt them my
self. I know what he suffers now, for instance, exactly: it
is merely a beginning of what he shall suffer, though. And
he'll never be able to emerge from his bathos of coarseness
and ignorance. I've got him faster than his scoundrel of a
father secured me, and lower ; for he takes a pride in his
brutishness. I've taught him to scorn everything extra
animal as silly and weak. Don't you think Hindley would
be proud of his son, if he could see him ? almost as proud as
I am of mine. But there's this difference ; one is gold put
to the use of paving -stones, and the other is tin polished to
ape a service of silver. Mine has nothing valuable about it ;
yet I shall have the merit of making it go as far as such poor
stuff can go. His had first-rate qualities, and they are lost :
rendered worse than unavailing. I have nothing to regret; he
would have more than any but I are aware of. And the best
of it is, Hareton is damnably fond of me ! You'll own that
I've out-matched Hindley there. If the dead villain could
rise from his grave to abuse me for his offspring's wrongs, I
should have the fun of seeing the said offspring fight him back
again , indignant that he should dare to rail at the one friend
he has in the world !”
Heathcliff chuckled a fiendish laugh at the idea. I made
no reply, because I saw that he expected none. Meantime, our
young companion, who sat too removed from us to hear what
was said , began to evince symptoms of uneasiness, probably
repenting that he had denied himself the treat of Catherine's
society for fear of a little fatigue. His father remarked the
restless glances wandering to the window , and the hand irre
solutelyextended towards his cap .
“ Get up, you idle boy !” he exclaimed , with assumed hear
tiness. Away after them ! they are just at the corner, by
the stand of hives."
Linton gathered his energies, and left the hearth . The
lattice was open, and, as he stepped out, I heard Cathy in
quiring of her unsociable attendant, whatwas that inscription
over the door ? Hareton stared up, and scratched his head like
a true clown.
“ It 's some damnable writing,” he answered . “ I cannot

read it."
“ Can't read it ? ” cried Catherine ; " I can read it : it's
English . But I want to know why it is there."
Linton giggled : the first appearance of mirth he had ex
hibited.
“ He does not know his letters,” he said to his cousin.
“ Could you believe in the existence of such a colossal
dunce ? "
“ Is he all as he should be ? ” asked Miss Cathy, seriously ;
“ or is he simple : not right ? I've questioned him twice now ,
and each time he looked so stupid I think he does not under
stand me . I can hardly understand him , I'm sure ! ”
Linton repeated his laugh, and glanced at Hareton taunt
ingly ; who certainly did not seem quite clear of comprehension
at that moment.
“ There's nothing the matter but laziness ; is there, Earn
shaw ? ” he said said. My cousin fancies you are an idiot.
There you experience the consequence of scorning ' book
larning,' as you would say . Have you noticed , Catherine, his
frightful Yorkshire pronounciation "
“ Why, where the devil is the use on't ?" growled Hareton ,
more ready in answering his daily companion. He was
about to enlarge further, but the two youngsters broke into
a noisy fit of merriment; my giddy miss being delighted to
discover that she might turn his strange talk to matter of
amusement.
“ Where66 is the use of the devil in that sentence ? ” tittered
Linton . · Papa told you not to say any bad words , and you
can't open your mouth without one. Do try to behave like a
gentleman , now do ! "
“ If thou wern't more a lass than a lad, I'd fell thee this
minute, I would ; pitiful lath of a crater ! ” retorted the angry
boor, retreating, while his face burnt with mingled rage and
mortification; for he was conscious of being insulted, and em
barrassed how to resent it.
Mr Heathcliff having overheard the conversation, as well as
I, smiled when he saw him go ; but immediately afterwards
cast a look of singular aversion on the flippant pair, who
remained chattering in the door-way : the boy finding anima
tion enough while discussing Hareton's faultsand deficiencies,
and relating anecdotes of his goings on ; and the girl relishing
his pert and spiteful sayings, without considering the ill

nature they evinced. I began to dislike, more than to com
passionate Linton, and to excuse his father in some measure,
for holding him cheap.
We staid till afternoon : I could not tear Miss Cathy away
sooner ; but happily my master had not quitted his apartment,
and remained ignorant of our prolonged absence. As we
walked home, I would fain have enlightened my charge on the
characters of the people we had quitted ; but she got it into
her head that I was prejudiced against them .
« Aha ! ” she cried, “ you take papa's side, Ellen : you are
partial I know ; or else you wouldn'thave cheated me so many
years into the notion that Linton lived a long way from here.
I'm really extremely angry ; only I'm so pleased I can't show
it ! But you must hold your tongue about my uncle : he's
my uncle, remember ; and I'll scold papa for quarrelling with
him."
And so she ran on , till I relinquished the endeavour to
convince her of her mistake. She did not mention the visit
that night, because she did not see Mr Linton. Next day it
all came out, sadly to my chagrin ; and still I was not alto
gether sorry : I thought the burden of directing and warning
would be more efficiently borne by him than me. But he
was too timid in giving satisfactory reasons for his wish that
she should shun connection with the household of the Heights,
and Catherine liked good reasons for every restraint that har
rassed her petted will.
“ Papa !” she exclaimed , after the morning's salutations,
'guess whom I saw yesterday, in my walk on the moors.
Ah, papa, you started ! you've not done right, have you,
now ? I saw - But listen, and you shall hear how I found
you out ; and Ellen, who is in league with you , and yet pre
tended to pity me so, when I kept hoping, and was always
disappointed about Linton's coming back ! "
She gave a faithful account of her excursion and its con
sequences ; and my master, though he cast more than one
reproachful look at me, said nothing till she had concluded.
Then he drew her to him, and asked if she knew why he had
concealed Linton's near neighbourhood from her ? Could she
think it was to deny her a pleasure that she might harmlessly
enjoy ?
" It was because you
disliked Mr Heathcliff,” she answered .
“ Then you believe I care more for my own feelings than
yours, Cathy ?” he said. “ No, it was not because I disliked

Mr Heathcliff, but because Mr Heathcliff dislikes me ; and
is a most diabolical man, delighting to wrong and ruin those
he hates, if they give him the slightest opportunity. I knew
that you could not keep up an acquaintance with your cousin,
without being brought into contact with him ; and I knew he
would detest you on my account ; so for your own good, and
nothing else, I took precautions that you should not see Linton
again. I meant to explain this some time as you grew older,
and I'm sorry I delayed it. "
“ But Mr Heathcliff was quite cordial, papa ,” observed
Catherine, not at all convinced ; " and he didn't object to our
seeing each other : he said I might come to his house when
I pleased ; only I mustnot tellyou,because you had quarrelled
with him, and would not forgive him for marrying aunt
Isabella. And you won't. You are the one to be blamed :
he is willing to let us be friends, at least ; Linton and I ;
and you are not."
My master , perceiving that she would not take his word
for her uncle -in - law's evil disposition , gave a hasty sketch of
his conduct to Isabella , and the manner in which Wuthering
Heights became his property . He could not bear to discourse
long upon the topic ; for though he spoke little of it, he still
feltthe same horror and detestation of his ancient enemy that
had occupied his heart ever since Mrs Linton's death. 66 She
might have been living yet, if it had not been for him !" was
his constant bitter reflection ; and, in his eyes, Heathcliff
seemed a murderer. Miss Cathy - conversant with no bad
deeds except her own slight acts of disobedience, injustice,
and passion, arising from hot temper and thoughtlessness,
and repented of on the day they were commited — was amazed
at the blackness of spirit that could brood on and cover
revenge for years, and deliberately prosecute its plans without
a visitation of remorse. She appeared so deeply impressed
and shocked at this new view of human nature - excluded
from all her studies and all her ideas till now — that Mr Edgar
deemed it unnecessary to pursue the subject. He merely
added ,
“ You will know hereafter, darling, why I wish you to avoid
his house and family ; now return to your old employments
and amusements, and think no more about them.”
Catherine kissed her father, and sat down quietly to her
lessons for a couple of hours, according to custom ; then she
accompanied him into the grounds, and the whole day passed
as usual : but in the evening, when she had retired to her
room, and I went to help her to undress, I found her crying,
on her knees by the bedside.
Oh, fie, silly child ! " I exclaimed. " If you had any real
griefs, you'd be ashamed to waste a tear on this little con
trariety. You never had one shadow of substantial sorrow,
Miss Catherine. Suppose, for a minute, that master and I
were dead, and you were by yourself in the world : how
would you feel , then ? Compare the present occasion with
such an affliction as that, and be thankful for the friends you
have, instead of coveting more. "
“ I'm not crying for myself, Ellen,” she answered, “ it's for
him. He expected to see me againto-morrow , and there he 'll
be so disappointed: and he'll wait for me, and I shan't come ! "
“ Nonsense ! ” said I, “ do you imagine he has thought as
much of you as you have of him ? Hasn't he Hareton for a
companion ? Not one in a hundred would weep at losing a
relation they had just seen twice, for two afternoons. Linton
will conjecture how it is, and trouble himself no further about
you . "
" But may I not write a note to tell him why I cannot
come ? " she asked, rising to her feet. " And just send those
books, I promised to lend him ? His books are not as nice
as mine, and he wanted to have them extremely, when I told
him66 how interesting they were. May I not, Ellen ? ”
No, indeed ! no, indeed !" replied I with decision. “ Then
he would write to you, and there'd never be an end of it.
No, Miss Catherine, the acquaintance must be dropped entirely :
so papa expects, and I shall see that it is done."
Ī But how can one little note- -" she recommenced , putting
on an imploring countenance .
“ Silence!" I interrupted. “ We'll not begin with your
little notes . Get into bed .”
She threw at me a very naughty look, so naughty that I
would not kiss her good -night at first : I covered her up, and
shut her door, in great displeasure ; but, repenting half-way,
I returned softly, and lo ! there was miss standing at the table
with a bit of blank paper before her and a pencil in her
hand, which she guiltily slipped out of sight, on my entrance.
“You'll get nobody to take that, Catherine," I said, " if
you write it; and at present I shall put out your candle.”
I set the extinguisher on the flame, receiving as I did so a
slap on my hand, and a petulant "cross thing ! " I then

quitted her again, and she drew the bolt in one of her worst,
most peevish humours. The letter was finished and forwarded
to its destination by a milk -fetcher who came from the village:
but that I didn't learn till some time afterwards. Weeks
passed on, and Cathy recovered her temper ; though she grew
wondrous fond of stealing off to corners by herself; and often ,
if I came near her suddenly while reading, she would start
and bend over the book, evidently desirous to hide it ; and I
detected edges of loose paper sticking out beyond the leaves.
She also got a trick of coming down early in the morning
and lingering about the kitchen, as if she were expecting the
arrival of something : and she had a small drawer in a cabinet
in the library, which she would trifle over for hours, and
whose key she took special care to remove when she left it.
One day, as she inspected this drawer, I observed that the
playthings, and trinkets which recently formed its contents,
were transmuted into bits of folded paper. My curiosity and
suspicions were roused ; I determined to take a peep at her
mysterious treasures ; so, at night, as soon as she and my
master were safe up-stairs, I searched and readily found
among my house keys one that would fit the lock. Having
opened, I emptied the whole contents into my apron , and
took them with me to examine at leisure in my own chamber.
Though I could not but suspect, I was still surprised to
discover that they were a mass of correspondence - daily
almost, it must have been — from Linton Heathcliff : answers
to documents forwarded by her. The earlier dated were
embarrassed and short ; gradually, however, they expanded
into copious love letters , foolish , as the age of the writer
rendered natural, yet with touches here and there which I
thought were borrowed from a more experienced source. Some
of them struck me as singularly odd compounds of ardour
and flatness ; commencing in strong feeling, and concluding
in the affected , wordy style that a schoolboy might use to a
fancied, incorporeal sweetheart. Whether they satisfied Cathy,
I don't know ; but they appeared very worthless trash to me.
Afterturning over as many as I thought proper, I tied them
in a handkerchief and set them aside, re-locking the vacant
drawer.
Following her habit, my young lady descended early, and
visited the kitchen : I watched her go to the door, on the
arrival of a certain little boy ; and, while the dairy -maid
filled his can, she tucked something into his jacket pocket, and
plucked something out. I went round by the garden, and
laid wait for the messenger ; who fought valorously to defend
his trust, and we spilt the milk between us ; but succeeded
in abstracting the epistle ; and, threatening serious conse
quences if he did not look sharp home, I remained under the
wall and perused Miss Cathy's affectionate composition. It
was moresimple and more eloquent than her cousin's : very
pretty and very silly. I shook my head, and went meditating
into the house. The day being wet, she could not divert
herself with rambling about the park ; so, at the conclusion
of her morning studies, she resorted to the solace of the
drawer. Her father sat reading at the table ; and I, on
purpose, had sought a bit of work in some unripped fringes
of the window curtain, keeping my eye steadily fixed on her
proceedings. Never did any bird flying back to a plundered
nest which it had left brimful of chirping young ones, express
more complete despair in its anguished cries and flutterings,
than she by her single “ Oh ! ” and the change that transfigured
her late happy countenance. Mr Linton looked up.
“ What is the matter, love ? Have you hurt yourself ? "
he said.
His tone and look assured her he had not been the discoverer
of the hoard .'
" No, papa ! ” she gasped. « Ellen ! Ellen ! come up stairs
-I'm sick ! "
I obeyed her summons, and accompanied her out.
Oh, Ellen ! you have got them ,” she commenced imme
diately, dropping on her knees, when we were enclosed alone.
“ Oh , give them to me , and I'll never, never do so again !
Don't tell papa .You have not told papa, Ellen ? say you
have not ? I've been exceedingly naughty, but I won't do it
any more ! "
With a grave severity in my manner, I bade her stand up.
“ So ," I exclaimed, " Miss Catherine, you are tolerably far
on , it seems : you may well be ashamed of them ! A fine
bundle of trash you study in your leisure hours, to be sure :
why it's good enough to be printed ! And what do you
suppose the master will think, when I display it before him ?
I hav'n't shown it yet, but you needn't imagine I shall keep
your ridiculous secrets. For shame! and you must have led
the way in writing such absurdities : he would not have
thought of beginning, I'm certain. "
190 WU'THERING HEIGHTS .
" I didn't ! I didn't !" sobbed Cathy , fit to break her heart.
“ I didn't once think of loving him till
“ Loving !"cried I, as scornfully as I could utter the word.
Loving! Did anybody ever hear the like ! I might just
as well talk of loving the miller who comes oncea year to buy
our corn .
Pretty loving, indeed ! and both times together
you have seen Linton hardly four hours in your life! Now
here is the babyish trash . I'm going with it to the library ;
and we'll see what your father says to such loving.”
She sprang at her precious epistles, but I held them above
my head ; and then she poured out further frantic entreaties
that I would burn them — do anything rather than show them .
And being really fully as much inclined to laugh as scold
for I esteemed it all girlish vanity - I at length relented in a
measure, and asked ,
“ If I consent to burn them , will you promise faithfully ,
neither to send nor receive a letter again , nor a book (for I
perceive you have sent him books), nor locks of hair, nor
rings, nor playthings Ø ”
" We don't send playthings !" cried Catherine, her pride
overcoming her shame.
“Nor anything at all, then , my lady," I said . “ Unless you
will, here I go."
“ I promise, Ellen!" she cried, catching my dress. “Oh,
put them in the fire, do, do ! "
But when I proceeded to open a place with the poker, the
sacrifice was too painful to be borne. She earnestly suppli
cated that I would spare her one ortwo.
“ One or two, Ellen, to keep for Linton's sake !”
I unknotted the handkerchief, and commenced dropping
them in from an angle, and the flame curled up the chimney .
“ I will have one, you cruel wretch !” she screamed, darting
her hand into the fire, and drawing forth some half consumed
fragments, at the expense of her fingers.
“ Very well — and I will have some to exhibit to papa ! ” I
answered, shaking back the rest into the bundle, and turning
anew to the door .
She emptied her blackened pieces into the flames, and
motioned me to finish the immolation . It was done ; I stirred
up the ashes, and interred them under a shovelfull of coals ;
and she mutely, and with a sense of intense injury, retired to
her private apartment. I descended to tell my master that
the young lady's qualm of sickness was almost gone, but I
judged it best for her to lie down a while. She wouldn't

dine ; but she reappeared at tea, pale, and red about the eyes,
and marvellously subdued in outward aspect. Next morning,
I answered the letter by a slip of paper, inscribed , “ Master
Heathcliff is requested to send no more notes to Miss Linton,
as she will not receive them.” And, thenceforth, the little
boy came with vacant pockets.
CHAPTER XXII.
SUMMER drew to an end, and early autumn : it was past

Michaelmas, but the harvest was late that year, and a few
of our fields were still uncleared. Mr Linton and his daughter
would frequently walk out among the reapers ; at the carry
ing of the last sheaves, they stayed till dusk, and the evening
happening to be chill and damp, my master caught a bad
cold, that settled obstinately on his lungs, and confined him
indoors throughout the whole of the winter, nearly without
intermission .
Poor Cathy, frightened from her little romance, had been
considerably sadder and duller since its abandonment ; and
her father insisted on her reading less, and taking more
exercise. She had his companionship no longer ; I esteemed
it a duty to supply its lack,as much as possible, with mine :
an inefficient substitute ; for I could only spare two or three
hours, my numerous diurnal occupations, to foll her
footsteps, and then my society was obviously less desirable
than his.
On an afternoon in October, or the beginning of November
-a fresh watery afternoon , when the turf and paths were
rustling with moist, withered leaves, and the cold, blue sky
was half hidden by clouds — dark grey streamers, rapidly
mounting from the west, and boding abundant rain — I requested
my young lady to forego her ramble, because I was certain of
showers. She refused ; and I unwillingly donned a cloak ,
and took my umbrella to accompany her on a stroll to the
bottom of the park : a formal walk which she generally
affected if low -spirited - and that she invariably was when
Mr Edgar had been worse than ordinary, a thing never known
from his confession, but guessed both by her and me, from
his increased silence and the melancholy of his countenance.

She went sadly on : there was no running or bounding now,
though the chill wind might well have tempted her to race.
And often , from the side of my eye, I could detect her raising
a hand, and brushing something off her cheek . I gazed
round for a means of diverting her thoughts. On one side of
the road rose a high , rough bank, where hazels and stunted
oaks, with their roots half-exposed, held uncertain tenure : the
soil was too loose for the latter ; and strong winds had blown
some nearly horizontal. In summer, Miss Catherine delighted
to climb along these trunks, and sit in the branches, swinging
twenty feet above the ground ; and I, pleased with her agility
and her light, childish heart, still considered it proper to scold
every time I caught her at such an elevation, butso that she
knew there was no necessity for descending. From dinner to
tea she would lie in her breeze -rocked cradle, doing nothing
except singing old songs - my lursery lore - to herself, or
watching the birds, joint tenants, feed and entice their young
ones to fly : or nestling with closed lids, half thinking, half
dreaming , happier than words can express.
“Look, miss !" I exclaimed, pointing to a nook under the
roots of one twisted tree. “ Winter is not here yet. There's
a little flower up yonder, the last bud from the multitude of
blue-bells that clouded those turf steps in July with a lilac
mist. Will you clamber up, and pluck it to show to papa ? ”
Cathy stared a long time at the lonely blossom trembling
in its earthy shelter, and replied, at length
“ No, I'll not touch it : but it looks melancholy, does it
not, Ellen ? ”
“ Yes," I observed , “ about as starved and sackless as you :
your cheeks are bloodless ; let us take hold of hands and run .
You're so low, I dare say I shall keep up with you .”
“ No," she repeated, and continued sauntering on, pausing ,
at intervals, to muse over a bit of moss, or tuft of blanched
grass, or a fungus spreading its bright orange among the
heaps of brown foliage ; and, ever and anon, her hand was
lifted to her averted face.
“ Catherine, why are you crying, love ?” I asked, approach
ing and putting my arm over her shoulder. " You mustn't
cry , because papa has a cold ; be thankful it is nothing worse.
She now put no further restraint on her tears ; her breath
was stifled by sobs.
“ Oh, it will be something worse," she said . “ And what
shall I do when papa and you leave me , and I am by myself ?

I can't forget your words, Ellen ; they are always in my ear.
How life will be changed, how dreary the world will be, when
papa and you are dead . "
“ None can tell, whether you won't die before us," I replied.
“ It's wrong to anticipate evil. We'll hope there are years
and years to come before any of us go : master is young , and
I am strong, and hardly forty - five. My mother lived till
eighty, a canty dame to the last. And suppose Mr Linton
were spared till he saw sixty, that would be more years than
you have counted , miss. And would it not be foolish to
mourn a calamity above twenty years beforehand ? ”
“ But Aunt Isabella was younger than papa,” she remarked ,
gazing up with timid hope to seek further consolation .
" Aunt Isabella had not you and me to nurse her," I
replied. “ She wasn't as happy as master : she hadn't as
much to live for. All you need do, is to wait well on your
father, and cheer him by letting him see you cheerful ; and
avoid giving him anxiety on any subject : mind that, Cathy !
I'll not disguise but you might kill him, if you were wild
and reckless, and cherished a foolish , fanciful affection for
the son of a person who would be glad to have him in his
grave ; and allowed him to discover that you fretted over the
separation he has judged it expedient to make.”
" I fret about nothing on earth except papa's illness,"
answered my companion. “ I care for nothing in comparison
with papa. And I'll never - never - oh, never, while I have
my senses, do an act or say a word to vex him. I love him
better than myself, Ellen ; and I know it by this : I pray
every night that I maylive after him ; because I would rather
be miserable than that he should be : that proves I love him
better than myself.”
“Good words," I replied. 66 But deeds must prove it also ;
and after he is well, remember you don't forget resolutions
formed in the hour of fear."
As we talked, we neared a door that opened on the road ;
and my young lady, lightening into sunshine again, climbed
up and seated herself on the top of the wall, reaching over
to gather some hips that bloomed scarlet on the summit
branches of the wild rose trees, shadowing the highway side :
the lower fruit had disappeared, but only birds could touch
the upper, except from Cathy's present station. In stretching
to pull them, her hat fell off ; and as the door was locked ,
13
she proposed scrambling down to recover it. I bid her be

cautious lest she got a fall, and she nimbly disappeared. But
the return was no such easy matter : the stones were smooth
and neatly cemented, and the rosebushes and blackberry
stragglers could yield no assistance in re-ascending. I, like a
fool, didn't recollect that, till I heard her laughing and
exclaiming
“ Ellen ! you 'll have to fetch the key, or else I must run
round to the porter's lodge. I can't scale the ramparts on
this side ! "
66
Stay where you are,” I answered, “ I have my bundle of
keys in my pocket : perhaps I may manage to open it ; if not,
I'll go ."
Catherine amused herself with dancing to and fro before
the door, while I tried all the large keys in succession. I
had applied the last, and found that none would do ; so,
repeating my desire that she would remain there, I was about
to hurry home as fast as I could , when an approaching sound
arrested me. It was the trot of a horse ; Cathy's dance
stopped also.
" Who is that ? " I whispered .
“ Ellen , I wish you could open the door," whispered back
my companion, anxiously.
“ Ho, Miss Linton ! ” cried a deep voice (the rider's ), “ I'm
glad to meet you. Don't be in haste to enter, for I have an
explanation to ask and obtain.”
“ I shan't speak to you , MrHeathcliff," answered Catherine.
“Papa says you are a wicked man, and you hate both him
and me ; and Ellen says the same.”
“ That is nothing to the purpose," said Heathcliff. (He
it was.) “ I don't hate my son, I suppose ; and it is concern
ing him that I demand your attention. Yes ; you have cause
to blush . Two or three months since, were you not in the
habit ofwriting to Linton ? making love in play, eh ? You
deserved, both of you , flogging for that ! You especially , the
elder ; and less sensitive , as it turns out. I've got your
letters , and ifyou give me any pertness I'll send them to your
father. I presume you grew weary of the amusement and
dropped it, didn't you ? Well, you dropped Linton with it
into a Slough of Despond. He was in earnest : in love,
really. As true as I live, he's dying for you ; breaking his
heartat your fickleness: not figuratively, but actually. Though
Ilareton has made him a standing jest for six weeks, and I
have used more serious measures , and attempted to frighten

him out of his idiocy, he gets worse daily ; and he'll be under
the sod before summer, unless you restore him ! ”
“How can you lie so glaringly to the poor child ?” I called
from the inside. “ Pray ride on ! How can you deliberately
get up such paltry falsehoods ? Miss Cathy, I'll knock the
lock off with a stone: you won't believe that vile nonsense.
You can feel in yourself, it is impossible that a person should
die for love of a stranger.”
“ I was not aware there were eaves-droppers," muttered the
detected villain. “ Worthy Mrs Dean, I like you, but I don't
like your double-dealing," he added aloud. “ How could you
lie so glaringly, as to affirm I hated the poor child ? ' and
invent bugbear stories to terrify her from my door-stones ?
Catherine Linton ( the very name warns me), my bonny lass,
I shall be from home all this week ; go and see if I have not
spoken truth : do, there's a darling! Just imagine your
father in my place, and Linton in yours; then think how you
would value your careless lover if he refused to stir a step to
comfort you, when your father himself entreated him ; and
don't, from pure stupidity, fall into the same error. I swear ,
on my salvation, he's going to his grave, and none but you
can save him !”
The lock gave way and I issued out.
“ I swear Linton is dying ," repeated Heathcliff, looking
hard at me. “ And grief and disappointment are hastening
his death. Nelly, if you won't let her go, you can walk over
yourself. But I shall not return till this time next week ;
and I think your master himself would scarcely object to her
visiting her cousin !"
“Come in ," said I, taking Cathy by the arm and half
forcing her to re-enter ; for she lingered , viewing with troubled
eyes the features of the speaker, too stern to express his
inward deceit.
He pushed his horse close, and, bending down, observed
“ Miss Catherine, I'll own to you that I have little
patience with Linton ; and Hareton and Joseph bave less.
I ' ll own that he's with a harsh set. He pines for kindness,
as well as love ; and a kind word from you would be his best
medicine. Don't mind Mrs Dean's cruel cautions ; but be
generous, and contrive to see him. He dreams of you day
and night, and cannot be persuaded that you don't hate him,
since you neither write nor call."
I closed the door, and rolled a stone to assist the loosened

lock in holding it ; and spreading my umbrella, I drew my
charge underneath : for the rain began to drive through the
moaning branches of the trees, and warned us to avoid delay.
Our hurry prevented any comment on the encounter with
Heathcliff, as we stretched towards home ; but I divined
instinctively that Catherine's heart was clouded now in double
darkness. Her features were so sad, they did not seem hers :
sheevidently regarded what she hadheardas every syllable true.
The master had retired to rest before we came in. Cathy
stole to his room to inquire how he was ; he had fallen asleep.
She returned, and asked me to sit with her in the library.
We took our tea together ; and afterwards she lay down on
the rug, and told me not to talk, for she was weary. I got a
book , and pretended to read. As soon as she supposed me
absorbed in my occupation, she recommenced her silent
weeping : it appeared, at present, her favourite diversion. I
suffered her to enjoy it a while; then I expostulated: deriding
and ridiculing all Mr Heathcliff's assertions about his son, as
if I were certain she would coincide. Alas ! I hadn't skill to
counteract the effect his account had produced : it was just
what he intended.
“ You may be right, Ellen ,” she answered ; " but I shall
never feel at ease till I know. And I must tell Linton it is
not my fault that I don't write, and convince him that I shall
not change."
What use were anger and protestations against her silly
credulity ? We parted that night - hostile ; but next day
beheld me on the road to Wuthering Heights, by the side
of my wilful young mistress's pony. I couldn't bear to
witness her sorrow :to seeher pale, dejected countenance, and
heavy eyes ; and I yielded, in the faint hope that Linton
himself might prove, by his reception of us, how little of the
tale was founded on fact.
CHAPTER XXIII .
The rainy night had ushered in a misty morning - half-frost,
half-drizzle - and temporary brooks crossed our path - gurgling
from the uplands. My feet were thoroughly wetted ; I was
cross and low ; exactly the humour suited for making the most
of these disagreeable things. We entered the farmhouse by

the kitchen way, to ascertain whether Mr Heathcliff were
really absent: because I put slight faith in his own affirmation.
Joseph seemed sitting in a sort of elysium alone, beside a
roaring fire; a quart of ale on the table near him , bristling
with large pieces of toasted oat-cake ; and his black, short
pipe in his mouth . Catherine ran to the hearth to warm
herself. I asked if the master was in ? My question remained
so long unanswered, that I thought the old man had grown
deaf, and repeated it louder.
“ Na — ay !” he snarled , or rather screamed through his
nose, “ Na - ay! yah muh goa back whear yah coom
frough."
“ Joseph ! " cried a peevish voice, simultaneously with me,
from the inner room . “ How often am I to call you ? There
are only a few red ashes now. Joseph ! come this moment."
Vigorous puffs, and a resolute stare into the grate declared
he had no ear for this appeal. The housekeeper and Hareton
were invisible ; one gone on an errand, and the other at his
work, probably. We knew Linton's tones, and entered .
Oh, I hope you 'll die in a garret ! starved to death ,"
said the boy, mistaking our approach for that of his negligent
attendant.
He stopped , on observing his error ; his cousin flew to him.
" Is that you , Miss Linton ? ” he said, raising his head from
the arm of the great chair, in which he reclined. No
don't kiss me : it takes my breath . Dear me ! Papa said
you would call, continued he, after recovering a little from
Catherine's embrace; while she stood by looking very contrite.
“Will you shut the door, if you please ? you left it open ; and
those — those detestable creatures won't bring coals to the fire.
It's so cold ! ”
I stirred up the cinders, and fetched a scuttle full myself.
The invalid complained of being covered with ashes‫ ;ܕ‬but he
had a tiresome cough, and looked feverish and ill, so I did not
rebuke his temper.
“Well, Linton ," murmured Catherine, when his corrugated
brow relaxed . “ Are you glad to see me ? Can I do you
any good ?”
Why didn't you come before ? ” he asked . " You should
have come, instead of writing. It tired me dreadfully, writing
those long letters. I'd far rather have talked to you. Now ,
I can neither bear to talk , nor anything else. I wonder
where Zillah is ! Will you (looking at me) step into the kitchen
and see ? "
I had received no thanks for my other service; and being
unwilling to run to and fro at his behest, I replied —
“ Nobody is out there but Joseph ."
" I want to drink ,” he exclaimed fretfully, turning away.
"Zillah is constantly gadding off to Gimmerton since papa
went : it 's miserable! And I'm obliged to come down here
they resolved never to hear me up -stairs."
“ Is your father attentive to you, Master Heathcliff ? ”
I asked, perceiving Catherine to be checked in her friendly
advances.
“ Attentive ? He makes them a little more attentive at
least,” he cried. “ The wretches ! Do you know, Miss Linton,
that brute Hareton laughs at me ! I hate him ! indeed , I
hate them all : they are odious beings.”
Cathy began searching for some water; she lighted on a
pitcher in the dresser, filled a tumbler, and brought it. He
bid her add a spoonful of wine from a bottle on the table;
and having swallowed a small portion, appeared more tranquil,
and said she was very kind.
“ And are you glad to see me? " asked she, reiterating
her former question, and pleased to detect the faint dawn of
a smile.
“ Yes, I am. It's something new to hear a voice like
yours !” he replied. “ But I have been vexed, because you
wouldn't come. And papa swore it was owing to me: he
called me a pitiful, shuffling, worthless thing ; and said you
despised me ; and if he had been in my place, he would be
more the master of the Grange than your father, by this time.
"
But you don't despise me, do you Miss
“ I wish you would say Catherine, or Cathy,” interrupted
my young lady. “Despise you ? No! Next to papa and
Ellen, I love you better than anybody living. I don't love
Mr Heathcliff, though ; and I dare not comewhen he returns :
will he stay away many days ? ”
“ Not many, " answered Linton ; “ but he goes on to the
moors frequently, since the shooting season commenced ; and
you might spend an hour or two with me in his absence.
Do say you will. I think I should not be peevish with
you : you'd not provoke me, and you'd always be ready
to help me, wouldn't you ? "
“ Yes,” said Catherine, stroking his long soft hair ; "if I
could only get papa's consent, I'd spend half my time with
you. Pretty Linton ! I wish you were my brother.”
And then you would like me as well as your father ?”
observed he, more cheerfully. “ But papa says you would
love me better than him and all the world, if you were my
wife ; so I'd rather you were that.”
“ No, I should never love anybody better than papa,” she
returned gravely. “And people hate their wives, sometimes;
but not their sisters and brothers: and if you were the latter,
you would live with us, and papa would be as fond of you as
he is of me. "
Linton denied that people ever hated their wives ; but Cathy
affirmed they did, and, in her wisdom , instanced his own
father's aversion to her aunt. I endeavoured to stop her
thoughtless tongue . I couldn't succeed till everything she
knew was out. Master Heathcliff, much irritated, asserted
her relation was false.
“ Papa told me ; and papa does not tell falsehoods," she
answered pertly
“My papa scorns yours !” cried Linton . He calls him a
sneaking fool.”
“ Yours is a wicked man,” retorted Catherine; “ and you
He must be
are very naughty to dare to repeat what he says. she
wicked to have made Aunt Isabella leave him as did . "
" She didn't leave him ," said the boy : you shan't contra
dict me. "
“ She did ,” cried my young lady.
“ Well, I'll tell you something ! ” said Linton . " Your
mother hated your father: now then.”
“ Oh ! ” exclaimed Catherine, too enraged to continue.
“And she loved mine," added he.
“ You little liar ! I hate you now !” She panted, and her
face grew red with passion.
“She did ! she did ! ” sang Linton, sinking into the recess
of his chair, and leaning back his head to enjoy the agitation
of the other disputant, who stood behind.
Hush , Master Heathcliff !” I said ; “ that 's your father's
tale, too, I suppose .”
“ It isn't: you hold your tongue ! ” he answered. 6. She
did, she did, Catherinel she did, she did ! ”
Cathy, beside herself, gave the chair a violent push, and
caused him to fall against one arm . He was immediately
seized by a suffocating cough that soon ended his triumph.
It lasted so long that it frightened even me . As to his

cousin , she wept with all her might ; aghast at the mischief
she had done: though she said nothing. I held him till the
fit exhausted itself. Then he thrust me away, and leant his
head down silently. Catherine quelled her lamentations also,
took a seat opposite, and looked solemnly into the fire.
“ How do you feel now, Master Ileathcliff ? ” I inquired,
after waiting ten minutes.
" I wish she felt as I do," he replied : " spiteful, cruel thing !
Hareton never touches me : he never struck me in his life.
And I was better to -day : and there ” his voice died in a
whimper.
“ I didn't strike you !" muttered Cathy, chewing her lip to
prevent another burst of emotion.
He sighed and moaned like one under great suffering, and
kept it up for a quarter of an hour ; on purpose to distress his
cousin apparently, for whenever he caught a stifled sob from
her he put renewed pain and pathos into the inflexions of his
voice.
“ I'm sorry I hurt you, Linton ,” she said at length , racked
beyond endurance. “ But I couldn't have been hurt by that
little push, and I had no idea that you could , either : you're
not, much, are you, Linton ? Don't let me go home thinking
I've done you harm . Answer ! speak to me.”
“ I can't speak to you ,” he murmured ; " you 've hurt me
so, that I shall lie awake all night choking with this cough.
If you had it you 'd know what it was : but you'll be com
fortably asleep while I'm in agony , and nobody near me. I
wonder how you would like to pass those fearful nights ! ”
And he began to wail aloud, for very pity of himself.
“ Since you are in the habit of passing dreadful nights,” I
66
said , it won't be miss who spoils your ease : you'd be the
same had she never come. However, she shall not disturb
you again ; and perhaps you'll get quieter when we leave
you . "
" Must I go ? " asked Catherine dolefully, bending over him.
“ Do you want me to go, Linton ? "
“ You can't alter what you ’ve done, ” he replied pettishly,
shrinking from her, “unless you alter it for the worse by
teasing me into a fever .”
"Well, then , I must go ? " she repeated.
“ Let me alone, at least,” said he ; “ I can't bear your
talking.”
She lingered, and resisted my persuasions to departure a

tiresome while; but as he neither looked up nor spoke, she
finally made a movement to the door and I followed. We
were recalled by a scream . Linton had slid from his seat on
to the hearthstone, and lay writhing in the mere perverseness
of an indulged plague of a child , determined to be as grievous
and harassing as it can . I thoroughly gauged his disposition
from his behaviour, and saw at once it would be folly to
attempt humoring him . Not so my companion : she ran
back in terror, knelt down, and cried, and soothed , and
entreated, till he grew quiet from lack of breath : by no means
from compunction at distressing her.
“ I shall lift him on to the settle,” I said, “ and he may
roll about as he pleases : we can't stop to watch him. I hope
you are satisfied, Miss Cathy, that you are not the person to
benefit him ; and that his condition of health is not occasioned
by attachment to you. Now, then , there he is ! Come away :
as soon as he knows there is nobody by to care for his non
sense, he'll be glad to lie still. "
She placed a cushion under his head, and offered him some
water ; he rejected the latter, and tossed uneasily on the former,
as if it were a stone or a block of wood. She tried to put it
more comfortably.
“ I can't do with that," he said ; “ it's not high enough."
Catherine brought another to lay above it.
“ That's too high," murmured the provoking thing.
“ How must I arrange it, then ? ” she asked despairingly.
He twined himself upto her, as she half knelt by the settle,
and converted her shoulder into a support.
“ No, that won't do ," I said. “ You 'll be content with the
cushion, Master Heathcliff. Miss has wasted too much time
on you already : we cannot remain five minutes longer.”
Yes, yes, we can !” replied Cathy. “ He's good and
patient now . He's beginning to think I shall have far
greater misery than he will to -night, if I believe he is the
worse formy visit ; and then I dare not come again . Tell the
truth about it,Linton ; for I musn't come, if I have hurt you."
“ You must come, to cure me,” he answered. “ You ought
to come, because you have hurt me : you know you have ex
tremely ! I was not as ill when you entered as I am at present
was I ? "
“ But you 've made yourself ill by crying and being in a
passion.”
“ I didn't do it all," said his cousin. “ However, we'll be

friends now . And you want me : you would wish to see me
sometimes, really ? "
“ I told you I did," he replied impatiently. “ Sit on the
settle and let me lean on your knee. That's as mamma used
to do, whole afternoons together. Sit quite still and don't
talk : but you may sing a song, if you can sing ; or you may
say a nicelong interesting ballad — one of those you promised
to teach me ; or a story . I'd rather have a ballad , though :
begin .”
Catherine repeated the longest she could remember. The
employment pleased both mightily. Linton would have
another, and after that another, notwithstanding my stren
uous objections; and so they went on until the clock struck
twelve, and we heard Hareton in the court, returning for his
dinner.
“ And to -morrow, Catherine, will you be here to-morrow ? "
asked young Heathcliff, holding her frock as she rose reluc
tantly .
No," I answered, “ nor next day neither .” She, however,
gave a different response evidently , for his foreheadcleared as
she stopped and whispered in his ear.
“ You won't go to -morrow, recollect, miss ! ” I commenced ,
when we were out of the house. “ You are not dreaming of it,
are you ? "
She smiled.
Oh, I'll take good care,” I continued : “I'll have that lock
mended , and you can escape byno way else .”
‫וי‬
“ I can get over the wall,” she said, laughing. 66 The
Grange is not a prison, Ellen, and you are not my gaoler.
And besides, I'm almost seventeen : I'm a woman. And I'm
certain Linton would recover quickly if he had me to look
after him . I'm older than he is, you know , and wiser : less
childish, am I not ? And he'll soon do as I direct him, with
some slight coaxing. He's a pretty little darling when he's
good. I'd make such a pet of him , if he were mine. We
should never quarrel, should we, after we were used to each
other ? Don't you like him , Ellen ? ”
" Like him !" I exclaimed . “ The worst- tempered bit of
a sickly slip that ever struggled into its teens. Happily, as
Mr Heathcliff conjectured , he'll not win twenty. I doubt
whether he'll see spring, indeed . And small loss to his family
whenever he drops off. And lucky it is for us that his father
took him : the kinder he was treated, the more tedious and
selfish he'd be . I'm glad you have no chance of having him
for a husband, Miss Catherine.”
My companion waxed serious at hearing this speech . To
speak of his death so regardlessly, wounded her feelings.
“ He's younger than I,” she answered, after a protracted
pause of meditation, “ and he ought to live the longest : he
will--he must live as long as I do. He's as strong now as
when he first came into the north ; I'm positive of that. It's
only a cold that ails him , the same as papa has. You say
papa will getbetter, and why shouldn't he ? "
Well, well,” I cried, “ after all, we needn't trouble our
selves ; for listen, miss, -and mind, I'll keep my word , if
you attempt going to Wuthering Heights again, with or with
out me, I shall inform Mr Linton, and, unless he allow it,
the intimacy with your cousin must not be revived . "
“ It has been revived ,” muttered Cathy, sulkily.
“ Must not be continued, then," I said.
“ We'll see," was her reply, and she set off at a gallop,
leaving me to toil in the rear.
We both reached home before our dinner-time ; my master
supposed we had been wandering through the park, and
therefore he demanded no explanation of our absence. As
soon as I entered, I hastened to change my soaked shoes and
stockings ; but sitting such a while at the Heights had done
the mischief. On the succeeding morning I was laid up, and
during three weeks I remained incapacitated for attending to
my duties : a calamity never experienced prior to that period,
and never , I am thankful to say, since.
My little mistress behavedlike an angel, in coming to wait
on me, and cheer my solitude : the confinement brought me
exceedingly low. It is wearisome, to a stirring active body :
but few have slighter reasons for complaint than I had. The
moment Catherine left Mr Linton's room , she appeared at my
bed-side. Her day was divided between us; no amusement
usurped a minute: she neglected her meals, her studies, and
her play ; and she was the fondest nurse that ever watched.
She must have had a warm heart, when she loved her father
so, to give so much to ine. I said her days were divided
between us ; but the master retired early, and I generally
needed nothing after six o'clock, thus the eveningwas her
own. Poor thing ! I never considered what she did with her
self after tea . And though frequently , when she looked in to
bid me good - night, I remarked a fresh colour in her cheeks

and a pinkness over her slender fingers ; instead of fancying
the hue borrowed from a cold ride across the moors, I laid it
to the charge of a hot fire in the library.
CHAPTER XXIV .
At the close of three weeks, I was able to quit my chamber,

and move about the house. And on the first occasion of my
sitting up in the evening, I asked Catherine to read to me,
because my eyes were weak. We were in the library, the
master having gone to bed : she consented, rather unwillingly,
I fancied ; and imagining my sort of books did not suit her , I
bid her please herself in the choice of what she perused. She
selected one of her own favourites, and got forward steadily
about an hour ; then came frequent questions.
“ Ellen, are not you tired ? Hadn't you better lie down
now ? You'll be sick, keeping up so long, Ellen .”
“ No, no, dear, I'm not tired ,” I returned, continually.
Perceiving me immoveable, she essayed another method of
showing her disrelish for her occupation. It changed to yawn
ing, and stretching, and
“ Ellen, I'm tired ."
“ Give over then and talk," I answered.
That was worse : she fretted and sighed, and looked at her
watch till eight, and finally went to her room , completely
overdone with sleep ; judging by her peevish, heavy look,
and the constant rubbing she inflicted on her eyes. The
following night she seemed more impatient still ; and on the
third from recovering my company, she complained of a head
ache, and left me. I thought her conduct odd ; and having
remained alone a long while, I resolved on going and inquiring
whether she were better, and asking her to come and lie on
the sofa, instead of up -stairs in the dark . No Catherine could
I discover up-stairs, and none below. The servants affirmed
they had not seen her. I listened at Mr Edgar's door ; all
was silence. I returned to her apartment, extinguished my
candle, and seated myself in the window .
The moon shone bright; a sprinkling of snow covered the
ground, and I reflected that she might, possibly, have taken

it into her head to walk about the garden , for refreshment.
I did detect a figure creeping along the inner fence of the
park ; but it was not my young mistress : on its merging
into the light, I recognised one of the grooms. He stood a
considerable period, viewing the carriage- road through the
grounds; then started off at a brisk pace, as if he had detected
something, and reappeared presently, leading miss's pony ;
and there she was, just dismounted, and walking by its side.
The man took his charge stealthily across the grass towards
the stable. Cathy entered by the casement-window of the
drawing -room , and glided noiselessly up to where I awaited
her. She put the door gently too, slipped off her snowy
shoes, untied her hat, and was proceeding u, nconscious of my
espionnage, to lay aside her mantle, when I suddenly rose and
revealed myself. The surprise petrified her an instant : she
uttered an inarticulate exclamation, and stood fixed .
“ My dear Miss Catherine," I began, too vividly impressed
by her recent kindness to break into a scold, “ where have
you been riding out at this hour? And why should you try
to deceive me, by telling a tale ? Where have you been ?
Speak.”
“ To the bottom of the park,” she stammered. " I didn't
tell a tale.”
“ And nowhere else ? ” I demanded.
“ No ," was the muttered reply.
" Oh, Catherine ! " I cried , sorrowfully . “ You know you
have been doing wrong, or you wouldn't be driven to utter
ing an untruth to me. That does grieve me. I'd rather be
three months ill, than hear you frame a deliberate lie.”
She sprang forward, and bursting into tears, threw her arms
round my neck.
Well, Ellen, I'm so afraid of you being angry,” she said.
“ Promise not to be angry , and you shall know the very truth :
I hate to hide it . "
We sat down in the window -seat ; I assured her I would
not scold, whatever her secret might be, and I guessed it, of
course ; so she commenced
“ I've been to Wuthering Heights, Ellen, and I've never
missed going a day since you fell ill ; except thrice before,
and twice after you left your room . I gave Michael books
and pictures to prepare Minny every evening, and to put her
back in the stable : you mustn't scold him either, mind. I
was at the Heights by half- past six, and generally stayed

till half-past eight, and then galloped home. It was not to
amuse myself that I went : I was often wretched all the time.
Now and then I was happy : once in a week perhaps. At
first, I expected there would be sad work persuading you to
let me keep my word to Linton : for I had engaged to call
again next day, when we quitted him ; but, as you stayed up
stairs on the morrow, I escaped that trouble. While Michael
was refastening the lock of the park door in the afternoon , I
got possession of the key, and told him how my cousin wished
me to visit him , because he was sick, and couldn't come to
the Grange ; and how papa would object to my going : and
then I negotiated with him about the pony. He is fond of
reading, and he thinks of leaving soon to get married ; so he
offered, if I would lend him books out of the library, to do
what I wished : but I preferred giving him my own, and that
satisfied him better.
“ On my second visit, Linton seemed in lively spirits; and
Zillah (that is their housekeeper ) made us a clean room and a
good fire, and told us that, as Joseph was out at a prayer
meeting and Hareton Earnshaw was off with his dogs
robbing our woods of pheasants, as I heard afterwards — we
might do what we liked. She brought me some warm wine
and gingerbread, and appeared exceedingly good -natured ;and
Linton sat in the arm -chair, and I in the little rocking chair
on the hearth -stone, and we laughed and talked so merrily,
and found so much to say : we planned where we would go,
and what we would do in summer. I needn't repeat that,
because you would call it silly.
“ One time, however, we were near quarrelling. He said the
pleasantest manner of spending a hot July day was lying from
morning till evening on a bank of heath in the middle of the
moors, with the bees humming dreamily about among the
bloom, and the larks singing high up over head , and the blue
sky and bright sun shining steadily and cloudlessly. That
was his most perfect idea of heaven's happiness : mine was
rocking in a rustling green tree, with a west wind blowing,
and bright white clouds flitting rapidly above ; and not only
larks, but throstles, and blackbirds, and linnets, and cuckoos
pouring out music on every side, and the moors seen at a
distance, broken into cool dusky dells ; but close by great
swells of long grass undulating in waves to the breeze; and
woods and sounding water, and the whole world awake and
wild with joy. He wanted all to lie in an ecstacy of peace ;

I wanted all to sparkle and dance in a glorious jubilee. I
said his heaven would be only half alive ; and he said mine
would be drunk : I said I should fall asleep in his ; and he
said he could not breathe in mine, and began to grow very
snappish. At last, we agreed to try both, as soon as the
right weather came ; and then we kissed each other and were
friends.
“ After sitting still an hour, I looked at the great room
with its smooth uncarpeted floor, and thought how nice it
would be to play in , if we removed the table ; and I asked
Linton to call Zillah in to help us, and we'd have a game at
blind man's buff ; she should try to catch us : you used to,
you know, Ellen. He wouldn't : there was no pleasure in it,
he said ; but he consented to play at ball with me. We found
two in a cupboard, among a heap of old toys, tops, and hoops,
and battledoors, and shuttlecocks. One was marked C. , and
the other H.; I wished to have the C. , because that stood for
Catherine, and the H. might be for Heathcliff, his name; but
the bran came out of H., and Linton didn't like it. I beat
him constantly : and he got cross again, and coughed , and
returned to his chair. That night, though, he easily recovered
his good humour : he was charmed with two or three pretty
songs - your songs, Ellen ; and when I was obliged to go, he
begged and intreated me to come the following evening; and
I promised. Minny and I went flying home as light as air ;
and I dreamt of Wuthering Heights and my sweet, darling
cousin, till morning.
“ On the morrow I was sad ; partly because you were
poorly, and partly that I wished my father knew, and
approved of my excursions: but it was beautiful moonlight
after tea ; and, as I rode on, the gloom cleared. I shall have
another happy evening I thought to myself ; and what
delights me more, my pretty Linton will. † trotted up their
garden, and was turning round to the back , when that fellow
Earnshaw met me, took my bridle, and bid me go in by the
front entrance. He patted Minny's neck, and said she was
a bonny beast, and appeared as if he wanted me to speak to
him. I only told him to leave my horse alone, or else it
would kick him . He answered in his vulgar accent, “ It
wouldn't do mitch hurt if it did ; " and surveyed its legs with
a smile. I was half inclined to make it try; however, he
moved off to open the door, and, as he raised the latch, he
looked up to the inscription above, and said , with a stupid

mixture of awkwardness and elation :
" Miss Catherine ! I can read yon, now.'
“ Wonderful,' I exclaimed. “ Pray let us hear you - you
are grown clever ! '
“ He spelt, and drawled over by syllables, the name
• Hareton Earnshaw.'
“ And the figures ?' I cried, encouragingly, perceiving that
he came to a dead halt.
“ I cannot tell them yet,' he answered.
" Oh, you dunce ! ' I said , laughing heartily at his failure.
“ The fool stared, with a grin hovering about his lips, and
a scowl gathering over his eyes, as if uncertain whether he
might not join in my mirth : whether it were not pleasant
familiarity, or what it really was, contempt. I settled his
doubts, by suddenly retrieving my gravity and desiring him
to walk away, for I came to see Linton not him. He red
dened - I saw that by the moonlight - dropped his hand from
the latch , and skulked off, a picture of mortified vanity. He
imagined himself to be as accomplished as Linton, I suppose,
because he could spell his own name ; and was marvellously
discomfited that I didn't think the same."
“Stop, Miss Catherine, dear !" I interrupted. " I shall
not scold, but I don't like your conduct there. If you had
remembered that Hareton was your cousin as much as Master
Heathcliff, you would have felt how improper it was to behave
in that way. At least, it was praiseworthy ambition for him
to desire to be as accomplished as Linton ; and probably he
did not learn merely to show off : you had made him ashamed
of his ignorance before, I have no doubt ; and he wished to
remedy it and please you . To sneer at his imperfect attempt
was very bad breeding. Had you been brought up in his
circumstances, would you be less rude ? He was as quick
and as intelligent a child as ever you were ; and I'm hurt
that he should be despised now, because that base Heathcliff
has treated him so unjustly .”
Well, Ellen, you won't cry about it, will you ? " she
exclaimed , surprised at my earnestness. “But wait, and you
shall hear if he conned his A B C to please me ; and if it
were worth while being civil to the brute. I entered ; Linton
was lying on the settle, and half got up to welcome me.
" " I'm ill to-night, Catherine, love ,' he said ; " and you
must have all the talk , and let me listen. Come, and sit by
WUTIIERING HEIGIITS . 203
me. I was sure you wouldn't break your word , and I'll
make you promise again, before you go.'
“ I knew now that I mustn't tease him, as he was ill ; and
I spoke softly and put no questions, and avoided irritating
him in any way. I had brought some of my nicest books
for him ; he asked me to read a little of one, and I was about
to comply, when Earnshaw burst the door open : having
gathered venom with reflection. He advanced direct to us,
seized Linton by the arm, and swung him off the seat.
“ Get to thy own room ! ' he said , in a voice almost inarti
culate with passion ; and his face looked swelled and furious.
• Take her there if she comes to see thee : thou shalln't keep
me out of this. Begone wi' ye both !!
“ He swore at us, and left Linton no time to answer, nearly
throwing him into the kitchen ; and he clenched his fist as I
followed , seemingly longing to knock me down. I was afraid
for a moment, and I let one volume fall ; he kicked it after
me, and shut us out. I heard a malignant, crackly laugh by
the fire, and turning, beheld that odious Joseph standing
rubbing his bony hands, and quivering.
“ I wer sure he'd sarve ye out ! He's a grand lad !
Ile's getten t'raight sperrit in him ! He knaws-- Ay, he
knaws, as weel as I do, who sud be t'maister yonder-Ech,
ech, ech ! He made ye skift properly ! Ech , ech, ech ! '
“ Where must we go ? ' I asked of my cousin, disregarding
the old wretch's mockery.
“ Linton was white and trembling. He was not pretty
then , Ellen : oh no ! he looked frightful; for his thin face
and large eyes were wrought into an expression of frantic,
powerless fury. He grasped the handle of the door, and
shook it : it was fastened inside.
" If you don't let me in I'll kill you !-If you don't let
me in, I'll kill you !' he rather shrieked than said. " Devil !
devil !—I'll kill you — I'll kill you l '
“ Joseph uttered his croaking laugh again.
“ Thear, that's t'father !' he cried. " That's father !
We've allas summut o' either side in us. Niver heed
Hareton, lad - dunnut be 'feard — he cannot get at thee !'
“ I took hold of Linton's hands, and tried to pull him
away ; but he shrieked so shockingly that I dared not proceed .
At last his cries were choked by a dreadful fit of coughing ;
blood gushed from his mouth , and he fell on the ground. I
ran into the yard, sick with terror ; and culled for Zillah , as
14
210 WUTHERING HEIGITS .
loud as I could. She soon heard me : she was milking the

cows in a shed behind the barn, and hurrying from her work,
she inquired what there was to do ? I hadn't breath to
explain ; dragging her in, I looked about for Linton. Earn
shaw had come out to examine the mischief he had caused ,
and he was then conveying the poor thing up -stairs. Zillah
and I ascended after him ; but he stopped me at the top of
the steps, and said I shouldn't go in : I must go home. I
exclaimed that he had killed Linton, and I would enter.
Joseph locked the door, and declared I should do no sich
stuff,' and asked me whether I were ' bahn to be as mad as
him . I stood crying, till the housekeeper reappeared . She
affirmed he would be better in a bit, but he couldn't do with
that shrieking and din ; and she took me, and nearly carried
me into the house.
“ Ellen, I was ready to tear my hair off my head ! I sobbed
and wept so that my eyes were almost blind; and the ruffian
you have such sympathy with stood opposite: presuming
every now and then to bid me wisht,' and denying that it
was his fault; and, finally , frightened by my assertions that
I would tell papa, and that he should be put in prison and
hanged , he commenced blubbering himself, and hurried out to
hide his cowardly agitation. Still, I was not rid of him :
when at length they compelled me to depart, and I had got
some hundred yards off the premises, he suddenly issued from
the shadow of the road -side, and checked Minny and took hold
of me .
66.Miss Catherine, I'm ill grieved ,' he began, but it's
rayther too bad
“ I gave him a cut with my whip, thinking perhaps he
would murder me. He let go, thundering one of his horrid
curses, and I galloped home more than half out of my
senses .
“ I didn't bid you good-night that evening, and I didn't go

to Wuthering Heights the next: I wished to go exceedingly ;
but I was strangely excited, and dreaded to hear that Linton
was dead, sometimes; and sometimes shuddered at the thought
of encountering Hareton . On the third day I took courage:
at least, I couldn't bear longer suspense, and stole off once
more . I went at five o'clock , and walked ; fancying I might
manage to creep into the house, and up to Linton's room ,
unobserved. However, the dogs gave notice of my approach .
Zillah received me, and saying the lad was mending nicely ,
showed me into a small , tidy, carpeted apartment, where, to

my inexpressible joy, I beheld Linton laid on a little sofa,
reading one of my books. But he would neither speak to me
nor look at me, through a whole hour, Ellen : he has such an
unhappy temper. And what quite confounded me, when he
did open his mouth , it was to utter the falsehood that I had
occasioned the uproar, and Hareton was not to blame !
Unable to reply, except passionately, I got up and walked
from the room . He sent after me a faint • Catherine !' He
did not reckon on being answered so : but I wouldn't turn
back ; and the morrow was the second day on which I
stayed at home, nearly determined to visit him no more. But
it was so miserable going to bed and getting up, and never
hearing anything about him, that my resolution melted into
air before it was properly formed. It had appeared wrong to
take the journey once ; now it seemed wrong to refrain .
Michael came to ask if he must saddle Minny ; I said “ Yes,'
and considered myself doing a duty as she bore me over
the hills. I was forced to pass the front windows to get
to the court : it was no use trying to conceal my presence.
* • Young master is in the house,' said Zillah, as she saw
me making for the parlour. I went in ; Earnshaw was there
also, but he quitted the room directly. Linton sat in the
great arm - chair half asleep ; walking up to the fire, I began
in a serious tone, partly meaning it to be true
As you don't like me, Linton, and as you think I come
on purpose to hurt you, and pretend that I do so every time,
this is our last meeting : let us say good-bye ; and tell Mr
Heathcliff that you have no wish to see me, and that he
mustn't invent any more falsehoods on the subject.'
“ . Sit down and take your hat off, Catherine,' he answered.
• You are so much happier than I am , you ought to be better.
Papa talks enough ofmy.defects, and shows enough scorn of
me, to make it natural Ishould doubt myself. I doubt
whether I am not altogether as worthless as he calls me,
frequently ; and then I feel so cross and bitter, I hate every
body ! I am worthless, and bad in temper, and bad in spirit,
almost always; and, if you choose, you may say good-bye :
you ' ll get rid of an annoyance. Only, Catherine, do me this
justice: believe that if I might be as sweet, and as kind , and
as good as you are, I would be ; as willingly, and more so,
than as happy and as healthy. And believe that your kind
ness has made me love you deeper than if I deserved your
love : and though I couldn't, and cannot help showing niy

nature to you, I regret it and repent it ; and shall regret and
repent it till I die ! "
" I felt he spoke the truth ; and I felt I must forgive him :
and, though he should quarrel the next moment, I must for
give him again. We were reconciled ; but we cried, both of
us, the whole time I stayed : not entirely for sorrow ; yet I was
sorry Linton had that distorted nature. He'll never let his
friends be at ease, and he'll never be at ease himself ! I have
always gone to his little parlour, since that night; because his
father returned the day after .
“ About three times, I think, we have been merry and
hopeful, as we were the first evening ; the rest of my visits
were dreary and troubled : now with his selfishness and spite,
and now with his sufferings: but I've learned to endure the
former with nearly as little resentment as the latter. Mr
Heathcliff purposely avoids me : I have hardly seen him at all.
Last Sunday, indeed, coming earlier than usual, I heard him
abusing poor Linton, cruelly, for his conduct of the night
before. I can't tell how he knew of it, unless he listened.
Linton had certainly behaved provokingly: however, it was
thebusiness of nobody but me,and I interrupted Mr Heath
cliff's lecture by entering and telling him so. He burst into
a laugh, and went away, saying he was glad I took that
view of the matter. Since then, I've told Linton he must
whisper his bitter things. Now, Ellen, you have heard all.
I can't be prevented from going to Wuthering Heights,
except by inflicting misery on two people; whereas, if you'll
only not tell papa , my going need disturb the tranquillity of
none .
You 'll not tell , will you ? It will be very heartless,
if you do."
“ I'll make up my mind on that point by to-morrow , Miss
Catherine," I replied. “ It requires some study ; and so I'll
leave you to your rest, and go think it over . "
I thought it over aloud, in my master's presence ; walking
straight from her room to his, and relating the whole story :
with the exception of her conversations with her cousin, and
any mention of Hareton. Mr Linton was alarmed and dis
tressed, more than he would acknowledge to me. In the
morning, Catherine learnt my betrayal of her confidence, and
she learnt also that her secret visits were to end. In vain she
wept and writhed against the interdict, and implored her
father to have pity on Linton : all she got to comfort her was
a promise that he would write and give him leave to come to

the Grange when he pleased ; but explaining that he must no
longer expect to see Catherine at Wuthering Heights. Perhaps,
had he been aware of his nephew's disposition and state of
health, he would have seen fit to withhold even that slight
consolation .
i
I
CHAPTER XXV .
“ 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 con
tented, living by yourself ; and I some way fancy no one could
see Catherine Linton and not love her. You smile ; but why
do you look so lively and interested, when I talk about her?
and why have you asked me to hang her picture over your
fireplace ? and why- "
“Stop, my good friend ! " I cried . “ It may be very possi
ble that I should love her ; but would she love me ? I doubt
it too much to venture my tranquillity by running into temp
tation : and then my home is not here . I'm of the busy world ,
and to its arms I must return. Go on . Was Catherine obe .
dient 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 remem
bered words would be the only aid that he could bequeath to
guide her. He said to me, a few days afterwards, Te
“ I wish my nephew would write, Ellen, or call. ll 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
214 WUTHERING HEIGHTS
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 grave
stones.
“ 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
Heathcliffgained his ends, and triumphed in robbing me of my
last blessing ! Butshould 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 provi
dence, 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 con
valescence ; and then his cheek was often flushed, and his eyes
were bright : she felt sure of his recovering. On her seven
teenth 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 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 peti
tion 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 hewas able by letter ; being
well aware of his hard position in his family. Linton com
plied ; and he had been unrestrained, would probably have
spoiled all by filling his epistles with complaints and lamenta
tions : 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 ofbeing 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 tyran
nically and wickedly as I afterwards learned Heathcliff had
treated him, to compel this apparent eagerness : his efforts
redoubling the moreimminently his avaricious and unfeeling
plans were threatened with defeat by death .
CHAPTER XXVI.
SUMMER was already past its prime, when Edgar reluctantly

yielded his assent to their entreaties, and Catherine and I set
out on our first ride to join her cousin. It was a close, sultry
day : devoid of sunshine, but with a sky too dappled and
hazy to threaten rain ; and our place of meeting had been
fixed at the guide-stone, by the cross-roads. On arriving
there, however, a little herd -boy, despatched as a messenger
told us that ,
" Maister Linton wer just o’this side th' Heights : and he'd
be mitch obleeged to usto gang on a bit further.”
“ Then Master Linton has forgot the first injunction of his
WUTIIERING HEIGHTS . 217
uncle," I observed : " he bid us keep on the Grange land, and

here we are off at once.
“Well, we'll turn our horses' heads round, when we reach
him ," answered my companion, “our excursion shall lie
towards home. ”
But when we reached him, and that was scarcely a quarter
of a mile from his own door, we found he had no horse ; and
we were forced to dismount, and leave ours to graze. He lay
on the heath, awaiting our approach , and did not rise till we
came within a few yards. Then he walked so feebly, and
looked so pale, that I immediately exclaimed
“ Why, Master Heathcliff, you are not fit for enjoying a
ramble, this morning. How ill you do look ! "
Catherine surveyed him with grief and astonishment : she
changed the ejaculation of joy on her lips, to one of alarm ;
and the congratulation on their long postponed meeting, to an
anxious inquiry, whether he were worse than usual ?
" No- better - better !" he panted, trembling, and retaining
her hand as if he needed its support, while his large blue eyes
wandered timidly over her ; the hollowness round them
transforming to haggard wildness the languid expression they
onceBu
possessed.
66 t you have been worse," persisted his cousin ; worse
than when I saw you last ; you are thinner, and—”
" I'm tired," he interrupted, hurriedly. “ It is too hot for
walking, let us rest here. And, in the morning, I often feel
sick — papa says I grow so fast.”
Badly satisfied, Cathy sat down, and he reclined beside her.
“ This is something like your paradise,” said she, making
an effort at cheerfulness. “ You recollect the two days we
agreed to spend in the place and way each thought pleasantest?
This is nearly yours, only there are clouds ; but then they are
so soft and mellow : it is nicer than sunshine. Next week, if
you can, we'll ride down to the Grange Park , and try mine."
Linton did not appear to remember what she talked of';
and he had evidently great difficulty in sustaining any kind of
conversation . His lack of interest in the subjects she started ,
and his equal incapacity to contribute to her entertainment,
were so obvious that she could not conceal her disappoint
ment. An indefinite alteration had come over his whole
person and manner . The pettishness that might be caressed
into fondness, had yielded to a listless apathy ; there was less
of the peevish temper of a child which frets and teases on
purpose to be soothed, and more of the self-absorbed morose

ness of a confirmed invalid, repelling consolation, and ready
to regard the good -humoured mirth of others, as an insult.
Catherine perceived , as well as I did, that he held it rather a
punishment, than a gratification , to endure our company ; and
she made no scruple of proposing, presently, to depart. That
proposal, unexpectedly, roused Linton from his lethargy, and
threw him into a strange state of agitation. He glanced
fearfully towards the Heights, begging she would remain
another half -hour, at least.
“ But, I think,” said Cathy, “ you 'd be more comfortable
at home than sitting here; and I cannot amuse you to-day,
I see, by my tales, and songs, and chatter : you have grown
wiser than I, in these six months ; you have little taste for
my diversions now : or else, if I could amuse you, I'd will.
ingly stay."
Stay to rest yourself,” he replied . “ And Catherine, don't
think, or say that I'm very unwell : it is the heavy weather
and heat that make me dull ; and I walked about, before you
came, a great deal for me. Tell uncle, I'm in tolerable
health, will you ? "
“l'll tell him that you say so, Linton. I couldn't affirm .
that you are," observed my young lady, wondering at his
pertinacious assertion of what was evidently an untruth.
“ And be he here again next Thursday," continued he, shun
ning her puzzled gaze. “ And give him my thanks for
permitting you to come - my best thanks, Catherine. And
and, if you did meet my father, and he asked you about me,
don't lead him to suppose that I've been extremely silent and
stupid : don't look sad and downcast, as you are doing — he 'll
be angry ."
“ I care nothing for his anger," exclaimed Cathy, imagining
she would be its object.
“ But I do," said her cousin, shuddering. “Don't provoke
him against me, Catherine, for he is very hard."
“ Is he severe to you, Master Heathcliff ? " I inquired.
“ Has he grown weary of indulgence, and passed from passive
to active hatred ? "
Linton looked at me, but did not answer ; and, after keeping
her seat by his side another ten minutes, during which his
head fell drowsily on his breast, and he uttered nothing except
suppressed moans of exhaustion or pain, Cathy began to
seek solace in looking for bilberries, and sharing the produce
of her researches with me : she did not offer them to him, for
she saw further notice would only weary and annoy.
“ Is it half an hour now, Ellen? " she whispered in my ear,
at last. “ I can't tell why we should stay. He's asleep, and
papa will be wanting us back."
“Well, we must not leave him asleep,” I answered ; wait
till he wakes, and be patient. You were mighty eager to set
off, but your longing to see poor Linton has soon evaporated !”
“ Why did he wish to see me ? ” returned Catherine. “ In
his crossest humours, formerly, I liked him better than I do
in his present curious mood . It's just as if it were a task he
was compelled to perform — this interview - for fear his father
should scold him. But I'm hardly going to come to give
Mr Heathcliff pleasure ; whatever reason he may have for
ordering Linton to undergo this penance. And, though I'm
glad he's better in health, I'm sorry he's so much less
pleasant, and so much less affectionate to me.”
“ You think he is better in health , then ? ” I said.
Yes,"
,” she answered ; “because he always made such a
great deal of his sufferings, you know. He is not tolerably
well, as he told me to tell papa; but he's better, very likely .'
6. There you differ with me, Miss Cathy,” I remarked ; I
should conjecture him to be far worse . "
Linton here started from his slumber in bewildered terror,
and asked if any one had called his name.
“ No,” said Catherine; “ unless in dreams. I cannot conceive
how you manage to dose out of doors, in the morning."
“ I thought I heard my father," he gasped , glancing up to
the frowning nab above us. “ You are sure nobody spoke ?'
“Quite sure,” replied his cousin. “ Only Ellen and I were
disputing concerning your health. Are you truly stronger,
Linton, than when we separated in winter? If you be, I'm
certain one thing is not stronger — your regard for me : speak,
-are you ? ”
The tears gushed from Linton's eyes as he answered, “ Yes,
yes, I am !" And, still under the spell of the imaginary
voice, his gaze wandered up and down to detect its owner.
Cathy rose. “ For to -day we must part,” she said. And I
won't conceal that I have been sadly disappointed with our
meeting ; though I 'll mention it to nobody but you : not that
I stand in awe of Mr Heathcliff . ”
“ Hush ,"murmured Linton ; “ for God's sake, hush ! He's
coming ." And he clung to Catherine's arm , striving to detain
220 WUTHERIXG HEIGHTS.
her ; but at that announcement she hastily disengaged herself,

and whistled to Minny, who obeyed her like a dog.
" I'll be here next Thursday," she cried, springing to the
saddle. Good-bye. Quick, Ellen ! "
And so we left him , scarcely conscious of our departure, so
absorbed was he in anticipating his father's approach .
Before we reached home, Catherine's displeasure softened
into a perplexed sensation of pity and regret, largely blended
with vague , uneasy doubts about Linton's actual circumstances,
physical and social : in which I partook, though I counselled
her not to say much ; for a second journey would make us
better judges. My master requested an account of our
ongoings. His nephew's offering of thanks was duly deli
vered ,Miss Cathy gently touching on the rest : I also threw
little light on his inquiries, for I hardly knew what to hide,
and what to reveal.
CHAPTER XXVII.
SEVEN days glided away, everyone marking its course by the

henceforth rapid alteration of Edgar Linton's state. The
havoc that months had previously wrought was now emulated
by the inroads of hours. Catherine, we would fain have
deluded yet ; but her own quick spirit refused to delude her :
it divined in secret, and brooded on the dreadful probability,
gradually ripening into certainty. She had not the heart to
mentionher ride,when Thursday came round ; I mentioned it
for her, and obtained permission to order her out of doors : for
the library, where her father stopped a short time daily — the
brief period he could bear to sit up—and his chamber, had
become her whole world . She grudged each moment that
did not find her bending over his pillow, or seated by his side.
Her countenance grew wan with watching and sorrow , and
my master gladly disrnissed her to what he flattered himself
would be a happy change of scene and society; drawing com
fort from the hope that she would not now be left entirely
alone after his death .
He had a fixed idea, I guessed by several observations he
let fall, that, as his nephew resembled him in person , he would
resemble him in mind ; for Linton's letters bore few or no

indications of his defective character. And I, through par
donable weakness, refrained from correcting the error; asking
myself what good there would be in disturbing his last
inoments with information that he had neither power nor
opportunity to turn to account.
We deferred our excursion till the afternoon ; a golden
afternoon of August : every breath from the hills so full of
life, that it seemed whoever respired it, though dying, might
revive. Catherine's face was just like the landscape - shadows
and sunshine flitting over it in rapid succession ; but the
shadows rested longer, and the sunshine was more transient;
and her poor little heart reproached itself for even that passing
forgetfulness of its cares.
We discerned Linton watching at the same spot he had
selected before. My young mistress alighted, and told me
that, as she was resolved to stay a very little while, I had
better hold the pony and remain on horseback ; but I dis
sented : I wouldn't risk losing sight of the charge committed
to me a minute ; so we climbed the slope of heath together.
Master Heathcliff received us with greater animation on this
occasion : not the animation of high spirits though, nor yet
of joy ; it looked more like fear.
" It is late ! " he said , speaking short and with difficulty.
“ Is not your father very ill ? I thought you wouldn't
come.”
“ Why won't you be candid ? ” cried Catherine, swallowing
her greeting . Why cannot you say at once you don't want
me ? It is strange, I.inton, that for the second time you have
brought me here on purpose, apparently, to distress us both ,
and for no reason besides !”
Linton shivered, and glanced at her, half supplicating, half
ashamed ; but his cousin's patience was not sufficient to
endure this enigmatical behaviour.
“My father is very ill,” she said ; “ and why am I called
from his bedside ? Why didn't you send to absolve me from
my promise, when you wished I wouldn't keep it ? Come! I
desire an explanation : playing and trifling are completely
banished out of my mind; and I can't dance attendance on
your affectations now !"
66
" My affectations! ” he murmured; "what are they ? For
Heaven's sake, Catherine, don't look so angry! Despise me
as inuch as you please; I am a worthless, cowardly wretch : I
can't be scorned enough ; but I'm too mean for your anger.
Hate my father, and spare me for contempt .”
“ Nonsense !” cried Catherine, in a passion. " Foolish, silly
boy ! And there ! he trembles, as if I were really going to
touch him ! You needn't bespeak contempt, Linton : any
body will have it spontaneously at your service. Get off ! I
shall return home:it is folly dragging you from the hearth
stone, and pretending - what do we pretend ? Let go my
frock ! If I pitied you for crying and looking so very fright
ened, you should spurn such pity. Ellen, tell him how
disgraceful this conduct is. Rise, and don't degrade yourself
into an abject reptile- don't !"
With streaming face and an expression of agony, Linton
had thrown his nerveless frame along the ground : he seemed
convulsed with exquisite terror.
“ Oh !” he sobbed, “ I cannot bear it ! Catherine, Cathe
rine, I'm a traitor, too, and I dare not tell you ! But leave
me, and I shall be killed ! Dear Catherine, my life is in your
hands : and you have said you loved me, and if you did, it
wouldn't harm you . You 'll not go, then ? kind, sweet, good
Catherine ! And perhaps you will consent — and he ' ll let me
die with you ! ”
My young lady, on witnessing his intense anguish , stooped
to raise him. The old feeling of indulgent tenderness over
came her vexation, and she grew thoroughly moved and
alarmed .
“ Consent to what ?" she asked . “ To stay ! Tell me the
meaning of this strange talk, and I will. You contradict your
own words, and distract me ! Be calm and frank, and confess
at once all that weighs on your heart. You wouldn't injure
me, Linton, would you ? You wouldn't let any enemy hurt
me , if you could prevent it ? I'll believe you are a cow
ard for yourself, but not a cowardly betrayer of your best
friend . "
“ But my father threatened me,” gasped the boy, clasping
his attenuated fingers, “ and I dread him — I dread him ! I
dare not tell! ”
“ Oh, well !” said Catherine, with scornful compassion,
“ keep your secret : I'm no coward. Save yourself: I'm not
afraid ! "
Her magnanimity provoked his tears : he wept wildly,
kissing her supporting hands, and yet could not sumnīši
courage to speak out. I was cogitating what the mystery
might be, and determined Catherine should never suffer, to

benefit him or any one else, by my good will ; when hearing
å rustle among the ling, I looked up and saw Mr Heathcliff
almost close upon us, descending the Heights. He didn't
cast a glance towards my companions, though they were
sufficiently near for Linton's sobs to be audible ; but hailing
me in the almost hearty tone he assumed to none besides,
and the sincerity of which I couldn't avoid doubting, he
said
“ It is something to see you so near to my house, Nelly.
How are you at the Grange ? Let us hear. The rumour
goes,” he added in a lower tone, “ that Edgar Linton is on his
deathbed : perhaps they exaggerate his illness ? ”
“ No; my master is dying, I replied : “ it is true enough.
A sad thing it will be for us all, but a blessing for him ! ”
“ How long will he last, do you think ? ” he asked .
“ I don't know ," I said.
“ Because,” he continued, looking at the two young people,
who were fixed under his eye - Linton appeared as if hecould
not venture to stir or raise his head, and Catherine could
not move , on his account “ because that lad yonder seems
determined to beat me ; and I'd thank his uncle to be quick,
and go before him. Hallo ! has the whelp been playing that
game long ? I did give him some lessons about snivelling.
Is he pretty lively with Miss Linton generally ? ”
“Lively ? no - he has shown the greatest distress," I
answered . “ To see him , I should say, that instead of
rambling with his sweetheart on the hills, he ought to be in
bed, under the hands of a doctor.”
“ He shall be, in a day or two,” muttered Heathcliff. “ But
first - get up, Linton ! Get up !" he shouted . “ Don't grovel
on the ground there : up, this moment! ”
Linton had sunk prostrate again in another paroxysm of
helpless fear, caused by his father's glance towards him , I
suppose: there was nothing else to produce such humiliation.
He made several efforts to obey, but his little strength was
annihilated for the time, and he fell back again with a moan.
Mr Heathcliff advanced, and lifted him to lean against a ridge
of turf.
“ Now ," said he, with curbed ferocity, “ I'm getting angry;
and if you don't command that paltry spirit of yours — Damn
you ! get up directly ! "
“ I will, father,” he panted. “Only, let me alone, or I shall
faint. I've done as you wished , I'm sure. Catherine will tell
yuu that I — that I have been cheerful. Ah ! keep by me,
Catherine; give me your hand. "
“ Take mine," said his father ; “stand on your feet. There
now—she 'll lend you her arm : that's right, look at her. You
would imagine I was the devil himself, Miss Linton, to excite
such horror. Be so kind as to walk home with him, will you?
He shudders if I touch him . ”
“Linton, dear ! ” whispered Catherine, “ I can't go to
Wuthering Heights: papa has forbidden me. He'll not harm
you : why are you so afraid ?”
“ I can never re - enter that house," he answered . “ I'm not
to re - enter it without you !”
Stop !" cried his father. “We'll respect Catherine's filial
scruples. Nelly, take him in, and I'll follow your advice
concerning the doctor, without delay."
“ You 'll do well,” replied I. " But I must remain with my
mistress: to mind your son is not my business ."
“ You are very stiff,” said Heathcliff, “ I know that : but
you 'll force meto pinch the baby and make it scream before
it moves your charity. Come, then, my hero. Are you willing
to return, escorted bỹ me ? "
He approached once more, and made as if he would seize
the fragile being ; but, shrinking back, Linton clung to his
cousin, and implored her to accompany him, with a frantic
importunity that admitted no denial. However I disapproved,
I couldn't hinder her : indeed , how could she have refused him
herself ? What was filling him with dread we had no means
of discerning ; but there he was, powerless under its gripe, and
any addition seemed capable of shocking him into idiocy.
We reached the threshold ; Catherine walked in, and I stood
waiting till she had conducted the invalid to a chair, expecting
her out immediately ; when Mr Heathcliff, pushing me forward,
exclaimed
“My house is not stricken with the plague, Nelly ; and I
have a mind to be hospitable to-day : sit down, and allow me
to shut the door."
He shut and locked it also. I started.
“ You shall have tea before you go home,” he added. “ I
am by myself. Hareton is gone with some cattle to the Lees,
and Zillah and Joseph are off on a journey of pleasure ; and,
though I'm used to being alone, I'd rather have some inter
esting company, if I can get it. Miss Linton, take your seat
by hin. I give you what I have : the present is hardly worth

accepting ; but I have nothing else to offer. It is Linton, I
mean. How she does stare ! It's odd what a savage feeling
I have to anything that seems afraid of me ! Had I been
born where laws are less strict and tastes less dainty, I should
treat myself to a slow vivisection of those two, as an evening's
amusement.”
He drew in his breath, struck the table, and swore to him
self, “ By hell ! I hate them . ”
“ I'm not afraid of you !” exclaimed Catherine, who could
not hear the latter part of his speech. She stepped close up ;
her black eyes flashing with passion and resolution. 66 Give
me that key : I will have it ! ” she said. “ I wouldn't eat or
drink here, if I were starving ."
Heathcliff had the key in his hand that remained on the
table. He looked up, seized with a sort of surprise at her
boldness ; or, possibly, reminded by her voice and glance, of
the person from whom she inherited it. She snatched at the
instrument, and half-succeeded in getting it out of his loosened
fingers: but her action recalled him to the present ; he reco
vered it speedily .
Now, Catherine Linton ," he said, “ stand off, or I shall
knock you down ; and that will make Mrs Dean mad."
Regardless of this warning, she captured his closed hand
and its contents again . “ We will go !" she repeated , exerting
her utmost efforts to cause the iron muscles to relax ; and
finding that her nails made no impression, she applied her
teeth pretty sharply. Heathcliff glanced at me a glance that
kept me from interfering a moment. Catherine was too intent
on his fingers to notice his face. He opened them suddenly,
and resigned the object of dispute ; but, ere she had well
secured it, he seized her with the liberated hand, and, pulling
her on his knee, administered with the other a shower of
terrific slaps on both sides of the head, each sufficient to have
fulfilled his threat, had she been able to fall.
At this diabolical violence I rushed on him furiously. “You
villain !" I began to cry , " you villain ! " A touch on the
chest silenced me : I am stout, and soon put out of breath ;
and, what with that and the rage, I staggered dizzily back,
and felt ready to suffocate, or to burst a blood - vessel. The
scene was over in two minutes ; Catherine, released, put her .
cwo hands to her temples, and looked just as if she were
Lot sure whether her ears were off or on. She trembled
15
like a reed, poor thing, and leant against the table perfectly
bewildered.
“ I know how to chastise children, you see,” said the
scoundrel,grimly, as he stooped to repossess himself of the key,
Lint now,
which had dropped to the floor. To Go to on as I
told you ; and cry at your ease ! I shall be your father, to
morrow — all the father you'll have in a few days—and you
shall have plenty of that. You can bear plenty ; you 're no
weakling : you shall have a daily taste, if I catch such a devil
of a temper in your eyes again!"
Cathy ran to me instead of Linton, and knelt down and put
her burning cheek on my lap, weeping aloud. Her cousin
had shrunk into a corner of the settle, as quiet as a mouse,
congratulating himself, I dare say, that the correction had
lighted on another than him. Mr Heathcliff, perceiving us all
confounded, rose, and expeditiously made the tea himself. The
cups and saucers were laid ready. He poured it out, and
handed me cup a .
“ Wash away your spleen," he said . " And help your own
naughty pet and mine. It is not poisoned, though I prepared
it. I'm going out to seek your horses ."
Our first thought, on his departure, was to force an exit
somewhere. Wetried the kitchen door, but that was fastened
outside : we looked at the windows—they were too narrow for
even Cathy's little figure.
“ Master Linton ,” I cried , seeing we were regularly im
prisoned ; “you know what your diabolical father is after, and
you shall tell us, or I'll box your ears, as he has done your
cousin's.”
“ Yes, Linton, you must tell,” said Catherine. " It was for
your sake I came ; and it will be wickedly ungrateful if you
refuse.”
“ Give me some tea, I'm thirsty, and then I 'll tell you," he
answered. “Mrs Dean, go away. I don't like you standing
over me. Now , Catherine, you are letting your tears fall into
my cup. I won't drink that. Give me another ."
Catherine pushed another to him, and wiped her face. I
felt disgusted at the little wretch's composure, since no
longer in terrorfor himself. The anguish he had ited

on the moor subsided as soon as ever he entered ing
Heights; so I guessed he had been menaced wit", vful
visitation of wrath if he failed in decoying us there hat
accomplished , he had no further immediate fears.
WUTHERING HEIGHTS , 227
" Papa wants us to be married ," he continued , after sipping

some of the liquid. " And he knows your papa wouldn't let
us marry now ; and he's afraid of my dying, if we wait; so we
are to be married in the morning, and you are to stay here all
night ; and,if you do as he wishes, you shall return home next
day, and take me with you .”
“ Take you with her, pitiful changeling ? ” I exclaimed .
You marry ? Why the man is mad l or he thinks us fools,
every one. And do you imagine that beautiful young lady,
thathealthy, hearty girl, will tie herself to a little perishing
monkey like you ? Are you cherishing the notion that any
body, let alone Miss Catherine Linton,would have you for a
husband ? You want whipping for bringing us in here at all,
with your dastardly puling tricks ; and — don't look so silly,
now ! I've a very good mind to shake you severely, for your
contemptible treachery, and your imbecile conceit .'
I did give him a slight shaking ; but it brought on the
cough, and he took to his ordinary resource of moaning and
weeping, and Catherine rebuked me.
66
Stay all night ? No," she said, looking slowly round.
“ Ellen , I'll burn that door down, but I'll get out.”
And she would have commenced the execution of her threat
directly, but Linton was up in alarm for his dear self again.
He clasped her in his two feeble arms sobbing
16 Won't you have me, and save me ? not let me come to
the Grange ? Oh ! darling Catherine! you mustn't go and
leave, after all. You must obey my father — you must !"
“ I must obey my own,” she replied, “ and relieve him from
this cruel suspense. The whole night ! What would he
think ? he'll be distressed already. I'll either break or burn
a way out of the house. Be quiet ! You 're in no danger ;
but if youhinder me - Linton, I love papa better than you !"
The mortal terror he felt of Mr Heathcliff's anger, restored
to the boy his coward's eloquence. Catherine was near dis
traught : still , she persisted that she must go home, and tried
entreaty in her turn , persuading him to subdue his selfish
agony. While they were thus occupied , our jailor re-entered.
“ Your beasts have trotted off,” he said , “ and - now Linton !
snivelling again ? What has she been doing to you ? Come,
come — have done, and get to bed. In a month or two, my
lad, you 'll be able to pay her back her present tyrannies with
a vigorous hand. You 're pining for pure love, are you not ?
nothing else in the world : and she shall have you ! There to
bed ! Zillah won't be here to -night; you must undress your

self. Once in your own room , I'll
Hush ! hold your noise !
not come near you : you needn't fear. By chance, you've
managed tolerably. I'll look to the rest. "
He spokethese words, holding the door open for his son to
pass ; and the latter achieved his exit exactly as a spaniel
might, which suspected the person who attended on it of
designing a spiteful squeeze. The lock was resecured . Heath
cliff approached the fire,where my mistress and I stood silent.
Catherine looked up, and instinctively raised her hand to her
cheek : his neighbourhood revived a painful sensation. Any
body else would have been incapable of regarding the childish
act with sternness, but he scowled on her, and muttered
“ Oh ! you are not afraid of me ? Your courage is well
disguised : you seem damnably afraid ! "
" I am afraid now," she replied “ because, if I stay, papa
will be miserable ; and how can I endure making him miser
able — when he — when he-Mr Heathcliff, let me go home !
I promise to marry Linton : papa would like me to : and I
love him . Why should you wish to force me to do what I'll
willingly do of myself ? ”
“ Let him dare to force you !” I cried . There's law in
the land, thank God ! there is ; though we be in an out-of
the-way place. I'd inform if he were my own son : and it's
felony without benefit of clergy ! "
" Silence ! ” said the ruffian . 6. To the devil with your
clamour ! I don't want you to speak. Miss Linton, I shall
enjoy myself remarkably in thinking your father will be
miserable : I shall not sleep for satisfaction. Youcould have
hit on no surer way of fixing your residence under my roof
for the next twenty -four hours,than informing me that such
an event would follow . As to your promise to marry Linton ,
I'll take care you shall keep it ; for you shall not quit this
place till it is fulfilled .”
“ Send Ellen, then, to let papa know I'm safe ! ” exclaimed
Catherine, weeping bitterly. “ Or marry me now . Poor
papa ! Ellen, he'll think we're lost. What shall we do ? "
Not he ! He'll think you are tired of waiting on him ,
and run off for a little amusement,” answered Heathcliff.
“ You cannot deny that you entered my house of your own
accord, in contempt of his injunctions to the contrary. And
it is quite natural that you should desire amusement at your
age ; and that you would weary of nursing a sick man, and
that man only your father. Catherine, his happiest days were
over when your days began. He cursed you, I dare say, for
coming into the world (I did, at least) ; and it would just do
if he cursed you as he went out of it. I'd join him. I don't
love you ! How should I ? Weep away. As far as I can
see, it will be your chief diversion hereafter ; unless Linton
make amends for. other losses : and your provident parent
appears to fancy he may. His letters of advice and conso
lation entertained me vastly. In his last he recommended my
jewel to be careful of his ; and kind to her when he got her.
Careful and kind — that's paternal. But Linton requires his
whole stock of care and kindness for himself. Linton can
play the little tyrant well . He'll undertake to torture any
number of cats, if their teeth be drawn andtheir claws pared .
You'll be able to tell his uncle fine tales of his kindness, when
you get home again, I assure you ."
“ You ' re right there !" I said ; " explain your son's cha
racter. Show his resemblance to yourself; and then, I hope,
Miss Cathy will think twice before she takes the cockatrice ! "
“ I don't much mind speaking of his amiable qualities
now ,” he answered ; “ because she must either accept him or
remain a prisoner, and you along with her, till your master
dies. I can detain you both , quite concealed, here. If you
doubt, encourage her to retract her word, and you 'll have an
opportunity of judging ! "
“ I'll not retract my word,” said Catherine . “ I'll marry
him within this hour, if I may go to Thrushcross Grange
afterwards. Mr Heathcliff, you're a cruel man, but you 're
not a fiend ; and you won't, from mere malice, destroy irre
vocably all my happiness. If papa thought I had left him on
purpose , and if he died before I returned, could I bear to
live? I've given over crying : but I'm going to kneel here,
at your knee ; and I'll not get up, and I'll not take my eyes
from your face till you look back at me ! No, don't turn
away ! do look ! You'll see nothing to provoke you.Ha I don't
hate you. I'm not angry that you struck me. ve you
never loved anybody in all your life, uncle ? never ? Ah ! you
must look once. I'm so wretched, you can't help being sorry
and pitying me.”
“ Keep your eft's fingers off ; and move, or I'll kick you ! "
cried Heathcliff, brutally repulsing her. " I'd rather be
hugged by a snake. How the devil can you dream of fawn
ing on me ? I detest you ! "
He shrugged his shoulders : shook himself, indeed, as if

his flesh crept with aversion ; and thrust back his chair ;
while I got up, and opened my mouth, to commence a down
right torrent of abuse. But I was rendered dumb in the
middle of the first sentence, by a threat that I should be
shown into a room by myself the very next syllable I uttered .
It was growing dark — we heard a sound of voices at the
garden gate. Our host hurried out instantly : he had his wits
about him ; we had not. There was a talk of two or three
minutes, and he returned alone.
“ I thought it had been your cousin Hareton ," I observed
to Catherine. “ I wish he would arrive ! Who knows but he
might take our part ? ”
It was three servants sent to seek you from the Grange ,”
said Heathcliff, overhearing me. " You should have opened
a lattice and called out : but I could swear that chit is glad
you didn't. She's glad to be obliged to stay, I'm certain ."
At learning the chance we had missed, we both gavevent
to our grief without control ; and he allowed us to wail on
till nine o'clock. Then he bid us go up -stairs, through the
kitchen, to Zillah's chamber ; and I whispered my companion
to obey : perhaps we might contrive to get through the
window there, or into a garret, and out by its skylight. The
window, however, was narrow , like those below, and the garret
trap was safe from our attempts ; for we were fastened in as
before. We neither of us lay down : Catherine took her
station by the lattice, and watched anxiously for morning ; a
deep sigh being the only answer I could obtain to my frequent
entreaties that she would try to rest. I seated myselfin a
chair, and rocked to and fro, passing harsh judgment on my
many derelictions of duty ; from which, it struck me then,
all the misfortunes of my employers sprang. It was not the
case, in reality, I am aware ; but it was, in my imagination,
that dismal night ; and I thought Heathcliff himself less guilty
than I.
At seven o'clock he came, and inquired if Miss Linton had
risen. She ran to the door immediately, and answered, Yes . "
Here, then ,” he said, opening it, and pulling her out. I rose
to follow , but he turned the lock again. I demanded my
release .
“ Be patient,” he replied ; “I'll send up your breakfast in
a while ."
I thumped on the panels, and rattled the latch angrily ;
and Catherine asked why I was still shut up ? He answered,
I must try to endure it another hour, and they went away.
I endured it two or three hours ; at length, I heard a foot
step : not Heathcliff's.
“ I've brought you something to eat,” said a voice; " oppen
tdoor ! ”
Complying eagerly, I beheld Hareton , laden with food
enoughto last me all day.
" Tak it," he added , thrusting the tray into my had.
“ Stay one minute," I began.
“ Nay," cried he, and retired, regardless of any prayers I
could pour forth to detain him.
And there I remained enclosed the whole day, and the whole
of the nextnight; and another, and another. Five nights and
four days I remained, altogether, seeing nobody but Hareton ,
once every morning; and he was a model of a gaoler: surly,
anddumb, and deaf to every attempt at moving his sense of
justice or compassion .
CHAPTER XXVIII .
On the fifth morning, or rather afternoon, a different step

approached — lighter and shorter ; and, this time, the person
entered the room . It was Zillah ; donned in her scarlet shawl,
with a black silk bonnet on her head, and a willow basket
swung to her arm .
Eh , dear ! Mrs Dean ! ” she exclaimed. « Well ! there is
a talk about you at Gimmerton. I never thought but you
were sunk in the Blackhorse marsh , and missy with till you,
master told me you 'd been found, and he'd lodged you here !
What ! and you must have got on an island, sure ? And
how long were you in the hole ? Did master save you, Mrs
Dean ? But you're not so thin — you've not been so poorly,
have you ?
“ Your master is a true scoundrel !" I replied. 66 But he
shall answer for it. He needn't have raised that tale : it shall
all be laid bare ! "
“ What do you mean ? ” asked Zillah . " It's not his tale :
they tell that in the village - about your being lost in the
marsh ; and I calls to Earnshaw , when I come in — ' EL,
they 's queer things, Mr Hareton, happened since I went off.

It 's a sad pity of that likely young lass, and cant Nelly Dean.'
He stared . I thought he had not heard aught, so I told him
the rumour. The master listened, and he just smiled to him
self, and said , “ If they have been in the marsh, they are out
now, Zillah . Nelly Dean is lodged, at this minute, in your
room . You can tell her to flit, when you go up ; here is the
key. The bog-water got into her head, and she would have
run home quite flighty ; but I fixed her till she came round to
her senses. You can bid her go to the Grange at once, if she
be able, and carry a message from me, that her young lady
will follow in time to attend the squire's funeral.'
“ Mr Edgar is not dead ? " I gasped. “Oh ! Zillah ,
Zillah ! ”
“No, no; sit you down, my good mistress,” she replied ,
you 're right sickly yet. He's not dead ; Doctor Kenneth
thinkshe may last another day. I met him on the road and
asked .”
Instead of sitting down, I snatched my outdoor things, and
hastened below ,for the way was free. On entering thehouse,
I looked about for some one to give information of Catherine.
The place was filled with sunshine, and the door stood wide
open ; but nobody seemed at hand. As I hesitated whether
to go off at once, or return and seek my mistress, a slight
cough drew my attention to the hearth. Linton lay on the
settle, sole tenant, sucking a stick of sugar -candy, and pursu
ing my movements with apathetic eyes. " Where is Miss
Catherine ? " I demanded , sternly, supposing I could frighten
him into giving intelligence, by catching him thus, alone. He
sucked on like an innocent.
“ Is she gone ? " I said.
No,"
,” he replied ; “ she's up-stairs : she's not to go ; we
won't let her . ”
“ You won't let her, little idiot ! " I exclaimed. 46 Direct
me to her room immediately , or I'll make you sing out
sharply."
Papa would make you sing out, if you attempted to get
there,” he answered. He says I'm not to be soft with
Catherine:
wish
she's my wife, and it's shameful that she should
leave me.
to He says, she hates me and wants me to
die, that she may have mymoney ; but she shan't have it :
and she shan't go home ! She never shall !—she may cry, and
ick as much as she pleases ! ”
He resumed his former occupation, closing his lids, as if he

meant to drop asleep.
“ Master Heathcliff,” I resumed , “ have you forgotten all
Catherine's kindness to you last winter, when you affirmed
you loved her, and when she brought you booksand sung you
songs, and came many a time through wind and snow to see
you ? She wept to miss one evening, because you would be
disappointed ; and you felt then that she was a hundred times
too good to you : and now you believe the lies your father tells,
though you know he detests you both. And you join him
against her. That's fine gratitude, is it not ? ”
The corner of Linton's mouth fell, and he took the sugar
candy from his lips.
“ Did she come to Wuthering Heights, because she hated
you ? ” I continued. “ Think for yourself ! As to your
money , she does not even know that you will have any And
you say she's sick ; and yet, you leave her alone, up there in
a strange house ! You who have felt what it is to be so
neglected ! You could pity your own sufferings ; and she
pitied them , too ; but you won't pity hers ! I shed tears,
Master Heathcliff, you see — an elderly woman, and a servant
merely — and you, after pretending such affection, and having
reason to worship her almost, store every tear you have for
yourself, and lie there quite at ease. Ah ! you 're a heartless,
selfish boy !”
“ I can't stay with her,” he answered crossly. “ I'll not
stay by myself. She cries so I can't bear it. And she won't
give over , though I say I'll call my father. I did call him
once, and he threatened to strangle her, if she was not quiet ;
but she began again the instant he left the room, moaning and
grieving all night long, though I screamed for vexation that I
couldn't sleep.'
“ Is Mr Heathcliff out ? " I inquired, perceiving that the
wretched creature had no power to sympathize with his cousin's
mental tortures.
“ He's in the court,” he replied, “talking to Doctor Ken
neth ; who says uncle is dying, truly, at last. I'm glad, for
I shall be master of the Grange after him. Catherine always ,
spoke of it as her house. It isn't hers ! It 's mine : papa says
everything she has is mine. All her nice books are mine ;
she offered to give me them , and her pretty birds, and her
pony Minny, if I would get the key of our room, and let her
out; but I told her she had nothing to give, they were all , all
mine. And then she cried , and took a little picture from her
neck , and said I should have that; two pictures in a gold case,
on one side her mother, and on the other, uncle, when they
were young. That was yesterday — I said they were mine,
too ; and tried to get them from her. The spiteful thing
wouldn't let me: she pushed me off, and hurt me. I shrieked
out — that frightens her—she heard papa coming, and she
broke the hinges and divided the case, and gave me her
mother's portrait; the other she attempted to hide: but papa
asked what was the matter, and I explained it. He took the
one I had away, and ordered her to resign hers to me; she
refused, and he-he struck her down, and wrenched it off the
chain, and crushed it with his foot."
“ And were you pleased to see her struck ?" I asked : having
my designs in encouraging his talk .
“ Iwinked ,” he answered : “ I wink to see my father strike
a dog or a horse, he does it so hard. Yet I was glad at first
—she deserved punishing for pushing me: but when papa was
gone, she made me come to the window and showed me her
cheek cut on the inside, against her teeth , and her mouth
filling with blood; and then she gathered up the bits of the
picture, and went and sat down with her face to the wall, and
she has never spoken to me since : and I sometimes think she
can't speak for pain. I don't like to think so ; but she's a
naughty thing for crying continually ; and she looks so pale
and wild, I'm afraid of her."
“ And you can get the key if you choose ? ” I said.
“ Yes, when I am up-stairs," he answered ; " but I can't
walk up -stairs now .”
“ In what apartment is it ? " I asked.
“ Oh ," he cried , “ I shan't tell you where it is ! It is our
secret. Nobody, neither Hareton nor Zillah, is to know .
There ! you 've tired me-go away, go away !” And he
turned his face on to his arm, and shuthis eyes again .
I considered it best to depart without seeing Mr Heathcliff,
and bring a rescue for my young lady from the Grange . On
reaching it, the astonishment of my fellow -servants to see me,
and their joy also, was intense ; and when they heard that
their little mistress was safe, two or three were about to hurry
up and shout the news at Mr Edgar's door : but I bespoke the
announcement of it, myself. How changed I found him, even
in those few days ! He lay an image of sadness and resigna
tion waiting his death . Very young he looked : though his
actual age was thirty -nine, one would have called him ten
years younger, at least. He thought of Catherine; for he
murinured her name. I touched his hand , and spoke.
“ Catherine is coming, dear master ! " I whispered ; " she is
alive and well ; and will be here, I hope, to-night.”
I trembled at the first effects of this intelligence: he half
rose up, looked eagerly round the apartment, and then sank
back in a swoon. As soon as he recovered, I related our
compulsory visit, and detention at the Heights. I said Heath
cliff forced me to go in : which was not quite true. I uttered
as little as possible against Linton ; nor did I describe all his
father's brutal conduct — my intentions being to add no bitter
ness, if I could help it, to his already overflowing cup.
He divined that one of his enemy's purposes was to secure
the personal property, as well as the estate, to his son : or
rather himself ; yet why he did not wait till his decease was
a puzzle to my master, because ignorant how nearly he and
his nephew would quit the world together. However, he felt
that his will had better be altered : instead of leaving Cathe
rine's fortune at her own disposal, he determined to put it in
the hands of trustees for her use during life, and for her
children, if she had any, after her. By that means, it could
not fall to Mr. Heathcliff should Linton die.
Having received his orders, I despatched a man to fetch
the attorney, and four more, provided with serviceable weapons,
to demand my young lady of her jailer. Both parties were
delayed very late. The single servant returned first. He said
Mr. Green, the lawyer, was out when he arrived at his house,
and he had to wait two hours for his re-entrance ; and then
Mr. Green told him he had a little business in the village that
must be done; but he would be at Thrushcross Grange before
morning. The four men came back unaccompanied also.
They brought word that Catherine was ill : too ill to quit her
rocm ; and Heathcliff would not suffer them to see her. I
scolded the stupid fellows well for listening to that tale, which
I would not carry to my master ; resolving to take a whole
bevy up to the Heights, at daylight, and storm it literally,
unless the prisoner were quietly surrendered to us. Her father
shall see her, I vowed, and vowed again, if that devil be killed
on his own doorstones in trying to prevent it !
Happily, I was spared the journey and the trouble. I had
gone down-stairs at three o'clock to fetch a jug of water ; and
was passing through the hall with it in my hand, when a sharp
knock at the front door made me jump. « Oh ! it is Green ,"

I said, recollecting myself—" only Green, and I went on,
intending to send somebody else to open it ; but the knock
was repeated : not loud, and still importunately. I put the
jug on the banister and hastened to admit him myself. The
harvest moon shone clear outside. It was not the attorney.
My own sweet littlemistress sprang on my neck, sobbing,
“ Ellen ! Ellen ! Is papa alive ?"
“ Yes ," I cried : "yes, my angel, he is. God be thanked,
you are safe with us again ! "
She wanted to run, breathless as she was, up -stairs to Mr.
Linton's room ; but I compelled her to sit down on a chair,
and made her drink, and washed her pale face, chafing it into
a faint colour with my apron. Then I said I must go first,
and tell of her arrival ; imploring her to say, she should be
happy with young Heathcliff. She stared , but soon compre
hending why I counselled her to utter the falsehood, she
assured me she would not complain.
I couldn't abide to be present at their meeting. I stood
outside the chamber -door a quarter of an hour, and hardly
ventured near the bed, then . All was composed, however :
Catherine's despair was as silent as her father's joy. She
supported him calmly, in appearance ; and he fixed on her
features his raised eyes, thatseemed dilatingwith ecstasy.
He died blissfully, Mr. Lockwood : he died so. Kissing
her cheek, he murmured , -
“ I am going to her ; and you darling child shall come to
us ! ” and never stirred or spoke again ; but continued that
rapt, radiant gaze, till his pulse imperceptibly stopped and his
soul departed. None could have noticed the exact minute of
his death , it was so entirely without a struggle.
Whether Catherine had spent her tears, or whether the
grief were too weighty to let them flow , she sat there dry -eyed
till the sun rose : she sat till noon , and would still have
remained brooding over that deathbed, butIt Iwas
coming away and taking some repose.
insisted on her
well I suc
ceeded in removing her ; for at dinner-tine appeared the
lawyer, having called at Wuthering Heights to get his
instructions how to behave. He had sold himself to Mr
Heathcliff : that was the cause of his delay in obeying my
master's summons . Fortunately, no thought of worldly
affairs crossed the latter's mind, to disturb him , after his
daughter's arrival.
Mr Green tuok upon himself to order everything and every

body about the place. He gave all the servants, but me,
notice to quit. He would have carried his delegated authority
to the point of insisting that Edgar Linton should not be
buried beside his wife, but in the chapel , with his family.
There was the will, however, to hinder that, and my loud pro
testations against any infringement of its directions. The
funeral was hurried over ; Catherine, Mrs Linton Heathcliff
now, was suffered to stay at the Grange till her father's corpse
had quitted it.
She told me that her anguish had at last spurred Linton to
incur the risk of liberating her. She heard the men I sent
disputing at the door, and she gathered the sense of Heath
cliff's answer. It drove her desperate. Linton , who had
been conveyed up to the little parlour soon after I left, was
terrified into fetching the key before his father re-ascended.
He had the cunning to unlock and re-lock the door, without
shutting it ; and when he should have gone to bed, he begged
to sleep with Hareton , and his petitionwas granted for once.
Catherine stole out before break of day. She dare not try the
doors, lest the dogs should raise an alarm ; she visited the
empty chambers and examined their windows; and, luckily,
lighting on her mother's, she got easily out of its lattice, and on
to the ground, by means of the fir -tree close by. Her accom
plice suffered for his share in the escape, notwithstanding his
timid contrivances.
CHAPTER XXIX .
The evening after the funeral, my young lady and I were

seated in the library ; now musing mournfully — one of us
despairingly — on our loss, now venturing conjectures as to the
gloomy future.
We had just agreed the best destiny which could await
Catherine, would be a permission to continue resident at the
Grange; at least during Linton's life : he being allowed to join
her there, and I to remain as housekeeper. That seemed rather
too favourable an arrangement to be hoped for; and yet I did
hope, and began to cheer up under the prospect of retaining
my home and my employment, and, above all, my beloved
young mistress ; when a servant — one of the discarded ones,

not yet departed — rushed hastily in, and said, “that devil
Heathcliff ” was coming through the court : should he fasten
the door in his face ?
If we had been mad enough to order that proceeding, we
had not time. He made no ceremony of knocking or
announcing his name : he was master, and availed himself of
the master's privilege to walk straight in , without saying a
word. The sound of our informant's voice directed him to
the library ; he entered, and motioning him out, shut the
door.
It was the same room into which he had been ushered, as a
guest, eighteen years before: the same moon shone through
the window ; and the same autumn landscape lay outside.
We had not yet lighted a candle, but all the apartment was
visible, even to the portraits on the wall : the splendid head of
Mrs Linton, and the graceful one of her husband. Heathcliff
advanced to the hearth . Time had little altered his person
either. There was the same man : his dark face rather
sallower and more composed, his frame a stone or two heavier,
perhaps, and no other difference. Catherine had risen, with
an impulse to dash out, when she saw him.
“ Stop !” he said, arresting her by the arm . " No more
runnings away ! Where would you go ? I'm come to fetch
you home ; and I hope you 'll be a dutiful daughter, and not
encourage my son to further disobedience . I was embarrassed
how to punish him when I discovered his part in the business :
he's such a cobweb , a pinch would annihilate him ; but you 'll
see by his look that he has received his due ! I brought him
down one evening, the day before yesterday, and just set him
in a chair , and never touched him afterwards . I sent Hareton
out, and we had the room to ourselves . In two hours, I
called Joseph to carry him up again ; and since then my pre
sence is as potent on his nerves as a ghost ; and I fancy he
sees me often , though I am not near. Hareton says he wakes
and shrieks in the night by the hour together, and calls you
to protect him from me ; and, whether you like your precious
mate or not, you must come : he's your concern now ; I yield
all my interest in him to you .”
“ Why not let Catherine continue here ?” I pleaded , " and
send Master Linton to her. As you hate them both, you ' d
not miss them : they can only be a daily plague to your
unnatural heart ."
“ I'm seeking a tenant for the Grange," he answered ;

" and I want my children about me, to be sure. Besides,
that lass owes me her services for her bread. I'm not going
to nurture her in luxury and idleness after Linton is gone.
Make haste and get ready, now ; and don't oblige me to
compel you ."
“ I shall,” said Catherine. “ Linton is all I have to love in
the world, and though you have done what you could to make
him hateful to me, and me to him, you cannot make us hate
each other. And I defy you to hurt him when I am by, and
I defy you to frighten me ! "
“ You are a boastful champion,” replied Heathcliff; “ but I
don't like you well enough to hurt him : you shall get the full
benefit of the torment, as long as it lasts. It is not I who will
make him hateful to you — it is his own sweet spirit. He's
as bitter as gall at your desertion and its consequences: don't
expect thanks for this noble devotion. I heard him draw a
pleasant picture to Zillah of what he would do if he were as
strong as I : the inclination is there, and his very weakness
will sharpen his wits to find a substitute for strength.”
“ I know he has a bad nature ,” said Catherine : “ he's your
son . But I'm glad I've a better, to forgive it ; and I know
he loves me, and for that reason I love him. Mr Heathcliff,
you have nobody to love you ; and, however miserable you
make us, we shall still have the revenge of thinking that your
cruelty arises from your greater misery. You are miserable,
are you not ? Lonely, like the devil, and envious like him ?
Nobody loves you — nobody will cry for you when you die ! I
wouldn't be you!!”
Catherine spoke with a kind of dreary triumph : she
seemed to have made up her mind to enter into the spirit
of her future family, anddraw pleasure from the griefs of her
enemies.
“ You shall be sorry to be yourself presently,” said her
father -in -law, “ if you stand there another minute. Begone,
witch , and get your things !”
She scornfully withdrew . In her absence, I began to beg
for Zillah's place at the Heights, offering to resign mine to
her ; but he would suffer it on no account. He bid me be
silent ; and then , for the first time, allowed himself a glance
round the room and a look at the pictures. Having studied
Mrs Linton's, he said
“ I shall have that home. Not because I need it, but—"
He turned abruptly to the fire, and continued, with what, for

lack of a better word, I must call a smile—"I'll tell you
what I did yesterday ! I got the sexton, who was digging
Linton's grave, to remove the earth off her coffin - lid, and I
opened it . I thought, once, I would have stayed there: when
I saw her face again—it is hers yet !—he had hard work to
stir me ; but he said it would change if the air blew on it, and
so I struck one side of the coffin loose, and covered it up : not
Linton's side, damn him ! I wish he'd been soldered in lead.
And I bribed the sexton to pull it away when I'm laid there,
and slide mine out too ; I'll have it made so : and then by the
time Linton gets to us he 'll not know which is which !"
“ You were very wicked, Mr Heathcliff !” I exclaimed ;
were you not ashamed to disturb the dead ? "
“ I disturbed nobody, Nelly,” he replied ; and I gave some
ease to myself. I shall be a great deal more comfortable
now ; and you'll
have a better chance of keeping me under
ground, when I get there. Disturbed her ? No ! she has
disturbed me, night and day, through eighteen years — inces
santly - remorselessly — till yesternight ; and yesternight I was
tranquil. I dreamt I was sleeping the last sleep by that
sleeper, with my heart stopped and my cheek frozen against
hers."
“ And if she had been dissolved into earth, or worse, what
would you have dreamt of then ? " I said.
“ Of dissolving with her, and being more happy still ! "
he answered. “ Do you suppose I dread any change of that
sort ? I expected such a transformation on raising the lid :
but I'm better pleased that it should not commence till I
share it. Besides, unless I had received a distinct impression
of her passionless features, that strange feeling would hardly
have been removed. It began oddly . You know I was wild
after she died ; and eternally, from dawn to dawn, praying
her to return to me her spirit ! I have a strong faith in
ghosts : I have a conviction that they can, and do, exist
among us ! The day she was buried, there came a fall of
snow. In the evening I went to the churchyard. It blew
bleak as winter — all round was solitary. I didn't fear that
her fool of a husband would wander up the den so late ; and
no one else had business to bring them there. Being alone,
and conscious two yards of loose earth was the sole barrier
between us, I said to myself— * I'll have her in my arms
again ! If she be cold, I'll think it is this north wind that
chills me ; and if she be motionless, it is slecp .' I got a
spade from the tool- house , and began to delve with all my
might - it scraped the coffin ; I fell to work with my hands ;
the wood commenced cracking about the screws; I was on the
point of attaining my object,when it seemed that I heard a
sigh from some one above, close at the edge of the grave, and
bending down . " If I can only get this off,' I muttered, ' I
wish they may shovel in the earth over us both ! ' and I
wrenched at it more desperately still . There was another sigh ,
close at my ear. I appeared to feel the warm breath of it
displacing the sleet-laden wind. I knew no living thing in
flesh and blood was by ; but, as certainly as you perceive the
approach to some substantial body in the dark, though it
cannot be discerned, so certainly I felt that Cathy was there :
not under me, but on the earth. A sudden sense of relief
flowed from my heart through every limb. I relinquished my
labour of agony, and turned consoled at once : unspeakably
consoled. Her presence was with me : it remained while I
re-filled the grave, and led me home. You may laugh , if
you will ; but I was sure I should see her there. I was sure
she was with me, and I could not help talking to her. Having
reached the Heights, I rushed eagerly to the door. It was
fastened ; and, I remember, that accursed Earnshaw and my
wife opposed my entrance. I remember stopping to kick the
breath out of him , and then hurrying up - stairs, to my room
and hers. I looked round impatiently - I felt her by me — I
could almost see her, and yet I could not ! I ought to have
sweat blood then , from the anguish of my yearning — from the
fervour of my supplications to have but one glimpse ! I had
not one. She showed herself, as she often was in life, a devil
to me ! And, since then, sometimes more and sometimes less,
I've been the sport of that intolerable torture ! Infernal ! keep
ing my nerves at such a stretch , that, if they had not resembled
catgut, they would long ago have relaxed to the feebleness of
Linton's . When I sat in the house with Hareton, it seemed
that on going out, I should meet her ; when I walked on the
moors I should meet her coming in. When I went from
home, I hastened to return : she must be somewhere at the
Heights, I was certain ! And when I slept in her chamber
I was beaten out of that. I couldn't lie there ; for the moment
I closed my eyes, she was either outside the window, or
sliding back the panels, or entering the room , or even resting
16
.242 WUTHERING HEIGHTS .
her darling head on the same pillow as she did when a child ;
and I must open my lids to see. And so I opened and closed
them a hundred times a night — to be always disappointed !
It racked me ! I've often groaned aloud, till that old rascal
Joseph no doubt believed that my conscience was playing the
fiend inside of me. Now, since I've seen her, I'm pacified —
a little. It was a strange way of killing : not by inches, but
by fractions of hairbreadths, to beguile me with the spectre of
a hope, through eighteen yearss !”
Mr Heathcliff paused and wiped his forehead ; his hair
clung to it, wet with perspiration ; his eyes were fixed on the
red embers of the fire, the brows not contracted, but raised
next the temples ; diminishing the grim aspect of his counte
nance, but imparting a peculiar look of trouble, and a painful
appearance of mental tension towards one absorbing subject.
He only half addressed me, and I maintained silence. I
didn't like to hear him talk ! After a short period he resumed
his meditation on the picture, took it down and leant it against
the sofa to contemplate it at better advantage ; and while so
occupied Catherine entered , announcing that she was ready,
when her pony should be saddled .
“ Send that over to -morrow ," said Heathcliff to me ; then
turning to her, he added. 66 You may do without your pony :
it is a fine evening , and you 'll need no ponies at Wuthering
Heights ; for what journeys you take, your own feet will serve
you . Come along ."
Good-bye, Ellen !” whispered my dear little mistress. As
she kissed me, her lips felt like ice. “ Come and see me,
Ellen ; don't forget.”
“Take care you do no such thing, Mrs Dean !” said her
new father. “ When I wish to speak to you I'll come here.
I want none of your prying at my house ! "
He signed her to precede him ; and casting back a look that
cutmy heart, she obeyed. Iwatched themfrom the window ,
walk down the garden. Heathcliff fixed Catherine's arm
under his : though she disputed the act at first evidently ; and
with rapid strides he hurried her into the alley, whose trees
concealed them .
CHAPTER XXX .
I HAVE paid a visit to the Heights, but I have not seen her
since she left : Joseph held the door in his hand when I called
to ask after her, and wouldn't let me pass. He said Mrs Linton
was “ thrang," and the master was not in. Zillah has told
me something of theway they go on, otherwiseI should hardly
know who was dead and who living. She thinks Catherine
haughty, and does not like her, I can guess by her talk. My
young lady asked some aid of her when she first came ; but
Mr Heathcliff told her to follow her own business, and let
his daughter -in -law look after herself ; and Zillah willingly
acquiesced, being a narrow-minded selfish woman. Catherine
evinced a child's annoyance at this neglect ; repaid it with
contempt, and thus enlisted my informant amongher enemies,
as securely as if she had done her some great wrong . I had
a long talk with Zillah about six weeks ago, a little before you
came, one day when we foregathered on the moor ; and this is
what she told me.
“ The first thing Mrs Linton did ," she said, “ on her arrival
at the Heights, was to run up-stairs, without even wishing
good evening to me and Joseph; she shut herself into Linton's
room , and remained till morning. Then, while the master
and Earnshaw were at breakfast, she entered the house, and
asked all in a quiver if the doctor might be sent for ? her
cousin was very ill.
" We know that ! ' answered Heathcliff ; ' but his life is
not worth a farthing, and I won't spend a farthing on him.'
“ But I cannot tell how to do," she said ; “ and if nobody
will help me, he 'll die ! '
6.Walk out of the room , cried the master, and let me
never hear a word more about him ! None here care what
becomes of him ; if you do, act the nurse ; if you do not, lock
him up and leave him .'
“ Then she began to bother me, and I said I'd had enough
plague with the tiresome thing ; we each had our tasks, and
hers was to wait on Linton, Mr Heathcliff bid me leave that
labour to her.
“ How they managed together, I can't tell. I fanoy he
fretted a great deal, and moaned hisseln night and day ; and
she had precious little rest : one could guess by her white face
and heavy eyes. She sometimes came into the kitchen all
wildered like, and looked as if she would fain beg assistance ;
but I was not going to disobey the master : I never dare disobey
him, Mrs Dean ; and, though I thought it wrong that Kenneth
should not be sent for, it was no concern of mine either to
advise or complain, and I always refused to meddle. Once or
twice, after we had gone to bed, I've happened to open my
door again and seen her sitting crying on the stairs' top ; and
then I've shut myself in quick, for fear of being moved to
interfere. I did pity her then, I'm sure : still I didn't wish
to lose my place, you know.
“ At last, one night she came boldly into my chamber, and
frightened me out of my wits, by saying , -
6. Tell Mr Heathcliff that his son is dying — I'm sure he is,
this time. Get up, instantly, and tell him .'
“Having uttered this speech, she vanished again. I lay
a quarter of an hour listening and trembling. Nothing
stirred — the house was quiet.
“ She's mistaken, I said to myself. He's got over it. I
needn't disturb them ; and I began to doze. But my sleep
was marred a second time by a sharp ringing of the bell —
the only bell we have, put up on purpose for Linton ; and the
master called to me to see what was the matter, and inform
them that he wouldn't have that noise repeated.
“ I delivered Catherine's message. He cursed to himself,
and in a few minutes came out with a lighted candle, and
proceeded to their room. I followed . Mrs Heathcliff was
seated by the bedside, with her hands folded on her knees.
Her father-in -law went up, held the light to Linton's face,
looked at him , and touched him ; afterwards he turned to her.
“Now-Catherine,' he said, 'how do you feel ?'
" She was dumb.
“ How do you feel, Catherine ? ' he repeated.
" He's safe, and I'm free,' she answered : ' I should feel
well — but,' she continued, with a bitterness she couldn't
conceal, you have left me so long to struggle against death
alone, that I feel and see only death ! I feel like death ! '
“ And she looked like it, too ! I gave her a little wine.
Hareton and Joseph , who had been wakened by the ringing
and the sound of feet, and heard our talk from outside, now
entered. Joseph was fain, I believe, of the lad's removal ;
Hareton seemed a thought bothered : though he was more
taken up with staring at Catherine than thinking of Linton .
But the master bid him get off to bed again : we didn't
want his help. He afterwards made Joseph remove the body
to his chamber, and told me to return to mine, and Mrs
Heathcliff remained by herself.
“ In the morning, he sent me to tell her she must come
down to breakfast : she had undressed, and appeared going
to sleep , and said she was ill; at which I hardly wondered . I
informed Mr Heathcliff, and he replied ,
" Well, let her be till after the funeral; and go up now
and then to get her what is needful; and, as soon as she seems
better, tell me.' "
Cathy stayed up -stairs a fortnight, according to Zillah ; who
visited her twice a day, and would have been rather more
friendly, but her attempts at increasing kindness were proudly
and promptly repelled.
Heathcliff went up once, to show her Linton's will. He
had bequeathed the whole of his, and what had been her,
moveable property to his father : the poor creature was
threatened, or coaxed, into that act during her week's absence,
when his uncle died. The lands, being a minor, he could not
meddle with. However, Mr Heathcliff has claimed and kept
them in his wife's right and his also: I suppose legally: at
any rate, Catherine, destitute of cash and friends, cannot
disturb his possession .
“Nobody,” said Zillah , " ever approached her door, except
that once, but I ; and nobody asked anything about her.
The first occasion of her coming down into the house was on
a Sunday afternoon . She had cried out, when I carried up
her dinner, that she couldn't bear any longer being in the
cold ; and I told her the master was going to Thrushcross
Grange, and Earnshaw and I needn't hinder her from descend
ing ; so, as soon as she heard Heathcliff's horse trot off, she
made her appearance, donned inblack, and her yellow curls
combed back behind her ears as plain as a quaker : shecouldn't
comb them out.
“ Joseph and I generally go to chapel on Sundays :" tlie
kirk, you know , has no minister now , explained Mrs Dean ;
and they call the Methodists' or Baptists' place (I can't say
which it is), at Gimmerton, a chapel. “Joseph had gone,"
she continued, “ but I thought proper to bide at home. Young
folks are always the better for an elder's over-looking ; and
Hareton, with all his bashfulness, isn't a model of nice
behaviour. I let him know that his cousin would very likely
sit with us, and she had been always used to see the Sabbath
respected ; so he had as good leave his guns and bits of in
door work alone, while she stayed . He coloured up at the
news, and cast his eyes over his hands and clothes. The
train-oil and gunpowder were shoved out of sight in a minute.
I saw he meant to give her his company ; and I guessed, by
his way, he wanted to be presentable; so, laughing, as I durst
not laugh when the master is by, I offered to help him , if
he would, and joked at his confusion. He grew sullen , and
began to swear.
“ Now, Mrs Dean ,” Zillah went on, seeing me not pleased
by her manner, you happen think your young lady too fine
for Mr Hareton ; and happen you 're right: but I own I
should love well to bring her pride a peg lower. And what
will all her learning and her daintiness do for her, now ?
She's as poor as you or I : poorer, I'll be bound : you 're
saving, and I'm doing my little all that road ."
Hareton allowed Zillah to give him her aid ; and sheflattered
him into a good-humour ; so, when Catherine came, half for
getting her former insults, he tried to make himself agreeable,
by the housekeeper's account.
“ Missis walked in ,” she said, as chill as an icicle, and as
high as a princess. I got up and offered her my seat in the
arm - chair. No, she turned up her nose at my civility. Earn
shaw rose, too, and bid her come to the settle, and sit close by
the fire : he was sure she was starved.
" I've been starved a month and more,' she answered ,
resting on the word as scornful as she could.
“ And she got a chair for herself, and placed it at a distance
from both of us. Having sat till she was warm, she began to
look round, and discovered a number of books in the dresser;
she was instantly upon her feet again , stretching to reach
them : but they were too high up. Her cousin, after watch
ing her endeavours a while, at last summoned courage to help
her ; she held her frock, and he filled it with the first that
came to hand.
“ That was a great advance for the lad. She didn't thank
him ; still, he felt gratified that she had accepted his assist
ance, and ventured to stand behind as she examined them ,
and even to stoop and point out what struck his fancy in
certain old pictures which they contained ; nor was he daunted
by the saucy style in which she jerked the page from his
finger : he contented himself with going a bit farther back ,
and looking at her instead of the book. She continued read

ing, or seeking for something to read. His attention became,
by degrees, quite centred in the study of her thick, silky
curls : her face he couldn't see, and she couldn't see him.
And, perhaps, not quite awake to what he did, but attracted
like a child to a candle, at last he proceeded from staring to
touching ; he put out his hand and stroked one curl, as gently
as if it were a bird. He might have stuck a knife into her
neck, she started round in such a taking.
" Get away, this moment! How dare you touch' me ?
Why are you stopping there ? ' she cried, in a tone of disgust.
' I can't endure you ! I'll go up -stairs again , if you come
near me.'
“ Mr Hareton recoiled, looking as foolish as he could do :
he sat down in the settle very quiet, and she continued turn
ing over her volumes another half hour ; finally, Earnshaw
crossed over, and whispered to me.
Will you ask her to read to us, Zillah ? I'm stalled
of doing naught; and I do like I could like to hear her !
Dunnot say I wanted it, but ask of yourseln .'
" Mr Hareton wishes you would read to us, ma'am ,' I
said, immediately. ' He'd take it very kind - he'd be much
obliged .'
“ She frowned ; and looking up, answered—
Mr Hareton, and the whole set of you, will be good
enough to understand that I reject any pretence at kindness
you have the hypocrisy to offer ! I despise you , and will have
nothing to say to any of you ! When I would have given my
life for one kind word, even to see one of your faces, you all
kept off. But I won't complain to you ! I'm driven down
here by the cold ; not either to amuse you or enjoy your
society
« . What could I ha' done ? ' began Earnshaw. " How was
I to blame ? '
" Oh ! you are an exception ," answered Mrs Heathcliff.
" I never missed such a concern as you.'
But I offered more than once, and asked,' he said, kind
ling up at her pertness, ' I asked Mr Heathcliff to let me wake
for you
* Be silent ! I'll go out of doors, or anywhere, rather than
have your disagreeable voice in my ear ! ' said my lady.
“ Hareton muttered she might go to hell, for him ! and
unslinging his gun, restrained himself from his Sunday occu
pations no longer. He talked now , freely enough ; and she

presently saw fit to retreat to her solitude : but the frost had
set in, and, in spite of her pride, she was forced to condescend
to our company, more and more. However, I took care there
should be no further scorning at my good -nature : ever since,
I've been as stiff as herself ; and she has no lover or liker
among us : and she does not deserve one ; for, let them say
the least word to her, and she'll curl back without respect of
any one ? She'll snap at the master himself, and as good as
dares him to thrash her ; and the more hurt she gets, the
more venomous she grows."
At first, on hearing this account from Zillah , I determined
to leave my situation , take a cottage, and get Catherine to
come and live with me : but Mr Heathcliff would as soon
permit that as he would set up Hareton in an independent
house ; and I can see no remedy, at present, unless she could
marry again : and that scheme it does not come within my
province to arrange .
Thus ended Mrs Dean's story. Notwithstanding the
doctor's prophecy, I am rapidly recovering strength ; and
though it be only the second week in January, I propose
getting out on horseback in a day or two, and riding over to
Wuthering Heights, to inform my landlord that I shall spend
the next six months in London ; and, if he likes, he may look
out for another tenant to take the place after October. I
would not pass another winter here for much.
CHAPTER XXXI.
YESTERDAY was bright, calm , and frosty. I went to the

Heights as I proposed : my housekeeper entreated me to bear
a little note from her to her young lady, and I did not refuse,
for the worthy woman was not conscious of anything odd in
her request. The front door stood open, but the jealous
gate was fastened, as at my last visit ; I knocked , and
invoked Earnshaw from among the garden beds ; he un
chained it, and I entered. The fellow is as handsome a rustic
as need be seen. I took particular notice of him this time ;
but then he does his best,apparently, to make the least of his
advantages,
I asked if Mr Heathcliff were at home ? He answered,

No ; but he would be in at dinner-time. It was eleven
o'clock, and I announced my intention of going in and wait
ing for him, at which he immediately flung down his tools
and accompanied me, in the office of watchdog, not as a sub
stitute for the host.
We entered together; Catherine was there, making her
self useful in preparing some vegetables for the approaching
meal ; she looked more sulky and less spirited than when I
had seen her first. She hardly raised her eyes to notice me,
and continued her employment with the same disregard to
common forms of politeness as before; never returning my
bow and good -morning by the slightest acknowledgmentr
“ She does not seem so amiable,” I thought, as Mrs Dean
would persuade me to believe. She's a beauty, it is true ; but
not an angel."
Earnshaw surlily bid her remove her things to the kitchen.
“ Remove them yourself,” she said, pushing them from her as
soon as she had done ; and retiring to a stool by the window,
where she began to carve figures of birds and beasts out of
the turnip parings in her lap. I approached her, pretending
to desire a view of the garden ; and, as I fancied, adroitly
dropped Mrs Dean's note on to her knee, unnoticed by
Hareton — but she asked aloud, " What is that ? " And
chucked it off.
“ A letter from your old acquaintance, the housekeeper at
the Grange," I answered; annoyed at her exposing my kind
deed, andfearful lest it should be imagined a missive of my
own .
She would gladly have gathered it up at this infor
mation, but Hareton beat her ; he seized and put it in his
waistcoat, saying Mr Heathcliff should look at it first.
Thereat, Catherine silently turned her face from us, and ,
very stealthily, drew out her pocket-handkerchief and applied
it to her eyes ; and her cousin , after struggling a while to
keep down his softer feelings, pulled out the letter and flung
it on the floor beside her, as ungraciously as he could .
Catherine caught and perused it eagerly ; then she put a
few questions to me concerning the inmates, rational and
irrational, of her former home ; and gazing towards the hills,
murmured in soliloquy :
“ I should like to be riding Minny down there ! I should
like to be climbing up there! Oh ! I'm tired — I'm stalled ,
Hareton ! " And she leant her pretty head back against the
sill, with half a yawn and half a sigh, and lapsed into an
aspect of abstracted sadness : neither caring nor knowing
whether we remarked her.
“Mrs. Heathcliff," I said , after sitting some time mute,
you are not aware that I am an acquaintance of yours ? so
intimate that I think it strange you won't come and speak to
me. My housekeeper never wearies of talking about and
praising you ; and she 'll be greatly disappointed if I return
with no news of or from you, except that you received her
letter and said nothing !"
She appeared to wonder at this speech and asked ,
“ Does Ellen like you ?? ”
“Yes, very well," I replied hesitatingly.
“ You must tell her,” she continued , “ that I would answer
her letter, but I have no materials for writing : not even a
book from which I might tear a leaf.”
“ No books !" I exclaimed. “ How do you contrive to live
here without them ? if I may take the liberty to inquire.
Though provided with a large library, I'm frequently very
dull at the Grange ; take my books away, and I should be
desperate !"
" I was always reading, when I had them,” said Catherine ;
" and Mr. Heathcliff never reads ; so he took it into his head
to destroy my books. I have not had a glimpse of one for
weeks. Only once , I searched through Joseph's store of
theology, to his great irritation ; and once, Hareton, I came
upon a secret stock in your room — some Latin and Greek ,
and some tales and poetry : all old friends. I brought the
last here—and you gathered them , as a magpie gathers silver
spoons, for the mere love of stealing ! They are of no use to
you ; or else you concealed them in the bad spirit that as you
cannot enjoy them nobody else shall. Perhaps your envy
counselled Mr. Heathcliff to rob me of my treasures ? But
I've most of them written on my brain and printed in my
heart, and you cannot deprive me of those ! ”
Earnshaw blushed crimson when his cousin made this
revelation of his private literary accumulations, and stam
mered an indignant denial of her accusations.
“ Mr. Hareton is desirous of increasing his amount of
knowledge,” I said , coming to his rescue. 6. He is not envious
but emulous of your attainments. He'll be a clever scholar
in a few years."
“ And he wants me to sink into a dunce, meantime,”
answered Catherine. “ Yes, I hear him trying to spell and

read to himself, and pretty blunders he makes ! I wish you
would repeat Chevy Chase as you did yesterday : it was
extremelyfunny. I heard you ; and I heard you turning
over the dictionary to seek out the hard words, and then
cursing because you couldn't read their explanations !"
The young man evidently thought it toobad that he should
be laughed at for his ignorance, and then laughed at for trying
to remove it. I had a similar notion ; and, remembering
Mrs Dean's anecdote of his first attempt at enlightening the
darkness in which he had been reared, I observed, -
“ But, Mrs. Heathcliff, we have each had a commencement,
and each stumbled and tottered on the threshold ; had our
teachers scorned instead of aiding us, we should stumble and
totter yet.”
“ Oh !" she replied, “ I don't wish to limit his acquirements :
still, he has no right to appropriate what is mine, and make
it ridiculous to me with his vile mistakes and mispronuncia
tions ! Those books , both prose and verse, are consecrated to
me by other associations ; and I hate to have them debased
and profaned in his mouth ! Besides, of all, he has selected
my favourite pieces that I love the most to repeat, as if out
of deliberate malice . ”
Hareton's chest heaved in silence a minute : he laboured
under a severe sense of mortification and wrath , which it was
no easy task to suppress. I rose, and, from a gentlemanly
idea of relieving his embarrassment, took up my station in
the doorway, surveying the external prospect as I stood. He
followed my example, and left the room ; but presently
reappeared, bearinghalf a dozen volumes in his hands, which
he threw into Catherine's lap, exclaiming ,
“ Take them ! I never want to hear, or read, or think of
them again !"
“ I won't have them now ," she answered. “ I shall connect
them with you, and hate them .”
She opened one that had obviously been often turned over,
and read a portion in the drawling tone of a beginner ; then
laughed , and threw it from her. “ And listen ," she continued ,
provokingly, commencing a verse of an old ballad in the same
fashion .
But his self -love would endure no further torment : I heard,
and not altogether disapprovingly, a manual check given to
her saucy tongue. The little wretch had done her utmost to
hurt her cousin's sensitive though uncultivated feelings, and a
physical argument was the only mode he had of balancing
the account, and repaying its effects on the inflictor. He
afterwards gathered the books and hurled them on the fire.
I read in his countenance what anguish it was to offer that
sacrifice to spleen . I fancied that as they consumed, he
recalled the pleasure they had already imparted, and the
triumph and ever-increasing pleasure he had anticipated from
them ; and I fancied I guessed the incitement to his secret
studies also. He had been content with daily labour and
rough animal enjoyments, till Catherine crossed his path.
Shame at her scorn, and hope of her approval, were his first
prompters to higher pursuits ; and, instead of guarding him
from one and winning him to the other, his endeavours to
raise himself had produced just the contrary result.
“ Yes ; that's all the good that such a brute as you can get
from them !” cried Catherine, sucking her damaged lip, and
watching the conflagration with indignant eyes.
“ You'd better hold your tongue, now ," he answered,
fiercely.
And his agitation precluded further speech ; he advanced
hastily to the entrance, where I made way for him to pass.
But ere he had crossed the door-stones, Mr Heathcliff, coming
up the causeway encountered him, and laying hold of his
shoulder asked ,-
What's to do now, my lad ? ”
“ Naught, naught,” he said, and broke away to enjoy his
grief and anger in solitude.
Heathcliff gazed after him, and sighed.
“ It will be odd if I thwart myself,” he muttered, un
conscious that I was behind him . " But when I look for his
father in his face, I find her every day more ! How the devil
is he so like ? I can hardly bear to see him .”
He bent his eyes to the ground, and walked moodily in.
There was a restless, anxious expresssion in his countenance I
had never remarked there before ; and he looked sparer in
person. His daughter -in -law , on perceiving him through the
window, immediately escaped to the kitchen ,so that I remained
alone.
“ I'm glad to see you out of doors again, Mr Lockwood ,"
he said , in reply to my greeting ; “from selfish motives
WUTHERING HEIGIITS . 253
partly : I don't think I could readily supply your loss in

this desolation. I've wondered more than once what brought
you here."
“ An idle whim, I fear, sir," was my answer ; " or else an
idle whim is going to spirit me away. I shall set out for
London, next week ; and I must give you warning that I feel
no disposition to retain Thrushcross Grange beyond the
twelvemonths I agreed to rent it. I believe I shall not live
there any more."
“ Oh , indeed ; you 're tired of being banished from the
world, are you ? ” he said . “ But if you be coming to plead
off paying for a place you won't occupy , your journey is use
les3 : I never relent in exacting my due from any one.”
" I'm coming to plead off nothing about it," I exclaimed ,
considerably irritated . 6 Should you wish it, I'll settle with
you now," and I drew my note-book from my pocket.
“ No, no," he replied coolly ; " you'll leave sufficient
behind to cover your debts, if you fail to return : I'm not in
such a hurry. Sit down and take your dinner with us ; a
guest that is safe from repeating his visit can generally be
made welcome. Catherine, bring the things in: where are
you ?”
Catherine reappeared, bearing a tray of knives and forks.
“ You may get your dinner with Joseph ," muttered
Heathcliff aside, “ and remain in the kitchen till he is
gone."
She obeyed his directions very punctually: perhaps she had
no temptation to transgress. Living among clowns and
misanthropists, she probably cannot appreciate a better class
of people when she meets them.
With Mr Heathcliff, grim and saturnine, on the one hand,
and Hareton , absolutely dumb, on the other, I made a some .
what cheerless meal, and bade adieu early. I would have
departed by the back way, to get a last glimpse of Catherine
and annoy old Joseph ; but Hareton received orders to lead
up my horse, and my host himself escorted me to the door, so
I could not fulfil my wish .
“ How dreary life gets over in that house !” I reflected ,
while riding down the road. “ What a realization of some
thing more romantic than a fairy tale it would have been for
Mrs Linton Heathcliff, had she and I struck up an attach
ment , as her good nurse desired, and migrated together into
the stirring atmosphere of the town 1 "
CHAPTER XXXII.
1802.—This September I was invited to devastate the moors

of a friend in the north, and on my journey to his abode, I
unexpectedly came within fifteen miles of Gimmerton. The
ostler at a roadside public -house was holding a pail of water
to refresh my horses, when a cart of very green oats, newly
reaped, passed by, and he remarked
“ Yon's frough Gimmerton , nah ! They 're allas three
wick' after other folk wi' ther harvest. ”
“ Gimmerton ? " I repeated—my residence in that locality
had already grown dim and dreamy. “ Ah ! I know. How
far is it from this ? "
“ Happen fourteen mile' o'er th' hills ; and a rough road ,”
he answered .
A sudden impulse seized me to visit Thrushcross Grange.
It was scarcely noon, and I conceived that I might as well
pass the night under my own roof as in an inn. Besides, I
could spare a day easily to arrange matters with my landlord ,
and thus save myself the trouble of invading the neighbour
hood again. Having rested a while, I directed my servant to
inquire the way to the village ; and, with great fatigue to our
beasts, we managed the distance in some three hours.
I left him there, and proceeded down the valley alone . The
grey church looked greyer, and the lonely churchyard lonelier.
I distinguished a moor sheep cropping the short turf on the
graves. It was sweet, warm weather — too warm for tra
velling ; but the heat did not hinder me from enjoying the
delightful scenery above and below : had I seen it nearer
August, I'm sure it would have tempted me to waste a month
among its solitudes. In winter nothing more dreary, in
summer nothing more divine, than those glens shut in by hills,
and those bluff, bold swells of heath.
I reached the Grange before sunset, and knocked for
admittance ; but the family had retreated into the back
premises, I judged, by one thin, blue wreath curling from the
kitchen chimney, and they did not hear. I rode into the
court. Under the porch, a girl of nine or ten sat knitting,
and an old woman reclined on the horse -steps, smoking a
meditative pipe .
“ Is Mrs Dean within ? " I demanded of the dame.
" Mistress Dean ? Nay !" she answered, “ shoo doesn't

bide here : shoo's up at th' Heights.”
“ Are you the housekeeper, then ?" I continued.
“ Eea, aw keep th' hause,” she replied.
“Well, I'm Mr Lockwood, the master. Are there any
rooms to lodge me in, I wonder ? I wish to stay all
night."
“ T' maister !" she cried in astonishment. “Whet, whoiver
knew yah wur coming ? Yah sud ha send word. They's
nowt norther dry nor mensful abaht t place : nowt there
isn't ! "
She threw down her pipe and bustled in , the girl followed,
and I entered too; soon perceiving that her report was true,
and , moreover, that I had almost upset her wits by my
unwelcome apparition , I bade her be composed. I would go
out for a walk ; and, meantime, she must try to prepare a
corner of a sitting -room for me to sup in, and a bedroom to
sleep in. No sweeping and dusting, only good fire and dry
sheets were necessary . She seemed willing to do her best ;
though she thrust the hearth - brush into the grates in mistake
for the poker, and mal-appropriated several other articles of
her craft : but I retired, confiding in her energy for a resting
place against my return, Wuthering Heights was the goal of
my proposed excursion. An after-thought brought me back,
when I had quitted the court.
“ All well at the Heights ? ” I inquired of the woman.
“ Eea, f'r owt ee knaw !" she answered, skurrying away
with a pan of hot cinders.
I would have asked why Mrs Dean had deserted the
Grange, but it was impossible to delay her at such a crisis, so
I turned away and made my exit, rambling leisurely along,
with the glow of a sinking sun behind, and the mild glory of
a rising moon in front — one fading, and the other brightening
-as I quitted the park, and climbed the stony by-road
branching off to Mr Heathcliff's dwelling. Before I arrived
in sight of it, all that remained of day was a beamless amber
light along the west : but I could see every pebble on the
path , and every blade ofgrass, by that splendid moon. I had
neither to climb the gate nor to knock — it yielded to my
hand. That is an improvement, I thought. And I noticed
another, by the aid of my nostrils ; a fragrance of stocks and
wallflowers wafted on the air from amongst the homely fruit
trees.
Both doors and lattices were open ; and yet, as is usually

the case in a coal district, a fine, red fire illumined the chimney:
the comfort which the eye derives from it renders the extra
heat endurable. But the house of Wuthering Heights is so
large, that the inmates have plenty of space for withdrawing
out of its influence ; and accordingly, what inmates there
were had stationed themselves not far from one of the windows.
I could both see them and hear them talk before I entered ,
and looked and listened in consequence ; being moved there
to by a mingled sense of curiosity and envy,that grew as I
lingered.
“ Con -trary ! ” said a voice as sweet as a silver bell_ " That
for the third time, you dunce! I'm not going to tell you again .
Recollect, or I'll pull your hair ! ”
“ Contrary, then," answered another, in deep but softened
tones . “ And now, kiss me, for minding so well.”
“ No, read it over first correctly, without a single
mistake.”
The male speaker began to read : he was a young man,
respectably dressed and seated at a table, having abookbefore
him . His handsome features glowed with pleasure, and his
eyes kept impatiently wandering from the page to a small
white hand over his shoulder, which recalled him by a smart
slap on the cheek , whenever its owner detected such signs of
inattention. Its owner stood behind ; her light, shining ringlets
blending, at intervals, with his brown locks, as she bent to
superintend his studies; and her face — it was lucky he could
not see her face, or he would never have been so steady. I
could ; and I bit my lip in spite, at having thrown away the
chance I might have had of doing something besides staring
at its smiting beauty .
The task was done, not free from further blunders ; but the
pupil claimed a reward , and received at least five kisses :
which, however, he generously returned . Then they came to
the door, and from their conversation I judged they were
about to issue out and have a walk on the moors. I supposed
I should be condemned in Hareton Earnshaw's heart , if not
by his mouth , to the lowest pit in the infernal regions, if I
showed my unfortunate person in his neighbourhood then ;
and feeling very mean and malignant, I skulked round to scek
refuge in the kitchen. There was unobstructed admittance
on that side also ; and at the door sat my old friend Nelly
Dean, sewing and singing a song ; which was often interrupted
from within by harsh words of scorn and intolerance, uttered

in far from musical accents.
“ I'd rayther, by th' haulf, hev 'em swearing i' my lugs
fro'h morn to neeght, nor hearken ye, hahsiver !" said the
tenant of the kitchen, in answer to an unheard speech of
Nelly's. “ It's a blazing shame, that I cannot oppen t blessed
Book, but yah set up them glories to sattan, and all t’ flay
some wickednesses that iver were born into th' warld ! Oh !
ye're a raight nowt; and shoo's another; and that poor lad 'll
be lost atween ye. Poor lad !” he added, with a groan ; 16 he's
witched : I'm sartin on't ! O, Lord , judge 'em, for there's
norther law nor justice among wer rullers !”
“ No ! or we should be sitting in flaming fagots, I suppose,"
retorted the singer. “ But wisht, old man, and read your
Bible like a Christian, and never mind me. This is " Fairy
Annie's Wedding '- a bonny tune—it goes to a dance ."
Mrs Dean was about to recommence, when I advanced ; and,
recognising me directly, she jumped to her feet, crying
“ Why, bless you, Mr Lockwood ! How could you think of
returning in this way ? All's shut up at Thrushcross Grange.
You should havegiven us notice ! "
“I've arranged to be accommodated there, for as long as I
shall stay,” I answered . “ I depart again to -morrow . And
how are you transplanted here, Mrs Dean ? tell me that.”
“ Zillah left, and Mr Heathcliff wished me to come, soon
after you went to London, and stay till you returned. But,
step in , pray ! Have you walked from Gimmerton this
evening ? "
“From the Grange,” I replied ; “ and while they make me
lodging room there, I want to finish my business with your
master; because I don't think of having another opportunity
in a hurry."
“ What business, sir ? ” said Nelly, conducting me into
the house. “ He's gone out at present, and won't return
soon .”
“ About the rent," I answered .
" Oh ! then it is with Mrs Heathcliff you must settle,”
she observed ; or rather with me. She has not learnt to
manage her affairs yet, and I act for her : there's nobody
else . "
I looked surprised.
46
* Ah ! you have not heard of Heathcliff's death, I see," she
continued.
17
“ Heathcliff dead ! ” I exclaimed , astonished . 6. How long

ago ? "
“ Three months since : but sit down, and let me take your
hat, and I'll tell you all about it. Stop, you have had nothing
to eat, have you ? "
“ I want nothing: I have ordered supper at home. You
sit down too. I never dreamt of his dying ! Let me hear how
it came to pass. You say you don't expect them back for
some time— the young people? "
“ No—I have to scold them every evening for their late
rambles: but they don't care for me. At least, have a drink
of our old ale ; it will do you good : you seem weary.”
She hastened to fetch it before I could refuse, and I heard
Joseph asking whether “ it warn't a crying scandal that she
should have followers at her time of life ? And then, to get
them jocks out o' t' maister's cellar ! He fair shaamed to 'bide
still and see it."
She did not stay to retaliate, but re -entered in a minute,
bearing a reaming silver pint, whose contents I lauded with
becoming earnestness. And afterwards she furnished me with
the sequel of Heathcliff's history. He had a queer ” end, as
she expressed it.
I was summoned to Wuthering Heights, within a fortnight
of your leaving us, she said ; and I obeyed joyfully, for Cathe
rine's sake. My first interview with her grieved and shocked
me : she had altered so much since our separation. Mr Heath
cliff did notexplain his reasons for taking a new mind about
my coming here; he only told me he wanted me, and he was
tired of seeing Catherine: I must make the little parlour my
sitting-room, and keep her with me. It was enough if he were
obliged to see her once or twice a day. She seemed pleased
at this arrangement ; and, by degrees, I smuggled over a
great number of books, and otherarticles, that had formed
her amusement at the Grange ; and flattered myself we should
get on in tolerable comfort. The delusion did not last long.
Catherine, contented at first, in a brief space grew irritable
and restless. For one thing, she was forbidden to move out
of the garden, and it fretted her sadly to be confined to its
narrow bounds as spring drew on ; for another, in following
the house, I was forced to quit her frequently, and she com
plained of loneliness : she preferred quarrelling with Joseph
in the kitchen to sitting at peace in her solitude. I did not
mind their skirmishes: but Hareton was often obliged to seek
the kitchen also, when the master wanted to have the house
to himself ; and though in the beginning she either left it at
his approach, or quietly joined in my occupations, and
shunned remarking or addressing him — and though he was
always as sullen and silent as possible — after a while, she
changed her behaviour, and became incapable of letting him
alone: talking at him ; commenting on his stupidity and idle
ness ; expressing her wonder how he could endure the life he
lived - how he could sit a whole evening staring into the fire,
and dozing
“ He's just like a dog, is he not, Ellen ? " she once observed,
or a cart -horse ? He does his work, eats his food, and
sleeps eternally ! What a blank, dreary mind he must have !
Do you ever dream, Hareton ? And, if you do, what is it
about ? But you can't speak to me ! ”
Then she looked at him ; but he would neither open his
mouth nor look again .
“ He's, perhaps, dreaming now ," she continued. 66 He
twitched his shoulder as Juno twitches hers. Ask him,
Ellen ."
“ Mr Hareton will ask the master to send you up-stairs, if
you don't behave ! ” I said . He had not only twitched his
shoulder but clenched his fist, as if tempted to use it.
“ I know why Hareton never speaks, when I am in the
kitchen," she exclaimed, on another occasion. “ He is afraid
I shall laugh at him . Ellen, what do you think. He
begar ' o teach himself to read once ; and, because I laughed,
he burned his books, and dropped it : was he not a fool ? ”
“ Were not you naughty ? ” I said; answer me that."
Perhaps I was,” she went on ; " but I did not expect him
to be so silly. Hareton, if I gave you a book, would you take
it now ? I'll try !”
She placed one she had been perusing on his hand ; he flung
it off, and muttered, if she did not give over, he would break
her neck.
“ Well, I shall put it here,” she said, " in the table drawer ;
and I'm going to bed.”
Then she whispered me to watch whether he touched it,
and departed. But he would not come near it ; and so I
informed her in the morning, to her great disappointment.
I saw she was sorry for his persevering sulkiness and indo
lence : her conscience reproved her for frightening him off
improving himself : she had done it effectually. But her
ingenuity was at work to remedy the injury: while I iruntii,

or pursued other such stationary employments as I could liut
well do in the parlour, she would bring some pleasant volume
and read it aloud to me. When Hareton was there, she gene
rally paused in an interesting part, and left the book lying
about: that she did repeatedly ; but he was as obstinate as a
inule, and, instead of snatching at her bait, in wet weather he
took to smoking with Joseph ; and they sat like automatons,
one on each side of the fire, the elder happily too deaf to
understand her wicked nonsense, as he would have called it,
the younger doing his best to seem to disregard it. On fine
evenings the latter followed his shooting expeditions, and
Catherine yawned and sighed, and teased me to talk to her,
and ran off into the court or garden, the moment I began ;
and, as a last resource, cried, and said she was tired of living:
her life was useless.
Mr Heathcliff, who grew more and more disinclined to
society, had almost banished Earnshaw from his apartment.
Owing to an accident at the commencement of March , he
became for some days a fixture in the kitchen. His gun
burst while out on the hills by himself ; splinter cut his
arm, and he lost a good deal of blood before he could reach
home. The consequence was that, perforce, he was con
demned to the fireside and tranquillity , till he made it up
again . It suited Catherine to have him there : at any rate, it
made her hate her room up - stairs more than ever : and she
would compel me to find out business below, that she might
accompany me.
On Easter Monday, Joseph went to Gimmerton fair with
some cattle ; and , in the afternoon, I was busy getting up
linen in the kitchen. Earnshaw sat, morose as usual , at the
chimney corner, and my little mistress was beguiling an idle
hour with drawing pictures on the window panes ; varying
her amusement by smothered bursts of songs, and whispered
ejaculations, and quick glances of annoyance and impatience
in the direction of her cousin, who stedfastly smoked, and
looked into the grate. At a notice that I could do with her
no longer intercepting my light, she removed to the hearth
stone. I bestowed little attention on her proceedings, but,
presently, I heard her begin
“ I've found out, Hareton, that I want — that I'm glad-
that I should like you to be my cousin now, if you hal not
grown so cross to me, and so rough,”
Hareton returned no answer .
“Hareton, Hareton, Hareton ! do you hear ? " she con
tinued .
“ Get off wi' ye ! ” he growled, with uncompromising
gruffness.
“ Let me take that pipe,” she said, cautiously advancing
her hand and abstracting it from his mouth.
Before he coul attempt to recover it, it was broken , and
behind the fire. He swore at her and seized another .
66
Stop ,” she cried , you must listen to me first; and I can't
speak while those clouds are floating in my face.”
“ Will you go to the devil! ” he exclaimed, ferociously,
6 and let me be ! "
“ No," she persisted, “ I won't : I can't tell what to do
to make you talk to me; and you are determined not to un
derstand. When I call you stupid, I don't mean anything :
I don't mean that I despise you. Come, you shall take
notice of me, Hareton : you are my cousin, and you shall
own me."
“ I shall have naught to do wi' you and your mucky pride,
and your damned mocking tricks !” he answered. 6 I'll go
to hell, body and soul, before I look sideways after you again.
Side out o'tgate , now ; this minute ! ”
Catherine frowned, and retreated to the window -seat chew
ing her lip, and endeavouring, by humming an eccentric tune,
to conceal a growing tendency to sob.
“ You should be friends with your cousin , Mr Hareton ,"
I interrupted, “ since she repents of her sauciness. It would
do you a great deal of good : it would make you another man ,
to have her for a companion."
“ A companion !” he cried ; when she hates me, and
does not think me fit to wipe her shoon ! Nay, if it made
me a king, I'd not be scorned for seeking her good-will any
more."
" It is not I who hate you , it is you who hate me !" wept
Cathy, no longer disguising her trouble. “ You hate me as
much as Mr Heathcliff does, and more.”
“ You ’re a damned liar," began Earnshaw : “why have I
made him angry , by taking your part, then, a hundred
times ? and that when you sneered at and despised me, and
-Go on plaguing me, and I'll step in yonder, and say you
worried me out of the kitchen !"
“ I didn't know you took my part," she answered, drying
her eyes ; " and I was miserable and bitter at everybody; but
now I thank you, and beg you to forgive me : what can I do
besides ? ”
She returned to the hearth , and frankly extended her hand.
He blackened and scowled like a thunder- cloud, and kept his
fists resolutely clenched, and his gaze fixed on the ground.
Catherine, by instinct, must have divined it was obdurate
perversity, and not dislike, that prompted this dogged con
duct ; for, after remaining an instant undecided, she stooped and
impressed on his cheek a gentle kiss. The little rogue thought
I had not seen her, and, drawing back, she took her former
station by the window, quite demurely. I shook my head
reprovingly, and then she blushed and whispered
“ Well ! what should I have done, Ellen ? He wouldn't
shake hands, and he wouldn't look : I must show him some
way that I like him — that I want to be friends. "
Whether the kiss convinced Hareton, I cannot tell: he was
very careful, for some minutes, that his face should not be
seen, and when he did raise it, he was sadly puzzled where to
turn his eyes .
Catherine employed herself in wrapping a handsome book
neatly in white paper, and having tied it with a bit of ribbon,
and addressed it to “ Mr Hareton Earnshaw,” she desired me
to be her ambassadress, and convey the present to its destined
recipient.
“ And tell him, if he 'll take it I'll come and teach him to
read it right," she said ; and, if he refuse it, I'll go up-stairs ,
and never tease him again .”
I carried it, and repeated the message ; anxiously watched
by my employer. Hareton would not open his fingers, so I
laid it on his knee . He did not strike it off, either. I
returned to my work. Catherine leaned her head and arms
on the table, till she heard the slight rustle of the covering
being removed ; then she stole away, and quietly seated her
self beside her cousin . He trembled , and his face glowed : all
his rudeness and all his surly harshness had deserted him : he
could not summon courage, at first, to utter a syllable in
reply to her questioning look, and her murmured petition.
“ Say you forgive me, Hareton, do. You can make me so
happy by speaking that little word.”
He muttered something inaudible.
“ And you ' ll be my friend ? ” added Catherine, interroga
tively
“ Nay, you 'll be ashamed of me every day of your life," he

answered ; " and the more ashamed, the more you know me ;
and I cannot bide it. "
“ So you won't be my friend ? " she said , smiling as sweet
as honey, and creeping close up.
I overheard no further distinguishable talk, but, on looking
round again , I perceived two such radiant countenances bent
over the page of the accepted book, that I did not doubt the
treaty had been ratified on both sides ; and the enemies were,
thenceforth, sworn allies.
The work they studied was full of costly pictures; and
those and their position had charm enough to keep them
unmoved till Joseph came home. He, poor man, was perfectly
aghast at the spectacle of Catherine seated on the same bench
with Hareton Earnshaw , leaning her hand on his shoulder ;
and confounded at his favourite's endurance of her proximity :
it affected him too deeply to allow an observation on the
subject that night. His emotion was only revealed by the
immense sighs he drew, as he solemnly spread his largebible
on the table, and overlaid it with dirty bank-notes from his
pocket-book , the produce of the day's transactions. At length,
he summoned Hareton from his seat.
“ Tak’ these in to t' maister, lad ,” he said , " and bide there:
I's gang up to my own rahm . This hoile's neither mensful
nor seemly for us : we mun side out and seearch another."
66
Come, Catherine,” I said, we must side out ' too : I've
done my ironing, are you ready to go ?”
“ It is not eight o'clock !” she answered, rising unwillingly.
“ Hareton, I 'llleave this book upon the chimney- piece, and
I'll bring some more to-morrow.
“ Ony books that yah leave, I shall tak’ into th ' hahse,"
said Joseph , " and it'll be mitch if yah find em agean ; soa,
yah may plase yerseln ! "
Cathy threatened that his library should pay for hers ; and,
smiling as she passed Hareton, went singing up-stairs : lighter
of heart, I venture to say, than ever she had been underthat
roof before; except, perhaps, during her earliest visits to
Linton .
The intimacy thus commenced , grew rapidly ; though it
encountered temporary interruptions. Earnshaw was not to
be civilized with a wish, and my young lady was no philo
sopher, and no paragon of patience ; but both their minds
tending to the same point -- one loving and desiring to esteem,
and the other loving and desiring to be esteemed — they con

trived in the end to reach it.
You see, Mr Lockwood, it was easy enough to win Mrs
Heathcliff's heart. But now, I'm glad you did not try.
The crown of all my wishes will be the union of those two.
I shall envy no one on their wedding -day: there won't be a
happier woman than myself in England !
CHAPTER XXXIII.
On the morrow of that Monday, Earnshaw being still unable

to follow his ordinary employments, and therefore remaining
about the house, I speedily found it would be impracticable
to retain my charge beside me, as heretofore. Shegot down
stairs before me, and out into the garden, where she had seen
her cousin performing some easy work; and when I went to
bid them come to breakfast, I saw she had persuaded him to
clear a large space of ground from currant and gooseberry
bushes, and they were busy planning together an importation
of plants from the Grange.
I was terrified at the devastation which had been accom
plished in a brief half -hour; the black currant trees were the
apple of Joseph's eye, and she had just fixed her choice of a
flower bed in the midst of them .
" There ! That will be all shown to the master," I ex
claimed, “the minute it is discovered. And what excuse
have you to offer for taking such liberties with the garden ?
We shall have a fine explosion on the head of it : see if we
don't ! Mr Hareton, I wonder you should have no more wit,
than to go and make that mess at her bidding !"
“ I'd forgotten they were Joseph's,” answered Earnshaw,
rather puzzled ; 66 but I'll tell him I did it."
We always ate our meals with Mr Heathcliff. I held the
mistress's post in making tea and carving ; so I was indis
pensable at table. Catherine usually sat by me, but to - day
she stole nearer to Hareton ; and I presently saw she would
haveno
hostility.
more discretion in her friendship than she had in her
“ Now, mind you don't talk with and notice your cousin too
inuch,” were my whispered instructions as we entered the

room .
“ It will certainly annoy Mr Heathcliff, and he'll be
mad at you both .”
“ I'm not going to," she answered.
The minute after, she had sidled to him, and was sticking
primroses in his plate of porridge.
He dared not speak to her there: he dared hardly look ;
and yet she went on teasing, till he was twice on the point
of being provoked to laugh. I frowned, and then she glanced
toward the roaster : whose mind was occupied on other sub
jects than his company, as his countenance evinced ; and she
grew serious for an instant, scrutinizing him with deep
gravity. Afterwards she turned, and recommenced her non
sense ; at last, Hareton uttered a smothered laugh . Mr
Heathcliff started ; his eye rapidly surveyed our faces.
Catherine met it with her accustomedlook of nervousness and
yet defiance, which he abhorred .
“ It is well you are out of my reach ," he exclaimed .
“ What fiend possesses you to stare back at me, continually,
with those infernal eyes ? Down with them ! and don't
remind me of your existence again. I thought I had cured
you of laughing."
“ It was me," muttered Hareton.
“ What do you say ? ” demanded the master.
Hareton looked at his plate, and did not repeat the con
fession . Mr Heathcliff looked at him a bit, and then silently
resumed his breakfast and his interrupted musing. We had
nearly finished, and the two young people prudently shifted
wider asunder, so I anticipated no further disturbance during
that sitting : when Joseph appeared at the door, revealing
by his quivering lip andfurious eyes, that theoutrage com
mitted on his precious shrubs was detected . He must have
seen Cathy and her cousin about the spot before he examined
it, for while his jaws worked like those of a cow chewing its
cud, and rendered his speech difficult to understand, he
began :
“ I mun hev my wage, and I mun goa ! I hed aimed to
dee, wheare I'd sarved fur sixty year ; and I thowt I'd lug
my books up into t' garret, and all my bits o' stuff, and they
sud hev t' kitchen to theirseln ; for t sake o' quietness. It
wur hard to gie up my awn hearthstun, but I thowt I could
do that ! But, nah , shoo's taan my garden fro' me, and by
th' heart, maister, I cannot stand it Yah may bend to th'
and went out directly afterwards, intimating that he should not

return before evening.
The two new friends established themselves in the house
during his absence ; where I heard Hareton sternly check his
cousin, on her offering a revelation of her father- in -law's
conduct to his father. He said he wouldn't suffer a word to
be uttered in his disparagement : if he were the devil, it didn't
signify ; he would stand by him ; and he'd rather she would
abuse himself, as she used to, than begin on Mr Heathcliff.
Catherine was waxing cross at this ; but he found means to
make her hold her tongue, by asking how she would like him
to speak ill of her father ? Then she comprehended that
Earnshaw took the master's reputation home to himself; and
was attached by tiez stronger than reason could break - chains,
forged by habit, which itwould be cruel to attempt to loosen.
She showed a good heart, thenceforth , in avoiding both
complaints and expressions of antipathy concerning Heathcliff;
and confessed to me her sorrow that she had endeavoured to
raise a bad spirit between him and Hareton : indeed, I don't
believe she has ever breathed a syllable, in the latter's hearing,
against her oppressor since.
When this slight disagreement was over, they were friends
again, and as busy as possible in their several occupations of
pupil and teacher. I came in to sit with them , after I had
done my work ; and I felt so soothed and comforted to watch
them , that I did not notice how time got on. You know,
they both appeared in a measure my children : I had long
been proud of one ; and now, I was sure, the other would be
a source of equal satisfaction . His honest, warm , and intel
ligent nature shook off rapidly the clouds of ignorance and
degradation in which it had been bred ; and Catherine's
sincere commendations acted as a spur to his industry. His
brightening mind brightened his features, and added spirit
and nobility to their aspect : I could hardly fancy it the same
individual I had beheld on the day I discovered my little lady
at Wuthering Heights, after her expedition to the Crags.
While I admired and they laboured , dusk drew on, and with
it returned the niaster. He came upon us quite unexpectedly,
entering by the front way, and had a full view of the whole
three, ere we could raise our heads to glance at him. Well,
I reflected , there was never a pleasanter, or more harmless
sight ; and it will be a burning shame to scold them . The
red fire-light glowed on their two bonny heads, and revealed
WUTHERING HEIGATS. 269
their faces animated with the eager interest of children ; for,

though he was twenty-three and she eighteen, each had so
much of novelty to feel and learn, that neither experienced nor
evinced the sentiments of sober disenchanted maturity.
They lifted their eyes together, to encounter Mr Heathcliff :
perhaps you have never remarked that theireyes are precisely
similar, and they are those of Catherine Earnshaw. The present
Catherine has no other likeness to her, except a breadth of
forehead, and a certain arch of the nostril that makes her
appear rather haughty, whether she will or not. With
Hareton the resemblance is carried farther : it is singular at
all times, then it was particularly striking ; because his senses
were alert, and his mental faculties wakened to unwonted
activity. I suppose this resemblance disarmed Mr Heathcliff :
he walked to the hearth in evident agitation ; but it quickly
subsided as he looked at the young man : or, I should say,
altered its character; for it was there yet. He took the book
from his hand, and glanced at the open page, then returned it
without any observation; merely signing Catherine away : her
companion lingered very little behind her, and I was about to
depart also, but he bid me sit still.
“ It is a poor conclusion, is it not ?” he observed, having
an
brooded a while on the scene he had just witnessed :
absurd termination to my violent exertions ? I get levers
and mattocks to demolish the two houses, and train myself
to be capable of working like Hercules, and when everything
is ready and in my power, I find the will to lift a slate off
either roof has vanished ! My old enemies have not beaten
me ; now would be the precise time to revenge myself on
their representatives : I could do it ; and none could hinder
me. But where is the use ? I don't care for striking : I
can't take the trouble to raise my hand ! That sounds as if
I had been labouring the whole time only to exhibit a fine
trait of magnanimity . It is far from being the case : I have
lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too
idle to destroy for nothing.
" Nelly , there is a strange change approaching : I'm in its
shadow at present. I take so little interest in my daily life,
that I hardly remember to eat and drink. Those two who
have left the room are the only objects which retain a distinct
material appearance to me ; and that appearance causes me
pain, amounting to agony . About her I won't speak ; and
I don't desire to think ; but I earnestly wish she were invisible :
yoak, and ye will—I noan used to't, and an old man doesn't
sooin get used to new barthens. I'd rayther arn my bite an'
my sup wi' a hammer in th' road !”
“ Now , now, idiot !" interrupted Heathcliff, “ cut it short !
What 's your grievance ? I'll interfere in no quarrels
between you and Nelly. She may thrust you into the
coal-hole for anything I care."
“ It 's noan Nelly ! " answered Joseph. “ I sudn't shift for
Nelly - nasty ill nowt as shoo is. Thank God ! shoo cannot
stale t sowi o' nob'dy! Shoo wer niver soa handsome, but
what a body mud look at her 'bout winking. It's yon flay .
some, graceless quean, that 's witched our lad, wi' her bold
een and her forrard ways — till — Nay! it fair brusts my heart !
He's forgotten all I've done for him, and made on him , and
goan and riven up a whole row o' t' grandest currant trees, i'
t' garden !” and here he lamented outright; unmanned by a
sense of his bitter injuries, and Earnshaw's ingratitude and
dangerous condition.
“ Is the fool drunk ? " asked Mr Heathcliff. " Hareton , is
it you he's finding fault with ?"
“ I've pulled up two or three bushes," replied the young
man ; “ but I'm going to set 'em again ."
“ And why have you pulled them up і? " said the master.
Catherinewisely put in her tongue.
“ We wanted to plant some flowers there,” she cried.
“ I'm the only person to blame, for I wished him to do it.”
“ And who the devil gave you leave to touch a stick about
the place ? ” demanded her father-in -law, much surprised.
“ And who ordered you to obey her ! ” he added, turning to
Hareton .
The latter was speechless ; his cousin replied
“ You shouldn't grudge a few yards of earth for me to
ornament, when you have taken all my land !”
“ Your land, insolent slut ! You never had any,” said
Heathcliff.
“ And my money," she continued ; returning his angry
glare, and meantime biting a piece of crust, the remnant of
her breakfast.
« Silence ! " he exclaimed. 6 Get done, and begone !"
“ And Hareton's land, and his money,” pursued the reck
less thing. “ Hareton and I are friends now ; and I shall
tell him all about you !"
The master seemed confounded a moment : he grew pale,
ard rose up, eyeing her all the while, with an expression of
mortal hate.
" If you strike me, Hareton will strike you,” she said ;
so you may as well sit down."
“If Hareton does not turn you out of the room , I'll strike
him to hell," thundered Heathcliff. “ Damnable witch ! dare
you pretend to rouse him against me ? Off with her ! Do
you hear ? Fling her into the kitchen ! I'll kill her, Ellen
Dean, if you let her come into my sight again !"
Hareton tried , under his breath , to persuade her to go.
Drag her away ! ” he cried, savagely. “ Are you staying
to talk ? " And he approached to execute his own command.
“ He'll not obey you, wicked man, any more,” said Cathe
rine ; “ and he'll soon detest you as much as I do .”
“ Wisht I wisht !" inuttered the young man, reproachfully.
“ I will
Bu
not hear you speak so to him. Have done."
16 t you won't let him strike ine ? " she cried.
“ Come, then," he whispered , earnestly.
It was too late : Heathcliff had caught hold of her.
“ Now , you go !” he said to Earnshaw. " Accursed witch !
this time she has provoked me when I could not bear it ; and
I'll make her repent it for ever !”
He had his hand in her hair ; Hareton attempted to release
her locks, entreating him not to hurt her that once. Heath
cliff's black eyes flashed ; he seemed ready to tear Catherine
in pieces , and I was just worked up to risk coming to the
rescue , when of a sudden his fingers relaxed ; he shifted his
grasp from her head to her arm, and gazed intently in her
face . Then he drew his hand over her eyes, stood a moment
to collect himself apparently , and turning anew to Catherine,
said , with assumed calmness— “ You must learn to avoid
putting me in a passion , or I shall really murder you some
time ! Go with Mrs Dean, and keep with her ; and confine
your insolence to her ears. As to Hareton Earnshaw , if I
see him listen to you, I'll send him seeking his bread where
he can get it ! Your love will make him an outcast and a
beggar. Nelly, take her ; and leave me, all of you ! Leave
me ! "
I led my young lady out : she was too glad of her escape
to resist ; the other followed, and Mr Heathcliff had the room
to himself till dinner. I had counselled Catherine to dine
up -stairs ; but, as soon as he perceived her vacant seat, he
sent me to call her. He spoke to none of us, ate very little,
and went out directly afterwards, intimating that he should not

return before evening.
The two new friends established themselves in the house
during his absence ; where I heard Hareton sternly check his
cousin, on her offering a revelation of her father -in -law's
conduct to his father. He said he wouldn't suffer a word to
be uttered in his disparagement : if he were the devil, it didn't
signify ; he would stand by him ; and he'd rather she would
abuse himself, as she used to, than begin on Mr Heathcliff.
Catherine was waxing cross at this ; but he found means to
make her hold her tongue, by asking how she would like him
to speak ill of her father ? Then she comprehended that
Earnshaw took the master's reputation home to himself; and
was attachedby tiesstronger than reason could break - chains,
forged by habit, which it would be cruel to attempt to loosen.
She showed a good heart, thenceforth, in avoiding both
complaints and expressions of antipathy concerning Heathcliff;
and confessed to me her sorrow that she had endeavoured to
raise a bad spirit between him and Hareton : indeed, I don't
believe she has ever breathed a syllable, in the latter's hearing,
against her oppressor since.
When this slight disagreement was over, they were friends
again, and as busy as possible in their several occupations of
pupil and teacher. I came in to sit with them, after I had
done my work ; and I felt so soothed and comforted to watch
them , that I did not notice how time got on. You know ,
they both appeared in a measure my children : I had long
been proud of one ; and now, I was sure, the other would be
a source of equal satisfaction. His honest, warm , and intel
ligent nature shook off rapidly the clouds of ignorance and
degradation in which it had been bred ; and Catherine's
sincere commendations acted as a spur to his industry. His
brightening mind brightened his features, and added spirit
and nobility to their aspect : I could hardly fancy it the same
individual I had beheld on the day I discovered my little lady
at Wuthering Heights, after her expedition to the Crags.
While I admired and they laboured, dusk drew on, and with
it returned the niaster. He came upon us quite unexpectedly ,
entering by the front way, and had a full view of the whole
three, ere we could raise our heads to glance at him. Well,
I reflected , there was never a pleasanter, or more harmless
sight ; and it will be a burning shame to scold them . The
red fire -light glowed on their two bonny heads, and revealed
their faces animated with the eager interest of children ; for,

though he was twenty -three and she eighteen, each had so
much of noveltyto feel and learn, that neither experienced nor
evinced the sentiments of sober disenchanted maturity.
They lifted their eyes together, to encounter Mr Heathcliff :
perhaps you have never remarked that their eyes are precisely
similar, and they are those of Catherine Earnshaw. The present
Catherine has no other likeness to her, except a breadth of
forehead, and a certain arch of the nostril that makes her
appear rather haughty , whether she will or not. With
Hareton the resemblance is carried farther : it is singular at
all times, then it was particularly striking ; because his senses
were alert, and his mental faculties wakened to unwonted
activity. I suppose this resemblance disarmed Mr Heathcliff :
he walked to the hearth in evident agitation ; but it quickly
subsided as he looked at the young man : or, I should say,
altered its character ; for it was there yet. He took the book
from his hand, and glanced at the open page, then returned it
without any observation ; merely signing Catherine away : her
companion lingered very little behind her, and I was about to
depart also, but he bid me sit still.
“ It is a poor conclusion, is it not ? ” he observed, having
an
brooded a while on the scene he had just witnessed : “
absurd termination to my violent exertions ? I get levers
and mattocks to demolish the two houses, and train myself
to be capable of working like Hercules, and when everything
is ready and in my power, I find the will to lift a slate off
either roof has vanished ! My old enemies have not beaten
me ; now would be the precise time to revenge myself on
their representatives : I could do it ; and none could hinder
me . But where is the use ? I don't care for striking : I
can't take the trouble to raise my hand ! That sounds as if
I had been labouring the whole time only to exhibit a fine
trait of magnanimity. It is far from being the case : I have
lost the faculty of enjoying their destruction, and I am too
idle to destroy for nothing.
“ Nelly, there is a strange change approaching : I'm in its
shadow at present. I take so little interest in my daily life,
that I hardly remember to eat and drink. Those two who
have left the room are the only objects which retain a distinct
material appearance to me ; and that appearance causes me
pain, amounting to agony. About her I won't speak ; and
I don't desire to think ; but I earnestly wish she were invisible :
her presence invokes only maddening sensations. He moves

me differently: and yet if I could do it without seeming
insane, I'd never see him again ! You 'll perhaps think me
rather inclined to become so ," he added, making an effort to
smile, “ if. I try to describe the thousand forms of past asso
ciations and ideas he awakens or embodies. But you 'll not
talk of what I tell you ; and my mind is so eternally secluded
in itself, it is tempting at last to turn it out to another.
“Five minutes ago, Hareton seemed a personification of my
youth, not a human being : I felt to him in such a variety of
ways , that it would have been impossible to have accosted him
rationally. In the first place, his startling likeness to Cathe
rine connected him fearfully with her. That, however, which
you may suppose the most potent to arrest my imagination, is
actually the least : for what is not connected with her to me ?
and what does not recall her ? I cannot look down to this
floor, but her features are shaped in the flags ! In every
cloud, in every tree — filling the air at night, and caught by
glimpses in every object by day — I am surrounded with her
image! The most ordinary faces of men and women - my
own features — mock me with a resemblance . The entire
world is a dreadful collection of memoranda that she did
exist, and that I have lost her! Well, Hareton's aspect was
the ghost of my immortal love ; of my wild endeavours to
hold myright ; my degradation, my pride, my happiness, and
my anguish
“ But it is frenzy to repeat these thoughts to you : only it will
let
you know why, with a reluctance to be always alone, his
society is no benefit; rather an aggravation of the constant
torment I suffer : and it partly contributes to render me
regardless how he and his cousin go on together. I can give
them no attention, any more. ”
“ But what do you mean by a change, Mr Heathcliff ? ” I
said , alarmed at his manner : though he was neither in danger
of losing his senses, nor dying, according to my judgment: he
was quite strong and healthy ; and, as to his reason, from
childhood he had a delight in dwelling on dark things, and
entertaining odd fancies. He might have had a monomania
on the subject of his departed idol ; but on every other point
his wits were as sound as mine.
“ I shall not know that till it comes,” he said, “ I'm only
half conscious of it now ."
“ You have no feeling of illness, have you ? ” I asked .
“No, Nelly, I have not,” he answered .

" Then you are not afraid of death ? ” I pursued.
“ Afraid ? No ! ” he replied. " I have neither a fear nor a
presentiment, nor a hope of death. Why should I ? With
my hard constitution and temperate mode of living, and
unperilous occupations, I ought to, and probably shall, remain
above ground till there is scarcely a black hair on my head.
And yet I cannot continue in this condition ! I have to
remind myself to breathe -- almost to remind my heart to
beat ! And it is like bending back a stiff spring : it is by
compulsion that I do the slightestact not prompted by one
thought; and by compulsion that I notice anything alive or
dead, which is not associated with one universal idea. I have
a single wish, and my whole being and faculties are yearning
to attain it. Theyhave yearned towards it so long, and so
unwaveringly, that I'm convinced it will be reached — and
soon — because it has devoured my existence : I am swallowed
up in the anticipation of its fulfilment.My confessions have
not relieved me ; but they may account for some otherwise
unaccountable phases of humour which I show. O God ! It
is a long fight, I wish it were over !"
He began to pace the room , muttering terrible things to
himself, till I was inclined to believe, as he said Joseph did ,
that conscience had turned his heart to an earthly hell. I
wondered greatly how it would end. Though he seldom
before had revealed this state of mind, even by looks, it was
his habitual mood, I had no doubt : he asserted it himself;
but not a soul, from his general bearing, would have con
jectured the fact. You did not when you saw him, Mr
Lockwood : and at the period of which I speak, he was just
the same as then ; only fonder of continued solitude, and per
haps still more laconic in company .
CHAPTER XXXIV .
For some days after that evening, Mr Heathcliff shunned

meeting us at meals ; yet he would not consent formally to
exclude Hareton and Cathy. Hehad an aversion to yielding
80 completely to his feelings, choosing rather to absent himself;
and eating once in twenty - four hours seemed sufficient suste

nance for him .
One night, after the family were in bed, I heard him go
down -stairs, and out at the front door. I did not hear him
re -enter, and in the morning I found he was still away . We
were in April then : the weather was sweet and warm , the
grass as green as showers and sun could make it, and the
two dwarf apple-trees near the southern wall in full bloom.
After breakfast, Catherine insisted on my bringing a chair
and sitting with my work under the fir - trees at the end of the
house ; and she beguiled Hareton, who had perfectly recovered
from his accident, to dig and arrange her little garden, which
was shifted to that corner by the influence of Joseph's com
plaints. I was comfortably revelling in the spring fragrance
around, and the beautiful soft blue overhead , when my young
lady, who had run down near the gate to procure some prim
rose roots for a border, returned only halfladen, and informed
us that Mr Heathcliff was coming in. “ And he spoke to me,”
she added, with a perplexed countenance.
“ What did he say ? " asked Hareton .
“ He told me to begone as fast as I could ,” she answered .
" But he looked so different from his usual look that I
stopped a moment to stare at him .”
" How ? ” he inquired.
“ Why, almost bright and cheerful. No, almost nothing
very much excited , and wild, and glad ! ” she replied.
Night-walking amuses him, then ,” I remarked, affecting
a careless manner : in reality as surprised as she was, and
anxious to ascertain the truth of her statement; for to see the
master looking glad would not be an every -day spectacle. I
framed an excuse to go in. Heathcliff stood at the open door ;
he was pale, and he trembled: yet, certainly, he had a strange
joyful glitter in his eyes, that altered the aspect of his whole
face.
61 Will you have some breakfast ? ” I said. " You must be
hungry, rambling about all night !" I wanted to discover
where he had been, but I did not like to ask directly.
“ No, I'm not hungry," he answered , averting his head,
and speaking rather contemptuously, as if he guessed I was
trying to divine the occasion of his good humour.
I felt perplexed : I didn't know whether it were not a proper
opportunity to offer a bit of admonition .
« I don't think it right to wander out of doors ," I observed,
“ instead of being in bed : it is not wise, at any rate, this

moist season . I dare say youill' catch a bad cold, or a fever :
you have something thematter with you now !” .
“ Nothing but what I can bear," he replied ; “ and with the
greatest pleasure, provided you 'll leave me alone : get in, and
don't annoy me."
I obeyed : and, in passing, I noticed he breathed as fast as
a cat.
“ Yes !” I reflected to myself, “ we shall have a fit of
illness. I cannot conceive what he has been doing.”
That noon he sat down to dinner with us, and received a
heaped -up plate from my hands, as if he intended to make
amends for previous fasting.
I've neither cold nor fever, Nelly ," he remarked, in allusion
to my morning's speech ; "and I'm ready to do justice to the
food you give me.
He took his knife and fork , and was going to commence
eating, when the inclination appeared to become suddenly
extinct. He laid them on the table, looked eagerly towards
the window, then rose and went out. We saw him walking
to and fro in the garden while we concluded our meal, and
Earnshaw said he'd go and ask why he would not dine : he
thought we had grieved him someway.
“Well, is he coming ? ” cried Catherine, when her cousin
returned .
“ Nay ,” he answered ; “ but he's not angry : he seemed
rarely pleased indeed ; only I made him impatient by speaking
to him twice; and then he bid me be off to you : he wondered
how I could want the company of anybody else."
I set his plate to keep warm on the fender ; and after an
hour or two he re -entered, when the room was clear, in no
degree calmer : the same unnatural — it was unnatural,
appearance of joy under his black brows ; the same bloodless
hue, and his teeth visible, now and then, in a kind of smile ;
his frame shivering, not as one shivers with chill or weakness,
but as a tight- stretched cord vibrates — a strong thrilling,
rather than trembling.
I will ask what is the matter, I thought ; or who should ?
And I exclaimed
“ Have you heard any good news, Mr Heathcliff ? You
look uncommonly animated .”
“Where should good news come from to me ? ” he said.
“ I'm animated with hunger ; and, seemingly, I must not eat.”
18
“ Your dinner is here ," I returned ; " why won't you get
it ? "
“ I don't want it now ,” he muttered, hastily : "I'll wait till
supper. And, Nelly, once for all, let me beg you to warn
from me
Hareton and the other away . I wish to be troubled
by nobody : I wish to have this place to myself.”
“ Is there some new reason for this banishment? ” I inquired.
“ Tell me why youare so queer, Mr Heathcliff ? Wherewere
you last night ? I'm not putting the question through idle
curiosity, but
“ You are putting the question through very idle curiosity,"
he interrupted, with a laugh. " Yet I'll answer it. Last
night I was on the threshold of hell. To -day, I am within
sight of my heaven. I have my eyes on it : hardly three feet
to sever me! And now you 'd better go ! You 'll neither
see nor hear anything to frighten you, if you refrain from
prying."
Having swept the hearth and wiped the table, I departed ;
more perplexed than ever.
Hedid not quit the house again that afternoon ,and no one
intruded on his solitude ; till, at eight o'clock, I deemed it
proper, though unsummoned, to carry a candle and his supper
to him. He was leaning against the ledge of an open lattice,
but not looking out: his face was turned to the interior gloom .
The fire had smouldered to ashes ; the room was filled with
the damp, mild air of the cloudy evening; and so still, that
not onlythe murmur of the beck down Gimmerton was dis
tinguishable, but its ripples and its gurgling over the pebbles,
or through the large stones which itcould not cover. Iuttered
an ejaculation of discontent at seeing the dismal grate, and
commenced shutting the casements, one after another, till I
came to his.
“ Must I close this ? ” I asked, in order to rouse him ; for he
would not stir.
The light flashed on his features as I spoke. Oh, Mr Lock
wood, I cannot express what a terrible start I got by the
momentary view! Those deep black eyes ! That smile, and
ghastly paleness ! It appeared to me, not Mr Heathcliff, but
a goblin ; and, in my terror, I let the candle bend towards the
wall , and it left me in darkness.
Yes, close it,” he replied , in his familiar voice. 16 There ,
that is pure awkwardness ! Why did you hold the candle:
horizontally ? Be quick, and bring another ."
I hurried out in a foolish state of dread, and said to

Joseph
“ The masterwishes you to take him a light and re-kindle
the fire.” For I dare not go in myself again just then.
Joseph rattled some fire into the shovel, and went : but
he brought it back immediately, with the supper-tray in his
other hand, explaining that Mr Heathcliff was going to bed,
and he wanted nothing to eat till morning. We heard him
mount the stairs directly ; he did not proceed to his ordinary
chamber, but turned into that with the pannelled bed : its
window , as I mentioned before, is wide enough for anybody
to get through ; and it struck me that he plotted another
midnight excursion, of which he had rather we had no
suspicion.
“ Is he a ghoul or a vampire ? " I mused. I had read of
such hideous incarnate demons. And then I set myself to
reflect how I had tended him in infancy,and watched him
grow to youth , and followed him almost through his whole
course ; and what absurd nonsense it was to yield to that
sense of horror. “ But where did he come from , the little
dark thing, harboured by a good man to his bane ? ” muttered
Superstition, as I dozed into unconsciousness. And I began,
half dreaming, to weary myself with imagining some fit
parentage forhim ; and,repeating my waking meditations, I
tracked his existence over again, with grim variations; at last,
picturing his death and funeral: of which, all I can remember
is, being exceedingly vexed at having the task of dictating an
inscription for his monument, and consulting the sexton about
it ; and, as he had no surname, and we could not tell his age,
we were obliged to content ourselves with the single word,
“Heathcliff .” That came true : we were. you enter the
If
kirkyard, you 'll read on his headstone, only that, and the
date of his death .
Dawn restored me to common sense. I rose, and went into
the garden, as soon as I could see, to ascertain if there were
any footmarks under his window . There were none. 66 He
has staid at home," I thought," and he 'll be all right to-day."
I prepared breakfast for the household , as was my usual cus
tom , but told Hareton and Catherine to get theirs ere the
master came down, for he lay late . They preferred taking it
out of doors, under the trees, and I set a little table to accom
modate them .
On my re -entrance, I found Mr Heathcliff below. He and
Joseph were conversing about some farming business; he gave

clear, minute directions concerning the matter discussed , but
he spoke rapidly , and turned his head continually aside, and
had the same excited expression, even more exaggerated.
When Joseph quitted the room he took his seat in the place
he generally chose, and I put a basin of coffee before him .
He drew it nearer, and then rested his arms on the table, and
looked at the opposite wall, as I supposed, surveying one
particular portion, up and down, with glittering, restless eyes,
and with such eager interest that he stopped breathing during
half a minute together.
" Come now ," I exclaimed, pushing some bread against his
hand ,“ eat and drink that, while it is hot: it has been waiting
near an hour.”
He didn't notice me, and yet he smiled. I'd rather have
seen him gnash his teeth than smile so.
“ Mr Heathcliff! master!" I cried , " don't, for God's sake,
stare
66
as if you saw an unearthly vision .”
Don't, for God's sake, shout so loud,” he replied. 6. Turn
round, and tell me, are we by ourselves ?”
“ Of course ," was my answer ; " of course we are."
Still , I involuntarily obeyed him, as if I was not quite
sure .
With a sweep of his hand he cleared a vacant space
in front among the breakfast things, and leant forward to
gaze more at his ease.
Now , I perceived he was not looking at the wall ; for
when I regarded him alone, it seemed exactly that he gazed
at something within two yards' distance. And whatever it
was, it communicated, apparently, both pleasure and pain in
exquisite extremes : at least the anguished, yet raptured,
expression of his countenance suggested that idea. The
fancied object was not fixed : either his eyes pursued it with
unwearied diligence, and, even in speaking to me, were never
weaned away. I vainly reminded him of his protracted absti
nence from food: if he stirred to touch anything in compliance
with my entreaties, if he stretched his hand out to get a piece
of bread, his fingers clenched before they reached it , and
remained on the table, forgetful of their aim.
I sat, a model of patience, trying to attract his absorbed
attention from its engrossing speculation ; till he grew irritable,
and got up, askingwhy I would not allow him to have his
own time in taking his meals ? and saying that on the next
casion, I needn't wait : I might set the things down and go.
Having uttered these words he left the house, slowly sauntered

down the garden path, and disappeared through the gate.
The hours crept anxiously by : another evening came. I
did not retire to rest till late, and when I did , I could not
sleep. He returned after midnight, and, instead of going to
bed, shut himself into the room beneath. I listened , and
tossed about, and, finally, dressed and descended. It was too
irksome to lie there, harassing my brain with a hundred idle
misgivings.
I distinguished Mr Heathcliff's step, restlessly measuring
the floor, and he frequently broke the silence by a deep
inspiration, resembling a groan. He muttered detached words
also ; the only one I could catch was the name of Catherine,
coupled with some wild term of endearment or suffering; and
spoken as one would speak to a person present : low and
earnest, and wrung from the depth of his soul. I had not
courage to walk straight into the apartment; but I desired
to divert him from his reverie, and therefore fell foul of the
kitchen fire, stirred it, and began to scrape the cinders. It
drew him forth sooner than I expected. He opened the door
immediately , and said -
• Nelly, come here — is it morning ? Come in with your
light."
“ It is striking four," I answered . 6 You want a candle to
take up -stairs: you might have lit one at this fire."
“ No, I don't wish to go up -stairs,” he said. 6 Come in ,
and kindle me a fire, and do anything there is to do about the
room ."
" I must blow the coals red first, before I can carry any ,"
I replied, getting a chair and the bellows.
He roamed to and fro, meantime, in a state approaching
distraction ; his heavy sighs succeeding each other so thick as
to leave no space for common breathing between.
“ When day breaks I'll send for Green,” he said ; “ I wish
to make some legal inquiries of him while I can bestow a
thought on those matters, and while I can act calmly. II have
not written my will yet ; and how to leave my property can
not determine. I wish I could annihilate it from the face of

the earth."
“ I would not talk so, Mr Heathcliff," I interposed. 16 Let
your will be a while: you 'll be spared to repent of your many
injusticesyet ! I never expected that your nerves would be
disordered : they are, at present, marvellously so, hewovor :
and almost entirely through your ownfault. The way you 'v
passed these three last days might knock up a Titan. D.
take some food, and some repose. You need only look a
yourself in a glass to see how you require both . Your cheek:
are hollow, and your eyes bloodshot, like a person starving
with hunger and going blind with loss of sleep .”
“ It is not my fault that I cannot eat or rest,” he replied.
“ I assure you it is through no settled designs. I'll do both,
as soon as I possibly can. But you might as well bid a man
struggling in the water rest within arm's length of the shore !
I must reach it first, and then I 'll rest. Well, never mind Mr
Green : as to repenting of my injustices, I've done no
injustice, and I repent of nothing. I'm too happy ; and yet
I'm not happy enough. My soul's bliss kills my body, but
does not satisfy itself.”
“ Happy, master ?" I cried. Strange happiness ! If you
would hear me without being angry , I might offer some advice
that would make you happier."
97
66 What is that ? ” he asked . " Give it.”
“ You are aware, Mr Heathcliff,” I said, “ that from the
time you were thirteen years old, you have lived a selfish ,
unchristian life; and probably hardly had a Bible in your
hands during all that period. You must have forgotten the
contents of the book , and you may not have space to search it
now. Could it be hurtful to send for someone some
minister of any denomination, it does not matter which - to

explain it, and show you how very far you have erred from
its precepts ; and howunfit you will be for its heaven, unless
a change takes place before you die ?”
“ I'm rather obliged than angry , Nelly ," he said, “ for you
remind me of the manner in which I desire to be buried . It
is to be carried to the churchyard in the evening. You and
Hareton may, if you please, accompany me : and mind, par
ticularly , to notice that the sexton obeys my directions con
cerning the two coffins ! No minister need come ; nor need
anything be said over me.- I tell you I have nearly attained
my heaven ; and that of others is altogether unvalued and
uncoveted by me. "
“ And supposing you persevered in your obstinate fast, and
died by that means,and they refused to bury you in the pre
cincts of the Kirk ? ” I said , shocked at his godless indifference.
“ How would you like it ? ”
“ They won't do that," he replied : " if they did, you must
have me removed secretly ; and if you neglect it you shall

prove, practically, that the dead are not annihilated ?"
As soon as heheard the other members of the family stirring
he retired to his den, and I breathed freer. But in the after
noon, while Joseph and Hareton were at their work, he came
into the kitchen again, and, with a wild look , bid me come
and sit in the house : he wanted somebody with him. I
declined ; telling him plainly that his strange talk and manner
frightened me, and I had neither the nerve nor the will to be
hiscompanion alone.
“ I believe you think me a fiend ,” he said, with his dismal
laugh : “ something too horrible to live under a decent roof.”
Then turning to Catherine, who was there, and who drew
behind me athis approach, he added, half sneeringly_ " Will
you come, chuck ? I'll not hurt you. No ! to you I've made
myself worse than the devil. Well, there is one who won't
shrink from my company ! By God I she's relentless. Oh,
damn it ! It's unutterably too much for flesh and blood to
bear - even mine. "
He solicited the society of no one more. At dusk , he went
into his chamber. Through the whole night, and far into the
morning, we heard him groaning and murmuring to himself.
Hareton was anxious to enter ; but I bid him fetch Mr
Kenneth , and he should go in and see him. When he came,
and I requested admittance and tried to open the door, I found
it locked; and Heathcliff bid us be damned . He was better,
and would be left alone ; so the doctor went away.
The following eveningwasvery wet : indeed it poured down
till day-dawn ; and, as I took my morning walk round the
house, I observed the master's window swinging open, and the
rain driving straight in. He cannot be in bed, I thought:
those showers would drench him through. He must either
be up or out. But I'll make no more ado, I'll go boldly and
look ."
Having succeeded in obtaining entrance with another key,
I ran to unclose the panels, for the chamber was vacant ;
quicklypushing them aside, Ipeeped in. Mr Heathcliff was
there-- laid on his back. His eyes met mine so keen and
fierce, I started ; and then he seemed to smile. I could not
think him dead : but his face and throat were washed with
rain ; the bed-clothes dripped, and he was perfectly still. The
lattice, flapping to and fro, had grazed one hand that rested
on the sill; no blood trickled from the broken skin, and when
I put my fingers to it, I could doubt no more : he was dead

and stark !
I hasped the window ; I combed his black long hair from
his forehead ; I tried to close his eyes : to extinguish, if pos
sible, that frightful, life -like gaze of exultation before any one
else beheld it. They would not shut: they seemed to sneer
at my attempts; and his parted lips and sharp white teeth
sneered too ! Taken with another fit of cowardice, I cried
out for Joseph . Joseph shuffled up and made a noise, but
resolutely refused to meddle with him.
“ Th ' divil's harried off his soul,” he cried , " and he may
hev his carcass into t' bargin, for aught I care! Ech ! what
a wicked un he looks girnning at death ! " and the old sinner
grinned in mockery. I thought he intended to cut a caper
round the bed ; but suddenly composing himself, he fell on
his knees, and raised his hands, and returned thanks that the
lawful master and the ancient stock were restored to their
rights.
I felt stunned by the awful event ; and my memory
unavoidably recurred to former times with a sort of oppressive
sadness. But poor Hareton, the most wronged , was the only
one who really suffered much . He sat by the corpse all night,
weeping in bitter earnest. He pressed its hand, and kissed
the sarcastic, savage face that every one else shrank from
contemplating ; and bemoaned him with that strong grief
which springs naturally from a generous heart, though it be
tough as tempered steel.
Mr Kenneth was perplexed to pronounce of what disorder
the master died. I concealed the fact of his having swallowed
nothing for four days, fearing it might lead to trouble, and
then , I am persuaded, he did not abstain on purpose : it was
the consequence of his strange illness, not the cause.
We buried him , to the scandal of the whole neighbourhood,
as he wished. Earnshaw and I, the sexton, and six men to
carry the coffin , comprehended the whole attendance. The
six men departed when they had let it down into the grave :
we stayed to see it covered. Hareton, with a streaming face,
dug green sods, and laid them over the brown mould himself:
at present it is as smooth and verdant as its companion
mounds — and I hope its tenant sleeps as soundly. But the
country folks, if you ask them , would swear on the Bible that
he walks: there are those who speak to having met him near
the churoh , and on the moor,and even within this house.
Idle tales, you 'll say , and so say I. Yet that old man by the
kitchen fire affirms he has seen two on 'em, looking out of his
chamber window , on every rainy night since his death :-and
an odd thing happened to me about a month ago. I was
going to the Grange one evening - a dark evening, threatening
thunder - and, just at the turn of the Heights, I encountered
a little boy with a sheep and two lambs before him ; he was
crying terribly ; and I supposed the lambs were skittish, and
would not be guided.
“What is the matter, my little man ?" I asked.
“ There's Heathcliff and a woman , yonder, under t’ Nab,”
heblubbered, “ un' I darnut pass 'em ."
I saw nothing ; but neither the sheep nor he would go on ;
so I bid him take the road lower down. He probably raised
the phantoms from thinking, as he traversed the moors alone,
on the nonsense he had heard his parents and companions
repeat. Yet, still, I don't like being out in the dark now ;
and I don't like being left by myself in this grim house : I
cannot help it ; I shall be glad when they leave it, and shift
to the Grange.
They are going to the Grange, then," I said.
“ Yes," answered Mrs Dean , as soon as they are married,
and that will be on New Year's day.”
" And who will live here then ? "
“ Why, Joseph will take care of the house, and, perhaps, a
lad to keep him company . They will live in the kitchen , and
the rest will be shut up."
“ For the use of such ghosts as choose to inhabit it,” I
observed .
No, Mr Lockwood ,” said Nelly, shaking her head. “ I
believe the dead are at peace : but it is not right to speak of
them with levity.”
At that moment the garden gate swung to ; the ramblers
were returning
They are afraid of nothing ,” I grumbled, watching their
approach through the window . “ Together, they would
brave Satan and all his legions.”
As they stepped on to the door -stones, and halted to take
a last look at the moon – or, more correctly, at each other by
her light - I felt irresistibly impelled to escape them again ;
and, pressing a remembrance into the hand of Mrs Dean , and
disregarding her expostulations at my rudeness, I vanished
through the kitchen as they opened the house -door : and 80
should have confirmed Joseph in his opinion of his fellow

servant's gay indiscretions, had he not fortunately recognised
me for a respectable character by the sweet ring of a sove
reign at his feet.
My walk home was lengthened by a diversion in the
direction of the kirk . When beneath its walls, I perceived
decay had made progress, even in seven months : many a
window showed black gaps deprived of glass ; and slates
jutted off, here and there, beyond the right line of the roof, to
begradually worked off in coming autumn storms.
I sought, and soon discovered, the three head -stones on the
slope next the moor : the middle one grey , and half buried in
heath ; Edgar Linton's only harmonized by the turf and moss
creeping up its foot; Heathcliff's still bare.
I lingered round them , under that benign sky: watched the
moths fluttering among the heath and hare -bells, listened to
the soft wind breathingthrough the grass, and wondered how
any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers
inthat quiet earth .
END OF WUTHERING HEIGHTS ,

AGNES GRE Y,
BY ACTON BELL
AGNES GREY .
CHAPTER I.
THE PARSONAGE.
All true histories contain instruction ; though, in some, the

treasure may be hard to find, and when found, so trivial in
quantity, that the dry, shrivelled kernel scarcely compensates
for the trouble of cracking the nut. Whether this be the case
with my history or not, I am hardly competent to judge. I
sometimes think it might prove useful to some, and entertain
ing to others ; but the world may judge for itself. Shielded
bymy own obscurity, and by the lapse of years,and a few
fictitious names, I do not fear to venture; and will candidly
Jay before the public what I would not disclose to the most
intimate friend .
My father was a clergyman of the north of England, who
was deservedly respected by all who knew him ; and, in his
younger days, lived pretty comfortably on the joint income of
a small incuinbency and a snug little property of his own.
My mother, who married him against the wishes of her
friends, was a squire's daughter, and a woman of spirit. In
vain it was represented to her, that if she became the poor
parson's wife, she must relinquish her carriage and her lady's
maid, and all the luxuries and elegancies of affluence ; which
to her were little less than the necessaries of life. A carriage
and a lady's-maid were great conveniences ; but, thank
Heaven, she had feet to carry her, and hands to minister to
her own necessities. An elegant house and spacious grounds
were not to be despised ; but she would rather live in a cot
tage with Richard Grey than in a palace with any other man
in the world .
Finding arguments of no avail, her father, at length, told
the lovers they might marry if they pleased ; but, in so doing,
286 AGNES GREY .
his daughter would forfeit every fraction of her fortune. He

expected this would cool the ardour of both ; but he was
mistaken. My father knew too well my mother's superior
worth not to be sensible that she was a valuable fortune in
herself: and if she would but consent to embellish his humble
hearth, he should be happy to take her on any terms; while
she, on her part, wouldrather labour with her own hands
than be divided from the man she loved, whose happiness it
would be her joy to make, and who was already one with her
in heart and soul. So her fortune went to swell the purse of
a wiser sister, who had married a rich nabob ; and she, to the
wonder and compassionate regret of all who knew her, went to
bury herself in the homely village parsonage among the hills
of And yet, in spite of all this, and in spite of my
mother's high spirit and my father's whims, I believe you
might search allEngland through, and fail to find a happier
couple.
Of six children, my sister Mary and myself were the only
two that survived the perils of infancy and early childhood.
I, being the younger by five or six years, was always regarded
as the child , and the pet of the family : father, mother, and
sister, all combined to spoil me — not by foolish indulgence, to
render me fractious and ungovernable,but by ceaseless kind
ness, to make me too helpless and dependent — too unfit for
buffeting with the cares and turmoils of life.
Mary and I were brought up in the strictestseclusion . My
mother, being at once highly accomplished, well- informed, and
fond of employment, took the whole charge of our education
on herself,with the exception of Latin — which my father
undertook to teach us so that we never even went to school ;
and, as there was no society in the neighbourhood, our only
intercourse with the world consisted in a stately tea - party ,
now and then, with the principal farmers and tradespeople of
the vicinity( just to avoid being stigmatized as too proud to
consort with our neighbours), and an annual visit to our
paternal grandfather's ; where himself, our kind grandmamma,
a maiden aunt, and two or three elderly ladies and gentlemen,
were the only persons we ever saw. Sometimes our mother
would amuse us with stories and anecdotes of her younger
days, which, while they entertained us amazingly, frequently
awoke — in me, at least — a secret wish to see a little more of
the world .
I thought she must have been very happy : but she never
AGNES GREY . 287
seemed to regret past times. My father, however, whose

temper was neither tranquil nor cheerful by nature, often
unduly vexed himself with thinking of the sacrifices his dear
wife had made for him ; and troubled his head with revolving
endless schemes for the augmentation of his little fortune, for
her sake and ours. In vain my mother assured him she was
quite satisfied ; and if he would but lay by a little for the
children, we should all have plenty, both for time present and
to come : but saving was not my father's forte. He would not
run in debt (at least, my mother took good care he should not),
but while he had money he must spend it : he liked to see his
house comfortable, and his wife and daughters well clothed,
and well attended ; and besides, he was charitably disposed,
and liked to give to the poor, according to his means : or, as
some might think, beyond them.
At length , however, a kind friend suggested to him a
means ofdoubling his private property at one stroke ; and
further increasing it, hereafter, to an untold amount. This
friend was a merchant, a man of enterprising spirit and
undoubted talent, who was somewhat straitened in his mer
cantile pursuits for want of capital ; but generously proposed
to give my father a fair share of his profits, if he would only
entrust him with what he could spare ; and he thought he
might safely promise that whatever sum the latter chose to
put into his hands, it should bring him in cent. per cent.
The small patrimony was speedily sold, and the whole of its
price was deposited in the hands of the friendly merchant ;
who as promptly proceeded to ship his cargo, and prepare for
his voyage .
My father wasdelighted, so were we all, with our brightening
prospects. For the present, it is true, we were reduced to the
narrow income of the curacy ; but my father seemed to think
there was no necessity for scrupulously restricting our expendi
ture to that; so, with a standing bill at Mr Jackson's, another
at Smith's, and a third at Hobson's , we got along even more
comfortably than before : though my mother affirmed we had
better keep within bounds, for our prospects of wealth were
but precarious, after all ; and if my father would only trust
everything to her management, he should never feel himself
stinted : but he, for once, was incorrigible.
What happy hours Mary and I have passed, while sitting
at our work by the fire, orwandering on the heath-clad hills,
or idling under the weeping birch (the only considerable
288 AGNES GREY .
tree in the garden , talking of future happiness to ourselves

and our parents, of what we would do, and see, and possess;
with no firmer foundation for our goodly superstructure, than
the riches that were expected to flow in upon us from the
success of the worthy merchant's speculations. Our father
was nearly as bad as o’rselves ; only, that he affected not to
be so much in earnest : expressing his bright hopes and
sanguine expectations, in jests and playful sallies, that always
struck me as being exceedingly witty and pleasant. Our
mother laughed with delight to see himso hopeful and happy:
but still she feared he was setting his heart too much upon
the matter ; and once I heard her whisper as she left the room ,
“ God grant he be not disappointed ! I know not how he
would bear it."
Disappointed he was ; and bitterly, too . It came like a
thunder -clap on us all , that the vessel which contained our
fortune had been wrecked, and gone to the bottom with all its
stores, together with several of the crew, and the unfortunate
merchant himself. I was grieved for him ; I was grieved for the
overthrow of all our air-built castles : but, with the elasticity
of youth, I soon recovered the shock.
Though riches had charms, poverty had no terrors for an
inexperienced girl like me. Indeed , to say the truth, there
was something exhilarating in the idea of being driven to
straits, and thrownupon our own resources. I only wished
papa, mamma, and Mary, were all of the same mind as myself;
and then, instead of lamenting past calamities, we might all
cheerfully set to work to remedy them; and the greater the
difficulties, the harder our present privations,the greater should
be our cheerfulness to endure the latter, and our vigour to
contend against the former.
Mary did not lament, but she brooded continually over the
misfortune, and sank into a state of dejection from which no
effort of mine could rouse her. I could not possibly bring
her to regard the matter on its bright side as I did : and
indeed I was so fearful of being charged with childish frivo
lity, or stupid insensibility, that I carefully kept most of my
bright ideas and cheering notions to myself ; well knowing
they could not be appreciated .
My mother thought only of consoling my father, and pay
ing our debts and retrenching our expenditure by every
available means ; but my
father was completely overwhelmed
by the calamity : health, strength, and spirits sank beneath
AGNES GREY . 289
the hlow ; and he never wholly recovered them . In vain my

mother strove to cheer him, by appealing to his piety, to his
courage, to his affection for herself and us. That very affec
tion was his greatest torment: it was for our sakes he had so
ardently longed to increase his fortune — it was our interest
that had lentsuch brightness to his hopes, and that imparted
such bitterness to his present distress . He now tormented
himself withremorse athaving neglected my mother's advice ;
which would at least have saved him from the additional
burden of debt-he vainly reproached himself for having
brought her from the dignity , the ease, the luxury of her
former station to toil with him through the cares and toils of
poverty. It was gall and worm wood to his soul to see that
splendid, highly accomplished woman , once so courted and
admired, transformed into an active managing housewife, with
hands and head continually occupied with household labours
and household economy. The very willingness with which
she performed these duties, the cheerfulness with which she
bore her reverses, and the kindness which withheld her froni
imputing the smallest blame to him, were all perverted by this
ingenious self -tormentor, into further aggravations of his
sufferings. And thus the mind preyed upon the body, and
disordered the system of the nerves, and they in turn in
creased the troubles of the mind, till by action and reaction
his health was seriously impaired ; and not one of us could
convince him that the aspect of our affairs was not half so
gloomy, so utterly hopeless, as his morbid imagination repre
sented it to be.
The useful pony phaeton was sold, together with the stout
well -fed pony — the old favourite that we had fully determined
should end its days in peace, and never pass from our hands ;
the little coach -house and stable were let ; the servant boy,
and the more efficient (being the more expensive) of the two
maid-servants were dismissed. Our clothes were mended,
turned, and darned to the utmost verge of decency ; our food,
always plain, was now simplified to an unprecedented degree
-except my father's favourite dishes ; our coals and candles
were painfully economized—the pair of candles reduced to
one, and that most sparingly used ; the coals carefully hus
banded in the half-empty grate : especially when my father
was out on his parish duties, or confined to bed through ill
ness—then we sat with our feet on the fender, scraping the
perishing embers together from time to time, and occasionally
19
290 AGNES GREY .
adding a slight scattering of the dust and fragments of coal,

just to keep them alive. As for our carpets, they in time,
were worn threadbare, and patched and darned even to a
greater extent than our garments. To save the expense of a
gardener, Mary and I undertook to keep the garden in order ;
and all the cooking and household work that could not easily
be managed by one servant girl, was done by my mother and
sister, with a little occasional help from me : only a little,
because, though a woman in my own estimation, I was still a
child in theirs; and my mother, like most active, managing
women, was not gifted with very active daughters : for this
reason — that being so clever and diligent herself, she was
never tempted to trust her affairs to a deputy, but on the
contrary, was willing to act and think for others as well as
for number one ; and whatever was the business in hand, she
was apt to think that no one could do it so well as herself :
so that whenever I offered to assist her, I received such an
answer as -“ No, love, you cannot indeed , there's nothing
here you can do. Go and help your sister, or get her to take
a walk with you — tell her shemust not sit so much, and stay
so constantly in the house as she does she may well look
thin and dejected ."
66
Mary, mamma says I'm to help you ; or get you to take
a walk with me : she says you may well look thin and dejected,
if you sit so constantly in the house."
“ Help me you cannot, Agnes ; and I cannot go out with
you—I have far too much to do ."
“ Then let me help you."
" You cannot, indeed, dear child . Go and practise your
music, or play with the kitten .”
There was always plenty of sewing on hand ; but I had not
been taught to cut out a single garment, and except plain
hemming and seaming, there was little I could do, even in
that line ; for they both asserted that it was far easier to do
the work themselves than to prepare it for me : and, besides,
they liked better to see me prosecuting my studies, or amusing
myself — it was time enough for me to sit bending over my
work, like a grave matron , when my favourite little pussy was
become a steady old cat. Under such circumstances, although
I was not many degrees more useful than the kitten, my idle
ness was not entirely without excuse .
Through all our troubles, I never but once heard my mothe
complain of our want of money. As summer was cominc
AGNES GREY. 291
she observed to Mary and me, " What a desirable thing it

would be for your papa to spend a few weeks at a watering
place. I am convinced the sea-air and the change of scene
would be of incalculable service to him . But then , you see,
there's no money," she added, with a sigh. We both wished
exceedingly that the thing might be done, and lamented
6
greatly that it could not. Well, well !” said she, “ it's no
use complaining. Possibly something might be done to
further the project after all. Mary, you are a beautiful
drawer. What do you say to doing a few more pictures in
your best style, and getting them framed, with the water
coloured drawings you have already done, and trying to
dispose of them to some liberal picture -dealer, who has the
sense to discern their merits ?”
“Mamma, I should be delighted if you think they could
be sold ; and for anything worth while."
“ It 's worth while trying, however, my dear : do you
procure the drawings, and I'll endeavour to find a pur
chaser.”
“ I wish I could do something,” said I.
“ You , Agnes ! well, who knows ? You draw pretty well,
too : if you choose some simple piece for your subject, I dare
say you will be able to produce something we shall all be
proud to exhibit.”
“ But I have another scheme in my head,mamma,and have
had long, only I did not like to mention it."
“ Indeed ! pray tell us what it is .”
" I should like to be a governess.”
My mother uttered an exclamation of surprise, and laughed.
My sister dropped her work in astonishment, exclaiming,
“ You a governess, Agnes ! What can you be dreaming
of ? "
“ Well ! I don't see anything so very extraordinary in it. I
do not pretend to be able to instruct great girls ; but surely, I
could teach little ones : and I should like it so much : I am so
fond of children . Do let me, mamma ! "
“But, my love, you have not learned to take care of yourself
yet: and young children require more judgment and expe
rience to manage than elder ones.”
“ But, mamma, I am above eighteen, and quite able to take
care of myself, and others too . You do not know half the
wisdom and prudence I possess, because I have never been
tried."
292 AGNES GREY.
“ Only think," said Mary, " what would you do in a house

full of strangers, without me or mamma to speak and act for
you - with a parcel of children , besides yourself, to attend to ;
and no one to look to for advice ? You would not even know
what clothes to put on."
“ You think, because I always do as you bid me, I have no
judgment of my own : but only try me--that is all I ask - and
you shall see what I can do ."
At that moment my father entered, and the subject of our
discussion was explained to him.
“ What, my little Agnes, a governess ! " cried he, and, in
spite of his dejection, helaughed at the idea.
“ Yes, papa, don't you say anything against it : I should like
it so much ; and I am sure I could manage delightfully."
“ But, my darling, we could not spare you.” And a tear
glistened in his eye as he added— “ No, no ! afflicted as we
are, surely we are not brought to that pass yet.”
Oh , no ! ” said my mother. “ There is no necessity
whatever for such a step ; it is merely a whim of her own.
So you must hold your tongue, you naughty girl; for, though
you are so ready to leave us, you knowverywell we cannot
part with you ."
I was silenced for that day, and for many succeeding ones ;
but still I did not wholly relinquish my darling scheme.
Mary got her drawing materials, and steadily set to work . I
got mine too; but while I drew , I thought of other things.
How delightful it would be to be a governess ! To go out
into the world ; to enter upon a new life; to act for myself; to
exercise my unused faculties; to try my unknown powers ; to
earn my own maintenance, and something to comfort and help
my father, mother, and sister, besides exonerating them from
the provision ofmy food and clothing; to show papa what his
little Agnes could do ; to convince mamma and Mary that I
was not quite the helpless, thoughtless being they supposed .
And then, how charming to be entrusted with the care and
education of children ! Whatever others said, I felt I was
fully competent to thetask : the clear remembrance of my own
thoughts in early childhood would be a surer guide than the
instructions of the most mature adviser . I had but to turn
from my little pupils to myself at their age, and I should
know , at once, how to win their confidence and affections :
how to waken the contrition of the erring ; how to embolden
the, timid , and console the afflicted ; how to make Virtue
AGNES GREY. 293
practicable, Instruction desirable, and Religion lovely and
coinprehensible.
· Delightful task !
To teach the young idea how to shoot !”
To train the tender plants, and watch their buds unfolding
day by day !
Influenced by so many inducements, I determined still to
parsevere ; though the fear of displeasing my mother, or dis
tressing my father's feelings, prevented me from resuming the
subject for several days. At length , again, I mentioned it to
my mother in private; and, with some difficulty, got her to
promise to assist me with her endeavours. My father's
reluctant consent was next obtained, and then, though Mary
still sighed her disapproval, my dear, kind mother began to
look out for a situation for me. She wrote to my father's
relations, and consulted the newspaper advertisements - her
own relations she had long dropped all communication with :
a formal interchange of occasional letters was all she had
ever had since her marriage, and she would not at any time
have applied to them in a case of this nature. But so long
and so entire had been my parents' seclusion from the world ,
that many weeks elapsed before a suitable situation could be
procured . At last, to my great joy, it was decreed that I
should take charge of the young family of a certain Mrs
Bloomfield ; whom my kind, prim aunt Grey had known in
her youth, and asserted to be a very nice woman. Her hus
band was a retired tradesman, who had realized a very com
fortable fortune; but could not be prevailed upon to give a
greater salary than twenty -five pounds to the instructress of
his children. I, however, was glad to accept this, rather than
refuse the situation — which my parents were inclined to think
the better plan .
But some weeks more were yet to be devoted to preparation.
How long, how tedious those weeks appeared to me ! Yet they
were happy ones in the main — full of bright hopes and ardent
expectations. With what peculiar pleasure I assisted at the
making of my new clothes , and , subsequently, the packing of
my trunks ! But there was a feelingof bitterness mingling
with the latter occupation too ; and when it was done — when
all was ready for my departure on the morrow , and the last
night at home approached — a sudden anguish seemed to swell
my heart. My dear friends looked so sad, and spoke so very
kindly, that I could scarcely keep my eyes from overflowing:
294 AGNES GREY .
but I still affected to be gay. I had taken my last ramble

with Mary on the moors,my last walk in the garden, and
round the house ; I had fed, with her, our pet pigeons for the
last time—the pretty creatures that we had tamed to peck
their food from our hands : I had given a farewell stroke to
all their silky backs as they crowded in my lap. I had
tenderly kissed my own peculiar favourites, the pair of snow
white fantails; I had played my last tune on the old familiar
piano, and sung my last song to papa : not the last, I hoped ,
but the last for, what appeared to me, a very long time. And,
perhaps, when I did these things again, it would be with
different feelings: circumstances might be changed, and this
house might never be my settled home again. My dear little
friend, the kitten, would certainly be changed : she was
already growing a fine cat ; and when I returned, even for a
hasty visit at Christmas, would, most likely , have forgotten
both her playmate and her merry pranks. I had romped with
her for the last time ; and when I stroked her soft bright fur,
while she lay purring herself to sleep in my lap, it was with a
feeling of sadness I could not easily disguise. Then , at bed
time, when I retired with Mary to our quiet little chamber,
where already my drawers were cleared out and my share of
the bookcase was empty - and where, hereafter, she would
have to sleep alone, in dreary solitude, as she expressed it ,
my heart sank more than ever: I felt as if I had been selfish
and wrong to persist in leaving her ; and when I knelt once
more beside our little bed, I prayed for a blessing on her and
on my parents more fervently than ever I haddone before.
To conceal my emotion , I buried my face in my hands, and
they were presently bathed in tears. I perceived, on rising,
that she had been crying too : but neither of us spoke; and in
silence we betook ourselves to our repose, creeping more
closely together from the consciousness that we were to part so
soon.
But the morning brought a renewal of hope and spirits.

I was to depart early ; that the conveyance which took me
( a gig, hired from Mr Smith, the draper, grocer, and tea
dealer of the village ) might return the same day. I rose,
washed, dressed , swallowed a hasty breakfast, received the
fond embraces of my father, mother, and sister, kissed the
cat - to the great scandal of Sally, themaid - shook hands
with her, mounted the gig, drew my veil over my face, and
then , but not till then, burst into a flood of tears. The gig
AGNES GREY . 295
rolled on ; I looked back ; my dear mother and sister were

still standing at the door, looking after me, and waving their
adieux. I returned their salute, and prayed God to bless
them from my heart : we descended thehill, and I could see
them no more .
“It's a coldish mornin' for you ," Miss Agnes," observed
Smith ; " and a darksome un too ; but we's, happen, get to
yon' spot afore there come much rain to signify ."
“ Yes, I hope so," replied I, as calmly as I could.
“ It's comed a good sup last night too ."
66 Yes. "
“ But this cold wind will, happen , keep it off.”
“ Perhaps it will."
Here ended our colloquy. We crossed the valley, and
began to ascend the opposite hill. As we were toiling up,
I looked back again : there was the village spire, and the
old grey parsonage beyondit, basking in a slanting beam of
sunshine - it was but a sickly ray , but the village and sur
rounding hills were all in sombre shade, and I hailed the
wandering beam as a propitious omen to my home. With
clasped hands, I fervently implored a blessing on its inha
bitants, and hastily turned away ; for I saw the sunshine
was departing ; and I carefully avoided another glance, lest I
shouldsee itin gloomy shadow , like the rest of the landscape.
CHAPTER II .
FIRST LESSONS IN THE ART OF INSTRUCTION .
As we drove along, my spirits revived again, and I turned,

with pleasure, to the contemplation of the new life upon
which I was entering. But though it was not far past the
middle of September, the heavy clouds and strong north
easterly wind combined to render the day extremely cold
and dreary; and the journey seemed a very long one, for,
as Smith observed, the roads were very heavy ; ” and cer
tainly, his horse was very heavy too : it crawled up the
hills , and crept down them , and only condescended to shake
its sides in a trot where the road was at a dead le
296 AGNES GREY.
very gentle slope, which was rarely the case in those rugged
regions ; so that it was nearly one o'clock before we reached
the place of our destination. Yet, after all , when we entered
the lofty iron gateway, when we drove softly up the smooth,
well -rolled carriage road, with the green lawn on each side,
studded with young trees, and approached the new but
stately mansion of Wellwood, rising above its mushroom
poplar-groves, my heart failed me, and I wished it were a mile
or two farther off. For the first time in my life, I must stand
alone : there was no retreating now . I must enter that house,
and introduce myself among its strange inhabitants. But
how was it to be done ? True, I was near nineteen ; but,
thanks to my retired life and the protectingcare of my mother
and sister, I well knew that many a girl of fifteen , or under,
was gifted with a more womanly address, and greater ease and
self-possession, than I was. Yet, if Mrs Bloomfield were a
kind, motherly woman, I might do very well, after all ; and
the children, of course, I should soon be at ease with them
and Mr Bloomfield, I hoped, I should have but little to do
with .
“ Be calm , be calm , whatever happens," I said within
myself ; and truly I kept this resolution so well, and was so
fully occupied in steadying my nerves and stilling the rebel
lious flytter of my heart, that when I was admitted into the
hall, and ushered into the presence of Mrs Bloomfield , I
almost forgot to answer her polite salutation ; and it after
wards struck me, that the little I did say was spoken in the
tone of one half-dead or half-asleep . The lady, too , was
somewhat chilly in her manner, as I discovered when I had
time to reflect. She was a tall, spare, stately woman, with
thick black hair, cold grey eyes, and extremely sallow com
plexion.
With due politeness, however, she showed me my bedroom ,
and left me there to take a little refreshment. I was somewhat
dismayed at my appearance on looking in the glass : the cold
wind had swelled and reddened my hands, uncurled and
entangled my hair, and dyed my face of a pale purple ; add
to this my collar was horridly crumpled, my frock splashed
with mud, my feet clad in stout new boots, and as the trunks
were not brought up, there was no remedy ; so having
smoothed my hair as well as I could, and repeatedly twitched
my obdurate collar, I proceeded to clomp down the two flights
of stairs, philosophising as I went ; and with some difficulty
AGNES GREY : 297
found my wayinto the room where Mrs Bloomfield awaited

me .
She led me into thedining-room, where the family luncheon

had been laid out. Some beefsteaks and half - cold potatoes
were set before me ; and while I dined upon these, she sat
opposite, watching me (as I thought) and endeavouring to
sustain somethinglike a conversation-consisting chieflyofa
succession of commonplace remarks, expressed with frigid
formality : but this might be more my fault than hers, for I
really could not converse. In fact, my attention was almost
wholly absorbed in my dinner : not from ravenous appetite,
but from distress at the toughness of the beefsteaks, and the
numbness of my hands, almost palsied by their five hours'
exposure to the bitter wind. I would gladly have eaten the
potatoes and let the meat alone, but having got a large piece
of the latter on to my plate, I could not be so impolite as to
leave it; so, after many awkward and unsuccessful attempts
to cut it with the knife, or tear it with the fork , or pull it
asunder between them, sensible that the awful lady was a
spectator to the whole transaction, I at last desperately grasped
the knife and fork in my fists, like a child of two years old,
and fell to work with all the little strength I possessed . But
this needed some apology — with a feeble attempt at a laugh,
I said, “ My hands areso benumbed with the cold that I can
scarcely handle my knife and fork.”
“ I dare say you would find it cold ,” replied she with a cool,
immutable gravity that did not serve to reassure me.
When the ceremony was concluded, she led me into the
sitting -room again , where she rang and sent for the children .
“ You will find them not very far advanced in their attain
ments," said she, “ for I have had so little time to attend to
their education myself, and we have thought them too young
for a governess till now ; but I think they are clever children,
and very apt to learn, especially the little boy: he is, I think,
the flower of the flock — a generous, noble-spirited boy, one to
be led, but not driven, and remarkable for always speaking
the truth. He seems to scorn deception ” ( this was good news).
“ His sister Mary Ann will require watching,” continued she,
“ but she is a very good girl upon the whole : though I wish
her to bekept out of the nursery as much as possible, as she
is now almost six years old, and might acquire bad habits
from the nurses . I have ordered her crib to be placed in your
room, and if you will be so kind as to overlook her wihing
298 AGNES GREY .
and dressing, and take charge of her clothes, she need have
nothing further to do with the nursery -maid .”
I replied I was quite willing to do so ; and at that moment
my young pupils entered the apartment, with their two
younger sisters. Master Tom Bloomfield was a well-grown
boy of seven, with a somewhat wiry frame, flaxen hair, blue
eyes, small turned up nose, and fair complexion. Mary Ann
was a tall girl too, somewhat dark like her mother, but with
a round full face and a high colour in her cheeks. The
second sister was Fanny, a very pretty little girl ; Mrs
Bloomfield assured me she was a remarkably gentle child,
and required encouragement : she had not learned anything
yet; but in a few days, she would be four years old , and then
she might take her first lesson in the alphabet, and be pro
moted to the schoolroom . The remaining one was Harriet, a
little broad, fat, merry, playful thing of scarcely two, that
I coveted more than all the rest — but with her I had nothing
to do.
I talked to my little pupils as well as I could , and tried to
render myself agreeable ; but with little success I fear, for
their mother's presence kept me under an unpleasant restraint.
They, however, were remarkably free from shyness. They
seemed bold, lively children, and I hoped I should soon be on
friendly terms with them — the little boy especially, of whom
I had heard such a favourable character from his mamma.
In Mary Ann there was a certain affected simper, and a
craving for notice, that I was sorry to observe . But her
broiher claimed all my attention to himself ; he stood bolt
upright between me and the fire, with his hands behind his
back , talking away like an orator, occasionally interrupting
his discourse with a sharp reproof to his sisters when they
made too much noise.
“ O Tom , what a darling you are ! ” exclaimed his mother.
" Come and kiss dear mamma; and then won't you show Miss
Grey your schoolroom , and your nice new books ? "
“ I won't kiss you, mamma; but I will show Miss Grey my
schoolroom , and my new books."
“And my schoolroom , and my new books, Tom ," said Mary
Ann . They ' re mine too . "
“ They're mine," replied he decisively. “ Come along, Miss
Grey — I ' ll escort you .'
When the room and books had been shown, with some
bickerings between the brother and sister that I did my
AGNES GREY. 299
utmost to appease or mitigate, Mary Ann brought me her

doll, and began to be very loquacious on the subject of its
fine clothes, its bed, its chest of drawers, and other appur
tenances ; but Tom told her to hold her clamour, that Miss
Grey might see his rocking-horse, which, with a most important
bustle, he dragged forth from its corner into the middle of the
room, loudlycalling on me to attend to it. Then, ordering his
sister to hold the reins, he mounted, and made me stand for
ten minutes, watching how manfully he used his whip and
spurs . Meantime, however, I admired Mary Ann's pretty doll,
and all its possessions ; and then told Master Tom he was a
capital rider, but I hoped he would not use his whip and
spurs so much when he rode a real pony.
“ Oh, yes, I will !” said he, laying on with redoubled
ardour. “I'll cut into him like smoke ! Eeh ! my word !
but he shall sweat for it . "
This was very shocking : but I hoped in time to be able to
work a reformation .
" Now you must put on your bonnet and shawl,” said the
little hero, " and I'll show you my garden .”
“ And mine," said Mary Ann .
Tom lifted his fist with amenacing gesture ; she uttered a
loud, shrill scream , ran to the other side of me, and made a
face at him.
“ Surely, Tom, you would not strike your sister ! I hope I
shall never see you do that.”
“ You will sometimes : I'm obliged to do it now and then
to keep her in order."
“ But it is not your business to keep her in order, you
know — that is for
“Well, now go and put on your bonnet.”
" I don't know - it is so very cloudy and cold, it seems
likely to rain ;-and you know I have had a long drive.”
“ No matter — you must come ; I shall allow of no excuses,"
replied the consequential little gentleman. And as it was the
first day of our acquaintance, I thought I might as well
indulge him. It was too cold for Mary Ann to venture, so
she stayed with her mamma ; to the great relief of her brother,
who liked to have me all to himself.
The garden was a large one, and tastefully laid out; besides
several splendid dahlias, there were some other fine flowers
still in bloom : but my companion would not give me time to
examine them : I must go with him , across the wet grass, to
800 AGNES GREY .
a remote sequestered corner, the most important place in the

grounds, because it contained his garden. There were two
round beds, stocked with a variety of plants. In one there was a
pretty little rose tree. I paused to admire its lovely blossoms.
Oh, never mind that!” said he, contemptuously. “ That's
only Mary Ann's garden ; look, this is mine."
After I had observed every flower, and listened to a disqui
sition on every plant, I was permitted to depart ; but first,
with great pomp, he plucked a polyanthus and presented it to
me, as one conferring a prodigious favour. I observed, on the
grass about his garden, certain apparatus of sticks and cord ,
and asked what they were.
“ Traps for birds."
“Why do you catch them ? "
“Papa says they do harm . "
“ And what do you do with them when you catch them ? ”
“ Different things. Sometimes I give them to the cat ;
sometimes I cut them in pieces with my penknife; but the next,
I mean to roast alive.”
“ And why do you mean to do such a horrible thing ? "
“ For two reasons ; first, to see how long it will live- -and
then , to see what it will taste like. ”
“ But don't you know it is extremely wicked to do such
things . Remember, the birds can feel as well as you ; and
think, how would you like it yourself.”
“ Oh , that's nothing ! I'm not a bird, and I can't feel what
I do to them."
“ But you will have to feel it some time, Tom : you have
heard where wicked people go to when they die; and if you
don't leave off torturinginnocent birds, remember, youwill
have to go there, and suffer just what you have made them
suffer.”
“ Oh, pooh ! I sha'n't. Papa knows how I treat them , and
he never blames me for it : he says it is just what he used to
do when he was a boy. Last summer , he gave me a nest full
of young sparrows, and he saw me pulling off their legs and
wings, and heads, and never said anything ; except that they
were nasty things, and I must not let them soil my trousers :
and Uncle Robson was there too, and he laughed , and said I
was a fine boy.”
“ But what would your mamma say7 ? "
Oh, she doesn't care! she says it's a pity to kill the pretty
singing birds, but the naughty sparrows, and mice and rats, I
AGNES GREY . 301
may do what I look with. So now , Miss Grey, you see it is

not wicked .”
“ I still think it is, Tom ; and perhaps your papa and
mamma would think so too, if they thought much about it.
However," I internally added, " they may say what they please,
but I am determined you shall do nothing of the kind, as long
as I have power to prevent it.”
He next took me across the lawn to see his mole-traps,
and then into the stack -yard to see his weasel-traps : cre of
which , to his great joy, contained a dead weasel ; and then
into the stable to see, not the fine carriage horses, but a little
rough colt, which he informed me had been bred on purpose
for him, and he was to ride it as soon as it was properly
trained. I tried to amuse the little fellow , and listened to all
his chatter as complacently as I could ; for I thought if he
had any affections at all, I would endeavour to win them ;
and then , in time, I might be able to show him the error of
his ways: but I looked in vain for that generous, noble spirit,
his mother talked of; though I could see he was not without a
certain degree of quickness and penetration, when he chose to
exert it.
When we re-entered the house it was nearly tea -time.
Master Tom told me that, as papa was from home, he and I
and Mary Ann were to have tea with mamma,for a treat ; for,
on such occasions, she always dined at luncheon time with
Soon after tea, Mary Ann
them , instead of at six o'clock.
went to bed, but Tom favoured us with his company and
conversation till eight. After he was gone, Mrs Bloomfield
further enlightened meon the subject of her children's dispo
sitions and acquirements, and on what they were to learn , and
how they were to be managed, and cautioned me to mention
their defects to no one but herself. My mother had warned
me before to mention them as little as possible to her, for
people did not like to be told of their children's faults, and so
I concluded I was to keep silence on them altogether. About
half- past nine, Mrs Bloomfield invited me to partake of a
frugal supper of cold meat and bread. I was glad when that
was over, and she took her bedroom candlestick and retired
to rest; for though I wished to be pleased with her, her
company was extremely irksome to me , and I could not help
feeling that she was cold , grave, and forbidding — the very
opposite of the kind, warm -hearted matron my hopes had
depicted her to be.
302 AGNES GREY .
CHAPTER III .
A FEW MOP.E LESSONS.
I ROSE next morning with a feeling of hopeful exhilaration , in

spite of the disappointments already experienced ; but I found
the dressing of Mary Ann was no light matter, as her abundant
hair was to be smeared with pomade, plaited in three long
tails, and tied with bows of ribbon : a task my unaccustomed
fingers found great difficulty in performing. She told me her
nurse could do it in half the time, and, by keeping up a
constant fidget of impatience, contrived to render me still
longer. When all was done, we went into the schoolroom ,
where I met my other pupil, and chatted with the two till it was
time to go down to breakfast. That meal being concluded, and
a few civil words having been exchanged with Mrs Bloomfield,
we repaired to the schoolroom again, and commenced the
business of the day. I found my pupils very backward ,
indeed ; but Tom, though averse to every species of mental
exertion, was not without abilities. Mary Ann could scarcely
read a word, and was so careless and inattentive that I could
hardly get on with her at all. However, by dint of great
labour and patience, I managed to get something done in the
course of the morning, and then accompanied my young
charge out into the garden and adjacent grounds, for a little
recreation before dinner. There we got along tolerably
together, except that I found they had no notion of going
with me: I must go with them wherever they chose to lead
me . I must run, walk , or stand, exactly as it suited their
fancy. This, I thought, was reversing the order of things ;
and I found it doubly disagreeable, as on this as well as sub
sequent occasions, they seemed to prefer the dirtiest places
and the most dismal occupations. But there was no remedy ;
either I must follow them , or keep entirely apart from them ,
and thus appear neglectful of my charge. To -day, they
manifested a particular attachment to a well at the bottom of
the lawn, where they persisted in dabbling with sticks and
pebbles for above half an hour. I was in constant fear that
their mother would see them from the window , and blame me
for allowing them thus to draggle their clothes and wet their
feet and hands, instead of taking exercise ; but no arguments,
commands, or entreaties could draw them away . If she did
AGNES GREY . 303
not see them , some one else did — a gentleman on horseback

had entered the gate and was proceeding up the road ; at the
distance of a few paces from us he paused , and calling to the
children in a waspish penetrating tone, bade them “ Keep out
of that water." Miss Grey,” said he, " (I suppose it is Miss
Grey) I am surprised that you should allow them to dirty
their clothes in that manner ! Don't you see how Miss Bloom
field has soiled her frock ? and that Master Bloomfield's socks
are quite wet ? and both of them without gloves ? Dear, dear !
Let me request that in future you will keep them decent at
least !" so saying, he turned away, and continued his ride up
to the house. This was Mr Bloomfield . I was surprised that
he should nominate his children Master and Miss Bloomfield ;
and still more so, that he should speak so uncivilly to me,
their governess, and a perfect stranger to himself. Presently
the bell rang to summon us in. I dined with the children at
one, while he and his lady took their luncheon at the same
table. His conduct there did not greatly raise him in my
estimation. He was a man of ordinary stature - rather below
than above - and rather thin than stout, apparently between
thirty and forty years of age : he had a large mouth, pale,
dingy complexion, milky blue eyes, and hair the colour of a
hempen cord. There was a roast leg of mutton before him :
he helped Mrs Bloomfield, the children, and me, desiring me
to cut up the children's meat ; then, after twisting about the
mutton in various directions, and eyeing it from different
points, he pronounced it not fit to be eaten, and called for the
cold beef.
“What is the matter with the mutton, my dear ? ” asked
his mate.
" It is quite overdone. Don't you taste, Mrs Bloomfield,
that all the goodness is roasted out of it ? And can't you
see that all that nice, red gravy is completely dried away ?"
“ Well, I think the beef will suit you.”
The beef was set before him, and he began to carve, but
with the most rueful expressions of discontent.
“What is the matter with the beef, Mr Bloomfield ? I'm
sure I thought it was very nice.”
And so it was very nice . A nicer joint could not be ;
but it is quite spoiled ," replied he, dolefully.
“ How so ? "
“ How so ! Why, don't you see how it is cut ? Dear
dear ! it is quite shocking!"
304 AGNES GREY .
“ They must have cut it wrong in the kitchen , then, for

I'm sure I carved it quite properly here, yesterday."
“ No doubt they cut it wrong in the kitchen — the savages !
Dear - dear ! Did ever any one see such a fine piece of beef
so completely ruined ? But remember that, in future, when a
decent dish leaves this table, they shall not touch it in the
kitchen. Remember that, Mrs Bloomfield !”
Notwithstanding the ruinous state of the beef, the gentle
man managed to cut himself some delicate slices, part of
which he ate in silence. When he next spoke, it was, in a
less querulous tone, to ask what there was for dinner.
“ Turkey and grouse ," was the concise reply.
" And what besides ? ”
" Fish .”
" What kind of fish ? ”
" I don't know ." .
" You don't know ? " cried he, looking solemnly up from his
plate,and suspending his knife and fork in astonishment.
“ No. I told thecook to get some fish – I did not parti
cularize what."
“ Well, that beats everything ! A lady professes to keep
house, and doesn't even know what fish is for dinner ! pro
fesses to order fish, and doesn't specify what !”
“ Perhaps, Mr Bloomfield , you will order dinner yourself in
future.”
Nothing more was said ; and I was very glad to get out of
the room with my pupils ; for I never felt so ashamed and
uncomfortable in my life for anything that was not my own
fault.
In the afternoon we applied to lessons again : then went out
again ; then had tea in the schoolroom ; then I dressed Mary
Ann for dessert ; and when she and her brother had gone
down to the dining-room, I took the opportunity of beginning
a letter to my dear friends at home : but the children came up
before I hadhalf completed it. At seven I had to put Mary
Ann to bed; then I played with Tom till eight, when he, too,
went ; and I finished my letter and unpacked my clothes,
which I had hitherto found no opportunity for doing, and,
finally, went to bed myself.
But this is a very favourable specimen of a day's pro
ceedings .
My task of instruction and surveillance, instead of becoming
easier as my charges and I got better accustomed to each
AGNES GREY. 305
other, became more arduous as their characters unfolded.

The name of governess, I soon found, was a mere mockery as
applied to me: my pupils had no more notion of obedience
than a wild, unbroken colt. The habitual fear of their father's
peevish temper, and the dread of the punishments he was
wont to inflict when irritated, kept them generally within
bounds in his immediate presence. The girls , too, had some
fear of their mother's anger; and the boy might occasionally
be bribed to do as she bid him by the hope of reward : but I
had no rewards to offer ; and as for punishments, I was given
to understand, the parents reserved that privilege to them
selves ; and yet they expected me to keep my pupils in order.
Other children might be guided by the fear of anger, andthe
desire of approbation; but neither the one nor the other had
any effect upon these.
Master Tom , not content with refusing to be ruled, must
needs set up as a ruler, and manifested a determination to
keep, not only his sisters, but his governess in order, by vio
lent manual and pedal applications; and, as he was a tall,
strong boy of his years, this occasioned po trifling inconve
nience. A few sound boxes in the ear, on such occasions,
might have settled the matter easily enough: but as , in that
case, he might make up some story to his mother, which she
would be sure to believe, as she had such unshaken faith in
his veracity — though I had already discovered it to be by no
means unimpeachable — I determined to refrain from striking
him , even in self -defence; and , in his most violent moods, my
only resource was to throw him on his back, and hold his
hands and feet till the frenzy was somewhat abated . To the
difficulty of preventing him from doing what he ought not,
was added that of forcing him to do what he ought . Often
he would positively refuse to learn , or to repeat his lessons, or
even to look at his book. Here, again, a good birch rod
might have been serviceable; but, as my powers were so
limited, I must make the best use of what I had.
As there were no settled hours for study and play, I
resolved to give my pupils a certain task , which, with mode
rate attention, they could perform in a short time ; and till
this was done, however weary I was, or however perverse they
might be , nothing short of parental interference should induce
me to suffer them to leave the schoolroom ; even if I should
sit with mychair against the door to keep them in. Patience,
Firmness, and Perseverance, were my only weapons ; and
20
306 AGNES GREY .
these I resolved to use to the utmost. I determined always

strictly to fulfil the threats and promises I made ; and, to that
end, I must be cautious to threaten and promise nothing that
I could not perform . Then, I would carefully refrain from all
useless irritability and indulgence of myown ill-temper: when
they behaved tolerably, I would be as kind and obliging as it
was in my power to be, in order to make the widest possible
distinction between good and bad conduct ; I would reason
with them, too, in the simplest and most effective manner.
When I reproved them , or refused to gratify their wishes,
after a glaring fault, it should be more in sorrow than in
anger: their little hymns and prayers I would make plain and
clear to their understanding ; when they said their prayers at
night, and asked pardon for their offences, I would remind
them of the sins of the past day, solemnly, but in perfect
kindness, to avoid raising a spirit of opposition; penitential
hymns should be said by the naughty; cheerful ones by the
comparatively good ; and every kind of instruction I would
convey to them , as much as possible, by entertaining discourse
--apparently with no other object than their present amuse
ment in view.
By these means I hoped, in time, both to benefit the
children and to gain the approbation of their parents ; and
also to convince my friends at home that I was not so wanting
in skill and prudence as they supposed. I knew the diffi
culties I had to contend with were great ; but I knew (at least
I believed ) unremitting patience and perseverance could over
come them ; and night and morning I implored Divine assist
ance to this end. But either the children were so incorrigible ,
the parents so unreasonable, or myself so mistaken in my
views, or so unable to carry them out, that my best intentions
and most strenuous efforts seemed productive of no better
result than sport to the children , dissatisfaction to their
parents, and torment to myself.
The task of instruction was as arduous for the body as the
mind. I had to run after my pupils to catch them, to carry
or drag them to the table, and often forcibly to hold them
there till the lesson was done. Tom I frequently put into a
corner, seating myself before him in a chair, with a book
which contained the little task that must be said or read,
before he was released, in my hand. He was not strong
enough to push both me and the chair away, so he would
stand twisting his body and face into the most grotesque
AGNES GREY . 307
and singular contortions — laughable, no doubt, to an uncon

cerned spectator, but not to me — and uttering loud yells and
doleful outeries, intended to represent weeping, but wholly
without the accompaniment of tears. I knew this was done
solely for the purpose of annoying me ; and, therefore, how
ever I might inwardly tremble with impatience and irritation,
I manfully strove to suppress allvisible signs of molestation,
and affected to sit with calm indifference, waiting till it should
please him to cease this pastime, and prepare for a run in
the garden , by casting his eye on the book and reading or
repeating the few words he was required to say. Sometimes
he was determined to do his writing badly ; and I had to
hold his hand to prevent him from purposely blotting or
disfiguring the paper. Frequently I threatened that, if he
did not do better he should have another line : then he would
stubbornly refuse to write this line ; and I, to save my word,
had finally to resort to the expedient of holding his fingers
upon the pen, and forcibly drawing his hand up and down,
till, in spite of his resistance, the line was in some sort
completed.
Yet Tom was by no means the most unmanageable of my
pupils : sometimes, to my great joy, he would have the sense
to see that his wisest policy was to finish his tasks, and go
out and amuse himself till I and his sisters came to join him ;
which frequently was not at all, for Mary Ann seldom followed
his example in this particular : she apparently preferred rolling
on the floor to any other amusement: down she would drop
like a leaden weight; and when I, with great difficulty, had
succeeded in rooting her thence , I had still to hold her up with
one arm, while with the other I held the book from which she
was to read or spell her lesson. As the dead weight of the
big girl of six became too heavy for one arm to bear, I trans
ferred it to the other; or, if both were weary of the burden,
I carried her into a corner, and told her she might come out
when she should find the use of her feet, and stand up : but
she generally preferred lying there like a log till dinner or tea
time, when , as I could not deprive her of her meals, she niust
be liberated, and would come crawling out with a grin of
triumph on her round, red face. Often she would stubbornly
refuse to pronounce some particular word in her lesson ; and
now I regret the lost labour I have had in striving to conquer
her obstinacy. If I had passed it over asa matter of no conse
quence, it would have been better for both parties, than vainly
308 AGNES GREY .
striving to overcome it as I did ; but I thought itmy absolute

duty to crush this vicious tendency in the bud : and so it
was, if I could have done it; and , had my powers been less
limited, I might have enforced obedience; but, as it was, it
was a trial of strength between her and me, in which she
generally came off victorious ; and every victory served to
encourage and strengthen her for a future contest. In vain
I argued , coaxed, entreated, threatened, scolded ; in vain I
kept her in from play, or, if obliged to take her out, refused
to play with her, or to speak kindly, or have anything to do
with her ; in vain I tried to set before her the advantages of
doing as she was bid, and being loved, and kindly treated in
consequence, and the disadvantages of persisting in her absurd
perversity. Sometimes, when she would ask me to do some
thing for her, I would answer
“ Yes, I will, Mary Ann, if you will only say that word .
Come! you'd better say it at once, and have no more trouble
about it."
No.”
Then , of course, I can do nothing for you.”
With me, at her age, or under, neglect and disgrace were
the most dreadful of punishments ; but on her they made no
impression. Sometimes, exasperated to the utmost pitch , I
would shake her violently by the shoulder, or pull her long
hair, or put her in the corner ; for which she punished me with
loud, shrill, piercing screams, that went through my head like
a knife. She knew I hated this, and when she had shrieked
her utmost, would look into my face with an air of vindictive
satisfaction, exclaiming— " Now , then ! that 's for you !" And
then shriek again and again, till I was forced to stop my ears.
Often these dreadful cries would bring Mrs Bloomfield up to
inquire what was the matter ?
Mary Ann is a naughty girl, ma'am .”
“ Butwhat are these shocking screams ? ”
“She is screaming in a passion .
I never heard such a dreadful noise ! You mightbe kill
ing her. Why is she not out with her brother ? "
“ I cannot get her to finish her lessons.”
“ But Mary Ann must be a good girl, and finish her lessons."
This was blandly spoken to the child . “And I hope I shall
never hear such terrible cries again ! ”
And fixing her cold, stony eyes upon me with a look that
could not be mistaken , she would shut the door, and walk
AGNES GREY . 309
away. Sometimes I would try to take the little obstinate

creature by surprise, and casually ask her the word while she
was thinking of something else ; frequently she would begin to
say it, and then suddenly check herself, with a provokinglook
that seemed to say, “ Ah ! I'm too sharp for you ; you shan't
trick it out of nie, either .”
On another occasion, I pretended to forget the whole affair;
and talked and played with her as usual, till night,when I put
her to bed ; then bending over her, while she lay all smiles and
good humour, just before departing, I said, as cheerfully and
kindly as before
“ Now , Mary Ann , just tell me that word before I kiss
you good -night: you are a good girl now, and, of course, you
will say it. "
No, I won't.”
6. Then I can't kiss you ."
Well , I don't care.
In vain I expressed my sorrow ; in vain I lingered for some
symptom of contrition ; she really “ didn't care ” and I left
her alone, and in darkness, wondering most of all at this last
proof of insensate stubbornness. In my childhood I could not
imagine a more afflictive punishment, than for my mother to
refuse to kiss me at night: the very idea was terrible. More
than the idea I never felt, for, happily, I never committed a
fault that was deemed worthy of such a penalty ; but once I
remember, for some transgression of my sister's, our mother
thought proper to inflict it upon her : what she felt, I cannot
tell; but my sympathetic tears and suffering for her sake, I
shall not soon forget.
Another troublesome trait in Mary Ann, was her incor
rigible propensity to keep running into thenursery, to play
with her little sisters and the nurse. This was natural
enough, but, as it was against her mother's express desire
I, of course, forbade her to do so , and did my utmost to keep
her with me; but that only increased her relish for the nursery,
and the more I strove to keep her out of it, the oftener she
went, and the longer she stayed : to the great dissatisfaction of
Mrs Bloomfield , who, I well knew, would impute all the
blame of the matter to me. Another of my trials was the
dressing in the morning : at one time she would not be washed ;
at another she would not be dressed, unless she might wear
some particular frock , that I knew her mother would not
like her to have ; at another she would scream and run away
3.10 AGNES GREY .
if I attempted to touch herhair. So that, frequently, when ,

after much trouble and toil, I had, at length , succeeded in
bringing her down, the breakfast was nearly half over ; and
black looks from “ mamma," and testy observations from
papa ," spoken at me, if not to me, were sure to be my meed :
for few things irritated the latter so much as want of
punctuality at meal times. Then , among the minor annoy
ances , was my inability to satisfy Mrs Bloomfield with her
daughter's dress ; and the child's hair “ was never fit to be
seen .” Sometimes, as a powerful reproach to me, she would
perform the office of tire-woman herself, and then complain
bitterly of the trouble it gave her.
When little Fanny came into the schoolroom , Ihoped she
would be mild and inoffensive, at least; but a few days, if not
a few hours, sufficed to destroy the illusion : I found her a
mischievous, intractable little creature, given up to falsehood
and deception, young as she was, and alarmingly fond of
exercising her two favourite weapons of offence and defence ;
that of spitting in the faces of those who incurred her dis
pleasure, and bellowing like a bull when her unreasonable
desires were not gratified . As she, generally, was pretty quiet
in her parents' presence, and they were impressed with the
notion of her being a remarkably gentle child, her falsehoods
were readily believed, and her loud uproars led them to
suspect harsh and injudicious treatment on my part ; and
when, at length , her bad disposition became manifest even to
their prejudiced eyes, I felt that the whole was attributed
to me.
“ What a naughty girl Fanny is getting ! ” Mrs Bloomfield
would say to her spouse. Don't you observe, my dear, how
she is altered since she entered the schoolroom ? She will
soon be as bad as the other two ; and, I am sorry to say , they
have quite deteriorated of late .”
“ You may say that,” was the answer. “ I've been thinking
that saine myself. I thought when we got them a governess
they'd improve; but, instead of that, they get worse and worse :
I don't know how it is with their learning ; but their habits, I
know , make no sort of improvement; they get rougher, and
dirtier, and more unseemly, every day.”
I knew this was all pointed at me ; and these, and all similar
inuendoes, affected me far more deeply than any open accusa
tions would have done ; for against the latter I should have
been roused to speak in my own defence: now I judged it my
AGNES GREY . 311
wisest plan to subdue every resentful impulse, suppress every

sensitive shrinking , and go on perseveringly, doing my best ;
for, irksome as my situation was, I earnestly wished to retain
it. I thought, if I could struggle on with unremitting firm
ness and integrity, the children would in time become more
humanized : every month would contribute to make them some
little wiser, and, consequently, more manageable ; for a child
of nine or ten as frantic and ungovernable as these at six and
seven would be a maniac.
1 flattered myself I was benefiting my parents and sister by
my continuance here ; for small as the salary was, I still was
earning something, and with strict economy I could easily
manage to have something to spare for them , if they would
favour me by taking it. Then it was by my own will that I
had got the place : I had brought all this tribulation on myself,
and I was determined to bear it ; nay, more than that, I did
not even regret the step I had taken. I longed to show my
friends that, :ven now , I was competent to undertake the
charge, and able to acquit myself honourably to the end ; and
if ever I felt it degrading to submit so quietly, or intolerable to
toil so constantly, I would turn towards my home, and say
within myself ,
“ They may crush, but they shall not subdue me !
'Tisof thee that I think, not of them . ”
About Christmas I was allowed to visit home ; but my
holiday was only of a fortnight's duration : “ For," said Mrs
Bloomfield, “ I thought, as you had seen your friends so
lately, you would not care for a longer stay ." I left her to
think so still : but she little knew how long, how wearisome
those fourteen weeks of absence had been to me ; how
intensely I had longed for my holidays, how greatly I was
disappointed at their curtailment. Yet she was not to blame
in this; I had never told her my feelings, and she could not
be expected to divine them ; I had not been with her a full
term ,and she was justified in not allowing me a full vacation .
312 AGNES GREY.
CHAITER IV .
THE GRANDMAMMA.
I SPARE my readers the account of my delight on coning

home, my happiness while there — enjoying a brief space of
rest and liberty in that dear, familiar place, among the loving
and the loved — and my sorrow on being obliged to bid them ,
once more, a long adieu .
I returned, however, with unabated vigour to my work—
a more arduous task than any one can imagine, who has not
felt something like the misery of being charged with the care
and direction of a set of mischievous turbulent rebels, whom
his utmost exertions cannot bind to their duty ; while, at the
same time, he is responsible for their conduct to a higher
power, who exacts from him what cannot be achieved with
out the aid of the superior's more potent authority : which ,
either from indolence,or the fear of becoming unpopular with
the said rebellious gang, the latter refuses to give. I can
conceive few situations more harassing than that wherein ,
however you may long for success, however you may labour
to fulfil your duty, your efforts are bafiled and set at naught
by those beneath you, and unjustly censured and misjudged
by those above.
I have not enumerated half the vexatious propensities of my
pupils, or half the troubles resulting from my heavy responsi
bilities, for fear of trespassing too much upon the reader's
patience ; as, perhaps, I have already done ; but my design,
in writing the few last pages , was not to amuse, but to benefit
those whom it might concern : he that has no interest in such
matters will doubtless have skipped them over with a cursory
glance, and, perhaps, a malediction against the prolixity of
the writer ; but if a parent has, therefrom, gatheredanyuseful
hint, or an unfortunate governess received thereby the slightest
benefit, I am well rewarded for my pains.
To avoid trouble and confusion , I have taken my pupils
one by one, and discussed their various qualities ; but this
can give no adequate idea of being worried by the whole
three together ; when, as was often the case, all were deter
mined to “ be naughty, and to tease Miss Grey, and put her
in a passion .”
Sometimes, on such occasions, the thought had suddenly
AGNES GREY . 313
occurred to me ". If they could see me now ! ” meaning, of

course, my friends at home ; and the idea of how they would
pity me Las made me pity myself — so greatly that I have
had the utmost difficulty to restrain my tears : but I have
restrained them , till my little tormentors were gone to dessert,
or cleared off to bed (my only prospects of deliverance ), and
then, in all the bliss of solitude, Ihave given myself up to
the luxury ofan unrestrictedburst of weeping. But this was
a weakness I did not often indulge : my employments were too
numerous, my leisure moments too precious, to adnit of much
time being given to fruitless lamentations.
I particularly remember one wild , snowy afternoon, soon
after my return in January ; the children had all come up
from dinner, loudly declaring that they meant “ to be
naughty ;" and they had well kept their resolution, though
I had talked myself hoarse, and wearied every muscle in any
throat, in the vain attempt to reason them out of it. I had
got Tom pinned upina corner, whence, I told him , he should
not escape till he had done his appointed task. Meantime,
Fanny had possessed herself of my work -bag, and was rifling
its contents — and spitting into it besides. I told her to let it
alone, but to no purpose, of course. “Burn it, Fanny !”
cried Tom ; and this command she hastened to obey. I sprang
to snatch it from the fire, and Tom darted to the door.
“ Mary Ann, throw her desk out of the window !" cried he :
and my precious desk, containing my letters and papers, my
small amount of cash ,and all myvaluables, was about to be
precipitated from the three -story window. I flew to rescue it.
Meanwhile Tom had left the room , and was rushing down the
stairs, followed by Fanny. Having secured my desk, I ran to
catch them , and Mary Ann came scampering after. All three
escaped me, and ran out of the house into the garden , where
they plunged about in the snow, shouting and screaming in
exultant glee.
What must I do ? If I followed them , I should probably be
unable to capture one, and only drive them farther away, if I
did not, how was I to get them in ? and what would their
parents think of me, if they saw or heard the children rioting,
hatless, bonnetless, gloveless, and bootless, in the deep, soft
snow ? While I stood in this perplexity, just without the
door, trying, by grim looks and angry words, to awe them into
subjection ,I heard a voice behind me, in harshly piercing
tones, exclaiming, -
314 AGNES GREY .
“ Miss Grey ! Is it possible ! What, in the devil's name,

can you be thinking about ? "
" I can't get them in, sir," said I, turning round , and
beholding Mr Bloomfield, with his hair on end, and his pale
blue eyes bolting from their sockets.
“ But I insist upon their being got in ! " cried he, approach
ing nearer, and looking perfectly ferocious.
Then, sir, you must call them yourself, if you please, for
they won't listen to me,” I replied, stepping back.
" Come in with you, you filthy brats ; or I'll horsewhip you
every one ! ” roared he ; and the children instantly obeyed.
“ There, you see ! they come at the first word !”
" Yes, when you speak."
“ And it's very strange, that when you ’ve the care of 'em ,
you've no better controlover 'em than that !—Now, there they
are -- gone up stairs with their nasty snowy feet ! Do go
after ' em and see them made decent,'for Heaven's sake ! ”
That gentleman's mother was then staying in the house ;
and, as I ascended the stairs and passed the drawing -room
door, I had the satisfaction of hearing the old lady declaiming
aloud to her daughter-in -law to this effect ( for I could only
distinguish the most emphatic words)
6 Gracious heavens ! -never in all my life- ! -get
their death as sure as-- ! Do you think, my dear, she's a
proper person ? Take my word for it
I heard no more ; but that sufficed.
The senior Mrs Bloomfield had been very attentive and
civil to me ; and till now, I had thought her a nice, kind
hearted, chatty old body. She would often come to me and
talk in a confidential strain ; nodding and shaking her head,
and gesticulating with hands and eyes, as a certain class of
old ladies are wont to do : though I never knew one that
carried the peculiarity to so great an extent. She would even
sympathize with me for the trouble I had with the children ,
and express at times , by half sentences, interspersed with
nods and knowing winks, her sense of the injudicious conduct
of their mamma in so restricting my power, and neglecting to
support me with her authority. Such a mode of testifying
disapprobation was not much to my taste ; and I generally
refused to take it in, or understand anything more than was
openly spoken : at least, I never went farther than an implied
acknowledgment that, if matters were otherwise ordered, my
task would be a less difficult one, and I should be better able
AGNES GREY . 315
to guide and instruct my charge; but now I must be doubly

cautious. Hitherto, though I saw the old lady had her
defects (of which one was a proneness to proclaim her per
fections), I had always been wishful to excuse them , and to
give her credit for all the virtues she professed, and even
imagine others yet untold. Kindness, which had been the
food of my life through so many years, had lately been so
entirely denied me, that I welcomed with grateful joy the
slightest semblance of it. No wonder, then , that my heart
warmed to theold lady, and always gladdened at her approach
and regretted her departure.
But now , the few words luckily or unluckily heard in
passing had wholly revolutionized my ideas respecting her :
now I looked upon her as hypocritical and insincere, a
flatterer, and a spy upon my words and deeds. Doubtless it
would have been my interest still to meet her with the same
cheerful smile and tone of respectful cordiality as before; but
I could not, if I would : my manner altered with my feelings,
and became so cold and shy that she could not fail to notice
it. She soon did notice it, and her manner altered too : the
familiar nod was changed to a stiff bow, the gracious smile
gave place to a glare of Gorgon ferocity ; her vivacious
loquacity was entirely transferred from me to “the darling
boy and girls," whom she flattered and indulged more absurdly
than ever their mother had done.
I confess I was somewhat troubled at this change: I
feared the consequences of her displeasure, and even made
some efforts to recover the ground I had lost—and with
better apparent success than I could have anticipated . At
one time, I, merely in common civility, asked after her cough ;
immediately her long visage relaxed into a smile, and she
favoured me with a particular history of that and her other
infirmities, followed by an account of her pious resignation ,
delivered in the usual emphatic, declamatory style, which no
writing can portray.
But there's one remedy for all, my dear, and that is
resignation ” (a toss of the head ), “ resignation to the will of
Heaven ! ” (an uplifting of the hands and eyes). " It has
always supported me through all my trials, and always will
do” (a succession of nods). “ But then , it isn't everybody
that can say that” (a shake of the head) ; " but I'm one of
the pious ones, Miss Grey !" (a very significant nod and toss).
“ And, thank Heaven, I always was” (another nod), " and I
316 AGNES GREY .
glory in it !" (an emphatic clasping of the hands and shaking

of the head). And with several texts of scripture, misquoted
or misapplied, and religious exclamacions so redolent of the
ludicrous in the style of delivery and manner of bringing in,
if not in the expressions themselves, that I decline repeating
them , she withdrew ; tossing her large head in high good
humour — with herself at least — and left me hoping that, after
all , she was rather weak than wicked.
At her next visit to Wellwood House, I went so far as to
say I was glad to see her looking so well. The effect of this
was magical : the words, intended as a mark of civility, were
received as a flattering compliment ; her countenance brightened
up , and from that moment she becameas gracious and benign
as heart could wish — in outward semblance at least. From
what I now saw of her, and what I heard from the children ,
I knew that, in order to gain her cordial friendship, I had but
to utter a word of flattery at each convenient opportunity :
but this was against my principles ; and for lack of this, the
capricious old dame soon deprived me of her favour again
and I believe did me much secret injury.
She could not greatly influence her daughter -in -law against
me, because, between that lady and herself, there was a mutual
dislike- chiefly shown by her in secret detractions and calum
niations ; by the other, in an excess of frigid formality in her
demeanour ; and no fawning flattery of the elder could thaw
away the wall of ice which the younger interposed between
them. But with her son, the old lady had better success : he
would listen to all she had to say, provided she could soothe
his fretful temper, and refrain from irritating him by her own
asperities; and I have reason to believe that she considerably
strengthened his prejudice against me. She would tell him
that I shamefully neglected the children , and even his wife
did not attend to them as she ought ; and that he must look
after them himself, or they would all go to ruin.
Thus urged, he would frequently give himself the trouble
of watching them from the windows during their play ; at
times, he would follow them through the grounds, and too
often came suddenly upon them while they were dabbling in
the forbidden well, talking to the coachman in the stables, or
revelling in the filth of the farm -yard --and I, meanwhile,
wearilystanding by, having previously exhausted my energy
in vain attempts to get them away . Often , too, he would
unexpectedly pop his head into the schoolroom while the
AGNES GREY . 317
young people were at meals, and find them spilling their milk
over the table and themselves, plunging their fingers into their
own or each other's mugs, or quarrelling over their victuals
like a set of tiger's cubs. If I were quiet at the moment, I
was conniving at their disorderly conduct; if (as was frequently
the case) I happened to be exalting my voice to enforce order,
I was using undue violence, and setting the girls a bad example
by such ungentleness of tone and language.
I remember one afternoon in spring when, owing to the
rain, they could not go out; but, by some amazing good for
tune, they had all finished their lessons, and yet abstained
from running down to tease their parents—a trick that annoyed
me greatly, but which, on rainy days, I seldom could prevent
their doing; because, below, they found novelty and amuse
ment — especially when visitors were in the house ; and their
mother, though she bid me keep them in the schoolroom ,
would never chide them for leaving it, or trouble herself to
send them back. But this day they appeared satisfied with
their present abode, and what is more wonderful still, seemed
disposed to play together without depending on me for amuse
ment, and without quarreling with each other. Their occu
pation was a somewhat puzzling one : they were all squatted
together on the floor by the window , over a heap of broken
toys and a quantity of birds' eggs-or rather eggshells, for
the contents had luckily been abstracted. These shells
they had broken up and were pounding into small fragments,
to what end I could not imagine ; but so long as they were
quiet and not in positive mischief, I did not care ; and, with
a feeling of unusual repose, I sat by the fire, putting the
finishing stitches to a frock for Mary Ann's dull; intending,
when that was done, to begin a letter to my mother. Sud
denly, the door opened, andthe dingy head of Mr Bloomfield
looked in.
“ All very quiet here ! What are you doing ? ” said he.
“ No harm to-day, at least,” thought I. But he was of a
different opinion . Advancing to the window, and seeing the
children's occupations, he testily exclaimed— “ What in the
world are you about ? ”
“ We're grinding egg-shells, papa !” cried Tom .
“ How dare you make such a mess, you little devils ? Don't
you see what confounded work you ' re making of the carpet ? "
(the carpet was a plain, brown drugget ). “ Miss Grey, did
you know what they were doing ? "
818 AGNES GREY .
“ Yes, sir. "

" You knew it ? "
16 Yes. "
“ You knew it ! and you actually sat there and permitted
them to go on, without a word of reproof !"
“ I didn't think they were doing any harm .”
Any harm ! Why look there ! Just look atthat carpet,
and see—was there ever anything like it in a Christian house
before ? No wonder your room is not fit for a pigsty — no
wonderyour pupils are worse than a litter of pigs !—no wonder
-Oh ! I declare, it puts me quite past my patience !” and he
departed, shutting the door after him witha bang, that made
the children laugh.
“ It puts me quite past my patience too ! ” muttered I,
getting up ; and, seizing the poker, I dashed it repeatedly
into the cinders, and stirred them up with unwonted energy ;
thus easing my irritation , under pretence of mending the
fire.
After this, Mr Bloomfield was continually looking in to se
if the schoolroom was in order; and, as the children were con
tinually littering the floor with fragments of toys, sticks, stones,
stubble, leaves, and other rubbish , which I could not prevent
their bringing, or oblige them to gather up, and which the
servants refused to “ clean after them ,” I had to spend a con
siderable portion of my valuable leisure moments on my knees
upon the floor, in painsfully reducing things to order. Once
I told them that they should not taste their supper till they
had picked up everything from the carpet ; Fanny might have
herswhen she had taken up a certain quantity, Mary Ann
when she had gathered twice as many, and Tom was to clear
away the rest. Wonderful to state, the girls did their part;
but Tom was in such a fury that he flew upon the table, scat
tered the bread and milk about the floor, struck his sisters,
kicked the coals out of the coal- pan , attempted to overthrow
the table and chairs, and seemed inclined tomake a Douglas
larder of the whole contents of the room : but I seized upon
him , and, sending Mary Ann to call her mamma, held him,
in spite of kicks, blows, yells, and execrations, till Mrs Bloom
field made her appearance.
“ What is the matter with my boy ? ” said she.
And when the matter wasexplained to her, all shedid was
to send for the nursery -maid to put the room in order, and
bring Master Bloomfield his supper .
AGNES GREY . 319
" There now ," cried Tom , triumphantly, looking up from

his viands with his mouth almost too full for speech .The re
now , Miss Grey! you see I have got my supper in spite of you :
and I haven't picked up a single thing ! ”
The only person in the house who had any real sympathy
for me was the nurse ; for she had suffered like afflictions,
though in a smaller degree ; as she had not the task of
teaching, nor was she so responsible for the conduct of her
charge.
Oh, Miss Grey !" she would say, " you have some trouble
with them childer ! ”
“ I have indeed, Betty ; and I dare say you know what
it is.”
66
Ay, I do so ! But I don't vex myself o'er 'em as you do.
And then, you see, I hit 'em a slap sometimes : and them little
uns — I gives 'em a good whipping now and then : there's no
thing else will do for 'em, as what they say. Howsoever, I've
lost my place for it.”
“Have you, Betty ? I heard you were going to leave.”
“ Eh, bless you, yes! Missis gave me warning a three -wik
sin'. She told me afore Christmas how it mud be, if I hit 'em
again ; but I couldn't 'hold my hand off 'em at nothing. I
know not how you do, for Miss Mary Ann 's worse by the half
nor her sisters !"
CHAPTER V.
THE UNCLE .
BESIDES the old lady, there was another relative of the family,
whose visits were a great annoyance to me—this was “ Uncle
Robson,” Mrs Bloomfield's brother; a tall, self -sufficient fel
low, with dark hair and sallow complexion like his sister, a
nose that seemed to disdain the earth , and little grey eyes,
frequently half-closed, with a mixture of real stupidity and
affected contempt of all surrounding objects. He was a thick
set, strongly -built man, but he had found some means of com
pressing his waist into a remarkably small compass ; and that,
together with the unnatural stiffness of his form , showed that
the lofty -minded, manly Mr Robson, the scorner of the female
820 AGNES GREY .
sex, was not above the foppery of stays. He seldom deigned

to notice me ; and , when he did, it was with a certain super
cilious insolence of tone and manner that convinced me he was
no gentleman : though it was intended to have a contrary effect.
But it was not for that I disliked his coming, so much as for
the harm he did the children — encouraging all their evil pro
pensities, and undoing, in a few minutes, the little good it had
taken me months of labour to achieve.
Fanny and little Harriet he seldom condescended to notice;
but Mary Ann was something of a favourite. He was con
tinually encouraging her tendency to affectation (which I had
done my utmost to crush), talking about her pretty face, and
filling her head with all manner of conceited notions concern
ing her personal appearance (which I had instructed her to
regard as dust in the balance compared with the cultivation of
her mind and manners) ; and I never saw a child so susceptible
of flattery as she was. Whatever was wrong, in either her or
her brother, he would encourage by laughing at, if not by
actually praising: people little know the injury they do to
children by laughing at their faults, and making a pleasant
jest of what their true friends have endeavoured to teach them
to hold in grave abhorrence.
Thoughnot a positive drunkard, Mr Robson habitually swal
lowed great quantities of wine, and took with relish an occa
sional glass of brandy and water. He taught his nephew to
imitatehim in this to the utmost of his ability, and to believe
that the more wine and spirits he could take, and the better he
liked them, the more he manifested his bold and manly spirit,
and rose superior to his sisters. Mr Bloomfield had not much
to say against it, for his favourite beverage was gin and water :
of which he took a considerable portion every day, by dint of
constant sipping—and to that, I chiefly attributed his dingy
complexion andwaspish temper.
Mr Robson likewise encouraged Tom's propensity to persc
cute the lower creation , both by precept and example. As
he frequently came to course or shoot over his brother -in -law's
grounds, he would bring his favourite dogs with him ; and he
treated them so brutally that, poor as I was, I would have
given a sovereign any day to see one of them bite him, pro
vided the animal could have done it with impunity . Some
times, when in a very complacent mood , he would go a
birdnesting with the children : a thing that irritated and
annoyed me exceedingly ; as, by frequent and persevering
AGNES GREY. 321
attempts, I flattered myself I had partly shown them the evil

of this pastime, and hoped, in time, to bring them to some
general sense of justice and humanity; but ten minutes' bird
nesting with uncle Robson, or even a laugh from him at some
relation of their former barbarities, was sufficient at once to
destroy the effect of my whole elaborate course of reasoning
and persuasion. Happily, however, during that spring , they
never, but once, got anything butemptynests, or eggs — being
too impatient to leave them till the birds were hatched; that
once, Tom , who had been with his uncle into the neighbouring
plantation, came running in high glee into the garden, with a
brood of little callow nestlings in his hands. Mary Ann and
Fanny, whom I was just bringing out, ran to admire his spoils,
and to beg each a bird for themselves. “ No, not one ! ” cried
Tom . They're all mine : uncle Robson gave them to me
one, two ,three, four, five - you shan't touch one of them ! 'no,
not one, for your lives !” continued he, exultingly ; laying the
nest on the ground, and standing over it with his legs wide
apart, his hands thrust into his breeches-pockets, his body bent
forward, and his face twisted into all manner of contortions in
the ecstacy of his delight.
“ But you shall see mefettle 'em off. My word, but I will
wallop 'em ! See if I don't now. By gum ! but there's rare
sport for me in that nest . "
66
But, Tom ," said I, “ I shall not allow you to torture
those birds. They must either be killed at once or carried
back to the place you took them from , that the old birds may
continue to feed them .”
“ But you don't know where that is, madam : it's only me
and uncle Robson that knows that.”
“ But if you don't tell me, I shall kill them myself — much
as I hate it .
“ You daren't. You daren't touch them for your life ! be
cause you know papa and mamma, and uncle Robson, would
be angry. Ha, ha ! I've caught you there, miss ! ”
“ I shall do what I think right in a case of this sort without
consulting any one. If your papa and mamma don't happen
to approve of it, I shall be sorry to offend them ; but your
uncle Robson's opinions, of course, are nothing to me."
So saying — urged by a sense of duty- at the risk of both
making myself sick and incurring the wrath of my employers
-I got a large flat stone, that had been reared up for a
04se -trap by the gardener, then , having once more vainly
21
322 AGNES GREY .
endeavoured to persuade the little tyrant to let the birds be

carried back , I asked what he intended to do with them .
With fiendish glee he commenced a list of torments ; and
while he was busied in the relation, I dropped the stone upon
his intended victims and crushed them flatbeneath it. Loud
were the outcries, terrible the execrations, consequent upon
this daring outrage ; uncle Robson had been coming up the
walk with his gun, and was justthen pausing to kick his dog.
Tom flew towards him, vowing he would make him kick me
instead of Juno. Mr Robson leant upon hisgun , and laughed
excessively at the violence of his nephew's passion, and the
bitter maledictions and opprobrious epithets he heaped upon
me . “ Well, you are a good un ! ” exclaimed he, at length,
taking up his weapon and proceeding towards the house.
“ Damme, but the lad hassome spunk in him , too. Curse me,
if ever I saw a nobler littel scoundrel than that.
He's beyond
petticoat government already : by God ! he defies mother ,
granny, governess, and all! Ha, ha, ha ! Never mind , Tom ,
I'll get you another brood to-morrow .”
“ If you do, Mr Robson , I shall kill them too ,” said I.
Humph ! ” replied he, and having honoured me with a
broad stare — which, contrary to his expectations, I sustained
without flinching - he turned away with an air of supreme
contempt, and stalked into the house. Tom next went to tell
his mamma . It was not her way to say much on any subject;
but, when she next saw me, her aspect and demeanour were
doubly dark and chill. After somecasual remark about the
weather, she observed-
“ I am sorry, Miss Grey, you should think it necessary to
interfere with Master Bloomfield's amusements; he was very
much distressed about your destroying the birds."
“ When Master Bloomfield's amusements consist in injuring
sentient creatures," I answered, “ I think it my duty to inter
fere .”
“ You seemed to have forgotten,” said she, calmly, " that the
creatures were all created for our convenience . "
I thought that doctrine admitted some doubt, but merely
replied
“ If they were, we have no right to torment them for our
amusement. "
“ I think,” said she, " a child's amusement is scarcely to be
weighed against the welfare of a soulless brute."
But, for the child's own sake, it ought not to be encoll
AGNES GREY . 323
raged to have such amusements," answered I, as meekly as I

could, to make up for such unusual pertinacity. “ Blessed are
the merciful, for they shall obtain mercy.'"
“ Oh ! of course ; but that refers to our conduct towards each
other."
« The merciful man shows mercy to his beast,'” I ventured
to add .
“ I think you have not shown much mercy,” replied she
with a short, bitter laugh ; " killing the poor birds by whole
sale in that shocking manner, and putting the dear boy to such
misery for a mere whim .”
I judged it prudent to say no more. This was the nearest
approach to a quarrel I ever had with Mrs Bloomfield ; as
well as the greatest number of words I ever exchanged with
her at one time, since the day of my first arrival.
But Mr Robson and old Mrs Bloomfield were not the only
guests whose coming to Wellwood House annoyed me ; every
itor disturbed me more or less ; not so nuch because they
neglected me ( though I did feel their conduct strange and
disagreeable in that respect), as because I found it impossible
to keep my pupils away from them , as I was repeatedly
desired to do : Tom must talk to them, and Mary Ann must
be noticed by them. Neither the one nor the other knew
what it was to feel any degree of shame-facedness, or even
common modesty. They would indecently and clamorously
interrupt the conversation of their elders, tease them with the
inost impertinent questions, roughly collar the gentlemen,
climb their knees uninvited , hang about their shoulders or
rifle their pockets, pull the ladies' gowns, disorder their hair,
tumble their collars, and importunately beg for their trinkets.
Mrs Bloomfield had the sense to be shocked and annoyed
at all this, but she had not sense to prevent it : she expected
me to prevent it. But how could I—when the guests, with
their fine clothes and new faces, continually flattered and
indulged them, out of complaisance to their parents — how
could I, with my homely garments, everyday face, and honest
words, draw them away? I strained every nerve to do so : by
striving to amuse them , I endeavoured to attract them to my
side ; by the exertion of such authority as I possessed, and by
such severity as I dared to use, I tried to deter them from
tormenting the guests ; and by reproaching their unmannerly
conduct, to znake them ashamed to repeat it. But they knew
no shame; they scorned authority which had no terrors to
324 AGNES GREY .
back it ; and as for kindness and affection , either they had no

hearts, or such as they had were so strongly guarded, and so
well concealed, that I, with all my efforts, had not yet dis
covered how to reach them.
But soon my trials in this quarter came to a close - sooner
than I either expected or desired ; for one sweet evening towards
the close of May , as I was rejoicing in the near approach of
the holidays, and congratulating myself upon having made
some progress with my pupils (as far as their learning went
at least, for I had instilled something into their heads, and I
had at length, brought them to be a little - a very little
more rational about getting their lessons done in time to leave
some space for recreation , instead of tormenting themselves
and me all day long to no purpose), Mrs Bloomfield sent for
me, and calmly told me that after Midsummer my services
would be no longer required. She assured me that my
character and general conduct were unexceptionable ; but the
children had made so little improvement since my arrival,
that Mr Bloomfield and she felt it their duty to seek some
other mode of instruction. Though superior to most children
of their years in abilities, they were decidedly behind them
in attainments : their manners were uncultivated , and their
tempers unruly. And this she attributed to a want of suffi
cient firmness,and diligent, persevering care on my part.
Unshaken firmness, devoted diligence, unwearied perse
verance, unceasing care, were the very qualifications on which
I had secretly prided myself ; and by which I had hoped in
time to overcome all difficulties, and obtain success at last. I
wished to say something in my own justification : but in
attempting to speak, I felt my voice falter; and rather than
testify any emotion, or suffer the tears to overflow that were
already gathering in my eyes, I chose to keep silence, and
bear all like a self-convicted culprit.
Thus was I dismissed, and thus I sought my home. Alas !
what would they think of me ? unable, after all my boasting,
to keep my place, even for a single year, as governess to three
small children , whose mother was asserted by my own aunt,
to be a
very nice woman .” Having been thus weighed in
the balance and found wanting, I need not hope they would be
willing to try me again. And this was an unwelcome thought;
for vexed, harassed, disappointed as I had been, and greatly
as I had learned to love and value my home, I was not yet
weary of adventure, nor willing to relax my efforts. I knew
AGNES GREY . 825
that all parents were not like Mr and Mrs Bloomfield, and I
was certain all children were not like theirs . The next
family must be different, and any change must be for the
better. I had been seasoned by adversity, and tutored by
experience, and I longed to redeem my lost honour in the
eyes of those whose opinion was more than that of all the
world to me.
CHAPTER VI.
THE PARSONAGE AGAIN .
For a few months I remained peaceably at home, in the quiet

enjoymentof liberty and rest, and genuine friendship, from all
of which I had fasted so long ; and in the earnest prosecution
of my studies, to recover what I had lost duringmy stay at
Wellwood House, and to lay in new stores for future use. My
father's health was still very infirm , but not materiallyworse
than when I last saw him ; and I was glad I had it in my
power to cheer him by my return , and to amuse him with
singing his favourite songs .
No one triumphed over my failure, or said I had better have
taken his or her advice, and quietly stayed at home. All
were glad to have me back again, and lavished more kindness
than ever upon me, to make up for the sufferings I had
undergone; but notone would touch a shilling of what I had
80 cheerfully earned and so carefully saved,in the hope of
sharing it with them. By dint of pinching here, and scraping
there, our debts were already nearly paid. Mary had had
good success with her drawings; but our father had insisted
upon her likewise keeping all the produce of her industry tu
herself. All we could spare from the supply of our humble
wardrobe and our little casual expenses, he directed us to put
into the savings' bank ; saying, we knew not how soon we
might be dependent on that alone for support : for he felt he
had not long to be with us, and what would become of our
mother and us when he was gone, God only knew !
Dear papa ! if he had troubled himself less about the afflic
tions that threatened us in case of his death, I am convinced
that dreaded event would not have taken place so soon . My
326 AGNES GREY .
mother would never suffer him to ponder on the subject if she

could help it.
Oh, Richard ! ” exclaimed she, on one occasion, “ if you
would but dismiss such gloomy subjects from your mind, you
would live as long as any of us; at least you would live to see
the girls married, and yourself a happy grandfather, with a
canty old dame for your companion ."
My mother laughed, and so did my father : but his laugh
soonperished in a dreary sigh .
They married — poor penniless things !” said he, “ who will
take them I wonder !"
Why nobody shall that isn't thankful for them . Wasn't I
penniless when you took me ? and you pretended , at least, to
be vastly pleased with your acquisition . But it's no matter
whether they get married or not : we can devise a thousand
honest ways ofmaking a livelihood . And I wonder, Richard ,
you can think of bothering your head about our poverty in
case of your death ; as if that would be anything compared
with the calamity of losing you — an affliction that you well
know, would swallow up all others, and which you ought to
do your utmost to preserve us from : and there is nothing
like a cheerful mind for keeping the body in health .”
“ I know, Alice, it is wrong to keep repining as I do, but
I cannot help it : you must bear with me.”
" I won't bear with you, if I can alter you ," replied my
mother : but the harshness of her words was undone by the
earnest affection of her tone and pleasant smile, that made
my father smile again, less sadly and less transiently than was
his wont .
“ Mamma,” said I, as soon as I could find an opportunity of
speaking with her alone, “ my money is but little, and cannot
last long ; if I could increase it, it would lessen papa's anxiety,
on one subject at least. I cannot draw like Mary, and so
the best thing I could do would be to look out for another
situation ."
“ And so you would actually try again, Agnes ?"
“Decidedly, I would ."
“ Why, my dear, I should have thought you had had enough
of it . "
“ I know ,” said I, “ everybody is not like Mr and Mrs
Bloomfield
“ Some are worse, ” interrupted my mother.
“ But not many, I think,” replied I, “ and I'm sure all
AGNES GREY . 327
children are not like theirs ; for I and Mary were not : we
always did as you bid ús, didn't we? ”
Generally : but then , I did not spoil you ; and you were
not perfect angels after all : Mary had a fund of quiet obsti
nacy , and you were somewhat faulty in regard to temper; but
you were very good children on the whole.”
“ I know I was sulky sometimes, and I should have been
glad to see these children sulky sometimes too ; for then I
could have understood them : but they never were, for they
could not be offended, nor hurt, nor ashamed : they could not
be unhappy in any way, except when they were in a passion.”
“Well, if they could not, it was not their fault : you can
not expect stone to be as pliable as clay.”
" No, but still it is very unpleasant to live with such unim
pressible, incomprehensible creatures. You cannot love them ;
and if you could, your love would be utterly thrown away :
they could neither return it, nor value, nor understand it.
But, however, even if I should stumble on such a family
again, which is quite unlikely, I have all this experience to
begin with, and I should manage better another time; and
the end and aim of this preamble is, let me try again ."
“Well, my girl, you are not easily discouraged, I see : I
am glad of that. But, let me tell you, you are a good deal
paler and thinner than when you first left home ; and we can
not have you undermining your health to hoard up money ,
either for yourself or others."
“Mary tells me I am changed too ; and I don't much
wonder at it, for I was in a constant state of agitation and
anxiety all day long : but next time I am determined to take
things coolly .”
After some further discussion , my mother promised once
more to assist me, provided I would wait and be patient; and
I left her to broach the matter to my father, when and how
she deemed it most advisable : never doubting her ability to
obtain his consent. Meantime, I searched, with great inte
rest, the advertising columns of the newspapers, and wrote
answers to every “ Wanted a Governess,” that appeared at
all eligible; but all my letters, as well as the replies, when I
got any, were dutifully shown to my mother ; and she, to my
chagrin, made me reject the situations one after another:
these were low people, these were too exacting in their
demands, and these too niggardly in their remuneration.
“ Your talents are notsuch as every poor clergyman's
328 AGNES GREY.
daughter possesses, Agnes ,” she would say, " and you must
not throw them away. Remember, you promised to be
patient: there is no need of hurry : you have plenty of time
before you, and may have many chances yet.”
At length , she advised me to put an advertisement , myself,
in the paper, stating my qualifications, &c.
“ Music, singing, drawing, French, Latin, and German ,”
said she, are no mean assemblage : many will be glad to
have so much in one instructor ; and this time, you shall try
your fortune in a somewhat higher family — in that of some
genuine, thorough -bred gentleman ; for such are far more
likely to treat you with proper respect and consideration ,
than those purse-proud tradespeople and arrogant upstarts.
I have known several among the higher ranks who treated
their governesses quite as one of the family ; though some,
I allow, are as insolent and exacting as any one else can be :
for there are bad and good in all classes. "
The advertisement was quickly written and despatched .
Of the two parties who answered it, but one would consent
to give me fifty pounds, the sum my mother bade me name
as the salary I should require ; and here, I hesitated about
engaging myself, as I feared the children would be too old,
and their parents would require some one more showy, or
more experienced, if not more accomplished than I. But my
mother dissuaded me from declining it on that account : I
should do vastly well, she said, if I would only throw aside
my diffidence, and acquire a little more confidence in myself.
I was just to give a plain, true statement of my acquirements
and qualifications, and name what stipulations I chose to
make, and then await the result. The only stipulation 1
ventured to propose, was that I might be allowed two months
holidays during the year to visit my friends, at Midsummer
and Christmas . The unknown lady, in her reply, made no
objection to this , and stated that, as to my acquirements, she
had no doubt I should be able to give satisfaction ; but in the
engagement of governesses, she considered those things as but
subordinate points ; as, being situated in the neighbourhood
of O she could get masters to supply any deficiencies
in that respect : but, in her opinion, next to unimpeachable
morality, a mild and cheerful temper and obliging disposition
were the most essential requisites.
My mother did not relish this at all, and now made many
objections to my accepting the situation ; in which my sister
AGNES GREY. 329
warmly supported her : but, unwilling to be baulked again , I

overruled them all ; and , having first obtained the consent of
my father (who had, a short time previously, been apprised of
these transactions), I wrote a most obliging epistle to my
unknown
cluded.
correspondent, and, finally, the bargain was con
It was decreed that on the last day of January, I was to
enter upon my newoffice as governess in the family of Mr
Murray, of Horton Lodge, near O- about seventy miles
from our village : a formidable distance to me, as I had never
been above twenty miles froin home in all the course of my
twenty years' sojourn on earth ; and as, moreover, every
individual in that family and in the neighbourhood was
utterly unknown to myself and all my acquaintances. But
this rendered it only the more piquant to me. I had now, in
some measure , got rid of the mauvaise honte that had formerly
oppressed me so much ; there was a pleasing excitement in the
idea of entering these unknown regions, and making my way
alone among its strange inhabitants. I now flattered myself I
was going to see something of the world : Mr Murray's resi
dence was near a large town, and not in a manufacturing
district, where the people had nothing to do but to make
money ; his rank, from what I could gather, appeared to be
higher than that of Mr Bloomfield ; and, doubtless, he was
one of those genuine thorough -bred gentry my mother spoke
of, who would treat his governess with due consideration as a
respectable well-educated lady, the instructor and guide of his
children, and not a mere upper servant. Then, my pupils
being older, would be more rational, more teachable, and less
troublesome than the last : they would be less confined to the
schoolroom , andnot require that constant labourand incessant
watching ; and, finally, bright visions mingled with my hopes,
with which the care of children and the mere duties of a
governess had little or nothing to do. Thus, the reader will
see that I had no claim to be regarded as a martyr to filial
piety, going forth to sacrifice peace and liberty for the sole
purpose oflaying up stores for the comfort and support of my
parents : though certainly the comfort of my father, and the
future support of my mother, had a large share in my calcu
lations; and fifty pounds appeared to me no ordinary sum. I
must have decent clothes becoming my station ; I must, it
seemed, put out my washing, and also pay for my four annual
journeys between Horton Lodge and home ; but with strict
330 AGNES GREY .
attention to economy, surely twenty pounds, or little more,

would cover those expenses, and then there would be thirty
for the bank, or little less : what a valuable addition to our
stock ! Oh, I must struggle to keep this situation, whatever
it might be! both for myown honour among my friends and
for the solid services I might render them by my continuance
there.
CHAPTER VII.
HORTON LODGE .
THE 31st of January was a wild, tempestuous day : there was

a strong north wind, with a continual storm of snow drifting
on the ground and whirling through the air. My friends
would have had me delay my departure, but fearful of preju
dicing my employers against me by such want of punctuality
at the commencement of my undertaking, I persisted in keeping
the appointment.
I will not inflict upon my readers an account of my leaving
home on that dark winter morning : the fond farewells, the
long, long journey to 0—, the solitary waitings in inns for
coaches or trains — for there were some railways then — and,
finally, the meeting at 0— with Mr Murray's servant, who
had been sent with the phaeton to drive me from thence to
Horton Lodge. I will just state that the heavy snow had
thrown such impediments in the way of both horses and steam
engines, that it was dark some hours before I reached my
journey's end, and that a most bewildering storm came on
at last, which made the few miles space between 0 and
Horton Lodge a long and formidable passage. I sat resigned ,
with the cold, sharpsnow drifting through my veil and filling
my lap, seeing nothing, and wondering how the unfortunate
horse and driver could make their way even as well as they
did : and indeed it was but a toilsome, creeping style of pro
gression to say the best of it. At length we paused ; and, at
the call of the driver, some one unlatched and rolled back
upon their creaking hinges what appeared to be the park gates.
Then we proceeded along a smoother road , whence, occa
sionally, I perceived somehuge hoary mass gleaming through
the darkness, which I took to be a portion of a snow -clad tree.
AGNES GREY . 331
After a considerable time we paused again, before the stately

portico of a large house with long windows descending to the
ground.
I rose with some difficulty from under the superincumbent
snow-drift, and alighted from the carriage, expecting that a
kind and hospitable reception would indemnify me for the
toils and hardships of the day. A gentlemanly person in
black opened the door, and admitted me into a spacious hall ,
lighted by an amber -coloured lamp suspended from the ceiling;
he led me through this, along a passage, and , opening the
door of a back room , told me that was the schoolroom . I
entered , and found two young ladies and two young gentlemen
—my future pupils, I supposed. After a formal greeting, the
elder girl, who was trifling over a piece of canvass and a
basket ofGerman wools, asked if I should like to go up -stairs.
I replied in the affirmative, of course.
“ Matilda, take a candle, and show her her room ," said
she.
Miss Matilda , a strapping hoyden of about fourteen, with
a short frock and trousers, shrugged her shoulders and made
a slight grimace, but took a candle and proceeded before me,
up the back stairs (a long, steep, double flight), and through
a long, narrow passage, to a small but tolerably comfortable
room . She then asked me if I would take some tea or coffee.
I was about to answer No; but remembering that I had taken
nothing since seven o'clock that morning, and feeling faint in
consequence, I said I would take a cup of tea. Saying she
would tell “ Brown," the young lady departed ; and by the
time I had divested myself of my heavy, wet cloak, shawl,
bonnet, &c. , a mincing damsel came to say the young ladies
desired to know whether I would take my tea up there or in
the schoolroom . Under the plea of fatigue, I chose to take it
there. She withdrew ; and, after a while, returned again with
a small tea -tray, and placed it on the chest of drawers which
served as a dressing -table. Having civilly thanked her, I
asked at what time I should be expected to rise in the
morning.
“ The young ladies and gentlemen breakfast at half- past
eight, ma'am ," said she; "they rise early ; but, as they
seldom do any lessons before breakfast, I should think it will
do if you rise soon after seven .
I desired her to be so kind as to call me at seven, and,
promising to do so, she withdrew . Then, having broken my
332 AGNES GREY.
long fast on a cup of tea and a little thin bread and butter, I
sat down beside the small , smouldering fire, and amused
myself with a hearty fit of crying; after which, I said my
prayers, and then, feeling considerably relieved , began to pre
pare for bed. Finding that none of my luggage was brought
up,I instituted a search for the bell ; and failing to discover
any signs of such a convenience in any corner of the room , I
took my candle and ventured through the long passage, and
down the steep stairs, on a voyage of discovery. Meeting a
well-dressed female on the way, I told her what I wanted ; but
not without considerable hesitation, as I was not quite sure
whether it was one of the upper servants, or Mrs Murray
herself: it happened , however, to be the lady’s-maid. With
the air of one conferring an unusual favour, she vouchsafed to
undertake the sending up of my things , and when I had
re-entered my room, and waited and wondered a long time
(greatly fearing that she had forgotten or neglected to perform
her promise, and doubting whether to keep waiting or goto
bed , or go down again) my hopes, at length, were revived by
the sound of voices and laughter, accompanied by the tramp
of feet along the passage ; and presently the luggage was
brought in by a rough - looking maid and a man, neither of
them very respectful intheir demeanour to me. Having shut
the door upon their retiring footsteps, and unpacked a few of
my things , I betook myself to rest; gladly enough, for I was
weary in body and mind.
It was with a strange feeling of desolation, mingled with
a strong sense of the novelty of my situation , and a joyless
kind of curiosity concerning what was yet unknown, that I
awoke the next morning ; feeling like one whirled away by
enchantment, and suddenly dropped from the clouds into a
remote and unknown land, widely and completely isolated from
all he had ever seen or known before; or like a thistle -seed
borne on the wind to some strange nook of uncongenial soil ,
where it must lie long enough before it can take root and
germinate, extracting nourishment from what appears so alien
to its nature : if, indeed, it ever can. But this gives no proper
idea of my feelings at all; and no one that has not lived such
a retired , stationary life as mine, can possibly imagine what
they were : hardly even if he has known what it is to awake
some morning, and find himself in Port Nelson, in New
Zealand, witha world of waters between himself and all that
knew him ,
AGNES GREY. 333
I shall not soon forget the peculiar feeling with which I

raised my blind and looked out upon the unknown world : a
wide, white wilderness was all that met my gaze ; a waste of
« Deserts tossed in snow ,
And heavy - laden groves."
I descended to the schoolroom with no remarkable eagerness
to join my pupils, though not without some feeling of curiosity
respecting what a further acquaintance would reveal. One
thing, among others of more obvious importance, I determined
with myself — I must begin with calling them Miss and Master.
It seemed to me a chilling and unnatural piece of punctilio
between the children of a family and their instructor and daily
companion ; especially where the former were in their early
childhood , as at Wellwood House ; but even there, my calling
the little Bloomfields by their simple names had been regarded
as an offensive liberty: as their parents had taken care to
show me, by carefully designating them Master and Miss
Bloomfield, &c. , in speaking to me. I had been very slow to
take the hint, because the whole affair struck me as so very
absurd ; but now I determined to be wiser, and begin at once
with as much form and ceremony as any member of the
family would be likely to require : and indeed , the children
being so much older, there would be less difficulty; though
the little words Miss and Master seemed to have a surprising
effect in repressing all familiar, open -hearted kindness, and
extinguishing every gleam of cordiality that might arise
between us.
As I cannot, like Dogberry, find it in my heart to bestow
all my tediousness upon the reader, I will not go on to bore
him with a minute detail of all the discoveries and proceedings
of this and the following day. No doubt he will be amply
satisfied with a slight sketch of the different members of the
family, and a general view of the first year or two of my sojourn
among them .
To begin with the head : Mr Murray was, by all accounts,
a blustering, roystering, country squire; a devoted fox -hunter,
a skilful horse -jockey and farrier, an active, practical farmer,
and a hearty bon -vivant. By all accounts, I say ; for, except
on Sundays, when he went to church, I never saw him from
month to month : unless, in crossing the hall or walking in
the grounds, the figure of a tall, stout gentleman, with scarlet
chceks and crimson nose, happened to come across me ; on
334 AGNES GREY .
which occasions, if he passed near enough to speak, an

unceremonious nod, accompanied by a "Morning, Miss Grey,"
or some such brief salutation, was usually vouchsafed . Fre
quently, indeed, his loud laugh reached me from afar ; and
oftener still I heard him swearing and blaspheming against
the footmen, groom, coachman, or some other hapless de
pendent.
Mrs Murray was a handsome, dashing lady of forty, who
certainly required neither rouge nor padding to add to her
charms ; and whose chief enjoyments were, or seemed to be,
in giving or frequenting parties, and in dressing at the very
top of the fashion. I did not see her till eleven o'clock on the
morning after my arrival; when she honoured me with a visit,
just as my mother might step into the kitchen to see a new
servant girl : yet not so, either, for my mother would have
seen herimmediately after her arrival, and not waited till the
next day ; and, moreover, she would have addressed her in a
more kind andfriendly manner, and given her some words of
comfort aswell as a plain exposition of her duties ; but Mrs
Murray did neither the one nor the other . She just stepped
into the schoolroom on her return from ordering dinner in the
housekeeper's room , bade me good-morning, stond for two
minutes by the fire, said a few words about the weather and
the “ rather rough ” journey Imust have had yesterday ; petted
her youngest child — a boy of ten—who had just been wiping
his mouth and hands on her gown, after indulging in some
savoury morsel from the housekeeper's stores ; told me what
a sweet, good boy he was ; and then sailed out, with a self
complacent smile upon her face : thinking, no doubt, that she
had donequite enough for the present, and had been delight
fully condescending into the bargain. Her children evidently
held the same opinion , and I alone thought otherwise.
After this she looked in upon me once or twice, during the
absence of my pupils, to enlighten me concerning my duties
towards them . For the girls, she seemned anxious only to
render them as superficially attractive and showily accom
plished as they could possibly be made, without present
trouble or discomfort to themselves; and I was to act accord
ingly—to study and strive to amuse and oblige, instruct,
refine, and polish , with the least possible exertion on their
part, and no exercise of authority on mine. With regard to
the two boys, it was much the same ; only instead of accom
plishments, I was to get the greatest possible quantity of
AGNES GREY . 335
Latin grammar and Valpy's Delectus into their heads, in

order to fit them for school — the greatest possible quantity
at least without trouble to themselves. John might be a
“ little high -spirited ,” and Charles might be a little nervous
and tedious , "
“ But at all events, Miss Grey,” said she, “ I hope you
will keep your temper, and be mild and patient throughout ;
especially with the dear little Charles : he is so extremely
nervous and susceptible, and so utterly unaccustomed to any
thing but the tenderest treatment. You will excuse my
naming these things to you ; for the fact is , I have hitherto
found all the governesses, even the very best of them , faulty
in this particular. They wanted that meek and quiet spirit,
which St. Matthew, or some of them , says is better than the
putting on of apparel - you will know the passage to which
I allude, for you are a clergyman's daughter. But I have no
doubt you will give satisfaction in this respect as well as the
rest. And remember, on all occasions, when any of the
young people do anything improper, if persuasion and gentle
remonstrance will not do, let one of the others come and tell
me ; for I can speak to them more plainly than it would be
proper for you to do. And make them as happy as you can,
-Miss Grey , and I dare say you will do very well.”
I observed that while Mrs Murray was so extremely soli
citous for the comfort and happiness of her children, and con
tinually talking about it, she never once mentioned mine ;
though they were at home surrounded by friends, and I an
alien among strangers ; and I did not yet know enough of
the world, not to be considerably surprised at this anomaly.
Miss Murray, otherwise Rosalie, was about sixteen when I
came, and decidedly a very pretty girl; and in two years
longer, as time more completely developed her form and added
grace to her carriage and deportment, she became positively
beautiful ; and thatin no common degree. She was tall and
slender, yet not thin ; perfectly formed , exquisitely fair, though
not without a brilliant, healthy bloom ; her hair, which she
wore in a profusion of long ringlets, was of a very light
brown inclining to yellow ; her eyes were pale blue, but so
clear and bright that few would wish them darker ; the rest
of her features were small, not quite regular, and not remark
ably otherwise : but altogether you could not hesitate to
pronounce her a very lovely girl. I wish I could say as
much for mind and disposition as I can for her form and face.
336 AGNES GREY.
Yet think not I have any dreadful disclosures to make : she

was lively, light-hearted , and could be very agreeable, with
those who did not cross her will . Towards me, when I first
came she was cold and haughty, then insolent and overbearing ;
but on a further acquaintance, she gradually laid aside her
airs, and in time became as deeply attached to me as it was
possible for her to be to one of my character and position :
for she seldom lo sight, for above half an hour at a time, of
the fact of my being a hireling and a poor curate's daughter.
And yet, upon the whole, I believe she respected me more
than she herself was aware of ; because I was the only person
in the house who steadily professed good principles, habitually
spoke the truth, and generally endeavoured to make inclination
bow to duty : and this I say, not, of course, in commendation
of myself, but to show the unfortunate state of the family to
which my services were, for the present, devoted. There was
no member of it in whom I regretted this sad want of principle
so much as Miss Murray herself ; not only because she had
taken a fancy to me, but because there was so much of what
was pleasant and prepossessing in herself, that, in spite of her
failings, I really liked her—when she did not rouse my indig.
nation, or ruffle my temper by too great a display of her faults.
These, however, Iwould fain persuade myself, were rather the
effect of her education than her disposition : she had never
been perfectly taught the distinction between right and wrong ;
she had, like her brothers and sisters, been suffered , from
infancy, to tyrannize over nurses, governesses , and servants ;
she had not been taught to moderate her desires, to control
her temper or bridle her will, or to sacrifice her own pleasure
for the good of others. Her temper being naturally good,
she was never violent or morose, but from constant indulgence
and habitual scorn of reason, she was often testy and capricious;
her mind had never been cultivated : her intellect, at best, was
somewhat shallow ; she possessed considerable vivacity , some
quickness of perception , and some talent for music and the
acquisition of languages, but till fifteen she had troubled
herself to acquire nothing ;—then the love of display had
roused her faculties, and induced her to apply herself, but only
to the more showy accomplishments. And when I came it
was the same : everything was neglected but French, German ,
music , singing, dancing , fancy work , and a little drawing
such drawing as might produce the greatest show with the
smallest labour, andthe principal parts of which were gene
AGNES GREY. 337
rally done by nie. For music and singing, besides my occa

sional instructions, she had the attendance of the best master
the country afforded; and in these accomplishments, as well
as in dancing, she certainly attained great proficiency. To
music, indeed, she devoted too much of her time : as, governess
though I was, I frequently told her ; but her mother thought
that if she liked it, she could not give too much time to the
acquisition of so attractive an art. Of fancy -work I knew
nothing but what I gathered from my pupil and my own
observation ; but no sooner was I initiated, than she made me
useful in twenty different ways : all the tedious parts of her
work were shifted on to my shoulders ; such as stretching the
frames, stitching in the canvass, sorting the wools and silks,
putting in the grounds, counting the stitches, rectifying mis
takes, and finishing the pieces she was tired of.
At sixteen, Miss Murray was something of a romp, yet not
more so than is natural and allowable for a girl of that age ;
but at seventeen, that propensity, like all other things, began
to give way to the ruling passion, and soon was swallowed up
in the all-absorbing ambition to attract and dazzle the other
sex . But enough of her : now let us turn to her sister.
Miss Matilda Murray was a veritable hoyden, of whom
little need be said. She was about two years and a half
younger than her sister ; her features were larger, her com -
plexion much darker. She might possibly make a handsome
woman ; but she was far too big-boned and awkward ever to
be called a pretty girl , and at present she cared little about it.
Rosalie knew all her charms, and thought them even greater
than they were, and valued them more highly than she ought
to have done, had they been three times as great ; Matilda
thought she was well enough, but cared little about the matter ;
still less did she care about the cultivation of her mind, and
the acquisition of ornamental accomplishments. The manner
in which she learnt her lessons and practised her music , was
calculated to drive any governess to despair. Short and easy
as her tasks were, if done at all, they were slurred over, at
any time and in any way ; but generally at the least convenient
times, and in the way least beneficial to herself, and least
satisfactory to me : the short half -hour of practising was
horribly strummed through ; she, meantime, unsparingly
abusing me, either for interrupting her with corrections, or
for not rectifying her mistakes before they were made, or
something equally unreasonable. Once or twice, I ventured
22
338 AGNES GREY.
to remonstrate with her seriously for such irrational conduct ;

but on each of those occasions, I received such reprehensive
expostulations from her mother, as convinced me that, if I
wished to keep the situation, I must even let Miss Matilda go
on in her own way.
When her lessons were over, however, her ill-humour was
generally over too : while riding her spirited pony, or romping
with the dogsor her brothers and sister, but especially with
her dear brother John , she was as happy as a lark. As an
animal , Matilda was all right, full of life,vigour, and activity;
as an intelligent being, she was barbarouslyignorant, indocile,
careless and irrational ; and , consequently , very distressing
to one who had the task of cultivating her understanding,
reforming her manners, and aiding her to acquire those orna
mental attainments which , unlike her sister, she despised as
much as the rest. Her mother was partly aware of her defi
ciencies, and gave me many a lecture as to how I should try
to form her tastes, and endeavour to rouse and cherish her
dormant vanity ; and, by insinuating, skilful flattery, to win
her attention to the desired objects — which I would not do ;
and how I should prepare and smooth the path of learning
till she could glide along it without the least exertion to
herself : which I could not, for nothing can be taught to any
purpose without some little exertion on the part of the learner.
As a moral agent, Matilda was reckless, headstrong, violent,
and unamenable to reason . One proof of the deplorable state
of her mind was, that from her father's example she had
learned to swear like a trooper. Her mother was greatly
shocked at the “ unlady -like trick ," and wondered “ how she
had picked it up ." “ But you can soon break her of it, Miss
Grey," said she : " it is only a habit; and if you will just
gently remind her every time she does so, I am sure she will
soon lay it aside. ” I not only “ gently reminded” her, I tried
to impress upon her how wrong it was, and how distressing to
the ears of decent people ; but all in vain : I was only answered
by a careless laugh, and , “ Oh , Miss Grey, how shocked you
are ! I'm so glad !" Or, “ Well ! I can't help it ; papa
shouldn't have taught me : I learned it all from him ; and may
be a bit from the coachman .”
Her brother John, alias Master Murray, was about eleven
when I came : a fine, stout, healthy boy, frank and good
natured in the main, and might have been a decent lad had
he been properly educated , but now he was as roughas
AGNES GREY . 339
a young bear, boisterous, unruly, unprincipled, untaught,

unteachable — at least, for a governess under his mother's eye.
His masters at school might be able to manage him better
for to school he was sent, greatly to my relief, in the course of.
a year ; in a state, it is true, of scandalous ignorance as to
Latin, as well as the more useful though more neglected
things: and this, doubtless, would all be laid to the account
of his education having been entrusted to an ignorant female
teacher, who had presumed to take in hand what she was
wholly incompetent to perform . I was not delivered from
his brother till full twelve months after, when he also was
despatched in the same state of disgraceful ignorance as the
former .
Master Charles was his mother's peculiar darling. He was
little more than a year younger than John, but much smaller,
paler, and less active and robust ; a pettish, cowardly ;
capricious, selfish little fellow , only active in doing mischief,
and only clever in inventing falsehoods : not simply to hide
his faults, but, in mere malicious wantonness, to bring odium
upon others . In fact, Master Charles was a very great
nuisance to me : it was a trial of patience to live with him
peaceably ; to watch over him was worse ; and to teach him ,
or pretend to teach him, was inconceivable. At ten years
old, he could not read correctly the easiest line in the simplest
book ; and as, according to his mother's principle, he was to
be told every word, before he had time to hesitate or examine
its orthography, and never even to be informed , as a stimulant
to exertion, that other boys were more forward than he, it is
not surprising that he made but little progress during the two
years Ihad charge of his education. His minute portions of
Latin grammar, &c. , were to be repeated over to him, till he
chose to say he knew them, and then he was to be helped to
say them ; if he made mistakes in his little easy sums in
arithmetic, they were to be shown him at once, and the sum
done for him , instead of his being left to exercise his faculties
in finding them out himself ; so that, of course, he took no
pains to avoid mistakes, but frequently set down his figures at
random , without any calculation at all.
I did not invariably confine myself to these rules: it was
against my conscience to do so ; but I seldom could venture to
deviate from them in the slightest degree, without incurring
the wrath of my little pupil, and subsequently of his mamma;
to whom he would relate my transgressions, maliciously exag
340 AGNES GREY.
gerated, or adorned with embellishments of his own ; and

often, in consequence, was I on the point of losing or resigning
my situation. But, for their sakes at home, I smothered my
pride and suppressed my indignation , and managed to struggle
on till my little tormentor was despatched to school ; his father
declaring that home education was 66 no go for him , it was
plain : his mother spoiled him outrageously, and his governess
cculd make no hand of him at all. "
A few more observations about Horton Lodge and its
ongoings, and I have done with dry description for the present.
The house was a very respectable one; superior to Mr Bloom
field's, both in age, size, and magnificence: the garden was
not so tastefully laid out ; but instead of the smooth -shaven
lawn , the young trees guarded by palings, the grove of up
start poplars, and the plantation of firs, there was a wide
park, stocked with deer, and beautified by fine old trees. The
surrounding country itself was pleasant, as far as fertile fields,
flourishing trees, quiet green lanes, and smiling hedges with
wild flowers scattered along their banks, could make it ; but
it was depressingly flat to one born and nurtured among the
rugged hills of
We were situated nearly two miles from the village church ,
and, consequently, the family carriage was put in requisition
every Sunday morning, and sometimes oftener. Mr and Mrs
Murray generally thought it sufficient to show themselves at
church once in the course of the day ; but frequently the
children preferred going a second time to wandering about
the grounds all the day with nothing to do. If some of my
pupils chose to walk and take me with them , it was well for
me ; for otherwise, my position in the carriage was, to be
crushed into the corner farthest from the open window, and
with my back to the horses : a position which invariably made
me sick ; and, if I were not actually obliged to leave the church
in the middle of the service, my devotions were disturbed
with a feeling of languor and sickliness, and the tormenting
fear of its becoming worse; and a depressing headache was
generally my companion throughout the day, which would
otherwise have been one of welcome rest, and holy, calm en
joyment.
" It's very odd, Miss Grey, that the carriage should
always make you sick : it never makes me," remarked Miss
Matilda.
“ Nor me either,” said her sister ; “ but I dare say it would ,
AGNES GREY . 341
if I sat where she does — such a nasty, horrid place, Miss Grey ;
I wonder how you can bear it ! ”
I am obliged to bear it, since no choice is left me- I might
have answered ; but in tenderness for their feelings I only re
plied— “Oh ! it is but a short way, and if I am not sick in
church , I don't mind it. ”
If I were called upon to give a description of the usual
divisions and arrangements of the day, I should find it a very
difficult matter. I had all my meals in the schoolroom with
my pupils, at such times as suited their fancy : sometimes
they would ring for dinner before it was half-cooked ; some
times they would keep it waiting on the table for above an
hour, and then be out of humour because the potatoes were
cold , and the gravy covered with cakes of solid fat ; some
times they would have tea at four ; frequently , they would
storm at the servants because it was not in precisely at five ;
and when these orders were obeyed, by way of encourage
ment to punctuality, they would keep it on the table till seven
or eight.
Their hours of study were managed in much the same way ;
my judgment or convenience was never once consulted. Some
times Matilda and John would determine “ to get all the
plaguy business over before breakfast," and send the maid to
call me up at half - past five, without any scruple or apology ;
sometimes, I was told to be ready precisely at six, and, having
dressed in a hurry, came down to an empty room , and after
waiting a long time in suspense, discovered that they had
changed their minds, and were still in bed; or, perhaps, if it
were a fine summer morning, Brown would come to tell me
that the young ladies and gentlemen had taken a holiday, and
were gone out; and then , I was kept waiting for breakfast
till I was almost ready to faint: they having fortified them
selves with something before they went.
Often they would do their lessons in the open air ; which I
had nothing to say against : except that I frequently caught
cold by sitting on the damp grass, or from exposure to the
evening dew, or some insidious draught, which seemed to have
no injurious effect on them . It was quite right that they
should be hardy ; yet, surely, they might have been taught
some consideration for others who were less so. But I must
not blame them for what was, perhaps, my own fault; for I
never made any particular objections to sitting where they
pleased ; foolishly choosing to risk the consequences, rather
342 AGNES GREY.
than troub!d them for my convenience. Their indecorous

manner c doing their lessons was quite as remarkable as the
caprice displayed in their choice of time and place. While
receiving my instructions, or repeating what they had learned,
they would lounge upon the sofa, lie on the rug, stretch ,
yawn, talk to each other, or look out of the window ; whereas,
I could not so much as stir the fire, or pick up the handker
chief I had dropped, without being rebuked for inattention
by one of my pupils, or told that “ mamma would not like me
to be so careless."
The servants, seeing in what little estimation the governess
was held by both parents and children , regulated their be
haviour by the same standard. I have frequently stood up
for them , at the risk of some injury to myself, against the
tyranny and injustice of their young masters and mistresses ;
and I always endeavoured to give them as little trouble as
possible : but they entirely neglected my comfort, despised
my requests, and slighted my directions. All servants, I am
convinced, would not have done so ; but domestics in general,
being ignorant and little accustomed to reason and reflection,
are too easily corrupted by the carelessness and bad example
of those above them ; and these, I think, were not of the best
order to begin with .
I sometimes felt myself degraded by the life I led, and
ashamed of submitting to so many indignities; and some
times I thought myself a fool for caring so much about them ,
and feared Imust be sadly wanting in Christian humility , or
that charity which “ suffereth long and is kind, seeketh not her
own, is not easily provoked, beareth all things, endureth all
things.” But, with time and patience, matters began to be
slightly ameliorated : slowly, it is true, and almost imper
ceptibly ; but I got rid of my male pupils that was no
trifling advantage ), and the girls, as I intimated before con
cerning one of them , became a little less insolent, and began
to show some symptoms of esteem. “ Miss Grey was a queer
creature : she never flattered , and did not praise them half
enough ; but whenever she did speak favourably of them, or
anything belonging to them, they could be quite sure her ap
probation was sincere. She was very obliging, quiet, and
peaceable in the main, but there were some things that put
her out of temper : they did not much care for that, to be
sure, but still it was better to keep her in tune ; as when she
was in a good humour she would talk to them , and be very
AGNES GREY . 343
agreeable and amusing sometimes, in her way ; which was

quite different to mamma's, but still very well for a change.
She had her own opinions on every subject, and kept steadily
to them — very tiresome opinions they often were ; as she was
always thinking of what was right and what was wrong, and
had a strange reverence for matters connected with religion,
and an unaccountable liking to good people.”
CHAPTER VIII.
THE " COMING OUT. "
At eighteen, Miss Murray was to emerge from the quiet ob

scurity of the schoolroominto the full blaze of the fashionable
world — as much of it, at least, as could be had out of London ;
for her papa could not be persuaded to leave his rural pleasures
and pursuits, even for a few weeks' residence in town. She
was to make her debût on the third of January, at a magni
ficent ball, which her mamma proposed to give to all nobility
and choice gentry of 0 — and its neighbourhood for twenty
miles round . Of course , she looked forward to it with the
wildest impatience , and the most extravagant anticipations of
delight.
“ Miss Grey ,” said she, one evening, a month before the
all-important day, as I was perusing a long and extremely
interesting letter of my sister's — which I had just glanced at
in the morning to see that it contained no very bad news, and
kept till now,unable before to find a quiet moment for reading
it, “ Miss Grey, do put away that dull, stupid letter, and
listen to me ! I'm sure my talk must be far more amusing
than that.”
She seated herself on the low stool at my feet; and I, sup
pressing a sigh of vexation, began to fold up the epistle.
“ You should tell the good people at home not to bore you
with such long letters," said she; " and above all, do bid
them write on proper note-paper, and not on those great
vulgar sheets. You should see the charming little lady -like
notes mamma writes to her friends."
“ The good people at home,” replied I, “ know very well
that the longer their letters are, the better I like them. I
should be very sorry to receive a charming little lady-like
344 AGNES GREY .
note from any of them ; and I thought you were too much of
a lady yourself, Miss Murray, to talk about the vulgarity ' of 1
writing on a large sheet of paper.”
“ Well, I only said it to tease you. But now I want to
talk about the ball; and to tell you that you positively must
put off your holidays till it is over.”
Why so ?-I shall not be present at the ball.”
“ No, but you will see the rooms decked out before it
begins, and hear the music, and , above all , see me in my
splendid new dress. I shall be so charming, you 'll be ready
to worship me--you really must stay."
“ I should like to see you very much ; but I shall have
many opportunities of seeing you equally charming, on the
occasion of some of the numberless balls and parties that are
to be, and I cannot disappoint my friends by postponing my
return so long."
Oh, never mind your friends ! Tell them we won't let
you go . "
“ But, to say the truth , it would be a disappointment to
myself : I long to see them as much as they to see me-
perhaps more.
Well, but it is such a short time."
“ Nearly a fortnight by my computation ; and, besides, I
cannot bear the thoughts of a Christmas spent from home :
and, moreover, my sister is going to be married .”
" Is she - when ? ”
“Not till next month ; but I want to be there to assist her
in making preparations, and to make the best of her company
while we have her."
Why didn't you tell me before ? "
I've only got the news in this letter,which you stigmatize
as dull and stupid, and won't let me read .” 1
" To whom is she to be married ? "

“ To Mr Richardson , the vicar of a neighbouring parish.”
Is he rich ? ”
“No ; only comfortable."
" Is he handsome ? "
“ No, only decent.”
“ Young ? ”
“ No ; only middling ."
“ O mercy ! what a wretch ! What sort of a house is it ? "
“ A quiet little vicarage, with an ivy - clad porch, an old
fashioned garden , and
AGNES GREY. 345
“ Oh stop ! - .you'll make me sick. How can she bear it ? "

“ I expect she 'll not only be able to bear it, but to be very
happy. You did not ask me if Mr Richardson were a good,
wise, or amiable man ; I could have answered Yes, to all these
questions — at least so Mary thinks, and I hope she will not
find herself mistaken."
“ But - miserable creature ! how can she think of spending
her life there, cooped up with that nasty old man ; and no
hope of change ? ”
“ He is not old : he's only six or seven and thirty ; and she
herself is twenty -eight, and as sober as if she were fifty ."
“ Oh ! that's better then they 're well matched : but do
they call him the worthy vicar' ?'”
“ I don't know ; but if they do, I believe he merits the
epithet.”
Mercy, how shocking ! and will she wear a white apron ,
and make pies and puddings ? ”
“ I don't know about the white apron, but I dare say she
will make pies and puddings now and then ; but that will be
no great hardship , as she has done it before.”
“And will she go about in a plain shawl, and a large
straw bonnet, carrying tracts and bone soup to her husband's
poor parishioners?
“I'm not clear about that ; but I dare say she will do her
best to make them comfortable in body and mind, in accord
ance with our mother's example."
CHAPTER IX.
THE BALL .
“Now, Miss Grey,” exclaimed Miss Murray, immediately I

entered the schoolroom , after having taken off my out-door
garments, upon returning from my four weeks' recreation ,
“ Now — shut the door, and sit down, and I'll tell you all
about the ball."
“ No,—damn it, no !" shouted Miss Matilda. 6. Hold your
tongue, can't ye ? and let me tell her about my new mare
such a splendour, Miss Grey ! a fine blood mare
“ Do be quiet,Matilda ; and let me tell my news first. "
346 AGNES GREY .
“ No, no , Rosalie ; you 'll be such a damned long time over

it - she shall hear me first -- I 'll be hanged if she doesn't ! ”
“ I'm sorry to hear, Miss Matilda, that you ’ve not got rid
of that shocking habit yet.”
“ Well, I can't help it : but I'll never say a wicked word
again , if you 'll only listen to me, and tell Rosalie to hold her
confounded tongue."
Rosalie remonstrated , and I thought I should have been torn
in pieces between them ; but Miss Matilda having the loudest
voice, her sister at length gave in, and suffered her to tell her
story first: so I was doomed to hear a long account of her
splendid mare, its breeding and pedigree, its paces, its action,
its spirit, & c., and of her own amazing skill and courage in
riding it ; concluding with an assertion that she could clear a
five -barred gate “ like winking ," that papa said she might
hunt the next time the hounds met, and mamma had ordered
a bright scarlet hunting-habit for her.
“ Oh, Matilda ! what stories you are telling !” exclaimed
her sister.
“ Well,” answered she, no whit abashed , “ I know I could
clear a five-barred gate, if I tried , and papa will say I may
hunt, and mamma will order the habit when I ask it ."
"Well , now get along," replied Miss Murray ; " and do,
dear Matilda, try to be a little more lady - like. Miss Grey, I
wish you would tell her not to use such shocking words ; she
will call her horse a mare: it is so inconceivably shocking !
and then she uses such dreadful expressions in describing it :
she must have learned it from the grooms. It nearly puts me
into fits when she begins.”
“ I learned it from papa , you ass ! and his jolly friends,"
said the young lady, vigorously cracking a hunting -whip,
which she habitually carried in her hand. " I'm as good a
judge of horseflesh as the best of ’ m . ”
Well, now get along, you shocking girl ! I really shall
take a fit if you go on in such a way. And now , Miss Grey ,
attend to me ; I'm going to tell you about the ball . You
must be dying to hear about it , I know . Oh, such a ball !
You never saw or heard , or read , or dreamt of anything like
it in all your life ! The decorations , the entertainment , the
supper , the music were indescribable ! and then the guests !
There were two noblem , three baronets , and five titled
ladies, and other ladies en
and gentlemen innumerable . The
ladies, of course, were of no consequence to me, except to put
AGNES GREY. 347
me in a good humour with myself, by showing how ugly and

awkward most of them were ; and the best, mamma told me,
-the most transcendent beauties among them , were nothing
to me . As for me, Miss Grey — I'm so sorry you didn't see
me ! I was charming — wasn't I, Matilda ?"
“ Middling."
“ No, but I really was — at least so mamma said — and Brown
and Williamson. Brown said she was sure no gentleman
could set eyes on me without falling in love that minute ; and
SO I maybe allowed to be a little vain. I know you think me
a shocking, conceited, frivolous girl ; but, then, you know, I
don't attribute itall to my personal attractions : I give some
praise to the hairdresser,and some to my exquisitely lovely
dress — you must see it to-morrow—white gauze over pink
satin — and so sweetly made ! and a necklace and bracelet of
beautiful, large pearls ! ”
“ I have no doubt you looked very charming : but should
that delight you so very much ?”
“ Oh , no !-not that alone : but, then, I was so much
admired ; and I made so many conquests in that one night
you 'd be astonished to hear
“ But what good will they do you ? ”
“ What good ! Think of any woman asking that !"
“ Well, I should think one conquest would be enough ; and
too much , unless the subjugation were mutual.”
Oh, but you know I never agree with you on those
points. Now, wait a bit, and I'll tell you my principal
admirers — those who made themselves very conspicuous that
night and after : for I've been to two parties since. Unfor
tunately the two noblemen, Lord G— and Lord F
were married, or I might have condescended to be particularly
gracious to them ; as it was, I did not : though Lord F >
who hates his wife, was evidently much struck with me. He
asked me to dance with him twice — he is a charming dancer,
by -the-bye, and so am I : you can't think how well I did—I
was astonished at myself. My lord was very complimentary
too_rather too much so in fact - and I thought proper to be
a little haughty and repellent ; but I had the pleasure of
seeing his nasty, cross wife ready to perish with spite and
vexation
“ Oh, Miss Murray ! you don't mean to say that such a
thing could really give you pleasure ! However cross or
" Well, I know it's very wrong ;-but never mind ! I
348 AGNES GREY.
mean to be good some time - only don't preach now, there's

a good creature. I haven't told you half yet. Let me see,
Oh ! I was going to tell you how many unmistakeable ad
mirers I had :-Sir Thomas Ashby was one,—Sir Hugh
Meltham and Sir Broadley Wilson are old codgers, only fit
companions for papa and mamma. Sir Thomas is young, rich,
and gay ; but an ugly beast, nevertheless : however, mamma
says I should not mind that after a few months' acquaintance.
Then, there was Henry Meltham , Sir Hugh's younger son ;
rather good -looking, and a pleasant fellowto flirt with : but
being a younger son, that is all he is good for ; then there was
young Mr Green, rich enough , but of no family, and a great
stupid fellow , a mere country booby ; and then, our good
rector, Mr Hatfield : an humble admirer he ought to consider
himself; but I fear he has forgotten to number humility
among his stock of christian virtues."
“ Was Mr Hatfield at the ball ? ”
“ Yes, to be sure. Did you think he was too good to go ? "
“ I thought he might consider it unclerical.”
“ By no means. He did not profane his cloth by dancing :
but itwas with difficulty he could refrain, poor man : he looked
as if he were dying to ask my hand just for one set ; and,
oh ! by -the -bye — he's got a new curate : that seedy old fellow
Mr Bligh has got his long-wished-for living at last, and is
gone."
" And what is the new one like ? ”
“ Oh, such a beast ! Weston his name is. I can give you
his description in three words—an insensate, ugly, stupid
blockhead . That's ur, but no matter - enough of him now ."
Then she returned to the ball, and gave me a further
account of her deportment there, and at the several parties
she had since attended ; and further particulars respecting
Sir Thomas Ashby and Messrs Meltham , Green , and Hatfield,
and the ineffaceable impression she had wrought upon each of
them .
“ Well, which of the four do you like best ? ” said I, sup
pressing my third or fourth yawn.
“ I detest them all ! ” replied she, shaking her bright ring
lets in vivacious scorn .
“ Thatmeans, I suppose, I like them all — but which most ? ”
“ No, I really detest them all ; but Harry Meltham is the
handsomest and most amusing, and Mr Hatfield the cleverest,
Sir Thomas the wickedest, and Mr Green the most stupid.
AGNES GREY. 349
But the one I'm to have, I suppose, if I'm doomed to have

any of them , is Sir Thomas Ashby.”
Surely not, if he's so wicked , and if you dislike him ? ”
Oh , I don't mind his being wicked : he's all the better
for that ; and as for disliking him - I shouldn't greatly object
to being Lady Ashby of Ashby Park, if I must marry. But
if I could be always young, I would be always single. I
should like to enjoy myself thoroughly, and coquet with all
the world, till I am on the verge of being called an old maid ;
and then, to escape the infamy of that, after having made ten
thousand conquests, to break all their hearts save one, by
marrying some high -born, rich, indulgent husband, whom , on
the other hand, fifty ladies were dying to have.”
“ Well, as long as you entertain these views, keep single
by all means, and never marry at all : not even to escape the
i: famy of old -maidenhood ."
CHAPTER X.
THE CHURCH.
“ WELL, Miss Grey, what do you think of the new curate ? "
asked Miss Murray, on our return from church the Sunday
after the recommencement of our duties .
“ I can scarcely tell,” was my reply : “ I have not even
heard him preach ."
“Well, but you saw him , didn't you ? ”
“ Yes, but I cannot pretend to judge of a man's character
by a single, cursory glance at his face.”
“ But isn't he ugly ?”
“ He did not strike me as being particularly so ; I don't
dislike that cast of countenance : but the only thing I parti.
cularly noticed about him was his style of reading ; which
appeared to me good - infinitely better, at least, than Mr
Hatfield's. He read the Lessons as if he were bent on giving
full effect to every passage : it seemed as if the most careless
person could not have helped attending, nor the most ignorant
have failed to understand ; and the prayers he read as if he
were not reading at all, but praying earnestly and sincerely
from his own heart."
350 AGNES GREY.
“ Oh, yes, that's all he is good for : he can plod through

the service well enough ; but he has not a single idea beyond
it.”
" How do you know ? ”
“ Oh ! I know perfectly well ; I am an excellent judge in
such matters. Did you see how he went out of church ?
stumping along — as if there were nobody there but himself
never looking to the right hand or the left, and evidently
thinking of nothing but just getting out of the church , and,
perhaps, home to his dinner : his great stupid head could con
tain no other idea . ”
" I suppose you would have had him cast a glance into the
squire's pew ,” said I, laughing at the vehemence of her
hostility.
“ Indeed ! I should have been highly indignant if he had
dared to do such a thing !" replied she, haughtily tossing her
head ; then , after a moment's reflection , she added— “ Well,
well ! I suppose he's good enough for his place : but I'm
glad I'm not dependent on him for amusement , that's all.
Did you see how Mr Hatfield hurried out to get a bow from
me , and be in time to put us into the carriage ? "
Yes," answered I ; internally adding, “ and I thought it
somewhat derogatory to his dignity as a clergyman to come
flying from the pulpit in such eager haste to shake hands
with the squire, and hand his wife and daughters into their
carriage : and , moreover, I owe him a grudge for nearly shut
ting me out of it ;" for, in fact, though I was standing before
his face, close beside the carriage steps, waiting to get in , he
would persist in putting them up and closing the door, till
one of the family stopped him by calling out that the gover
ness was not in yet ; then, without a word of apology, he
departed , wishing them good-morning, and leaving the foot
man to finish the business.
Nota bene.—Mr Hatfield never spoke to me, neither did 1
Sir Hugh or Lady Meltham , nor Mr Harry or Miss Meltham ,
nor Mr Green or his sisters, nor any other lady or gentleman
who frequented that church : nor, in fact, any one that visite ?
at Horton Lodge.
Miss Murray ordered the carriage again, in the afternoon,
for herself and her sister : she said it was too cold for them
to enjoy themselves in the garden : and besides, she believed
Harry Meltham would be atchurch. " For ," said she, smiling
slily at her own fair image in the glass, “ he has been a most
AGNES GREY. 351
exemplary attendant at church these last few Sundays: you

would think he was quite a good Christian. And you may go
with us, Miss Grey : I want you to see him ; he is so greatly
improved since he returned from abroad—you can't think !
And besides, then you will have an opportunity of seeing the
beautiful Mr Weston again, and of hearing him preach .”
I did hear him preach, and was decidedly pleased with the
evangelical truth of his doctrine, as well as the earnest sim
plicity of his manner, and the clearness and force of his style.
It was truly refreshing to hear such a sermon , after being so
long accustomed to the dry, prosy discourses of the former
curate, and the still less edifying harangues of the rector. Mr
Hatfield would come sailing up the aisle, or rather sweeping
along like a whirlwind, with his rich silk gown flying behind
him and rustling against the pewdoors, mount the pulpit like
a conqueror ascending his triumphal car ; then , sinking on the
velvet cushion in an attitude of studied grace, remain in silent
prostration for a certain time; then mutter over a Collect, and
gabble through the Lord's Prayer, rise, draw off one bright
lavender glove, to give the congregation the benefit of his
sparkling rings, lightly pass his fingers through his well
curled hair, flourish a cambric handkerchief, recite a very
short passage, or, perhaps, a mere phrase of Scripture, as a
head- piece to his discourse, and , finally, deliver a composition
which, as a composition , might be considered good , though
far too studied and too artificial to be pleasing to me : the
propositions were well laid down, the arguments logically
conducted ; and yet, it was sometimes hard to listen quietly
throughout, without some slight demonstrations of disapproval
or impatience.
His favourite subjects were church discipline, rites and
ceremonies, apostolical succession, the duty of reverence and
obedience to the clergy, the atrocious criminality of dissent,
the absolute necessity of observing all the formsof godliness,
the reprehensible presumption of individuals who attempted
to think for themselves in matters connected with religion, or
to be guided by their own interpretations of Scripture, and ,
occasionally (to please his wealthy parishioners) the necessity
of deferential obedience from the poor to therich - supporting
his maxims and exhortations throughout with quotations from
the Fathers: with whom he appeared to be far better acquainted
than with the Apostles and Evangelists, and whose importance
he seemed to consider at least equal to theirs. But now and
352 AGNES GREY .
.
then he gave us a sermon of a different order - what some

would call a very good one ; but sunless and severe: repre
senting the Deity as a terrible task -master, rather than a
benevolent father. Yet, as I listened , I felt inclined to think
the man was sincere in all he said : he must have changed his
views, and become decidedly religious ; gloomy and austere,
yet still devout. But such illusions were usually dissipated,
on coming out of church , by hearing his voice in jocund col
loquy with some of the Melthams or Greens, or, perhaps, the
Murrays themselves ; probably laughing at his own sermon,
and hoping that he had given the rascally people something to
think about ; perchance, exulting in the thought that old
Betty Holmes would now lay aside the sinful indulgence of her
pipe, which had been her daily solace for upwards of thirty
years; that George Higgins would be frightened out of his
Sabbath evening walks, and Thomas Jackson would be sorely
troubled in his conscience, and shaken in his sure and certain
hope of a joyful resurrection at the last day.
Thus, I could not but conclude that Mr Hatfield was one of
those who “ bind heavy burdens, and grievous to be borne,
and lay them upon men's shoulders, while they themselves will
not move them with one of their fingers" ; and who “ make
the word of God of none effect by their traditions, teaching for
doctrines the cornmandments of men .” I was well pleased to
observe that the new curate resembled him , as far as I could
see, in none of these particulars.
Well, Miss Grey, what do you think of him now ? ” said
Miss Murray, as we took our places in the carriage after
service.
“ No harm still," replied I.
“ No harm !" repeated she, in amazement. " What do you
mean ? ”
“ I mean, I think no worse of him than I did before.”
“ No worsel I should think not indeed --quite the contrary !
Is he not greatly improved ? ”
“ Oh, yes; very much indeed,” replied I ; for I had now
discovered that it was Harry Meltham she meant, not Mr
Weston . That gentleman had eagerly come forward to speak
to the young ladies: a thing he would hardly have ventured
to do had their mother been present; he had likewise politely
handed them into the carriage. He had not attempted to
shut me out, like Mr Hatfield ; neither, of course, had he offered
me his assistance (I should not have accepted it, if he had ),
AGNES GREY . 353
but as long as the docr remained openhe had stood smirking

and chatting with them , and then lifted his hat and departed
to his own abode : but I had scarcely noticed him all the time.
My companions, however, had been more observant ; and, as
we rolled along, they discussed between them not only his
looks, words , and actions, but every feature of his face, and
every article of his apparel.
“ You shan't have him all to yourself, Rosalie,” said Miss
Matilda at the close of this discussion ; " I like him : I know
he'd make a nice, jolly companion for me.
“Well, you 're quite welcome to him, Matilda,” replied her
sister, in a tone of affected indifference.
And I'm sure,” continued the other, " he admires me quite
as much as he does you ; doesn't he, Miss Grey ? "
“ I don't know ; I'm not acquainted with his sentiments."
“ Well, but he does though .”
My dear Matilda ! nobody will ever admire you till you
get rid of your rough, awkward manners ."
Oh, stuff ! Harry Meltham likes such manners ; and so do
papa's friends."
“ Well, you may captivate old men, and younger sons; but
nobody else , I am sure, will ever take a fancy to you .”
" I don't care : I'm not always grubbing after money, like
you and mamma. If my husband is able to keep a few good
horses and dogs, I shall be quite satisfied ; and all the rest may
go to the devil ! ”
Well, if you use such shocking expressions, I'm sure no
real gentleman will ever venture to come near you. Really,
Miss Grey, you should not let her do so . "
“ I can't possibly prevent it, Miss Murray."
“ And you're quite mistaken, Matilda, in supposing that
Harry Meltham admires you : I assure you he does nothing
of the kind .”
Matilda was beginning an angy reply ; but, happily, our
journey was now at an end ; and the contention was cut short
by the footman opening the carriage door, and letting down
the steps for our descent.
23
3.54 AGNES GREY .
CHAPTER XI.
THE COTTAGERS .
As I had now only one regular pupil — though she contrived

to give me as much trouble as three or four ordinary ones,
and though her sister still took lessons in German and drawing
- I had considerably more time at my own disposal than I had
ever been blessed with before, since I had taken upon me the
governess's yoke; which time I devoted partly to correspond
ence with my friends, partly to reading, study, and the prac
tice of music, singing, &c. , partly to wandering in the grounds
or adjacent fields, with my pupils if they wanted me, alone if
they did not.
Often, when they had no more agreeable occupation at
hand, the Misses Murray would amuse themselves with visit
ing the poor cottagers on their father's estate, to receive their
flattering homage, or to hear the old stories or gossiping
news of the garrulous old women ; or, perhaps, to enjoy the
purer pleasure of making the poor people happy with their
cheering presence and their occasional gifts, so easily bestowed,
so thankfully received. Sometimes, I was called upon to
accompany one or both of the sisters in these visits ; and
sometimes I was desired to go alone, to fulfil some promise
which they had been more ready to make than to perform ;
to carry some small donation, or read to one who was sick or
seriously disposed : and thus I made a few acquaintances
among the cottagers ; and, occasionally, I went to see them on
my own account.
I generally had more satisfaction in going alone than with
either of the young ladies ; for they, chiefly owing to their
defective education, comported themselves towards their infe
riors in a manner that was highly disagreeable for me to
witness. They never, in thought, exchanged places with
them ; and, consequently , had no consideration for their feel
ings, regarding them as an order of beings entirely different
from themselves. They would watch the poor creatures at
their meals, making uncivil remarks about their food , and
their manner of eating ; they would laugh at their simple
notions and provincial expressions, till some of them scarcely
durst venture to speak ; they would call the grave elderly men
and women old fools and silly old blockheads to their faces:
AGNES GREY . 355
and all this without meaning to offend . I could see that the
people were often hurt and annoyed by such conduct, though
their fear of the “ grand ladies" prevented them from testifying
any resentment ; but they never perceived it. They thought
that, as these cottagers were poor and untaught, they must be
stupid and brutish ; and as long as they , their superiors, con
descended to talk to them , and to give them shillings and half
crowns, or articles of clothing, they had a right to amuse
themselves, even at their expense ; and the people must adore
them as angels of light, condescending to minister to their
necessities, and enlighten their humble dwellings.
I made many and various attempts to deliver my pupils
from these delusive notions without alarming their pride
which was easily offended , and not soon appeased — but with
little apparent result ; and I know not which was the more
reprehensible of the two : Matilda was more rude and bois
terous; but from Rosalie's womanly age and lady-like exterior
better things were expected : yet shewas as provokingly care
less and inconsiderate as a giddy child of twelve.
One bright day in the last week of February , I was walking
in the park , enjoying the threefold luxury of solitude, a book ,
and pleasant weather; for Miss Matilda had set out on her
daily ride, and Miss Murray was gone in the carriage with her
mamma to pay some morning calls. But it struck me that I
ought to leave these selfish pleasures, and the park with its
glorious canopy of bright blue sky, the west wind sounding
through its yet leafless branches, the snow -wreaths still linger
ing in its hollows, but melting fast beneath the sun, and the
graceful deer browsing on its moist herbage already assuming
the freshness and verdure of spring — and go to the cottage of
one Nancy Brown, a widow , whoseson was at work all day in
the fields, and who was afflicted with an inflammation in the
eyes ; which had for sometime incapacitated her from reading :
to her own great grief, for she was a woman of a serious,
thoughtful turn of mind. I accordingly went, and found her
alone, as usual, in her little, close, dark cottage, redolent of
smoke and confined air, but as tidy and clean as she could
make it. She was seated beside her littlefire ( consisting of a
few red cinders and a bit of stick ), busily knitting, with a
small sackcloth cushion at her feet, placed for the accommo
dation of her gentle friend the cat; who was seated thereon
with her longtail half encircling her velvet paws, and her
halt-closed eyes dreamily gazing on the low, crooked fender.
356 AGNES GREY.
Well, Nancy, how are you to -day ? "

“ Why, middling, miss, i' myseln - my eyes is no better, hut
I'm a deal easier i' my mind nor I have been ," replied she, 1
rising to welcome me with a contented smile: which I was

glad to see, for Nancy had been somewhat afflicted with
religious melancholy. I congratulated her upon the change.
She agreed that it was a great blessing, and expressed her
self “ right down thankful for it; " adding, “ If it please God
to spare my sight, and make me so as I can read my Bible
again, I think I shallbe as happy as a queen.”
“ I hope he will, Nancy,” replied I ; " and, meantime, I'l
come and read to you now and then, when I have a little
time to spare."
With expressions of grateful pleasure, the poor woman
moved to get me a chair ; but, as I saved her the trouble,
she busied herself with stirring the fire, and adding a few
more sticks to the decaying embers ; and then , taking her
well-used Bible from the shelf, dusted it carefully, and gave it
me .
On my asking ifthere was any particular part she
should like me to read, she answered,
“ Well, Miss Grey, if it's all the same to you I should like
to hear that chapter in the First Epistle of St. John, that says, 1
" God is love, and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God,
and God in him .""
With a little searching, I found these words in the fourth
chapter. When I came to the seventh verse she interrupted
me, and, with needless apologies for such a liberty, desired
me to read it very slowly, that she might take it all in, and
dwell on every word; hoping I would excuse her, as she was
but a “ simple body."
“ The wisest person," I replied, "might think over each
of these verses for an hour , and be all the better for it ; and
I would rather read them slowly than not .”
Accordingly, I finished the chapter as slowly as need be,
and at the same time as impressively as I could ; my auditor
iistened most attentively all the while, and sincerely thanked
me when I had done. I sat still about half a minute to give
ner tiine to reflect upon it ; when, somewhat to my surprise,
she broke the pause by asking me how I liked Mr Weston ?
“ I don't know ,” I replied, a little startled by the suddengess
of the question ; “ I think he preaches very well,"
“ Ay, he does so ; and talks well too . "
" Does he ? "
AGNES GREY . 357
“ He does. Maybe, you haven't seen hin—not to talk to

him much, yet ? "
“ No, I never see any one to talk to - except the young
ladies of the hall."
“ Ah ; they ’re nice, kind young ladies; but they can't talk
as he does.”
“ Then he comes to see you, Nancy ?”
“ He does, Miss ; and I'se thankful for it. He comes to see
all us poor bodies a deal ofter nor Maister Bligh, or th’ Rector
ever did ; an' it 's well he does, for he'salways welcome: we
can't say as much for th' Rector — there is 'at says they 're fair
feared on him. When he comes into a house, they say he's
sure to find summut wrong, and begin a calling 'em as soon as
he crosses th' doorstuns: but maybe he thinks it his duty -like
to tell 'em what's wrong. And very oft he comes o ' purpose
to reprove folk for not coming to church , or not kneeling an'
standing when other folk does, or going to the Methody
chapel , or summut o' that sort : but I can't say 'at he ever
fund much fault wi' me . He came to see me once or twice, afore
Maister Weston come, when I was so ill troubled in my mind ;
and as I had only very poor health besides , I made bold to
send for him and he came right enough . I was sore dis
tressed , Miss Grey — thank God, it's owered now — but when I
took my Bible, I could get no comfort of it at all. That very
chapter 'at you've just been reading troubled me as much as
aught— He that loveth not, knoweth not God. It seemed
fearsome to me ; for I felt that I loved neither God nor man
as I should do, and could not, if I tried ever so. And th'
chapter afore, where it says— He that is born of God cannot
commit sin. ' And another place where it says — ' Love is the
fulfilling of the Law . And many , many others, Miss: I
should fair weary you out, if I was to tell them all. But all
seemed to condemn me, and to show me 'at I was not in the
right way ; and as I knew not how to get into it, I sent our
Bill to beg Maister Hatfield to beas kind as look in on me
some day ; and when he came, I telled him all my troubles."
“ And what did he say, Nancy ? ”
Why, miss, he seemed to scorn me. I might be mista'en
—but he like gave a sort of a whistle, and I saw a bit of a
smile on his face; and he said, “ Oh it 's all stuff! You've
been among the Methodists, my good woman. But I telled
him I'd never been near the Methodies . And then he said
“ Well,' says he, you must come to church, where you 'll
358 AGNES GREY.
hear the Scriptures properly explained, instead of sitting 1
poring over your Bible athome.'

“ But I telled him I always used coming to church when I
had my health ; but this very cold winter weather I hardly
durst venture so far — and me so bad wi' th ' rheumatiz and all.
“ But he says, ' It 'll do your rheumatiz good to hobble to 1
church : there's nothing like exercise for the rheumatiz. You
can walk about the house well enough ; why can't you walk
to church ? The fact is,' says he, ' you 're getting too fond of
your ease. It's always easy to find excusesfor shirking one's
duty .'
“ But then , you know , Miss Grey, it wasn't so. However,
I telled him I'd try. • But please, sir,' says I, “ if I do go to
church , what the better shall I be ? I want to have my sins
blotted out, and to feel that they are remembered no more
against me, and that the love of God is shed abroad in my 1
heart ; and if I can get no good by reading my Bible an '
saying my prayers at home, what good shall I get by going to
church ??
" The church ,' says he, ' is the place appointed byGod for
His worship. It's your duty to go there as often as you can.
If you want comfort, you must seek it in the path of duty'
an ' a deal more he said, but I cannot remember all his fine
words. However, it all came to this, that I was to come to
church as oft as ever I could , and bring my prayer -book with
me, an' read up all the sponsers after the clerk , an' stand, an'
kneel, an’ sit, an' do all as I should, and take the Lord's supper
at every opportunity, an' hearken his sermons, and Maister
Bligh's, an ' it ’ud be all right: if I went on doing my duty, I
should get a blessing at last.
“ But if you get no comfort that way,' says he, “ it's all up.'
“ Then sir,' says I, ' should you think I'm a reprobate ?
“ Why,' says he — he says, 'if you do your best to get to
heaven and can't manage it, you must be one of those that
seek to enter in at the strait gate and shall not be able.'
“ An' then he asked me if I'd seen any of the ladies o'th'
Hall about that mornin' ; so I telled him where I had seen
the young missisgo on th’ Moss-lane ;—an' he kicked my poor
cat right across th' floor, an' went after 'em as gay as a lark :
but I was very sad. That last word o' his fair sunk into my
heart, an ' lay there like a lump o' lead, till I was weary to
bear it.
“ Howsever, I follered his advice: I thought he meant it all
AGNES GREY . 359
for th ' best, though he had a queer way with him. But you
know, miss, he's rich an' young, and such like cannot right
understand the thoughts of a poor old woman such as me.
But, howsever, I did my best to do all as he bade me — but
maybe I'm plaguing you, miss, wi' my chatter."
“ Oh no, Nancy ! Go on, and tell me all.”
“ Well, my rheumatiz got better—I know not whether wi’
going to church or not, but one frosty Sunday I got this cold
i my eyes. Th' inflammation didn'tcome on all at once like,
but bit by bit—but I wasn't going to tell you about myeyes,
I was talking about my trouble o' mind ;—and to tell the
truth, Miss Grey, I don't think it was anyways eased by
coming to church — nought to speak on , at least : I like got
my health better ; but that didn't mend my soul. I hearkened
and hearkened the ministers, and read an ' read at my prayer
book ; but it was all like sounding brass, and a tinkling
cymbal : the sermons I couldn't understand, an' th’ prayer
book only served to show me how wicked I was, that I could
read such good words an' never be no better for it, and oftens
feel it a sore labour an' a heavy task beside, instead of a
blessing and a privilege as all good Christians does. It seemed
like as all were barren an ' dark to me. And then , them
dreadful words, “Many shall seek to enter in, and shall not be
able.' They like as they fair dried up my sperrit.
“ But one Sunday, when Maister Hatfield gave out about
the sacrament, I noticed where he said, “ If there be any of you
that cannot quiet his own conscience, but requireth further
comfort or counsel, let him come to me, or some other discreet
and learned minister of God's word, and open his grief ! ' So,
next Sunday morning, afore service, I just looked into the
vestry, an' began a talking to th' Rector again. I hardly could
fashion to take such a liberty, but I thought when my soul
was at stake I shouldn't stick at a trifle . But he said he hadn't
time to attend to me then .
“ And, indeed ,' says he, “ I've nothing to say to you but
what I've said before. Take the sacrament, of course, and go
on doing your duty ; and if that won't serve you, nothing will.
So don't bother me any more.'
' So then, I went away. But I heard Maister Weston
Maister Weston was there, Miss — this was his first Sunday at
Horton, you know, an' he was i' th' vestry in his surplice,
helping th' Rector on with his gown .”
Yes , Nancy."
360 AGNES GREY .
“ And I heard him ask Maister Hatfield who I was ; an' he

says , ' Oh , she's a canting old fool.'
“ And I was very ill grieved, Miss Grey ; but I went to my
seat, and I tried to do my duty as aforetime: but I like got no
peace. An' I even took the sacrament ; but I felt as though I
were eating and drinking to my own damnation all th ' time.
So I wenthome, sorely troubled.
“ But next day, afore I'd gotten fettled up — for indeed ,
Miss, I'd no heart to sweeping an ' fettling, an ' washing pots ;
so I sat me down i' th’muck — who should comein but Maister
Weston ! I started siding stuff then, an' sweeping an' doing ;
and I expected he'd begin a calling me for my idle ways, as
Maister Hatfield would a' done ; but I was mista'en : he only
bid me good mornin' like, in a quiet dacent way. So I dusted
him a chair, an' fettled up th ' fireplace a bit ; but I hadn't for
gotten th' Rector's words, so says I, “ I wonder, sir , you should
give yourself that trouble, to come so far to see a " canting old
fool," such as me.'
“ He seemed taken aback at that; but he would fain persuade
me 'at theRector was only in jest; and when that wouldn't do,
he says, " Well,Nancy, you shouldn't think so much about it :
Mr Hatfield was a little out of humour just then : you know
we're none of us perfect — even Moses spoke unadvisedly with
his lips. But now sit down a minute, if you can spare the
time, and tell me all your doubts and fears ; and I'll try to
remove them .”
“ So I sat me down anent him. He was quite a stranger,
you know, Miss Grey, and even younger nor Maister Hatfield,
I believe; an' I had thought him not so pleasant looking as
him , and rather a bit crossish , at first to look at ; but he spake
so civil like - and when th' cat, poor thing, jumped on to his
knee, he only stroked her, and gave a bit of a smile : so I
thought that was a good sign ; for once , when she did so to th '
Rector, he knocked her off, like as it might be in scorn and
anger, poor thing. But you can't expect a cat to know
manners like a Christian, you know, Miss Grey."
“ No; of course not, Nancy. But what did Mr Weston say
then ? "
“ He said naught ; but he listened to me as steady an '
patient as could be, an' never a bit o' scorn about him ; so I
went on, an' telled him all, just as I've telled you — an' more
too .
“ Well,' says he, Mr Hatfield was quite right in telling
AGNES GREY . 361
you to persevere in doing your duty ; but in advising you to

go to church and attend to the service, and so on, he didn't
mean that was the whole of a Christian's duty : he only thought
you might there learn what more was to be done, and be led to
take delight in those exercises, instead of finding them a task
and a burden . And you had asked him to explain those
words that trouble you so much , I think he would have told
you , that if many shall seek to enter in at the strait gate and
shall not be able, it is their own sins that hinder them ; just
as a man with a large sack on his back might wish to pass
through a narrow doorway, and find it impossible to do so
unless he would leave his sack behind him. But you, Nancy,
I dare say, have no sins that you would not gladly throw aside,
if you knew how ? "
• Indeed, sir, you speak truth ,' said I.
" Well,' says he, ‘ you know the first and great command
ment — and the second, which is like unto it-on which two
commandments hang all the law and the prophets ? You say
you cannot love God ; but it strikes me that if you rightly
consider who and what he is, you cannot help it. He is your
father, your best friend : every blessing, everything good ,
pleasant, or useful, comes from him ; and everything evil,
everything you have reason to hate, to shun, or to fear, comes
from Satan — His enemy as well as ours. cause
And for this
was God manifest in the flesh , that He might destroy the
works of the devil : in one word, God is LOVE ; and themore
of love we have within us, the nearer we are to Him , and the
more of His spirit we possess.'
“ Well, sir,' I said, if I can always think on these things,
I think I might well love God : but how can I love my neigh
bours, when they vex me, and be so contrairy and sinful as
some on 'em is ?
" It may seem a hard matter,' says he, ' to love our
neighbours, who have so much of what is evil about them ,
and whose faults so often awaken the evil that lingers within
ourselves ; but remember that He made them , and He loves
them ; and whosoever loveth him that begat, loveth him that
is begotten also. And if God so loveth us, that He gave
His only begotten Son to die for us, we ght also to love one
another. But if you cannot feel positive affection for those
who do not care for you, you can at least try to do to them
as you would they should do unto you : you can endeavour
to pity their failings and excuse their offences, and to do all
362 AGNES GREY .
the good you can to those about you. And if you accustom
yourself to this, Nancy, the very effort itself will make you
love them in some degree—to say nothing of the goodwill
your kindness would beget in them , though they might have
little else that is good about them. If we love God and wish
to serve him , let us try to be like Him, to do His work , to
labour for His glory — which is the good of man — to hasten
the coming of His kingdom , which is the peace and happiness
of all the world : however powerless we may seem to be, in
doing all the good we can through life, the humblest of us
may do much towards it ; and let us dwell in love, that He
may dwell in us and we in Him . The more happiness we
bestow, the more we shall receive, even here ; and the greater
will be our reward in heaven when we rest from our labours.'
I believe, miss, them is his very words, for I've thought 'em
ower many a time. An' then he took that Bible, an' read bits
here and there, an' explained 'em as clear as the day : and it
seemed like as a new light broke in on my soul; an ' I felt
fair a glow about my heart, an' only wished poor Bill an' all
the world could ha'been there, an' heard it all, and rejoiced
wi' me .
“ After he was gone, Hannah Rogers, one o' th' neighbours,
came in and wanted me to help her to wash . I telled her I
couldn't just then, for I hadn't set on th ' potaties for th'
dinner, nor washed up th' breakfast stuff yet. So then she
began a calling me for my nasty idle ways. I was a little
bit vexed at first, but I never said nothing wrong to her : I
only telled her, like all in a quiet way, 'at I'd had th’ new
parson to see me ; but I'd get done as quick as ever I could,
an' then come an' help her. So then she softened down ; and
my heart like as it warmed towards her, an' in a bit we was
very good friends. An' so it is, Miss Grey, ' a soft answer
turneth away wrath ; but grievous words stir up anger. It
isn't only in them you speak to, but in yourself.”
“ Very true, Nancy, if we could always remember it."
“ Ay, if we could !"
" And did Mr Weston ever come to see you again ?
Yes, many a time ; and since my eyes has been so bad,
he's sat an ' read to me by the half -hour together : but you
know, miss, he has other folks to see, and other things to do
-God bless him ! An' that next Sunday he preached such
a sermon ! His text was, ' Come unto me all ye that labour
and are heavy laden , and I will give you rest, and them two
AGNES GREY . 363
blessed verses that follows. You wasn't there, miss, you was
with your friends then — but it made me so happy ! And I
am happy now, thank God ! an' I take a pleasure, now, in
doing little bits o' jobs for my neighbours — such as a poor old
body 'a' ts half blind can do; and they take it kindly of me,
just as he said. You see, miss, I'm knitting a pair o'stockings
now ;—they ’re for Thomas Jackson : he's a queerish old body,
an' we've had many a bout at threaping, one anent t’ other ;
an' at times we've differed sorely. So I thought I couldn't do
better nor knit him a pair o'warm stockings; an' I've felt to
like him a deal better, poor old man, sin' I began. It 's turned
out just as Maister Weston said . ”
" Well, I'm very glad to see you so happy, Nancy, and
so wise : but I must go now ; I shall be wanted at the Hall,"
said I ; and bidding her good -bye, I departed, promising to
come again when I had time, and feeling nearly as happy as
herself.
At another time, I went to read to a poor labourer who
was in the last stage of consumption. The young ladies had
been to see him, and somehow a promise of reading had been
extracted from them ; but it was too much trouble, so they
begged me to do it instead. I went, willingly enough ; and
there too I was gratified with the praises of Mr Weston, both
from the sick man and his wife. The former told me that he
derived great comfort and benefit from the visits of the new
parson, who frequently came to see him, and was “ another
guess sort of man ,” to Mr Hatfield ; who before the other's
arrival at Horton had now and then paid him a visit ; on
which occasions he would always insist upon having the
cottage door kept open, to admit the fresh air for his own
convenience, without considering how it might injure the
sufferer; and having opened his Prayer book and hastily read
over a part of the Service for the sick, would hurry away
again : if he did not stay to administer some harsh rebuke to
the afflicted wife, or to make some thoughtless, not to say
heartless, observation, rather calculated to increase than
diminish the troubles of the suffering pair.
“ Whereas," said the man, “ Maister Weston ’ull pray with
me quite in a different fashion , an' talk to me as kind as owt ;
an' oft read to me too, an' sit beside me just like a brother."
“ Just for all the world !” exclaimed his wife ; " an' about
a three wik sin', when he seed how poor Jem shivered wi'
cold, an' what pitiful fires we kept, he axed if wer stock of
364 AGNES GREY.
coals was nearly done. I telled him it was, an’ we was ill
set to get more : but you know mum I didn't think o' him
helping us ; but howsever, he sent us a sack o' coals next
day ; an' we've had good fires ever sin : an' a great blessing
it is, this winter time. But that 's his way, Miss Grey: when
lie comes into a poor body's house a seein' sick folk, he like
notices what they most stand i' need on ; an' if he thinks
they can't readily get it therseln, he never says nowt about
it, but just gets it for 'em. An'it isn't everybody ’at 'ud do
that, 'at has as little as he has : for you know, mum , he's
now't at all to live on but what he gets fra' th' rector, an'
that's little enough they say."
I remembered then, with a species of exultation, that he
had frequently been styled a vulgar brute by the amiable
Miss Murray,because he wore a silver watch, and clothes not
quite so bright and fresh as Mr Hatfield's.
In returning to the lodge I felt very happy, and thanked
God that I had now something to think about ; something to
dwell on as a relief from the weary monotony, the lonely
drudgery, of my present life : for I was lonely. Never, froin
month to month,from year to year, except during my brief
intervals of rest at home, did I see one creature to whom I
could open my heart, or freely speak my thoughts with any
hope of sympathy, or even comprehension : never one, unless
it were poor Nancy Brown, with whom I could enjoy a single
moment of real social intercourse, or whose conversation was
calculated to render me better, wiser, or happier than before ;
or who, as far as I could see, could be greatly benefited by
mine. My only companions had been unamiable children,
and ignorant, wrong -headed girls ; from whose fatiguing folly,
unbroken solitude was often a relief most earnestly desired
and dearly prized. But to be restricted to such associates
was a serious evil, both in its immediate effects and the conse
quences that were likely to ensue. Never a new idea or
stirring thought came to me from without ; and such as rose
within mewere, for the most part, miserably crushed at once,
or doomed to sicken and fade away, because they could not
seethe light.
Habitual associates are known to exercise a great influence
over each other's minds and manners. Those whose actions
are for ever before our eyes, whose words are ever in our
ears, will naturally lead us, albeit against our will, slowly,
gradually, imperceptibly, perhaps, to act and speak as they
AGNES GREY . 365
do. I will not presume to say how far this irresistible power
of assimilation extends; but if one civilized man were doomed
to pass a dozen years amid a race of intractable savages,
unless he had power to improve them , I greatly question
whether, at the close of that period, he would not have
become, at least, a barbarian himself. And I, as I could not
make my young companions better, feared exceedingly that
they would make me worse — would gradually bring my
feelings, habits, capacities, to the level of their own ; with
out, however, imparting to me their light-heartedness and
cheerful vivacity .
Already, I seemed to feel my intellect deteriorating, my
heart petrifying, my soul contracting ; and I trembled lest
my very moral perceptions should become deadened, my
distinctions of right and wrong confounded, and all my better
faculties be sunk, at last, beneath the baneful influence of
such a mode of life. The gross vapours of earth were
gathering around me, and closing in upon my inward heaven ;
and thus it was that Mr Weston rose at length upon me,
appearing like the morning -star in my horizon, to save me
from the fearof utter darkness; and I rejoiced that I had now
a subject for contemplation that was above me, not beneath.
I was glad to see that all the world was not made up of
Bloomfields, Murrays, Hatfields, Ashbys, &c.; and that human
excellence was not a mere dream of the imagination. When
we hear a little good and no harm of a person, it is easy and
pleasant to imagine more : in short, it is needless to analyze
all my thoughts; but Sunday was now become a day of pecu
liar delight to me (I was now almost broken- in to the back
corner in. the carriage), for I liked to hear him—and I liked
to see him, too ; though I knew he was not handsome, or even
what is called agreeable, in outward aspect: but, certainly, he
was not ugly.
In stature he was a little, a very little, above the middle
size ;
the outline of his face would be pronounced too square
for beauty, but to me it announced decision of character; his
dark brown hair was not carefully curled, like Mr Hatfield's,
but simply brushed aside over a broad white forehead ; the
eyebrows, I suppose, were too projecting, but from under
those dark brows there gleamed an eye of singular power ,
brown in colour, not large, and somewhat deepset, but
strikingly brilliant, and full of expression ; there was cha
racter, too, in the mouth, something that bespoke a man of
366 AGNES GREY .
firm purpose and a habitual thinker ; and when he smiled

but I will not speak of that yet, for, at the time I mention, I
had never seen him smile : and, indeed, his general appearance
did not impress me with the idea of a man given to such a
relaxation, nor of such an individual as the cottagers described 1
him. I had early formed my opinion of him ; and, in spite of
Miss Murray's objurgations, was fully convinced that he was
a man of strong sense, irm faith , and ardent piety, but
thoughtful and stern: and when I found that, to his other
good qualities, was added that of true benevolence and gentle,
considerate kindness, the discovery, perhaps, delighted me the
more, as I had not been prepared to expect it.
CHAPTER XII.
THE SHOWER .
The next visit I paid to Nancy Brown was in the second week
in March: for, though I had many spare minutes during the
day, I seldom could look upon an hour as entirely my own;
since, where everything was left to the caprices of Miss
Matilda and her sister, there could be no order or regularity.
Whatever occupation I chose, when not actually busied about
hem or their concerns, I had , as it were, to keep my loins
girded, my shoes on my feet, and my staff in my hand ; for
not to be immediately forthcoming when called for, was
regarded as a grave and inexcusable offence : not only by my
pupils and their mother, but by the very servant, who came
in breathless haste to call me, exclaiming, “ You're to go to
the schoolroom directly, mum—the young ladies is WAITING !! "
Climax of horror ! actually waiting for their governess !!! 1
But this time I was pretty sure of an hour or two to my

self ; for Matilda was preparing for a long ride, and Rosalie
was dressing for a dinner party at Lady Ashby's: so I took
the opportunity of repairing to the widow's cottage, where I
found her in some anxiety about her cat, which had been
absent all day. I comforted her with as many anecdotes of
that animal's roving propensities as I could recollect. “ I'm
feared o' th ' gamekeepers," said she, “ that's all 'at I think on . 1
AGNES GREY. 367
If th' young gentlemen had been at home, I should a ' thought

they'd been setting their dogs at her, 'an' worried her, poor
thing, as they did many a poor thing's cat ; but I haven't that
to be feared on now." Nancy's eyes were better, butstill far
from well : she had been trying to make a Sunday shirt for
her son , but told me she could only bear to do a little bit at it
now and then , so that it progressed but slowly , though the
poor lad wanted it sadly. So I proposed to help her a little,
after I had read to her, for I had plenty of time that evening ,
and need not return till dusk. She thankfully accepted the
offer. “ An' you 'll be a bit o' company for me too , miss,"
said she ; “ I like as I feel lonesome without my cat.” But
when I had finished reading , and done the half of a seam,
with Nancy's capacious brass thimble fitted on to my finger
by means of a roll of paper , I was disturbed by the entrance
of Mr Weston , with the identical cat in his arms. I now saw
that he could smile, and very pleasantly too.
“ I've done you a piece of good service, Nancy,” he began :
then seeing me, he acknowledged my presence by a slight
bow. I should have been invisible to Hatfield, or any other
gentleman of those parts. “ I've delivered your cat,” he con
tinued, “from the hands, or rather the gun, of MrMurray's
gamekeeper .”
“ God bless you , sir ! ” cried the grateful old woman, ready
to weep for joy as she received her favourite from his arms.
“ Take care of it,” said he, “ and don't let it go near the
rabbit warren , for the gamekeeper swears he'll shoot it if he
sees it there again : he would have done so to-day, if I had
not been in time to stop him. I believe it is raining, Miss
Grey ," added he , more quietly, observing that I had put aside
my work , and was preparing to depart. " Don't let me dis
turb you—I shan't stay twominutes.”
“ You 'll both stay while this shower gets owered ," said
Nancy, as she stirred the fire, and placed another chair beside
it ; " what ! there's room for all.”
" I can see better here, thank you, Nancy ," replied I,
taking my work to the window, where she had the goodness
to suffer me to remain unmolested, while she got a brush to
remove the cat's hairs from Mr Weston's coat, carefully wiped
the rain from his hat, and gave the cat its supper, busily talk
ing all the time : now thanking her clerical friend for what he
had done ; now wondering how the cat had found out the
warren ; and now lamenting the probable consequences of such
368 AGNES GREY .
a discovery. He listened with a quiet, good natured smile,

and at length took a seat in compliance with her pressing
invitations, but repeated that he did not mean to stay .
“ I have another place to go to ,” said he, “ and I see "
( glancing at the book on the table) some one else has been
reading to you.”
“ Yes, sir; Miss Grey has been as kind as read me a chap
ter ; an' now she's helping me with a shirt for our Bill — but
I'm feared she 'll be cold there. Won't you come to th' fire,
miss ? ”
“ No, thank you, Nancy , I'm quite warm . I must go as
soon as this shower is over.
“ Oh, miss ! You said you could stop while dusk ! ” cried
the provoking old woman, and Mr Weston seized his hat.
Nay, sir,” exclaimed she, “ pray don't go now, while it
rains so fast."
“ But it strikes me I'm keeping your visitor away from
the fire."
“ No, you're not, Mr Weston ,” replied I, hoping there was
no harm in a falsehood of that description .
“ No, sure !” cried Nancy. What, there's lots o'
room !”
“ Miss Grey,” said he, half -jestingly, as he felt it neces 1
sary to change the present subject , whether he had anything

particular to say or not, “ I wish you would make my peace !
with the squire , when you see him . He was by when I rescued
Nancy's cat, and did not quite approve of the deed . I told
him I thought he might better spare all his rabbits than she
her cat, for which audacious assertion he treated me to some
rather ungentlemanly language ; and I fear I retorted a trifle
too warmly ."
Oh, lawful sir ! I hope you didn't fall out wi' th' maister
for sake o' my cat ! he cannot bide answering again — can th'
maister.”
“ Oh ! it's no matter, Nancy : I don't care about it, really ; 1
I said nothing very uncivil ; and I suppose Mr Murray is accus
tomed to use rather strong language when he's heated .”
Ay, sir : it's a pity ! ”
“ And now , I really must go, I have to visit a place a
mile beycr.d this; and you would not have me to return in the
dark : besides, it has nearly done raining now — so good evening,
Nancy. Good evening, Miss Grey."
“ Good evening , Mr Weston ; but don't depend upon me for
AGNES GREY 369
making your peace with Mr Murray, for I never see him — to

speak to ."
“ Don't you? it can't be helped then,” replied he in dolorous
resignation : then with a peculiar half-smile, he added , “ But
never mind ; I imagine the squire has more to apologize for
than I.” And left the cottage.
I went on with my sewingas long as I could see, and then
bade Nancy good-evening ; checking her too lively gratitude
by the undeniable assurance that I had only done for her what
she would have done for me, if she had been in my place and
I in hers. I hastened back to Horton Lodge, where having
entered the schoolroom , I found the tea-table all in confusion,
the tray flooded with slops, and Miss Matilda in a most fero
cious humour.
“ Miss Grey, whatever have you been about ? I've had tea
half an hour ago, and had to make it myself, and drink it all
alone ! I wish you would come in sooner !”
“ I've been to see Nancy Brown. I thought you would not
be back from your ride . "
“ How could I ride in the rain, I should like to know ?
That damned pelting shower was vexatious enough - coming
on when I was just in full swing : and then to come and find
nobody in to tea !—and you know I can't make the tea as I
like it."
“ I didn't think of the shower ,” replied I (and, indeed, the
thought of its driving her home had never entered my head ).
No, of course; you were under shelter yourself, and you
never thought of other people.”
I bore her coarse reproaches with astonishing equanimity,
even with cheerfulness; for I was sensible that I had done
more good to Nancy Brown than harm to her: and perhaps
some other thoughts assisted to keep up my spirits, and impart
a relish to the cup of cold, overdrawn tea, and a charm to
the otherwise unsightly table ; and — I had almost said—tu
Miss Matilda's unamiable face. But she soon betook herself
to the stablas, and left me to the quiet enjoyment of my solitary
meal.
24
370 AGNES GREY .
CHAPTER XIII .
THE PRIMROSES .
Miss MURRAY now always went twice to church, for she so

loved admiration that she could not bear to lose a single
opportunity of obtaining it ; and she was so sure of it wherever
she showed herself, that whether Harry Meltham and Mr
Green were there or not, there was certain to be somebody
present who would not be insensible to her charms : besides
the Rector, whose official capacity generally obliged him to
attend. Usually, also, if the weather permitted, both she and
her sister would walk home; Matilda, because she hated the
confinement of the carriage ; she, because she disliked the
privacy of it, and enjoyed the company that generally enlivened
the first mile of the journey in walking from the church to
Mr Green's park-gates : near which commenced the private
road to Horton Lodge, which lay in the opposite direction;
while the highway conducted in a straightforward course
to the still more distant mansion of Sir Hugh Meltham.
Thus there was always a chance of being accompanied , so far,
eithe: by Harry Meltham , with or without Miss Meltham , ori
Mr Green, with perhaps one or both of his sisters, and any
gentlemen visitors they might have. !
Whether I walked with the young ladies or rode with tneir

parents, depended upon their own capricious will : if they
chose to " take" me, I went ; if, for reasons best known to
themselves, they chose to go alone, I took my seat in the
carriage. I liked walking better, but a sense of reluctance to
obtrude my presenceon any one who did not desire it, always
kept me passive on these and similar occasions; and I never
inquired into the causes of their varying whims. Indeed, this
was the best policy — for to submit and oblige was the gover
ness's part, to consult their own pleasure was that of the
pupils. But when I did walk , the first half of the journey
was generally a great nuisance to me. As none of the before .
mentioned ladies and gentlemen ever noticed me, it was dis
agreeable to walk beside them , as if listening to what they
said, or wishing to be thought one of them , while they talked
over me, or across ; and if their eyes, in speaking, chanced to
fall on me, it seemed as if they looked on vacancy — as if they
either did not see me, or were very desirous to make it appear
AGNES GREY. 371
It was disagreeable, too , to walk behind, and thus appear

to acknowledge my own inferiority ; for, in truth, I considered
myself pretty nearly as good as the best of them, and wished
them to know that I did so, and not to imagine that I looked
upon myself as a mere domestic, who knew her own placetoo
well to walk beside such fine ladies and gentlemen as they
were — though her young ladies might choose to have her with
them , and even condescend converse with her when no
better company were at hand. Thus — I am almost ashamed
to confess it — but indeed I gave myself no little trouble in my
endeavours (if I did keep up with them ) to appear perfectly
unconscious or regardlessof their presence, as if I were wholly
absorbed in my own reflections, or the contemplation of sur
rounding objects; or, if I lingered behind , it was some bird or
insect, some tree or flower, that attracted my attention, and
having duly examined that, I would pursue my walk alone, at
a leisurely pace , until my pupils had bidden adieu to their
companions, and turned off into the quiet, private road .
One such occasion I particularly well remember : it was a
lovely afternoon about the close ofMarch ; Mr Green and his
sisters had sent their carriage back empty, in order to enjoy
the bright sunshine and balmy air in a sociable walk home
along with their visitors, Captain Somebody and Lieutenant
Somebody else (a couple of military fops), and the Misses
Murray, who, of course, contrived to join them . Such a party
was highly agreeable to Rosalie ; but not finding it equally
suitable to my taste, I presently fell back, and began to
botanize andentomologize along the green banks and budding
hedges, till the company was considerably in advance of me,
and I could hear the sweet song of the happy lark ; then my
spirit of misanthropy began to melt away beneath the soft,
pure air and genial sunshine : but sad thoughts of early
childhood, and yearnings for departed joys, or for a brighter
future lot, arose instead. As my eyes wandered over the
steep banks covered with young grass and green-leaved plants,
and surmounted by budding hedges, I longed intensely for
some familiar flower that might recall the woody dales or
green hill sides of home : the brown moorlands, of course, were
outof the question. Such a discovery would make myeyes
gush out with water, no doubt ; but that was one of my
greatest enjoyments now. At length I descried , high up
between the twisted roots of an oak , three lovely primroses,
peeping so sweetly from their hiding -place that the tears
372 AGNES GREY.
already started at the sight; but they grew so high above me,
that I tried in vain to gather one or two, to dream over and
to carry with me : I could not reach them unless I climbed
the bank , which I was deterred from doing by hearing a
footstep at that moment behind me, and was, therefore, about
to turn away, when I was startled by the words, “ Allow me
to gather them for you, Miss Grey," spoken in the grave, low
tones of a well-known voice. Immediately the flowers were
gathered, and in my hand. It was Mr Weston, of coursem
who else would trouble himself to do so much for me ? ”
I thanked him ; whether warmly or coldly, I cannot tell :
but certain I am that I did not express half the gratitude I
felt. It was foolish , perhaps, to feel any gratitude at all ; but
it seemed to me, at that moment, as if this were a remarkable
instance of his good nature : an act of kindness which I could
not repay, but never should forget : so utterly unaccustomed
was I to receive such civilities, so little prepared to expect
them from any one within fifty miles of Horton Lodge. Yet
this did not prevent ine from feeling a little uncomfortable in
his presence; and I proceeded to follow my pupils at a much
quicker pace than before; though, perhaps, if Mr Weston had
taken the hint and let me pass without another word, I might
have repented it an hour after : but he did not. A somewhat
rapid walk for me, was but an ordinary pace for him.
** Your young ladies have left you alone,” said he.
“ Yes , they are occupied with more agreeable company."
“ Then don't trouble yourself to overtake them.”
I slackened my pace ; but next moment gretted having
done so : my companion did not speak ; and I had nothing
in the world to say, and feared he might be in the same predi
cament. At length, however, he broke the pause by asking,
with a certain quiet abruptness peculiar to himself, if I liked
flowers.
“ Yes ; very much ," I answered : I wild flowers espe
cially ."
“ I like wild flowers," said he ; “ others I don't care about,
because I have no particular associations connected with them
-except one or two. What are your favourite flowers ? "
“ Primroses, blue-bells, and heath -blossoms. "
“ Not violets ? ”
“ No ; because, as you say, I have no particular associa
tions connected with them ; for there are no sweet violets
among the hills and valleys round my home."
AGNES GREY . 373
“ It must be a great consolation to you to have a home,

Miss Grey ," observed my companion after a short pause :
“ however remote, or however seldom visited , still it is some
thing to look to ."
“ It is so much that I think I could not live without it,"
replied I, with an enthusiasm of which I immediately re
pented ; for I thought it must have sounded essentially silly.
“ Oh yes; you could,” said he, with a thoughtful smile.
“ The ties that bind us to life are tougher than you imagine,
or than any one can who has not felt how roughly they may
be pulled without breaking. You might be miserable with
out a home, but even you could live ; and not so miserably
as you suppose. The human heart is like Indian rubber : a
little swells it, but a great deal will not burst it. If ' little
more than nothing will disturb it, little less than all things
will suffice ' to break it. As in the outer members of our
frame, there is a vital power inherent in itself, that strengthens
it against external violence. Every blow that shakes it will
serve to harden it against a future stroke ; as constant labour
thickens the skin of the hand , and strengthens its muscles
instead of wasting them away : so that a day of arduous toil
that might excoriate a lady's palm , would make no sensible
impression on that of a hardy ploughman .
“ I speak from experience -- partly my own. There was a
time when I thought as you do—at least, I was fully persuaded
that home and its affections were the only things that made
life tolerable : that, if deprived of these, existence would become
a burden hard to be endured ; but now I have no home
unless you would dignify my two hired rooms at Horton by
such a name ;—and not twelve months ago, I lostthe last and
dearest of my early friends ; and yet, not only I live, but I
am not wholly destitute of hope and comfort, even for this
life: though I must acknowledge that I can seldom enter even
an humble cottage at the close of day, and see its inhabitants
peaceably gathered around their cheerful hearth, without a
feeling almost of envy at their domestic enjoyment.”
“ You don't know what happiness lies before you yet,” said
I : "you are now only in the commencement of your journey."
“ The best of happiness," replied he, “ is mine already — the
power and the will to be useful.”
We now approached a style communicating with a footpath
that conducted to a farm -house, where, I suppose, Mr. Weston
purposed to make himself “ useful" ; for he presently took
374 AGNES GREY .
leave of me, crossed the style, and traversed the path with his
usual firm , elastic tread , leaving me to ponder his words as I
continued my course alone. I had heard before that he had
lost his mother not many months before he came. She then
was the last and dearest of his early friends ; and he had no
home. I pitied him from my heart : I almost wept for sym
pathy. And this, I thought, accounted for the shade of pre
mature thoughtfulness that so frequently clouded his brow,
and obtained for him the reputation of a morose and sullen
disposition with the charitable Miss Murray and all her kin.
“ But,” thought I, “ he is not so miserable as I should be
under such a deprivation : he leads an active life ; and a wide
field for useful exertion lies before him. He can make friends;
and he can make a home too, if he pleases ; and, doubtless, he
will please some time. God grant the partner of that home
may be worthy of his choice, and make it a happy one — such
a home as he deserves to have ! And how delightful it would
be to But no matter what I thought.
I began this book with the intention of concealing nothing;
that those who liked might have the benefit of perusing a
fellow -creature's heart : but we have some thoughts that all
the angels in heaven are welcome to behold, but not our
brother-men — not even the best and kindest amongst them .
By this time the Greens had taken themselves to their own
abode, and the Murrays had turned down the private road,
whither I hastened to follow them . I found the two girls
warm in an animated discussion on the respective merits of
the two young officers; but on seeing me Rosalie broke off in
the middle of a sentence to exclaim , with malicious glee
“ Oh, ho, Miss Grey ! you 're come at last, are you ? No
wonder you lingered so long behind ; and no wonder you
always stand up so vigorously for Mr. Weston when I abuse
him . Ah , ha ! I see it all now ! ”
“Now, come, Miss Murray, don't be foolish ," said I, attempt
ing a good-natured laugh ; " you know such nonsense can
make no impression on me."
But she still went on talking such intolerable stuff_her
sister helping her with appropriate fiction coined for the occa
sion — that I thought it necessary to say something in my
own justification.
“ What folly all this is !” I exclaimed . “ If Mr Weston's
road happened to be the same as mine for a few yards, and if
he chose to exchange a word or two in passing , what is there
AGNES GREY . 375
so remarkable in that ? I assure you, I never spoke to him

before; except once."
“Where ? where ? and when ? " cried they eagerly.
"In Nancy's cottage."
Ah, ha ! you've met him there, have you ?” exclaimed
Rosalie, with exultant laughter. "Ah ! now, Matilda, I've
found out why she's so fond of going to Nancy Brown's !
she goes there to flirt with Mr Weston .'
“Really, that is not worth contradicting !-I only saw him
there once, I tell you — and how could I know he was
coming ? ”
Irritated as I was at their foolish mirth and vexatious
imputations, the uneasiness did not continue long : when they
had had their laugh out, they returned again to the captain
and lieutenant; and, while they disputed and commented
upon them , my indignation rapidly cooled ; the cause of it was
quickly forgotten, and I turned my thoughts into a pleasanter
channel. Thus we proceeded up the park, and entered the
hall ; and as I ascended the stairs to my own chamber, I had
but one thought within me: my heart was filled to overflowing
with one single earnest wish. Having entered the room, and
shut the door, I fell upon my knees and offered up a fervent
but not impetuous prayer: “ Thy will be done,” I strove to
say throughout; but, " Father, all things are possible with
Thee, and may it be Thy will,” was sure to follow . That
wish—that prayer — both men and women would have scorned
me for— " But Father, Thou wilt not despise !" I said , and
felt that it was true . It seemed to ine that another's welfare
was at least as ardently implored for as my own ; nay, even
that was the principal object of my heart's desire. I might
have been deceiving myself; but that idea gave me confidence
to ask, and power to hope I did not ask in vain. As for the
primroses, I kept two of them in a glass in my room until
they were coinpletely withered, and the housemaid threw
them out ; and the petals of the other I pressed between the
leaves of my Bible-- I have them still, and mean to keep
them always.
376 AGXES GRET .
CHAPTER XIV.
THE RECTOR .
The following day was as fine as the preceding one. Soon

after breakfast Miss Matilda, having galloped and blundered
through a few unprofitable lessons, and vengeably thumped
the piano for an hour, in a terrible humour with both me and
it, because her mamma would not give her a holiday, had be
taken herself to her favourite places of resort, the yards, the
stables, and the dog -kennels ; and Miss Murray was gone
forth to enjoy a quiet ramble with a new fashionable novel
for her companion, leaving me in the schoolroom hard at
work upon a water-colour drawing which I had promised to
do for her, and which she insisted upon my finishing that day.
At my feet lay a little rough terrier. It was the property
of Miss Matilda ; but she hated the animal, and intended to
sell it, alleging that it was quite spoiled. It was really an
excellent dog of its kind ; but she affirmed it was fit for
nothing, and had not even the sense to know its own mistress .
The fact was, she had purchased it when but a small
puppy, insisting at first that no one should touch it but her.
self ; but, soon becoming tired of so helpless and troublesome
a nursling, she had gladly yielded to my entreaties to be
allowed to take charge of it ; and I, by carefully nursing the
little creature from infancy to adolescence, of course, had
obtained its affections : a reward I should have greatly
valued,and looked upon as far outweighing all the trouble I
had had with it, had not poor Snap's grateful feelings exposed
him to many a harsh word and many a spiteful kick and
pinch from his owner, and were he not now in danger of
being “ put away,” in consequence, or transferred to some
rough, stony -hearted master. But how could I help it ? I
could not make the dog hate me, by cruel treatment; and she
would not propitiate him by kindness.
However, while I thus sat, working away with my pencil,
Mrs. Murray came, half-sailing, half-bustling, into the room .
“ Miss Grey," she began , — “ dear ! how can you sit at your
drawing such a day as this ? " (She thought I was doing it for
my own pleasure.) “ I wonder you don't put on your bonnet
and go out with the young ladies,"
AGNES GREY . 377
“ I think , ma'am , Miss Murray is reading ; and Miss

Matilda is amusing herself with her dogs.”
“ If you would try to amuse Miss Matilda yourself a little
more, I think she would not be driven to seek amusement in
the companionship of dogs and horses, and grooms, so much
as she is ; and if you would be a little more cheerful and
conversable with Miss Murray, she would not so often go
wandering in the fields with a book in her hand. However,
I don't want to vex you,” added she, seeing, I suppose, that
my cheeks burned and my hand trembled with some un
amiable emotion . “ Do, pray , try not to be so touchy ,
there's no speaking to you else. And tell me if you know
where Rosalie is gone : and why she likes to be so much
alone ? "
“ She says she likes to be alone when she has a new book
to read .”
“ But why can't she read it in the park or the garden ?
why should she go into the fields and lanes ? And how is
it that that Mr. Hatfield so often finds her out ? She told me
last week he'd walked his horse by her side all up Moss
Lane ; and now I'm sure it was he I saw from my dressing
room window, walking so briskly past the park -gates, and on
towards the field where she so frequently goes. I wish you
would go and see if she is there ; and just gently remind her
that it is not proper for a younglady of her rankand prospects
to be wandering about by herself in that manner, exposed to
the attentions of any one that presumes to address her ; like
some poor neglected girl that has no park to walk in , and no
friends to take care of her : and tell her that her papa would
be extremely angry if he knew of her treating Mr. Hatfield
in the familiar manner that I fear she does ; and - oh ! if you
-if any governess had but half a mother's watchfulness
half a mother's anxious care, I should be saved this trouble ;
and you would see at once the necessity of keeping your eye
upon her, and making your company agreeable to — Well,
go-go ; there's no time to be lost,” cried she, seeing that I
had put away my drawing materials, and was waiting in the
door -way for the conclusion of her address.
According to her prognostications, I found Miss Murray in
her favourite field just without the park ; and, unfortunately,
not alone ; for the tall, stately figure of Mr. Hatfield was
slowly sauntering by her side.
Here was a poser for me. It was my duty to interrupt the
378 AGNES GREY .
tête- à - tête : but how was it to be done ? Mr. Hatfield could

not be driven away by so insignificant a person as I ; and to !
go and place myself on the other side of Miss Murray, and
intrude my unwelcome presence upon her without noticing
her companion, was a piece of rudeness I could not be guilty
of : neither had I the courage to cry aloud from the top of
the field that she was wanted elsewhere. So I took the inter
mediate course of walking slowly, but steadily towards them ; }
resolving, if my approach failed to scare away the beau, to
pass by and tell Miss Murray her mamma wanted her.
Shecertainly looked very charming as she strolled , linger
ing along under the budding horse -chestnut trees that stretched
their long arms over the park -palings, with her closed book in
one hand, and in the other a graceful sprig of myrtle, which
served her as a very pretty plaything; her bright ringlets
escaping profusely from her little bonnet, and gently stirred
by the breeze, her fair cheek flushed with gratified vanity , her
smiling blue eyes, now slyly glancing towards her admirer,
now gazing downward at her myrtle sprig. But Snap, run
ning before me, interrupted her in the midst of somehalf-pert, 1
half -playful repartee, by catching hold of her dress and vehe

mently tugging thereat ; till Mr. Hatfield, with his cane,
administered a resounding thwack upon the animal's skull,
and sent it yelping back to me, with a clamorous outcry that
afforded the reverend gentleman great amusement: but seeing
me so near, he thought, I suppose, he might as well be taking
his departure ; and as I stooped to caress the dog, with osten
tatious pity to show my disapproval of his severity, I heard
him say ,
“ When shall I see you again , Miss Murray ? ”
“ At church, I suppose," replied she, " unless your business
chances to bring you here again, at the precise moment when !
I happen to be walking by .”
“ I could always manage to have business here, if I knew
precisely when and where to find you."
“ But if I would , I could not inform you, for I am so im .
methodical, I never can tell to -day what I shall do to -morrow ."
“ Then give me that, meantime, to comfort iae," said he,
half jestingly and half in earnest, extending his hand for the
sprig of myrtle.
“ No, indeed, I shan't. "
“ Do ! pray do ! I shall be the most miserable of men if
you don't . You cannot be so cruel as to deny me a favour
AGNES GREY . 379
so easily granted and yet so highly prized ! " pleaded he as

ardently as if his life depended on it.
By this time, I stood within a very few yards of them ,
impatiently waiting his departure.
“ There then ! take it and go," said Rosalie.
He joyfully received the gift, murmured something that
made her blush and toss her head, but with a little laugh
that showed her displeasure was entirely affected ; and then
with a courteous salutation withdrew .
“ Did you ever see such a man, Miss Grey ? ” said she,
turning to me; “ I'm so glad you came ! I thought I never
should get rid of him ; and I was so terribly afraid of papa
seeing him ."
Has he been with you long ? ”
“ No, not long, but he's so extremely impertinent : and
he's always hanging about, pretending his business or his
clerical duties require his attendance in these parts, and
really watching for poor me, and pouncing upon me where
ever he sees me.”
“Well, your mamma thinks you ought not to go beyond
the park
like me tooraccompany
garden without some
you, and keepdiscreet,
off all matronly
intruders.person
She
descried Mr Hatfield hurrying past the park-gates, and forth
with despatched me with instructions to seek you up and to
take care of you, and likewise to warn
“ Oh, mamma's so tiresome ! As if I couldn't take care of
myself. She bothered me before about Mr Hatfield ; and I
told her she might trust me : I never should forget my rank
and station for the most delightful man that ever breathed. I
wish he would go down on his knees to -morrow, and implore
me to be his wife, that I might just show her how mistaken
she is in supposing that I could ever- Oh, it provokes me
so ! To think that I could be such a fool as to fall in love !
It is quite beneath the dignity of a woman to do such a thing.
Love ! I detest the word ! as applied to one of our sex, I think
it a perfect insult, A preference I might acknowledge ; but
never for one like poor
Mr Hatfield , who has not seven hundred
a year to bless himself with I like to talk to him , because
he's so clever and amusing-I wish Sir Thomas Ashby were
half as nice ; besides , I must have somebody to flirt with, and
no one else has the sense to come here ; and when we go out,
mamma won't let me flirt with anybody but Sir Thomas — if
hę 's there ; and if he's not there, I'm bound hand and foot,
380 AGNES GREY.
for fear somebody should go and make up some exaggerated

story, and put it into his head that I'm engaged, or likely to
be engaged, to somebody else ; or, what is more probable, for
fear his nasty old mother should see or hear of my ongoings,
and conclude that I'm not a fit wife for her excellent son : as
if the said son were not the greatest scamp in Christendom ;
and as if any woman of common decency were not a world
too good for him ."
" Is it really so, Miss Murray ? and does your mamma
know it, and yet wish you to marry him ? "
“ To be sure, she does ! She knows more against him than
I do, I believe : she keeps it from me lest I should be dis
couraged ; not knowing how little I care about such things.
For it's no great matter, really : he'll be all right when he's
married, as mamma says ; and reformed rakes make the best
husbands, everybody knows. I only wish he were not so ugly
—that's all I think about : but then there's no choice here
in the country ; and papa will not let us go to London— "
“ But I should think Mr Hatfield would be far better."
“ And so he would, if he were lord of Ashby Park — there's
not a doubt of it : but the fact is, I must have Ashby Park,
whoever shares it with me. "
“ But Mr Hatfield thinks you like him all this time ; you
don't consider how bitterly he will be disappointed when he
finds himself mistaken . "
“ No, indeed ! It will be a proper punishment for his
presumption — for ever daring to think I could like him. I
should enjoy nothing so much as lifting the veil from his
eyes.”
“ The sooner you do it the better then .”
No; I tell you, I like to amuse myself with him . Besides,
he doesn't really think I like him. I take good care of that :
I
thinkhecan inducemetolike him ; forwhich I shallpunish
him as he deserves."
Well, mind you don't give too much reason for such pre
sumption — that 's all ,” replied I.
But all my exhortations were in vain : they only made
her somewhat more solicitous to disguise her wishes and her
thoughts from me.' She talked no more to me about the
Rector; but I could see that her mind, if not her heart, was
fixed upon him still, and that she was intent upon obtaining
another interview ; for though, in compliance with her mother's
AGNES GREY. 381
request, I was now constituted the coinpanion of her rambles

for a time, she still persisted in wandering in the fields and
lanes that lay in the nearest proximity to the road ; and,
whether she talked to me or read the book she carried in her
hand, she kept continually pausing to look round her, or gaze
up the road to see if any one was coming ; and if a horseman
trotted by, I could tell by herunqualified abuse of the poor
equestrian, whoever he might be, that she hated him because
he was not Mr Hatfield .
66
Surely ,” thought I, " she is not so indifferent to him as
she believes herself to be, or would have others to believe
her; and her mother's anxiety is not so wholly causeless as
she affirms. "
Threedays passed away, and he did not make his appear
ance. On the afternoon of the fourth , as we were walking
beside the park palings in the memorable field,each furnished
with a book (for Ialways took care to provide myself with
something to be doing when she did not require me to talk ),
she suddenly interrupted my studies by exclaiming
“ Oh , Miss Grey ! do be so kind as to go and see Mark
Wood, and take his wife half -a - crown from me - I should
have given or sent it a week ago, but quite forgot. There ! ”
said she, throwing me her purse, and speaking very fast
“ Never mind getting it out now, but take the purse and give
them what you like ; I would go with you, but I want to
finish this volume. I'll come and meet you when I've done
it. Be quick, will you — and - oh, wait ; hadn't you better
read to him a bit ? Run to the house and get some sort of a
good book. Anything will do."
I did as I was desired ; but, suspecting something from
her hurried manner and the suddenness of the request, I
just glanced back before I quitted the field, and there was
Mr Hatfield about to enter at the gate below . By sending nie
to the house for a book , she had just prevented my meeting
him on the road .
“Never mind ! ” thought I, “ there'll be no great harm
done. Poor Mark will be glad of the half -crown, and perhaps
of the good book too ; and if the Rector does steal Miss
Rosalie's heart, it will only humble her pride a little ; and if
they do get married at last, it will only save her from a worse
fate ; and she will be quite a good enough partner for him,
and he for her . "
Mark Wood was the consumptive labourer whom I men
382 AGNES GREY .
ticued before. He was now rapidly wearing away. Miss

Murray, by her liberality, obtained literally the blessing of
him that was ready to perish ; for though the half - crown
could be of very little service to him, he was glad of it for
the sake of his wife and children, so soon to be widowed and
fatherless. After I had sat a few minutes, and read a little
for the comfort and edification of himself and his afflicted
wife, I left them ; but I had not proceeded fifty yards before I
encountered Mr Weston, apparently on his way to the same
abode. He greeted me in his usual quiet, unaffected way,
stopped to inquire about the condition of the sick man and
his family, and with a sort of unconscious, brotherly disregard
to ceremony , took from my hand the book out of which I had
been reading, turned over its pages, made afew brief but very
sensible remarks, and restored it ; then told me about some
poor sufferer he had just been visiting, talked a little about
Nancy Brown, made a few observations upon my little rough
friend the terrier, that was frisking at his feet, and finally
upon the beauty of the weather, and departed.
I have omitted to give a detail of his words, from a notion
that they would not interest the reader as they did me, and
not because I have forgotten them . No ; I remember them
well ; for I thought them over and over again in the course of
that day and many succeeding onės, I know not how often ;
and recalled every intonation of his deep, clear voice, every
flash of his quick, brown eye, and every gleam of his pleasant,
but too transient smile. Such a confession will look very
absurd, I fear ; but no matter : I have written it : and they that
read it will not know the writer.
While I was walking along, happy within , and pleased with
all around, Miss Murray came hastening to meet me ; her
buoyant step, flushed cheek, and radiant smiles showing that
she, too, was happy, in her own way. Running up to me, she
put her arm through mine, and without waiting to recover
breath , began
66
Now, Miss Grey, think yourself highly honoured , for I'm
come to tell you my news before I've breathed a word of it to
any one else."
“ Well, what is it ? "
Oh, such news ! In the first place, you must know that
Mr Hatfield came upon me just after you were gone. I was
in such a way for fear papa or mamma should see him ; but
you know I couldn't call you back again , and so I - oh,
AGNES GREY. 383
dear ! I can't tell you all about it now, for there's Matilda, I
see, in the park, and I must go and open my budget to her.
But, however, Hatfield was most uncommonly audacious,
unspeakably complimentary, and unprecedentedly tender - tried
to be so, at least — he didn't succeed very well in that, because
it's not his vein. I'll tell you all he said another time.”
“ But what did you say — I'm more interested in that ? ”
“ I'll tell you that, too , at some future period . I happened
to be in a very good humour just then; but, though I was
complaisant and gracious enough, I took care not to compro
mise myself in any possible way. But,however,the conceited
wretch chose to interpret my amiability of temper his own
way, and at length presumed upon my indulgence so far
what do you think ?—he actually—made me an offer !"
66 And you
“ I proudly drew myself up, and with the greatest coolness
expressed my astonishment at such an occurrence, and hoped
he had seen nothing in my conduct to justify his expectations.
You should have seen how his countenance fell ! He went
perfectly white in the face. I assured him that I esteemed
him and all that, but could not possibly accede to his pro
posals ; and if I did, papa and mamma could never be brought
to give their consent."
' But if they could ,' said he, ' would yours be wanting ? '
" Certainly, Mr Hatfield ,' I replied , with a cool decision
which quelled all hope at once. Oh, if you had seen how
dreadfully mortified he was — how crushed to the earth by his
disappointment! really, I almost pitied him myself.
“ One more desperate attempt, however, he made. After a
silence of considerable duration, during which he struggled to
be calm , and I to be grave — for I felt a strong propensity to
laugh — which would have ruined all — he said , with the ghost
of a smile
“ But tell me plainly, Miss Murray , if I had the wealth of
Sir Hugh Meltham , or the prospects of his eldest son, would
you still refuse me ? answer me truly, upon your honour.'
“ Certainly,' said I. " That would make no difference
whatever. '
“ It was a great lie, but he looked so confident in his own
attractions still, that I determined not to leave him one stone
upon another. He looked me full in the face ; but I kept my
countenance so well that he could not imagine I was saying
anything more than the actual truth.
884 AGNES GREY.
“ Then it's all over, I suppose,' he said , looking as if he

could have died on the spot with vexation and the intensity
of his despair. But he was angry as well as disappointed.
There was he, suffering so unspeakably, and there was I, the
pitiless cause of it all, so utterly impenetrable to all the
artillery of his looks and words, so calmly cold and proud , he
could not but feel some resentment ; and with singular bitter
ness he began
“ I certainly did not expect this, Miss Murray. I might
say something about your past conduct, and the hopes you
have led me to foster, but I forbear, on condition
" No conditions, Mr Hatfield ! '” said I, now truly indignant
at his insolence.
“ . Then let me beg it as a favour,' he replied, lowering
his voice at once, and taking a humbler tone : " let me entreat
that you will not mention this affair to any one whatever.
If you will keep silence about it, there need be no unpleasant
ness on either side - nothing, I mean, beyond what is quite
unavoidable : for my own feelings I will endeavour to keep to
myself, if I cannot annihilate them - I will try to forgive, if
I cannot forget the cause of my sufferings. I will not sup
pose, Miss Murray, that you know how deeply you have
injured me. I would not have you aware of it ; but if, in
addition to the injury you have already done me - pardon me,
but whether innocently or not, you have done it — and if you add
to it by giving publicity to this unfortunate affair, or naming
it at all, you will find that I too can speak, and though you
scorned my love, you will hardly scorn my
“ He stopped , but he bit his bloodless lip, and looked so
terribly fierce thatI was quite frightened. However, my pride
upheld me still, and I answered disdainfully
" I do not know what motive you suppose I could have for
naming it to any one, Mr Hatfield ; but if I were disposed to
do so, you would not deter me by threats; and it is scarcely
the part of a gentleman to attempt it.'
“ 7 Pardon me, Miss Murray ,' said he, “ I have loved you
so intensely — I do still adore you so deeply, that I would not
willingly offend you ; but though I never have loved , and
nevercan love any woman as I have loved you, it is equally
certain that I never was so ill -treated by any. On the con
trary, I have always found your sex the kindest and most
tender and obliging of God's creation, till now .' (Think of
the conceited fellow saying that !) And the novelty and
AGNES GREY. 385
harshness of the lesson you have taught me to-day, and the

bitterness of being disappointed in the only quarter on which
the happiness of my life depended, must excuse any appear
ance of asperity. If my presence is disagreeable to you,
Miss Murray ,' he said, ( for I was looking about me to show
how little I cared for him, so he thought I was tired of him,
I suppose ), - if my presence is disagreeable to you, Miss
Murray, you have only to promise me the favour I named,
and I will relieve you at once. There are many ladies
some even in this parish — who would be delighted to accept
what you have so scornfully trampled under your feet. They
would be naturally inclined to hate one whose surpassing love
liness has so completely estranged my heart from them and
blinded me to their attractions ; and a single hint of the truth
from me to one of these, would be sufficient to raise such a
talk against you as would seriously injure your prospects, and
diminish your chance of success with any other gentleman
you oryour mamma might design to entangle.'
16. What do you mean, sir ? ' said I, ready to stamp with
passion.
“ I mean that this affair from beginning to end appears
to me like a case of arrant flirtation , to say the least of it
such a case as you would find it rather inconvenient to have
blazoned through the world : especially with the additions and
exaggerations of your female rivals, who would be too glad to
publish the matter, if I only gave them a handle to it . But
I promise you, on the faith of a gentleman , that no word or
syllable that could tend to your prejudice shall ever escape my
lips, provided you will
Well, well, I won't mention it,' said I. “ You may rely
upon my silence, if that can afford you any consolation ."
" You promise it ? '
“ Yes,' I answered , for I wanted to get rid of him
now.
« Farewell , then !' said he, in a most doleful heart-sick

tone ; and with a look where pride vainly struggled against
despair, he turned and went away: longing, no doubt, to get
home, that he might shut himself up in his study and cry ~
if he doesn't burst into tears before gets there."
“ But you have broken your promise already ," said I, truly
horrified at her perfidy.
“ Oh ! it's only to you ; I know you won't repeat it.”
" Certainly, I shall not : but you say you are going to tell
25
386 AGNES GREY.
your sister ; and she will tell your brothers when they come
home, and Brown immediately,if you do not tell her yourself;
and Brown will blazon it, or be the means of blazoning it
throughout the country.”
“ No, indeed , she won't. We shall not tell her at all, unless
it be under the promise of the strictest secresy."
“ But how can you expect her to keep her promises better
than her more enlightened mistress ? "
“Well, well, she shan't hear it then," said Miss Murray,
somewhat snappishly .
“But you will tell your mamma, of course,” pursued I ;
" and she will tell your papa .”
“ Of course , I shall tell mamma, that is the very thing that
pleases me so much. I shall now be able to convince her how
mistaken she was in her fears about me. "
“ Oh, that's it, is it ? I was wondering what it was that
delighted you so much."
“ Yes ; and another thing is, that I've humbled Mr Hatfield
so charmingly ; and another — why, you must allow me some
share of female vanity : I don't pretend to be without that
most essential attribute of our sex--and if you had seen poor
· Hatfield's intense eagerness in making his ardent declaration,
and his flattering proposal, and his agony of mind, that no
effort of pride could conceal, on being refused, you would have
allowed I had some cause to be gratified .”
“ The greater his agony, I should think, the less your cause
for gratification,”
“Oh , nonsense ! ” cried the young lady, shaking herself
with vexation . " You either can't understand me or you
won't. If I had not confidence in your magnanimity , I should
think you envied me. But you will, perhaps, comprehend
this cause of pleasure — which is as great as any - namely,
that I am delighted with myself for my prudence, my self
command, my heartlessness, if you please. I was not a bit
taken by surprise, not a bit confused , or awkward, or foolish ;
I just acted and spoke as I ought to have done, and was
completely my own mistress throughout. And here was a
man , decidedly good -looking - Jane and Susan Green call
him bewitchingly handsome - I suppose they ' re two of the
ladies he pretends would be so glad to have him ; but,
however, he was certainly a very clever, witty, agreeable
companion — not what you call clever, but just enough to
make him entertaining ; and a man one needn't be ashamed
AGNES GREY . 387
of anywhere, and would not soon grow tired of ; and to con

fess the truth , I rather liked him — better even , of late, than
Harry Meltham - and he evidently idolized me ; and yet,
though he came upon me all alone and unprepared, I hadthe
wisdom , and the pride, and the strength to refuse him and
so scornfully and coolly as I did : I have good reason to be
proud of that !"
“ And are you equally proud of having told him that his
having the wealth of Sir Hugh Meltham would make no dif
ference to you when that was not the case ; and of having
promised to tell no one of his misadventure, apparently with
out the slightest intention of keeping your promise ? ”
66 Of course ! what else could I do ? You would not have
had me—but I see, Miss Grey, you 're not in a good temper.
Here's Matilda ; I'll see what she and mamma have to say
about it . "
She left me, offended at my want of sympathy, and think
ing, no doubt, that I envied her. I did not — at least, I firmly
believed I did not. I was sorry for her ; I was amazed ,
disgusted at her heartless vanity ; I wondered why so much
beauty should be given to those who made so bad a use of it,
and denied to some who would make it a benefit to both
themselves and others.
But, God knows best, I concluded. There are , I suppose ,
some men as vain , as selfish, and as heartless as she is, and,
perhaps, such women may be useful to punish them .
CHAPTER XV .
THE WALK .
O DEAR! I wish Hatfield had not been so precipitate !” said

Rosalie next day at four P.M., as, with a portentous yawn , she
laid down her worsted -work and looked listlessly towards the
window. “ There's no inducement to go out now ; and
nothing to look forward to. The days will be so long and
dull when there are no parties to enliven them ; and there are
none this week, or next either, that I know of.”
“Pity you were so cross to him ," observed Matilda, to whom
this lamentation was addressed. “ He 'll never come again :
888 AGNES GREY .
and I suspect you liked him after all, I hoped you would
have taken him for your beau, and left dear Harry to me.”
“ Humph ! my beau must be an Adonis indeed, Matilda,
the admired of all beholders, if I am to be contented with
him alone. I'm sorry to lose Hatfield , I confess; but the first
decent man, or number of men, that come to supply his place,
will be more than welcome. It's Sunday to -morrow — I do
wonder how he 'll look, and whether he'll be able to go
through the service. Most likely he'll pretend he's got a cold
and make Mr. Weston do it all. "
“Not he !" exclaimed Matilda, somewhat contemptuously.
“ Fool as he is, he's not so soft as that comes to . ”
Her sister was slightly offended ; but the event proved
Matilda was right : the disappointed lover performed his
pastoral duties as usual . Rosalie, indeed, affirmed he looked
very pale and dejected : he might be a little paler; but the
difference, if any, was scarcely perceptible. As for his dejec
tion, I certainly did not hear his laugh ringing from the
vestry as usual , nor his voice loud in hilarious discourse ;
though I did hear it uplifted in rating the sexton in a manner
that made the congregation stare ; and, in his transits to and
from the pulpit and the communion-table there was more of
solemn pomp, and less of that irreverent, self- confident, or
rather self-delighted imperiousness with which he usually
swept along — that air that seemed to say, " You all reverence
and adore me, I know ; but if any one does not, I defy him to
the teeth !" But the most remarkable change was, that he
never once suffered his eyes to wander in the direction of Mr
Murray's pew, and did notleave the church till we were gone.
Mr Hatfield had doubtless received a very severe blow ;
but his pride impelled him to use every effort to conceal the
effects of it. He had been disappointed in his certain hope
of obtaining not only a beautiful, and, to him, highly attractive
wife, but one whose rank and fortune might give brilliance to
far inferior charms: he was likewise, no doubt, intensely
mortified by his repulse, and deeply offended at the conduct of
Miss Murray throughout. It would have given him no little
consolation to have known how disappointed she was to find
him apparently so little moved, and to see that he was able
to refrain from casting a single glance at her throughout
both services; though, she declared ,it showed he was think
ing of her all the time, or his eyes would have fallen upon
her, if it were only by chance; but if they had so chanced to
AGNES GREY . 389
fall, she would have affirmed it was because they could not
resist the attraction . It might have pleased him too, in some
degree, to have seen how dull and dissatisfied she was through
out that week (the greater part of it, at least), for lack of her
usual source of excitement; and how often she regretted
having " used him up so soon,” like a child that, having
devoured its plum -cake too hastily, sits sucking its fingers,
and vainly lamenting its greediness.
At length I was called upon, one fine morning, to accom
pany her in a walk to the village. Ostensibly she went to
get some shades of Berlin wool, at a tolerably respectable
shop that was chiefly supported by the ladies of the vicinity :
really — I trust there is no breach of charity in supposing that
she went with the idea of meeting either with the Rector him
self, or some other admirer by the way ; for as we went
along, she kept wondering “what Hatfield would do or say, if
we met him ," &c. , &c.; as we passed Mr. Green's park -gates,
she “wondered whether he was at home - great stupid block
head ;" as Lady Meltham's carriage passed us, she “ wondered
what Mr Harry was doing this fine day ;" and then began to
abuse his elder brother for being “ such a fool as to get
married and go and live in London.”
“ Why," said I, “ I thought you wanted to live in London
yourself .”
“ Yes, because it 's so dull here : but then he makes it still
duller by taking himself off ; and if he were not married I
might have himinstead of that odious Sir Thomas."
Then, observing the prints of a horse's feet on the some
what miry road, she “ wondered whether it was a gentleman's
horse," and finally concluded it was, for the impressions were
too small to have been made by a great, clumsy cart -horse ; "
and then she “ wondered who the rider could be," and whether
we should meet him coming back, for she was sure he had
only passed that morning ; and lastly, when we entered the
village and saw only a few of its humble inhabitants moving
about, she “ wondered why the stupid people couldn't keep in
their houses ; she was sure she didn't want to see their ugly
faces, and dirty, vulgar clothes — it wasn't for that she came
to Horton !"
Amid all this, I confess, I wondered, too, in secret, whether
we should meet, or catch a glimpse of somebody else ; and as
we passed his lodgings, I even went so far as to wonder
whether he was at thewindow . On entering the shop, Miss
390 AGNES GREY.
Murray desired me to stand in the doorway while she trans

acted her business, and tell her if any one passed. But alas !
there was no one visible besides the villagers, except Jane
and Susan Green coming down the single street, apparently
returning from a walk .
“ Stupid things ! ” muttered she, as she came out after
having concluded her bargain. “Why couldn't they have
their dolt of a brother with them ? even he would be better
than nothing .".
She greeted them, however, with a cheerful smile, and
protestations of pleasure at the happy meeting equal to their
own. They placed themselves one on each side of her, and
all three walked away chatting and laughing as young ladies
do when they get together, if they be but on tolerably inti
mate terms. But I, feeling myself to be one too many, left
them to theirmerriment and lagged behind , as usual on such
occasions : I had no relish for walking beside Miss Green or
Miss Susan like one deaf and dumb, who could neither speak
nor be spoken to .
But this time I was not long alone. It struck me, at first,
as very odd, that just as I was thinking about Mr Weston he
should come up and accost me ; but afterwards, on due reflec
tion, I thought there was nothing odd about it, unless it were
the fact of his speaking to me ; for on such a morning and so
near his own abode, it was natural enough that he should be
about; and as for my thinking of him , I had been doing that,
with little intermission, ever since we set out on our journey ;
so there was nothing remarkable in that.
“ You are alone again, Miss Grey,” said he.
6 Yes."
“ What kind of people are those ladies — the Misses Green ? ”
“ I really don't know ."
“ That 's strange— when you live so near and see them so
often ! "
“ Well, I suppose they are lively, good -tempered girls ; but
I imagine you must know them better than Ido, yourself, for
I never exchanged a word with either of them .”
“ Indeed ! They don't strike me as being particularly
reserved."
“ Very likely they are not so to people of their own class ;
but they consider themselves as moving in quite a different
sphere from me !"
He made no reply to this; but after a short pause, he said ,
AGNES GREY . 391
“ I suppose it 's these things, Miss Grey, that make you

think you could not live without a home ? ”
“Not exactly. The fact is I am too socially disposed to
be able to live contentedly without a friend ; and as the only
friends I have, or am likely to have, are at home, if it — or
rather, if they were gone, I will not say I could not live
but I would rather not live in such a desolate world .”
“But why do you say the only friends you are likely
to have ? Are you so unsociable that you cannot make
friends ? "
No, but I never made one yet ; and in my present posi
tion there is no possibility of doing so, or even of forming a
common acquaintance. The fault may be partly in myself,
but I hope not altogether .”
“ The fault is partly in society, and partly, I should think,
in your immediate neighbours : and partly, too, in yourself;
for many ladies, in your position, would make themselves be
noticed and accounted of. But your pupils should be com
panions for you in some degree ; they cannot be many years
younger than yourself.”
Oh, yes, they are good company sometimes; but I cannot
call them friends, nor would they think of bestowing such a
name on me they have other companions better suited to
their tastes."
Perhaps you are too wise for them . How do you amuse
yourself when alone — do you read much ? ”
“ Reading is my favourite occupation, when I have leisure
for it and books to read ."
From speaking of books in general, he passed to different
books in particular, and proceeded by rapid transitions from
topic to topic, till several matters, both of taste and opinion,
had been discussed considerably within the space of half an
hour, but without the embellishment of many observations
from himself; he being evidently less bent upon communicat
ing his own thoughts and predilections, than on discovering
mine. He had not the tact, or the art, to effect such a pur
pose by skilfully drawing out my sentiments or ideas through
the real or apparent statement of his own, or leading the
conversation by imperceptible gradations to such topics as he
wished to advert to : but such gentle abruptness, and such
single -minded straightforwardness could not possibly offend
me.
“And why should be interest himself at all in my moral
€ 92 AGNES GREY .
and intellectual capacities : what is it to him what I think or

feel ?” I asked myself. And my heart throbbed in answer
to the question .
But Jane and Susan Green soon reached their home. As
they stood parleying at the park -gates, attempting to persuade
that
Miss Murray to come in, I wished Mr Weston would go ,
she might not see him with me when she turned round ; but,
unfortunately,his business, which was to pay one more visit
to poor Mark Wood, led him to pursue the same path as we
did, till nearly the close of our journey. When, however,
he saw that Rosalie had taken leave of her friends and I was
about to join her, he would have left me and passed on at a
quicker pace ; but, as he civilly lifted his hat in passing her,
to my surprise, instead of returning the salute with a stiff,
ungracious bow, she accosted him with one of her sweetest
smiles, and, walking by his side, began to talk to him with
all imaginable cheerfulness and affability ; and so we proceeded
all three together.
After a short pause in the conversation, Mr Weston made
some remark addressed particularly to me, as referring to
something we had been talking of before; but, before I could
answer, Miss Murray replied to the observation and enlarged
upon it : he rejoined ; and, from thence to the close of the
interview, she engrossed him entirely to herself. It might be
partly owing to my own stupidity, my want of tact and
assurance : but I felt myself wronged : I trembled with
apprehension ; and I listened with envy to her easy, rapid flow
of utterance,and saw with anxiety the bright smile with
which she looked into his face from time to time : for she was
walking a little in advance , for the purpose (as I judged) of
being seen as well as heard. If her conversation was light
and trivial, it was amusing, and she was never at a loss for
something to say, or for suitable words to express it in .
There was nothing pert or flippant in her manner now, as
when she walked with Mr Hatfield ; there was only a gentle,
playful kind of vivacity, which I thought must be peculiarly
pleasing to a man of Mr Weston's disposition and tempera
ment.
When he was gone she began to laugh, and muttered to

herself. “ I thought I could do it !”
“ Do what ? " I asked .
“ Fix that man . "
“ What in the world do you mean ? "
AGNES GREY. 393
“ I mean that he will go home and dream of me. I have

shot him through the heart ! "
" How do you know ? "
“By many infallible proofs: more especially the look he gave
me when he went away. It was not an impudent look - I
exonerate him from that - it was a look of reverential, tender
adoration . Ha, ha ! he's not quite such a stupid blockhead
as I thought him ! "
I made no answer , for my heart was in my throat, or some
thing like it, and I could not trust myself to speak. 66 Oh
God, avert it !" I cried, internally— “ for his sake, not for
mine ! ”
Miss Murray made several trivial observations as we passed
up the park , to which (in spite of my reluctance to let one
glimpse of my feelings appear) I could only answer by mono
syllables. Whether she intended to torment me, or merely
to amuse herself, I could not tell—and did not much care ;
but I thought of the poor man and his one lamb, and the
rich man with his thousand flocks; and I dreaded I knew
not what for Mr Weston, independently of my own blighted
hopes.
Right glad was I to get into the house, and find myself
alone once more in my own room. My first impulse was to
sink into the chair beside the bed ; and laying my head on
the pillow, to seek relief in a passionate burst of tears: there
was an imperative craving for such an indulgence ; but, alas !
I must restrain and swallow back my feelings still : there
was the bell — the odious bell for the schoolroom dinner ; and
I must go down with a calm face, and smile, and laugh, and
talk nonsense - yes, and eat, too, if possible, as if all was
right, and I was just returned from a pleasant walk.
CHAPTER XVI.
THE SUBSTITUTION.
Next Sunday was one of the gloomiest of April days - a day

of thick, dark clouds, and heavy showers. None of the
Murrays were disposed to attend church in the afternoon,
excepting Rosalie: she was bent upon going as usual; so she
394 AGNES GREY .
ordered the carriage, and I went with her : nothing loth, of

course, for at church I might look without fear of scorn or
censure upon a form and face more pleasing to me than the
most beautiful of God's creations; I might listen without
disturbance to a voice more charming than the sweetest music
to my ears; I might seem to hold communion with that soul
in which I felt so deeply interested, and imbibe its purest
thoughts and holiest aspirations, with no alloy to such felicity
except the secret reproaches of my conscience, which would
too often whisper that I was deceiving my own self, and
mocking God with the service of a heart more bent upon the
creature than the Creator.
Sometimes such thoughts would give me trouble enough ;
but sometimes I could quiet them with thinking — it is not
the man, it is his goodness that I love. “ Whatsoever things
are pure , whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are
honest and of good report, think on these things.” We do
well to worship God in His works; and I know none of them
in which so many of His attributes — so much of His own
spirit shines, as in this His faithful servant ; whom to know
and not to appreciate, were obtuse insensibility in me, who
have so little else to occupy my heart.
Almost immediately after the conclusion of the service, Miss
Murray left the church. We had to stand in the porch , for it
was raining, and the carriage was not yet come. I wondered
at her coming forth so hastily, for neither young Meltham nor
Squire Green was there ; but I soon found it was to secure an
interview with Mr Weston as he came out, which he presently
did. Having saluted us both , he would have passed on , but
she detained him ; first with observations upon the disagree
able weather, and then with asking if he would be so kind
as to come some time to -morrow to see the granddaughter
of the old woman who kept the porter's lodge, for the girl
was ill of a fever, and wished to see him. He promised
to do so.
“ And at what time will you be most likely to come, Mr
Weston ? The old woman will like to know when to expect
you — you know such people think more about having their
cottages in order when decent people come to see them than
we are apt to suppose .”
Here was a wonderful instance of consideration from the
thoughtless Miss Murray. Mr Weston named an hour in the
morning at which he would endeavour to be there. By this
AGNES GREY . 395
time the carriage was ready, and the footman was waiting,
with an open umbrella, to escort Miss Murray through the
churchyard. I was about to follow ; but Mr Weston had an
umbrella too, and offered me the benefit of its shelter, for it
was raining heavily.
“No, thank you, I don't mind the rain ," I said. I always
lacked common sense when taken by surprise.
“ But you don't like it, I suppose ?-an umbrella will do
you no harm at any rate,” he replied, with a smile that showed
he was not offended ; as a man of worse temper or less pene
tration would have been at such a refusal of his aid. I could
not deny the truth of his assertion, and so went with him to
the carriage ; he even offered me his hand on getting in : an
unnecessary piece of civility, but I accepted that too, for fear
of giving offence. One glance he gave, one little smile at
parting — it was but for a moment; but therein I read, or
thought I read, a meaning that kindled in my heart a brighter
flame of hope than had ever yet arisen.
" I would have sent the footman back for you, Miss Grey, if
you'd waited a moment — you needn't have taken Mr Weston's
umbrella ,” observed Rosalie, with a very unamiable cloud
upon her pretty face.
“ I would have come without an umbrella, but Mr Weston
offered me the benefit of his, and I could not have refused it
more than I did without offending him," replied I, smiling
placidly ; for my inward happiness made that amusing, which
would have wounded me at another time.
The carriage was now in motion. Miss Murray bent for
wards, and looked out of the window as we were passing Mr
Weston . He was pacing homewards along the causeway, and
did not turn his head .
“ Stupid ass !" cried she, throwing herself back again in the
seat. " You don't know what you've lost by not looking this
way !"
What has he lost ? ”
“ A bow from me, that would have raised him to the seventh
heaven ! ”
I made no answer . I saw she was out of humour, and I
derived a secret gratification from the fact, not that she was
vexed, but that she thought she had reason to be so. It made
me think my hopes were not entirely the offspring of my wishes
and imagination .
“ I mean to take up Mr Weston instead of Mr Hatfield ,"
396 AGNES GREY.
said my companion, after a short pause, resuming something

of her usual cheerfulness. “ The ball at Ashby Park takes
place on Tuesday, you know ; and mamma thinks it very
likely that Sir Thomas will propose to me then : such things
are often done in the privacy of the ball -room , when gentle
men are most easily ensnared, and ladies most enchanting.
But if I am to be married so soon, I must make the best of
the present time : I am determined Hatfield shall not be the
only man who shall lay his heart at my feet, and implore me
to accept the worthless gift in vain ."
“ If you mean Mr Weston to be one of your victims,” said
I, with affected indifference, " you will have to make such
overtures yourself that you will find it difficult to draw back
when he asks you to fulfil the expectations you have raised."
“ I don't suppose he will ask me to marry him - nor should
I desire it : that would be rather too much presumption ! but
I intend him to feel my power. He has felt it already, indeed :
but he shall acknowledge it too ; and what visionary hopes he
may have, he must keep to himself, and only amuse me with
the result of them — for a time. ”
“ Oh ! that some kind spirit would whisper those words in
his ear ! " I inwardly exclaimed . I was far too indignant to
hazard a reply to her observation aloud ; and nothing more
was said about Mr Weston that day , by me or in my hearing.
But next morning, soon after breakfast, Miss Murray came
into the schoolroom where her sister was employed at her
studies, or rather her lessons , for studies they were not, and
said , “ Matilda, I want you to take a walk with me about
eleven o'clock."
Oh, I can't, Rosalie ! I have to give orders about my
new bridle and saddle-cloth , and speak to the rat -catcher about
his dogs : Miss Grey must go with you."
No, I want you ,” said Rosalie; and calling her sister to
the window , she whispered an explanation in her ear ; upon
which the latter consented to go.
I remembered that eleven was the hour at which Mr
Weston proposed to come to the porter's lodge ; and remem
bering that I beheld the whole contrivance. Accordingly, at
dinner, I was entertained with a long account of how Mr
Weston had overtaken them as they were walking along the
road; and how they had had a long walk and talk with him ,
and really found him quite an agreeable companion ; and how
he must have been, and evidently was, delighted with them
and their amazing condescension , &c. &c.
AGNES GREY . 397
CHAPTER XVII.
CONFESSIONS .
As I am in the way of confessions, I may as well acknowledge

that, about this time, I paid more attention to dress than ever
I had done before. This is not saying much ; for hitherto I
had been a little neglectful in that particular: but now , also,
it was no uncommon thing to spend as much as two minutes
in the contemplation of my own image in the glass; though I
never could derive any consolation from such a study. I
could discover no beauty in those marked features, that pale
hollow cheek, and ordinary dark brown hair; there might be
intellect in the forehead, there might be expression in the
dark grey eyes : but what of that?-a low Grecian brow, and
large black eyes devoid of sentiment would be esteemed far
preferable. It is foolish to wish for beauty. Sensible people
never either desire it for themselves, or care about it in others.
If the mind be but well cultivated, and the heart well disposed,
no one ever cares for the exterior. So said the teachers of
our childhood ; and so say we to the children of the present
day. All very judicious and proper, no doubt ; but are such
assertions supported by actual experience ?
We are naturally disposed to love what gives us pleasure,
and what more pleasing than a beautiful face — when we know
no harm of the possessor at least ? A little girl loves her
bird—Why ? Because it lives and feels; because it is help
less and harmless ? A toad, likewise, lives and feels, and is
equally helpless and harmless ; but though she would not
hurt a toad , she cannot love it like the bird, with its graceful
form, soft feathers, and bright, speaking eyes. If a woman
is fair and amiable, she is praised for both qualities, but espe
cially the former, by the bulk of mankind : if, on the other
hand, she is disagreeable in person and character, her plain
ness is commonly inveighed against as her greatest crime,
because, to common observers , it gives the greatest offence;
while, if she is plain and good, provided she is a person of
retired manners and secluded life, no one ever knows of her
goodness, except her immediate connections. Others, on the
contrary , are disposed to form unfavourable opinions of her
mind and disposition , if it be but to excuse themselves for
their instinctive dislike of one so unfavoured by nature ; and
398 AGNES GREY.
vice versa with her whose angel form conceals a vicious heart,
or sheds a false, deceitful charm over defects and foibles that
would not be tolerated in another. They that have beauty,
let them be thankful for it, and make a good use of it, like
any other talent ; they that have it not, let them console them
selves, and do the best they can without it : certainly, though
liable to be over -estimated, it is a gift of God, and not to be
despised . Many will feel this who have felt that they could
love , and whose hearts tell them that they are worthy to be
loved again ; while yet they are debarred bythe lack of this
or some such seeming trifle, from giving and receiving that
happiness they seem almost made to feel and to impart. As
well might the humble glow -worm despise that power of
giving light without which the roving flymight pass her and
repass her a thousand times, and never rest beside her : she
might hear her winged darling buzzing over and around her ;
he vainly seeking her, she longing tobe found, but with no
power to make her presence known, no voice to call him, no
wings to follow his flight ;—the fly must seek another mate,
the worm must live and die alone.
Such were some of my reflections about this period . I
might go on prosing more and more, I might dive much
deeper, and disclose other thoughts, propose questions the
reader might be puzzled to answer, and deduce arguments
that might startle " his prejudices, or, perhaps, provoke his
ridicule, because he could not comprehend them ; but I
forbear.
Now, therefore, let us return to Miss Murray. She accom
panied her mamma to the ball on Tuesday; of course splendidly
attired, and delighted with her prospects and her charms. As
Ashby Park was nearly ten miles distant from Horton Lodge,
they had to set out pretty early , and I intended to have spent
>
the evening with Nancy Brown, whom I had not seen for a
long time ; but my kind pupil took care I should spend it
neither there nor anywhere else beyond the limits of the
schoolroom, by giving me a piece of music to copy, which
kept me closely occupied till bed-time. About eleven next
morning, as soon as she had left her room, she came to tell me
her news. Sir Thomas had indeed proposed to her at the ball :
an event which reflected great credit on her mamma's sagacity,
if not upon her skill in contrivance. I rather incline to the
belief that she had first laid her plans, and then predicted their
success .
The offer had been accepted, of course, and the
AGNES GREY . 399
bridegroom elect was coming that day to settle inatters with

Mr Murray .
Rosalie was pleased with the thoughts of becoming mistress
of Ashby Park ; she was elated with the prospect of the
bridal ceremony and its attendant splendour and eclat, the
honeymoon spent abroad, and the subsequent gaieties she
expected to enjoy in London and elsewhere ; she appeared
pretty well pleased too, for the time being, with Sir Thomas
himself, because she had so lately seen him,danced with him,
and been flattered by him ; but, after all, she seemed to
shrink from the idea of being so soon united : she wished
the ceremony to be delayed some months, at least ; and I
wished it too. It seemed a horrible thing to hurry on the
inauspicious match, and not to give the poor creature time
to think and reason on the irrevocable step she was about
to take. I made no pretension to “ a mother's watchful,
anxious care," but I was amazed and horrified at Mrs Mur
ray's heartlessness, or want of thought for the real good of
her child ; and, by my unheeded warnings and exhortations,
I vainly strove to remedy the evil. Miss Murray only laughed
at what I said ; and I soon found that her reluctance to an
immediate union arose chiefly from a desire to do what exe
cution she could among the young gentlemen of her acquain
tance, before she was incapacitated from further mischief of
che kind . It was for this cause that, before confiding to me
the secret of her engagement, she had extracted a promise
that I would not mention a word on the subject to any one.
And when I saw this, and when I beheld her plunge more
recklessly than ever into the depths of heartless coquetry, I
had no more pity for her. " Come what will,” I thought,
" she deserves it. Sir Thomas cannot be too bad for her ;
and the sooner she is incapacitated from deceiving and injur
ing others the better. "
The wedding was fixed for the first of June. Between
that and the critical ball was little more than six weeks ; but,
with Rosalie's accomplished skill and resolute exertion, much
might be done, even within that period : especially as Sir
Thomas spent most of the interim in London ; whither he
went up, it was said, to settle affairs with his lawyer, and
make other preparations for the approaching nuptials. He
endeavoured to supply the want of his presence by a pretty
constant fire of billets-doux ; but these did not attract the
neighbours' attention, and open their eyes, as personal visits
400 AGNES GREY .
would have done ; and old Lady Ashby's haughty , sour spirit
of reserve withheld her from spreading the news, while her
indifferent health prevented her coming to visit her future
daughter -in -law ; so that, altogether, this affair was kept far
closer than such things usually are.
Rosalie would sometimes show her lover's epistles to me,
to convince me what a kind, devoted husband he would make.
She showed me the letters of another individual, too, the un
fortunate Mr Green, who had not the courage, or, as she ex
pressed it, the “ spunk ,” to plead his cause in person, but
whom one denial would not satisfy : he must write again and
again. He would not have done so if he could have seen the
grimaces his fair idol made over his moving appeals to her
feelings, andheard her scornful laughter, and the opprobrious
epithets she heaped upon him for his perseverance .
“ Why don't you tell him , at once, that you are engaged ?"
I asked.
“ Oh, I don't want him to know that,” replied she. “ If
he knew it, his sisters and everybody would know it, and then
there would be an end of my—ahem ! And, besides, if I
told him that, he would think my engagement was the only
obstacle, and that I would have him if I were free ; which I
could not bear that any man should think , and he, of all
others, at least. Besides, I don't care for his letters ," she
added, contemptuously ; " he may write as often as he pleases,
and look asgreat a calf as he likes when I meet him ; it only
amuses me.”
Meantime, young Meltham was pretty frequent in his visits
to the house or transits past it ; and , judging by Matilda's
execrations and reproaches, her sister paid more attention to
him than civility required : in other words, she carried on as
animated a flirtation as the presence of her parents would
admit. She made some attempts to bring MrHatfield once
more to her feet ; but finding them unsuccessful, she repaid
his haughty indifference withstill loftier scorn , and spoke of
him with as much disdain and detestation as she had formerly
done of his curate. But, amid all this, she never for a moment
lost sight of Mr Weston. She embraced every opportunity of
meeting him, tried every art to fascinate him, and pursued
him with as much perseverance as if she really loved him and
no other, and the happiness of her life depended upon eliciting
a return of affection . Such conduct was completely beyond
my comprehension . Had I seen it depicted in a novel, I
AGNES GREY . 401
should have thought it unnatural ; had I heard it described

by others, I should have deemed it a mistake or an exagge.
ration ; but when I saw it with my own eyes, and suffered
from it too, I could only conclude that excessive vanity, like
drunkenness, hardens the heart, enslaves the faculties, and
perverts the feelings; and that dogs are not the only creatures
which, when gorged to the throat, will yet gloat over what
they cannot devour, and grudge the smallest morsel to a
starving brother.
She now became extremely beneficent to the poor cottagers.
Her acquaintance among them was more widely extended , her
visits to their humble dwellings were more frequent and excur
sive than they had ever been before. Hereby, she earned
among them the reputation of a condescending and very
charitable young lady ; and their encomiums were sure to be
repeated to Mr Weston : whom also she had thus a daily
chance of meeting in one or other of their abodes, or in her
transits to and fro ; and often , likewise, she could gather,
through their gossip, to what places he was likely to go at
such and such a time, whether to baptize a child , or tovisit
the aged , the sick, the sad, or the dying ; and most skilfully
she laid her plans accordingly. In these excursions she would
sometimes go with her sister — whom , by some means, she had
persuaded or bribed to enter into her schemes—sometimes
alone, never, now, with me ; so that I was debarred the
pleasure of seeing Mr Weston, or hearing his voice even in
conversation with another : which would certainly have been
a very great pleasure, however hurtful or however fraught
with pain. I could not even see him at church : for Miss
Murray, under some trivial pretext, chose to take possession
of that corner in the family pew which had been mine ever
since I came ; and, unless I had the presumption to station
myself between Mr and Mrs Murray, Imust sit with my back
to the pulpit, which I accordingly did .
Now , also, Inever walked home with my pupils: they said
their mamma thought it did not look well to see three people
out of the family walking, and only two going in the car
riage ; and, as they greatly preferred walking in fine weather,
I should be honoured by going with the seniors. And,
besides," said they, “ you can't walk as fast as we do ; you
know you 're always lagging behind .” I knew these were
false excuses, but I made no objections, and never contra
dicted such assertions, well knowing the motives which
402 AGNES GREY .
dictated them . And in the afternoons, during those six

memorable weeks, I never went to church at all. If I had
a cold, or any slight indisposition, they took advantage of
that to make me stay at home ; and often they would tell me
they were not going again that day, themselves, and then
pretend to change their minds, and set off without telling
me : so managing their departure that I never discovered the
change of purpose till too late. Upon their return home, on
one of these occasions, they entertained me with an animated
account of a conversation they had had with Mr Weston as
they came along. “ And he asked if you were ill, Miss Grey,"
said Matilda; “ but we told him you were quite well, only
you didn't want to come to church—so he'll think you 're
turned wicked . "
All chance meetings on week - days were likewise carefully
prevented ; for, lest I should go to see poor Nancy Brown or
any other person, Miss Murray took good care to provide
sufficient employment for all my leisure hours. There was
always some drawing to finish, some music to copy, or some
work to do, sufficient to incapacitate me from indulging in
anything beyonda short walk about the grounds, howevershe
or her sister might be occupied.
One morning, having sought and waylaid Mr Weston,
they returned in high glee to give me an account of their
interview . “ And he asked after you again," said Matilda,
in spite of her sister's silent but imperative intimation that
she should hold her tongue. “ He wondered why you were
never with us , and thought you must have delicate health , as
you came out so seldom . "
“ He didn't, Matilda — what nonsense you 're talking !
« Oh , Rosalie, what a lie ! He did , you know ; and you
said-Don't, Rosalie — hang it ! —I won't be pinched so !
And, Miss Grey, Rosalie told him you were quite well, but
you were always so buried in your books that you had no
pleasure in anything else .”
" What an idea he must have of me !" I thought.
“ And ," I asked, “ does old Nancy ever inquire about
me ? "
“ Yes ; and we tell her you are so fond of reading and
drawing that you can do nothing else.”
“ That is not the case though ; if you had told her I was
so busy I could not come to see her, it would have been
nearer the truth . "
AGNES GREY . 403
" I don't think it would ," replied Miss Murray, suddenly

kindling
when
up ; “ I'm sure you have plenty of time to yourself
now, you have so little teaching to do .”
It was no use beginning to dispute with such indulged,
unreasoning creatures : so I held my peace. I was accus
tomed, now , to keeping silence when things distasteful to
my ear were uttered ; and now, too, I was used to wearing
a placid smiling countenance when my heart was bitter
within me. Only those who have felt the like can imagine
my feelings, as I sat with an assumption of smiling indif
ference, listening to the accounts of those meetings and
interviews with Mr Weston , which they seemed to find such
pleasure in describing to me ; and hearing things asserted
of him which, from the character of the man, I knew to
be exaggerations and perversions of the truth, if not entirely
false — things derogatory to him, and flattering to them—
especially to Miss Murray — which I burned to contradict,
or, at least, to show my doubts about, but dared not ; lest,
in expressing my disbelief, I should display my interest too.
Otherthings I heard, which I felt or feared were indeed too
true : but I must still conceal my anxiety respecting him,
my indignation against them , beneath a careless aspect ;
others, again, mere hints of something said or done, which
I longed to hear more of, but could not venture to inquire. So
passed the weary time. I could not even comfort myself with
saying, “ She will soon be married ; and then there maybehope.”
Soon after her marriage the holidays would come ; and
when I returned from home, most likely, Mr Weston would
be gone, for I was told that he and the Rector could not agree
( theRector's fault, of course ), and he was about to remove to
another place .
No — besides my hope in God , my only consolation was in
thinking that, though he knew it not, I was more worthy of
his love than Rosalie Murray, charming and engaging as she
was ; for I could appreciate his excellence, which she could
not : I would devote my life to the promotion of his happi
ness ; she would destroy his happiness for the momentary
gratification of her own vanity. Oh, if he could but know
the difference !" I would earnestly exclaim . “But no ! I
would not have him see my heart: yet, if he could but know
her hollowness, her worthless, heartless frivolity, he would
then be safe, and I should be - almost happy, though I might
never see him more ! "
404 AGNES GREY .
I fear, by this time, the reader is well nigh disgusted with

the folly and weakness I have so freely laid before him. I
never disclosed it then , and would not have done so had my
own sister or my mother been with me in the house. I was a
close and resolute dissembler-in this one case at least . My
prayers , my tears, my wishes, fears, and lamentations, were
witnessed by myself and Heaven alone .
When we are harassed by sorrows or anxieties, or long
oppressed by any powerful feelings which we must keep
to ourselves, for which we can obtain and seek no sympathy
from any living creature, and which yet we cannot, or will not
wholly crush, we often naturally seek relief in poetry — and
often find it, too — whether in the effusions of others, which
seem to harmonize with our existing case, or in our own
attempts to give utterance to those thoughts and feelings in
strains less musical, perchance, but more appropriate, and
therefore more penetrating and sympathetic, and, for the time,
more soothing, or more powerful to rouse and to unburden
the oppressedand swollen heart. Before this time, at Wellwood
House and here, when suffering from home-sick melancholy ,
I had sought relief twice or thrice at this secret source of
consolation; and now I flew to it again, with greater avidity
than ever, because I seemed to needit more. I still preserve
those relics of past sufferings and experience, like pillars of
witness set up in travelling through the vale of life ,to mark
particular occurrences. The footsteps are obliterated now ;
the face of the country may be changed ; but the pillar is
still there , to remind me how all things were when it was
reraed. Lest the reader should be curious to see any of
these effusions, I will favour him with one short specimen :
cold and languid as the lines may seem , it was almost a
passion of grief to which they owed their being.
0 , they have robbed me of the hope
My spirit held so dear ,
They will not let me hear that voice
My soul delights to hear.
They will not let me see that face
I so delight to see ;
And they have taken all thy smiles,
And all thy love from me .
Well, let them seize on all they can :
One treasure still is mine,
A heart that loves to thinkon thee,
And feels the worth of thine.
AGNES GREY. 405
Yes, at least, they could not deprive me of that : I could

think of him day and night ; and I could feel that he was
worthy to be thought of. Nobody knew him as I did ; nobody
could appreciate him as I did ; nobody could love him as I–
could , if I might: but there was the evil. What business
had I to think so much of one that never thought of me ?
Was it not foolish ? was it not wrong ? Yet, if I found such
deep delight in thinking of him, and if I kept those thoughts to '
myself, and troubled no one else with them , where was the harm
of it? I would ask myself. And such reasoning prevented
me from making any sufficient effort to shake off my fetters.
But, if those thoughts brought delight, it was a painful,
troubled pleasure, too near akin to anguish ; and one that
did me more injury than I was aware of. It was an indul
gence that a person of more wisdom or more experience
would doubtless have denied herself. And yet, how dreary
to turn my eyes from the contemplation of that bright object
and force them to dwell on the dull, grey, desolate prospect
around : the joyless, hopeless, solitary path that lay before me.
It was wrong to be so joyless, so desponding ; I should have
made God my friend, and to do His will the pleasure and the
business of my life; but faith was weak, and passion was too
strong.
In this time of trouble I had two other causes of affliction .
The first may seem a trifle, but it cost me many a tear: Snap,
my little dumb, rough -visaged, but bright-eyed, warm -hearted
companion, the only thing I had to love me, was taken away,
and delivered over to the tender mercies of the village rat
catcher, a man notorious for his brutal treatment of his
canine slaves. The other was serious enough : my letters
from home gave intimation that my father's health was worse.
No boding fears were expressed, but I was grown timid and
despondent, and could not help fearing that some dreadful
calamity awaited us there. I seemed to see the black clouds
gathering round my native hills, and to hear the angry
muttering of a storm that was about to burst, and desolate
our hearth ,
406 AGNES GREY .
CHAPTER XVIII.
MIRTH AND MOURNING .
The 1st of June arrived at last: and Rosalie Murray was

transmuted into Lady Ashby. Most splendidly beautiful she
looked in her bridal costume. Upon her return from church,
after the ceremony, she came flying into the schoolroom ,
flushed with excitement, and laughing, half in mirth , and
half in reckless desperation , as it seemed to me.
“ Now , Miss Grey, I'm Lady Ashby !” she exclaimed.
• It 's done, my fate is sealed : there's no drawing back now.
I'm come to receive your congratulations and bid you good
bye; and then I'm off for Paris, Rome, Naples, Switzerland,
London - oh, dear ! what a deal I shall see and hear before I
come back again. But don't forget me : I shan't forget you,
though I've been a naughty girl. Come, why don't you
congratulate me ? "
“I cannot congratulate you ,” I replied, “ till I know whether
this change is really for the better: but I sincerely hope it is ;
and I wish you true happiness and the best of blessings.”
“ Well, good-bye, the carriage is waiting, and they're
calling me.
She gave me a hasty kiss, and was hurrying away ; but,
suddenly returning, embraced me with more affection than I
thought her capable of evincing, and departed with tears in
her eyes . Poor girl! I really loved her then ; and forgave her
from my heart all the injury she had done me — and others
also : she had not half known it, I was sure ; and I prayed
God to pardon her too.
During the remainder of that day of festal sadness, I was
left to my own devices. Being too much unhinged for any
steady occupation, I wandered about with a book in my hand
for several hours, more thinking than reading, for I had many
things to think about. In the evening, I made use of my
liberty to go and see my old friend Nancy once again ; to
apologize for my long absence (which must have seemed so
neglectful and unkind ) by telling her how busy I had been ;
and to talk , or read, or work for her, whichever might be
most acceptable, and also, of course , to tell her the news of
this important day : and perhaps to obtain a little information
from her in return, respecting Mr Weston's expected departure.
AGNES GREY . 407
But of this she seemed to know nothing, and I hoped, as she

did, that it was all a false report. She was very glad to see me ;
but, happily, her eyes were now so nearly well that she was
almost independent of my services. She was deeply interested
in the wedding; but while I amused her with the details of
the festive day, the splendours of the bridal party and of the
bride herself, she often sighed and shook her head, and wished
good might come of it ; she seemed, like me, to regard it
rather as a theme for sorrow than rejoicing. I sat a long
time talking to her about that and other things — but no one
came.
Shall I confess that I sometimes looked towards the door

with a half-expectant wish to see it open and give entrance to
Mr Weston, as had happened once before ? and that, returning
through the lanes and fields, I often paused to look round me,
and walked more slowly than was at all necessary — for, though
a fine evening, it was not a hot one — and, finally, felt a sense
of emptiness and disappointment at having reached the house
without meeting or even catching a distant glimpse of any
one, except a few labourers returning from their work ?
Sunday, however, was approaching: I should see him then ;
for now that Miss Murray was gone, I could have my old
corner again . I should see him, and by look , speech , and
manner, I might judge whether the circumstance of her
marriage had very much afflicted him. Happily, I could
perceive no shadow of a difference: he wore the same aspect
as he had worn two months ago — voice, look, manner, all
alike unchanged : there was the same keen -sighted , unclouded
truthfulness in his discourse, the same forcible clearness in
his style, the same earnest simplicity in all he said and did,
that made itself, not marked by the eye and ear, but felt upon
the hearts of his audience.
I walked home with Miss Matilda ; but he did not join us.
Matilda was now sadly at a loss for amusement, and wofully
in want of a companion : her brothers at school, her sister
married and gone, she too young to be admitted into society ;
for which, from Rosalie's example, she was in some degree
beginning to acquire a taste—a taste at least for the company
of certain classes of gentlemen ; at this dull time of year - no
hunting going on , no shooting even — for, though she might
not join in that, it was something to see her father or the
gamekeeper go out with the dogs, and to talk with them on
their return, about the different birds they had bagged. Now,
408 AGNES GREY.
also, she was denied the solace which the companionship of

the coachman, grooms, horses, greyhounds, and pointers might
have afforded;for her mother having, notwithstanding the
disadvantages of a country life, so satisfactorily disposed of
her elder daughter, the pride of her heart had begun seriously
to turn her attention to the younger ; and, being truly alarmed
at the roughness of her manners, and thinking it high time to
work a reform , had been roused at length to exert her authority,
and prohibited entirely the yards, stables, kennels, and coach
house. Of course, she was not implicitly obeyed ; but, indulgent
as she had hitherto been, when once her spirit was roused , her
temper was not so gentle as she required that of her governesses
to be, and her will was not to be thwarted with impunity.
After many a scene of contention between mother and daughter,
many a violent outbreak which I was ashamed to witness, in
which the father's authority was often called in to confirm with
oaths and threats the mother's slighted prohibitions — for even
he could see that “ Tilly, though she would have made a fine
lad, was not quite what a young lady ought to be ”—Matilda at
length found that her easiest plan was to keepclear of the for- !
bidden regions ; unless she could now and then steal a visit
without her watchful mother's knowledge.
Amid all this, let it not be imagined that I escaped with
out many a reprimand, and many an implied reproach, that
lost none of its sting from not being openly worded ; but
rather wounded the more deeply, because, from that very
reason , it seemed to preclude self-defence. Frequently, I was
told to amuse Miss Matilda with other things, and to remind
her of her mother's precepts and prohibitions. I did so to the
best of my power : but she would not be amused against her
will, and could not against her taste ; and though. I went
beyond mere reminding, such gentle remonstrances as I could
use were utterly ineffectual.
“ Dear Miss Grey ! it is the strangest thing. I suppose
you can't help it, if it's not in your nature — but I wonder
you can't win the confidence of that girl, and make your
society at least as agreeable to her as that of Robert or
Joseph ! "
They can talk the best about the things in which she is
most interested ," I replied.
“ Well l that is a strange confession, however , to come
from her governess ! Who is to form a young lady's tastes,
I wonder, if the governess doesn't do it ? I have known
AGNES GREY . 409
governesses who have so completely identified themselves

with the reputation of their young ladies for elegance and
propriety in mind and manners, that they would blush to
speak a word against them ; and to hear the slightest blame
imputed to their pupils was worse than to be censured in
theirown persons—and I really think it very natural, for my
part ."
“ Do you, ma'am ?
“ Yes, of course : the young lady's proficiency and elegance
is of more consequence to the governess than her own, as well
as to the world. If she wishes to prosper in her vocation she
must devote all her energies to her business : all her ideas
and all her ambition will tend to the accomplishment of that
one object. When we wish to decide upon the merits of a
governess, we naturally look at the young ladies she professes
to have educated, and judge accordingly. The judicious
governess knows this : she knows that, while she lives in
obscurity herself, her pupil's virtues and defects will be open
to every eye ; and that, unless she loses sight of herself in
their cultivation, she need not hope for success . You see ,
Miss Grey, it is just the same as any other trade or profession:
they that wish to prosper must devote themselves body and
soul to their calling ; and if they begin to yield to indolence
or self-indulgence they are speedily distanced by wiser com
petitors : there is little to choose between a person that ruins
her pupils by neglect, and one that corrupts them by her
example. You will excuse my dropping these little hints :
you know it is all for your own good. Many ladies would
speak to you much more strongly ; and many would not
trouble themselves to speak at all,but quietly look out for a
substitute. That, of course, would be the easiest plan : but
I know the advantages of a place like this to a person in your
situation ; and I have no desire to part with you , as I am
sure you would do very well if you will only think of
these things and try to exert yourself a little more: then,
I am convinced, you would soon acquire that delicate tact
which alone is wanting to give you a proper influence over the
mind of your pupil."
I was about to give the lady some idea of thefallacy of her
expectations ; but she sailed away as soon as she had concluded
her speech. Having said what she wished, it was no part of
her plan to await my answer ; it was my business to hear, and
not to speak
410 AGNES GREY .
However, as I have said, Matilda atlength yielded in some

degree to her mother's authority (pity it had not been exerted
before ); and being thus deprived of almost every source of
amusement, there was nothing for it but to take long rides
with the groom and long walks with the governess, and to
visit the cottages and farm - houses on her father's estate, to
kill time in chatting with the old men and women that inha
bited them . In one of these walks, it was our chance to meet
Mr Weston. This was what I had long desired ; but now,
for a moment, I wished either he or I were away : I felt my
heart throb so violently that I dreaded lest some outward
signs of emotion should appear ; but I think he hardly
glanced at me, and I was soon calm enough. After a brief
salutation to both, he asked Matilda if she had lately heard
from her sister.
“ Yes,” replied she. " She was at Paris when she wrote,
and very well, and very happy."
She spoke the last wordemphatically, and with a glance
impertinently sly. He did not seem to notice it, but replied,
with equal emphasis, and very seriously
66
I hope she will continue to be so.”
“ Do you think it likely ? " I ventured to inquire : for
Matilda had started off in pursuit of her dog, that was chasing
a leveret.
“ I cannot tell,” replied he. “ Sir Thomas may be a better
man than I suppose ; but, from all I have heard and seen, it
seems a pity that one so young and gay, and — and interesting,
to express many things by one word — whose greatest, if not
her only fault, appears to be thoughtlessness - no trifling fault
to be sure, since it renders the possessor liable to almostevery
other, and exposes him to so many temptations: but it seems
a pity that she should be thrown away on such a man. It
was her mother's wish , I suppose ? ”
“ Yes ; and her own too, I think, for she always laughed at
myattempts to dissuade her from the step .”
“ You did attempt it ? Then, at least, you will have the
satisfaction of knowing that it is no fault of yours, if any
harm should come of it. As for Mrs Murray, I don't know
how she can justify her conduct : if I had sufficient acquain
tance with her, I'd ask her,"
" It seems unnatural : but some people think rank and
wealth the chief good ; and, if they can secure that for their
children, they think they have done their duty."
AGNES GREY. 411
« True: but is it not strange that persons of experience, who

have been married themselves, should judge so falsely ? ”
Matilda now came panting back, with the lacerated body of
the young hare in her hand.
“ Wasit your intention to kill that hare, or to save it, Miss
Murray ? " asked Mr Weston, apparently puzzled at her gleeful
countenance.
“ I pretended to want to save it,” she answered, honestly
enough, " as it was so glaringly out of season ; but I was better
pleased to see it killed . However, you can both witness that
I couldn't help it : Prince was determined to have her ; and he
clutched her by the back, and killed her in a minute ! Wasn't
it a noble chase ?
“ Very ! for a young lady after a leveret .”
There was a quiet sarcasm in the tone of his reply which
was not lost upon her ; she shrugged her shoulders, and,
turning away with a significant “ Humph ! " asked me how
I had enjoyed the fun . I replied that I saw no fun in the
matter ; but admitted that I had not observed the transaction
very narrowly.
“ Didn't you see how it doubled — just like an old hare ? and
didn't you hear it scream ? ”
“ I'm happy to say I did not.”
“ It cried out just like a child .”
“Poor little thing ! What will you do with it ? "
“ Come along — I shall leave it in the first house we come
to. I don't want to take it home, for fear papa should scold
me for letting the dog kill it .”
Mr Weston was now gone, and we too went on our way ;
but as we returned, afterhaving deposited the hare in a farm
house, and demolished some spice-cake and currant wine in
exchange, we met him returning also from the execution of
his mission, whatever it might be. He carried in his hand
a cluster of beautiful bluebells which he offered to me ; observ
ing, with a smile, that though he had seen so little of me for
the last two months, he had not forgotten that bluebells were
numbered among my favourite flowers. It was done as a
simple act of goodwill, without compliment or remarkable
courtesy, or any look that could be construed into “ reveren
tial, tender adoration " ( vide Rosalie Murray) ; but still, it
was something to find my unimportant saying so well remem
bered : it was something that he had noticed so accurately the
time I had ceased to be visible.
412 AGNES GREY .
“ I was told ,” said he, “ that you were a perfect bookworm ,

Miss Grey : so completely absorbed in your studies that you
were lost to every other pleasure.”
“ Yes, and it's quite true !” cried Matilda.
“ No, Mr Weston ; don't believe it : it's a scandalous libel.
These young ladies are too fond of making random assertions
at the expense of their friends ; and you ought to be careful
how you listen to them .”
“ I hope this assertion is groundless, at any rate. "
“ Why ? Do you particularly object to ladies' studying ?"
“ No ; but I object to any one so devoting himself or her
self to study, as to lose sight of everything else. Except
under peculiar circumstances, I consider very close and con
stant study as a waste of time, and an injury to the mind as
well as the body ."
“ Well, I have neither the time nor the inclination for such
transgressions."
We parted again .
“ Well! what is there remarkable in all this ? Why have
I recorded it ? Because, reader, it was important enough to
give me a cheerful evening, a night of pleasing dreams, and
a morning of felicitous hopes. Shallow -brained cheerfulness,
foolish dreams, unfounded hopes, you would say ; and I will
not venture to deny it : suspicions to that effect arose too fre
quently in my own mind. But our wishes are like tinder :
the flint and steel of circumstances are continually striking
out sparks, which vanish immediately, unless they chance to
fall upon the tinder of our wishes ; then, they instantly
ignite, and the flame of hope is kindled in a moment.
But alas ! that very morning, my flickering flame of hope
was dismally quenched by a letter from my mother, which
spoke so seriously of my father's increasing illness, that I
feared there was little or no chance of his recovery ; and ,
close at hand as the holidays were, I almost trembled lest
they should come too late for me to meet him in this world.
Two days after, a letter from Mary told me his life was de
spaired of, and his end seemed fast approaching. Then, im
mediately, I sought permission to anticipate thevacation, and
go without delay. Mrs Murray stared, and wondered at the
unwonted energy and boldness with which I urged the request,
and thought there was no occasion to hurry ; but finally gave
me leave : stating, however, that there was “ no need to be in
such agitation about the matter — it might prove a false alarm
AGNES GREY. 413
-after all; and if not - why, it was only in the common course
of nature : we must all die some time ; and I was not to
suppose myself the only afflicted person in the world ;" and
concluding with saying I might have the phaeton to take me
to 0-. “ And instead of repining, Miss Grey, be thankful
for the privileges you enjoy. There's many a poor clergyman
whose family would be plunged into ruin by the event of his
death ; butyou, you see, have influential friends ready to
continue theirpatronage, and to show you every consideration ."
I thanked her for her “ consideration ,” and flew to my
room to make some hurried preparations for my departure.
My bonnet and shawl being on, and a few things hastily
crammed into my largest trunk, I descended. But I might
have done the work more leisurely, for no one else was in a
hurry ; and I had still a considerable time to wait for the
phaeton. At length it came to the door, and I was off : but,
oh , what a dreary journey was that ! how utterly different
from my former passages homewards ! Being too late for the
last coach to , I had to hire a cab for ten miles, and then
a car to take me over the rugged hills. It was half-past ten
before I reached home. They were not in bed.
My mother and sister both met me in the passage --sad
silent-pale ! I was so much shocked and terror -stricken
that I could not speak, to ask the information I so much longed
yet dreaded to obtain.
" Agnes !" said my mother, struggling to repress some
strong emotion .
66
Oh, Agnes ! ” cried Mary, and burst into tears.
“ How is he ? " I asked, gasping for the answer.
" Dead ! "
It was the reply I had anticipated : but the shock seemed
none the less tremendous.
CHAPTER XIX.
THE LETTER.
My father's mortal remains had been consigned to the tomb ;

and we, with sad faces and sombre garments, sat lingering
over the frugal breakfast-table, revolving plans for our future
life. My mother's strong mind had not given way beneath
even this affliction : her spirit, though crushed , was not
414 AGNES GREY .
broken . Mary's wish was that I should go back to Horton

Lodge, and that our mother should come and live with her
and Mr Richardson at the vicarage : she affirmed that he
wished it no less than herself, and that such an arrangement
could not fail to benefit all parties ; for my mother's society
and experience would be of inestimable value to them , and
they would do all they could to make her happy. But no
arguments or entreaties could prevail : my mother was deter
mined not to go. Not that she questioned, for a moment,
the kind wishes and intentions of her daughter ; but she
affirmed that so long as God spared her health and strength,
she would make use of them to earn her own livelihood , and
be chargeable to no one ; whether her dependence would be
felt as a burden or not. If she could afford to reside as a
lodger in vicarage, she would choose that house before
all others as the place of her abode ; but not being so cir
cumstanced, she would never come under its roof, except as
an occasional visitor : unless sickness or calamity should ren
der her assistance really needful, or until age or infirmity
made her incapable of maintaining herself.
“ No, Mary,” said she, “ if Richardson and you have any
thing to spare, you must lay it aside for your family ; and
Agnes and I must gather honey for ourselves. Thanks to
my having had daughters to educate, I have not forgotten
my accomplishments. God willing, I will check this vain
repining ,” - she said, while the tears coursed one another
down her cheeks in spite of her efforts ; but she wiped them
away, and resolutely shaking back her head , continued , “ I
will exert myself, and look out for a small house, commo
diously situated in some populous but healthy district, where
we will take a few young ladies to board and educate — if we
can get them — and as many day pupils as will come, or as
we can manage to instruct. Your father's relations and old
friends will be able to send us some pupils, or to assist us
with their recomm
amendations, no doubt: I shall not apply to
my own . What say you to it, Agnes ? will you be willing
to leave your present situation and try ? ”
66
Quite willing, mamma ; and the money I have saved will
do to furnish the house. It shall be taken from the bank
directly ."
“When it is wanted : we must get the house, and settle on
preliminaries first.”
Mary offered to lend the little she possessed ; but my
AGNES GREY . 415
mother declined it, saying, that we must begin on an econo

mical plan; and she hoped that the whole or part of mine,
added to what we could get by the sale of the furniture, and
what little our dear papa had contrived to lay aside for her
since the debts were paid, would be sufficient to last us till
Christmas ; when, it was hoped, something would accrue from
our unitedlabours. It was finally settled that this should be
our plan ; and that inquiries and preparations should imme
diately be set on foot ; and while my mother busied herself
with these, I should return to Horton Lodge at the close of ·
my four weeks' vacation, and give notice for my final depar
ture when things were in train for the speedy commencement
of our school.
We were discussing these affairs on the morning I have
mentioned, about a fortnight after my father's death, when a
letter was brought in for my mother, on beholding which the
colour mounted to her face — lately pale enough with anxious
watchings and excessive sorrow. “ From my father !” mur
mured she, as she hastily tore off the cover. It was many
years since she had heard from any of her own relations
before. Naturally wondering what the letter might contain ,
I watched her countenance while she read it, and was some
what surprised to see her bite her lip and knit her brows as if
in anger. When she had done, she somewhat irreverently
cast it on the table, saying with a scornful smile
“ Your grandpapa has been so kind as to write to me. He
says he has no doubt I have long repented of my unfortunate
marriage,' and if I will only acknowledge this,and confess I
was wrong in neglecting his advice, and that I have justly
suffered for it,he will make a lady of me once again — if that
be possible after my long degradation — and remember my
girls in his will. Get my desk, Agnes, and send these things
away : I will answer the letter directly. But first, as I may
be depriving you both of a legacy, it is just that I should tell
you what I mean to say. I shall say that he is mistaken in
supposing that I can regret the birth of my daughters (who
have been the pride of my life, and are likely to be the comfort
of my old age), or the thirty years I have passed in the
company of my best and dearest friend ;—that, had our mis
fortunes been three times as great as they were (unless they
had been of my bringing on ), I should still the more rejoice
to have shared them with your father, and administered what
consolation I was able ; and, had his sufferings in illness been
416 AGNES GREY .
ten times what they were, I could not regret having watched
over and laboured to relieve them ;—that, if he had married a
richer wife, misfortunes and trials would no doubt have come
upon him still ; while I am egotist enough to imagine that no
other woman could have cheered him through them so well :
not that I am superior to the rest, but I was made for him,
and he for me ; and I can no more repent the hours, days,
years of happiness we have spent together, and which neither
could have had without the other, than I can the privilege of
having been his nurse in sickness, and his comfort in affliction.
“ Will this do, children ?-or shall I say we are all very
sorry for what has happened during the last thirty years, and
my daughters wish they had never been born ; but since
they have had that misfortune, they will be thankful for any
trifle their grandpapa will be kind enough to bestow ? "
Of course, we both applauded our mother's resolution ;
Mary cleared away the breakfast things; I brought the desk ;
the letter was quickly written and despatched ; and , from that
day, we heard no more of our grandfather, till we saw his
death announced in the newspaper a considerable time after
allhis worldlypossessions, of course, being left to our wealthy,
unknown cousins.
CHAPTER XX .
THE FAREWELL .
A HOUSE in A— , the fashionable watering-place, was hired

for our seminary ; and a promise of two or three pupils was
obtained to commence with . I returned to Horton Lodge
about the middle of July, leaving my mother to conclude the
bargain for the house, to obtain more pupils, to sell off the
furniture of our old abode, and to fit out the new one.
We often pity the poor, because they have no leisure to
mourn their departed relatives, and necessity obliges them to
labour through their severest afflictions : but is not active
employment the best remedy for overwhelming sorrow — the
surest antidote for despair? It may be a rough comforter : it
may seem hard to be harassed with the cares of life when we
have no relish for its enjoyments; to be goaded to labour when
the heart is ready to break , and the vexed spirit implores for
AGNES GREY. 417
rest only to weep in silence : but is not labour better than the
rest we covet ? and are not those petty, tormenting cares less
hurtful than a continual brooding over the great affliction
that oppresses us ? Besides, we cannot have cares, and
anxieties, and toil, without hope — if it be but the hope of ful
filling our joyless task, accomplishing some needful project,
or escaping some further annoyance. At any rate, I was glad
my mother had so much employment for every faculty of her
action -loving frame. Our kindneighbours lamented that she,
once so exalted in wealth and station, should be reduced to
such extremity in her time of sorrow ; but I am persuaded that
she would have suffered thrice as much had she been left in
1
affluence, with liberty to remain in that house,the scene of her

early happiness and late affliction , and no stern necessity to
prevent her from incessantly brooding over and lamenting her
bereavement.
I will not dilate upon the feelings with which I left the old 1
house, the well -known garden, the little village church — then !
doubly dear to me, because my father, who, for thirty years,

had taught and prayed within its walls, lay slumbering now 11
beneath its flags — and the old bare hills, delightful in their !
very desolation, with the narrow vales between, smiling in 1
green wood and sparkling water — the house where I was born,
the scene of all my early associations, the place where through
out life my earthly affections had been centred ;—and left 1
11
them to return no more ! True, I was going back to Horton 1
Lodge, where, amid many evils, one source of pleasure yet
remained : but it was pleasure mingled with excessive pain ;
and my stay, alas ! was limited to six weeks. And even of
that precious time, day after day slipped by and I did not see
him : except at church, I never saw him for a fortnight after 1
my return. It seemed a long time to me : and, as I was often

out with my rambling pupil, of course hopes would keep
rising, and disappointments would ensue ; and, then , I would
say to my own heart, “ Here is a convincing proof — if you
would but have the sense to see it, or the candour to acknow 1
ledge it — that he does not care for you. If he only thought

half as much about you as you do about him, he would have
contrived to meet you many times ere this : you must know
that, by consulting your own feesings. Therefore, have done
with this nonsense : you have nu ground for hope : dismiss,
at once, these hurtful thoughts and foolish wishes from your +1
mind, and turn to your own duty, and the dull blanklife that
27
418 AGNES GREY .
lies before you. You might have known such happiness was
not for you."
But I saw him at last. He came suddenly upon me as I was
crossing a field in returning from a visit to Nancy Brown,
which I had taken the opportunity of paying while Matilda
Murray was riding her matchless mare. He must have heard
of the heavy loss I had sustained : he expressed no sympathy,
offered no condolence : but almost the first words he uttered
were , —— “ How is your mother ? ” And this was no matter - of
course question, for I never told nim that I had a mother : he
must have learned the fact from others, if he knew it at all;
and , besides, there was sincere good-will, and even deep,
touching, unobtrusive sympathy in the tone and manner of
the inquiry. I thanked him with due civility, and told him
she was as well as could be expected . “What will she do ?”
was the next question. Many would have deemed it an
impertinent one, and given an evasive reply ; but such an
idea never entered my head, and I gave a brief but plain
statement of mother's plans and prospects.
“ Then you will leave this place shortly ? ” said he.
“ Yes, in a month . "
He paused a minute, as if in thought. When he spoke
again, I hoped it would be to express his concern at my
departure; but it was only to say— “ I should think you will
be willing enough to go ? "
“ Yes — for some things," I replied.
“ For some things only — I wonder what should make you
regret it !"
I was annoyed at this in some degree ; because it embarrassed
me : I had only one reason for regretting it ; and that was a
profound secret, which he had no business to trouble me
about.
“ Why," said I— " why should you suppose that I dislike
the place ? "
“ You told me so yourself," was the decisive reply. 16 You
said , at least, that you could not live contentedly, without a
friend ; and that you had no friend here, and no possibility of
making one- and besides, I know you must dislike it .”
“ But if you remember rightly, I said, or meant to say, I
could not live contentedly without a friend in the world : I was
not so unreasonable asto require one always near me. I think
I could be happy in a housefull of enemies, if _” but no ;
that sentence must not be continued — I paused, and hastiy
AGNES GREY . 419
added— “ And besides, we cannot well leave a place where

we have lived for two or three years, without soine feeling of
97
regret."
“Will you regret to part with Miss Murray, your sole
remaining pupil and companion ? ”
“ I dare say I shall in some degree : it was not without
sorrow I parted with her sister.”
I can imagine that. "
“ Well, Miss Matilda is quite as good - better, in one
respect."
16 What is that ? "
" She's honest."
66 And the other is not ? "
“ I should not call her dishonest; but it must be confessed,
she's a little artful.”
66
Artful is she ?—I saw she was giddy and vain -- and now ,"
he added, after a pause, “ I can well believe she was artful
too ; but so excessively so as to assume an aspect of extreme
simplicity and unguarded openness. Yes," continued he,
musingly, “ that accounts for some little things that puzzled
me a trifle before."
After that, he turned the conversation to more general
· subjects. He did not leaveme till we had nearly reached the
park gates : he had certainly stepped a little out of his way
to accompany me so far, for he now went back and disap
peared down Moss -lane, the entrance of which we had passed
some time before. Assuredly I did not regret this circum
stance : if sorrow had any place in my heart, it was that he
was gone at last — that he was no longer walking by my side,
and that that short interval of delightful intercourse was at an
end. He had not breathed a word of love, or dropped one
hint of tenderness or affection, and yet I had been supremely
happy. To be near him, to hear him talk as he did talk ;
; andto feel that he thought me worthy to be so spoken to
capable of understandingand duly appreciating such discourse
—was enough.
Yes, Edward Weston, I could indeed be happy in a
house full of enemies, if I had but one friend, who truly,
deeply, and faithfully loved me ; and if that friend were you
—though we might be far apart — seldom to hear from each
other, still more seldom to meet — though toil, and trouble,
and vexation might surround me, still - it would be too much
happiness for me to dream of ! Yet who can tell," said I
420 AGNES GREY.
within myself, as I proceeded up the park , — " who can tell

what this one month may bring forth ? I have lived nearly
three -and -twenty years, and I have suffered much, and tasted
Jittle pleasure yet : is it likely my life all through will be so
clouded ? Is it not possible that God may hear my prayers,
disperse these gloomy shadows, and grant me some beams of
heaven's sunshine yet ? Will he entirely deny to me those
blessings which are so freely given to others, who neither ask
them nor acknowledge them when received ? May I not still
hope and trust? I did hope and trust for a while : but, alas,
alas ! the time ebbed away: one week followed another, and,
excepting one distant glimpse and two transient meetings,
during which scarcely anything was said — while I was walking
with Miss Matilda, I saw nothing of him : except, of course , at
church .
And now,
the last Sunday was come, and the last service.
I was often on the point of melting into tears during the
sermon — the last I was to hear from him : the best I should
hear from any one, I was well assured. It was over - the
congregation were departing ; and I must follow . I had
then seen him, and heard his voice, too, probably for the last
time. In the churchyard, Matilda was pounced upon by the
two Misses Green. They had many inquiries to make about
her sister, and I know not what besides. I only wished they
would have done, that we might hasten back to Horton
Lodge : I longed to seek the retirement of my own room , or
some sequestered nook in the grounds, that I might deliver
myself up to my feelings — to weep my last farewell, and
lament my false hopes and vain delusions. Only this once,
and then adieu to fruitless dreaming - thenceforth , only sober,
solid , sad reality should occupy my mind. But while I thus
resolved, a low voice close beside mesaid— “ I suppose you
are going this week, Miss Grey?” “ Yes," I replied. I was
very much startled ; and had I been at all hysterically inclined,
I certainly should have committed myself in some way then.
Thank God, I was not.
“ Well," said Mr Weston, “ Iwant to bid you good -bye — it
is not likely I shall see you again before you go."
66
Good -bye, Mr Weston ," I said. Oh, how I struggled to
say it calmly ! I gave him my hand . He retained it a few
seconds in his.
0
It is possible we may meet again,” said he ; “ will it be of

any consequence to you whether we do or not ? "
AGNES GREY. 421
Yes, I should be very glad to see you again.”

I could say no less. He kindly pressed my hand , and went.
Now , I was happy again — though more inclined to burst into
tears than ever . If I had been forced to speak at that
moment, a succession of sobs would have inevitably ensued ;
and as it was, I could not keep the water out of my eyes. I
walked along with Miss Murray, turning aside my face, and
neglecting to notice several successive remarks, till she bawled
out that Iwas either deaf or stupid ; and then (having recovered
my self- possession ), as one awakened from a fit of abstraction,
I suddenly lookedup and asked what she had been saying.
CHAPTER XXI.
THE SCHOOL .
I LEFT Horton Lodge, and went to join my mother in our new

abode at A- I found her well in health, resigned in
spirit, and even cheerful, though subdued and sober, in her
general demeanour. We had only three boarders and half a
dozen day- pupils to commence with ; but by due care and
diligence we hoped ere long to increase the number of both.
I set myself with befitting energy to discharge the duties of
this new mode of life. I call it new , for there was, indeed, a
considerable difference between working with my mother in a
school of our own, and working as a hireling among strangers,
despised and trampled upon by old and young; and for the
first few weeks I was by no means unhappy. “ It is possible
we may meet again ,” and “ will it be of any consequence to you
whether we do or not ? ” — Those words still rang in my ear
and rested on my heart: they were my secret solace and
support. “ I shall see him again.—He will come ; or he will
write. ” No promise, in fact, was too bright or two extra
vagant for hope to whisper in my ear . I did not believe half
of what she told me : I pretended to laugh at it all ; but I was
far more credulous than I myself supposed; otherwise, why
did my heart leap up when a knock was heard at the front
door, and the maid, who opened it, came to tell my mother a
gentleman wished to see her ? and why was I out of humour
for the rest of the day, because it proved to be a music -master
422 AGNES GREY .
come to offer his services to our school ? and what stopped my

breath for a moment, when the postman having brought a
couple of letters, my mother said, “ Here Agnes, this is for
you,” and threw one of them to me ? and what made the hot
blood rush into my face when I saw it was directed in a
gentleman's hand ?' and why ?-oh ! why did that cold,
sickening sense of disappointment fall upon me, when I had
torn open the cover and found it was only a letter from Mary,
which, for some reason or other, her husband had directed
for her ?
Was it then come to this — that I should be disappointed to
receive a letter from my only sister : and because it was not
written by a comparative stranger ? Dear Mary ! and she
had written it so kindly — and thinking I should be so pleased
to have it !—I was not worthy to read it ! And I believe, in
my indignation against myself, I should have put it aside till
I had schooled myself into a better frame of mind, and was
become more deserving of the honour and privilege of its
perusal : but there was my mother looking on , and wishful to
know what news it contained; so I read it and delivered it to
her, and then went into the schoolroom to attend to the pupils :
but amidst the cares of copies and sums — in the intervals of
correcting errors here, and reproving derelictions of duty
there, I was inwardly taking myself to task with far sterner
severity. “What a fool you must be," said my head to
my heart, or my sterner to my softer self ; — " how could
you ever dream that he would write to you ? What grounds
have you for such a hope—or that he will see you , or give
himself any trouble about you or even think of you
again ? " What grounds ?” — and then Hope set before
me that last, short interview , and repeated the words I had
so faithfully treasured in my memory. Well, and what was
there in that ?—Who ever hung his hopes upon so frail a
twig ? What was there in those words that any common
acquaintance might not say to another ? Of course, it was
possible you mightmeet again : he might have said so if you
had been going to New Zealand; but that did not imply any
intention of seeing you — and then, as to the question that
followed , any. might ask that : and how did you answer ?
-Merely with a stupid, commonplace reply, such as you
would have given to Master Murray, or anyone else you had
been on tolerably civil terms with .” “ But, then," persisted
Hope, “the tone and manner in which he spoke." “ Ob ,
AGNES GREY . 423
that is nonsense ! he always speaks impressively ; and at that

moment there were the Greens and Miss Matilda Murray
just before, and other people passing by, and he was obliged
to stand close beside you, and to speak very low, unless he
wished everybody to hear what he said ; which — though it
was nothing at all particular — of course, he would rather
not.” But then, above all, that emphatic, yet gentle pressure
of the hand, which seemed to say, " Trust me;" and many
other things besides—too delightful, almost too flattering,
to be repeated even to one's self. “ Egregious folly — too
absurd to require contradiction — mere inventions of the ima
gination , which you ought to be ashamed of. If you would
but consider your own unattractive exterior, your unamiable
reserve, your foolish diffidence — which must make you appear
cold, dull, awkward , and perhaps ill-tempered too ;-ifyou
had but rightly considered these from the beginning, you
would never have harboured such presumptuous thoughts :
and now that you have been so foolish, pray repent and
amend, and let us have no more of it !"
I cannot say that I implicitly obeyed my own injunctions :
but such reasoning as this became more and more effective as
time wore on, and nothing was seen or heard of Mr Weston ;
until at last, I gave up hoping, for even my heart acknow
ledged it was all in vain. But still, I would think of him : I
would cherish his image in my mind ; and treasure every word,
look, and gesture that my memory could retain ; and brood
over his excellences and his peculiarities, and, in fact, all I had
seen, heard, or imagined respecting him .
Agnes, this seaair and change of scene do you no good, I
think: I never saw you look so wretched. It must be that
you sit too much , and allow the cares of the schoolroom to
worry you. You must learn to take things easy , and to be
more active and cheerful; you must take exercise whenever
you can get it, and leave the most tiresome duties to nie : they
will only serve to exercise my patience, and, perhaps, try my
temper a little.”
So said my mother, as we sat at work one morning during
the Easter holidays. I assured her that my employments
were not at all oppressive; that I was well ; or, if there was
anything amiss, it would be gone as soon as the trying months
ofspring were over: when summer came I should beas strong
and hearty as she could wish to see me : but inwardly her
observation startled me. I knew my strength was declining,
424 AGNES GREY.
ny appetite had failed, and I was grown listless and despond-

ing; —and if, indeed, he could never care for me, and I could
never see him more — if I was forbidden to minister to his
happiness — forbidden, for ever, to taste the joys of love, to
bless and to be blessed—then, life must be a burden, and if
my Heavenly Father would call me away , I should be glad to
rest. But it would not do to die and leave my mother. Selfish ,
unworthy daughter, to forget her for a moment ! Was not
her happiness committed in a great measure to my charge ?
and the welfare of our young pupils too ? Should I shrink
from the work that God had set before me, because it was not
fitted to my taste ? Did not He know best what I should do,
and where I ought to labour ? and should I long to quit His
service before I had finished my task, and expect to enter into
His rest without having laboured to earn it ? “No ; by His
help I will arise and address myself diligently to my appointed
duty . If happiness in this world is not for me, I will endea
vour to promote the welfare of those around me, and my reward
shall be hereafter.” So said I in my heart ; and from that
hour I only permitted my thoughts to wander to Edward
Weston—or at least to dwell upon him now and then - as a
treat for rare occasions : and, whether it was really the approach
of summer, or the effect of these good resolutions, or the lapse
of time, or all together, tranquillity of mind was soon restored ;
and bodily health and vigour began likewise, slowly , but
surely, to return.
Early in June, I received a letter from Lady Ashby, late
Miss Murray. ' She had written to me twice or thrice before,
from the different stages of her bridal tour, always in good
spirits, and professing to be very happy. I wondered every
time that she had not forgotten me, in the midst of so much
gaiety and variety of scene. At length, however, there was a
pause ; and it seemed she had forgotten me, for upwards of
seven months passed away and no letter. Of course, I did
not break my heart about that, though I often wondered how
she was getting on ; and when this last epistle so unexpectedly
arrived, I was glad enough to receive it. It was dated from
Ashby Park , where she was come to settle down at last,
having previously divided her time between the continent and
the metropolis. She made many apologies for having neglected
me so long, assured me she had not forgotten me, and had
often intended to write, &c. &c., but had always been prevented
by something. She acknowledged that she had been leading
AGNES GREY. 425
a very dissipated life, and should think her very wicked and
very thoughtless ; but, notwithstanding that, she thought a
great deal, and, among other things, that she should vastly
like to see me. “ We have been several days here already,"
wrote she. “ We have not a single friend with us, and
are likely to be very dull. You know I never had a
fancy for living with my husband like two turtles in a nest,
were he the most delightful creature that ever wore a coat ;
so do take pity upon me and come. I suppose your Mid
summer holidays commence in June, the same as other
people's, therefore you cannot plead want of time ; and
you must and shall come — in fact, I shall die if you don't.
i want you to visit me as a friend, and stay a long time.
There is nobody with me, as I told you before, but Sir
Thomas and old Lady Ashby: but you needn't mind them
-they'll trouble us but little with their company. And
you shall have a room to yourself, whenever you like to
retire to it, and plenty of books to read when my company
is not sufficiently amusing. I forget whether you like babies;
if you do, you may have the pleasure of seeing mine - the
most charming child in the world, no doubt ; and all the
more so, that I am not troubled with nursing it_I was deter
mined I wouldn't be bothered with that. Unfortunately , it
is a girl, and Sir Thomas has never forgiven me : but, how
ever, if you will only come, I promise you shall be its gover
ness as soon as it can speak ; and you shall bring it up in
the way
it should go, and make a better woman of it than
its mamma. And you shall see my poodle, too : a splendid
little charmer imported from Paris : and two fine Italian
paintings of great value — I forget the artist. Doubtless you
will be able to discover prodigious beauties in them , which
you must point out to me, as I only admire by hearsay; and
many elegant curiosities besides, which I purchased at Rome
and elsewhere; and, finally, you shall see my new home
the splendid house and grounds I used to covet so greatly.
Alas ! how far the promise of anticipation exceeds the plea
sure of possession ! There's a fine sentiment ! I assure you
I am become quite a grave old matron : pray come, if it be
only to witness the wonderful change. Write by return of
post, and tell me when your vacation commences, and say
that you will come the day after, and stay till the day before
it closes - in mercy to, Yours affectionately,
ROSALIE ASHBY."
426 AGNES GREY.
I showed this strange epistle to my mother, and consulted

her on what I ought to do. She advised me to go ; and I
went - willing enough to see Lady Ashby, and her baby too,
and to do anything I could to benefit her, by consolation or
advice ; for I imagined she must be unhappy, or she would
not have applied to me thus — but feeling, as may readily be
conceived, that, in accepting the invitation, I made a great
sacrifice for her, and did violence to my feelings in many
ways, instead of being delighted with the honourable dis
tinction of being entreated by the baronet's lady to visit her
as a friend. However, I determined my visit should be only
for a few days at most ; and I will not deny that I derived
some consolation from the idea that, as AshbyPark was not
very far from Horton, I might possibly see Mr. Weston , or,
at least, hear something about him.
CHAPTER XXII.
THE VISIT .
ASHBY PARK was certainly a very delightful residence. The

mansion was stately without, commodious and elegant within ;
the park was spacious and beautiful, chiefly on account of its
magnificent old trees, its stately herds of deer, its broad sheet
of water, and the ancient woods that stretched beyond it : for
there was no broken ground to give variety to the landscape,
and but very little of that undulating swell which adds so
greatly to the charm of park scenery . And so, this was the
place Rosalie Murray had so longed to call her own, that she
must have a share of it, on whatever terms it might be offered
—whatever price was to be paid for the title of mistress, and
whoever was to be her partner in the honour and bliss of such
a possession ! Well ! I am not disposed to censure her now.
She received me very kindly ; and, though I was a poor
clergyman's daughter, a governess, and a schoolmistress, she
welcomed we with unaffected pleasure to her home ; and
what surprised me rather — took some pains to make my visit
agreeable. I could see, it is true, that she expected me to be
greatly struck with the magnificence that surrounded her ;
and, I confess, I was rather annoyed at her evident efforts to
AGNES GREY. 427
reassure me, and prevent me from being overwhelmed by so

much grandeur- too much awed at the idea of encountering
her husband and mother-in -law , or too much ashamed of my
own humble appearance . I was not ashamed of it at all; for,
though plain, I had taken good care not to be shabby or
mean and should have been pretty considerably at my ease,
if my condescending hostess had not taken such manifest
pains to make me so ; and, as for the magnificence that sur
rounded her, nothing that met my eyes struck me or affected
me half so much as her own altered appearance. Whether
from the influence of fashionable dissipation , or some other
evil, a space of little more than twelve months had had the
effect that might be expected from as many years, in reducing
the plumpness of her form , the freshness of her complexion,
the vivacity of her movements, and the exuberance of her
spirits.
I wished to know if she was unhappy; but I felt it was not
my province to inquire : I might endeavour to win her confi
dence ; but, if she chose to conceal her matrimonial cares from
me, I would trouble her with no obtrusive questions. I,
therefore, at first, confined myself to a few general inquiries
about her health and welfare, and a few commendations on
the beauty of the park, and of the little girl that should have
been a boy : a small delicate infant' of seven or eight weeks
old, whom its mother seemed to regard with no remarkable
degree of interest or affection, though full as much as I ex
pected her to show.
Shortly after my arrival , she commissioned her maid to
conduct me to my room and see that I had everything I
wanted : it was a small, unpretending, but sufficiently comfort
able apartment. When I descended thence — having divested
myself of all travelling encumbrances, and arranged my toilet
with due consideration for the feelings of my lady hostess
she conducted me herself to the room I was to occupy when
I chose to be alone, or when she was engaged with visitors, or
obliged to be with her mother-in -law , or otherwise prevented,
as she said , from enjoying the pleasure of my society. It was
a quiet, tidy little sitting -room ; and I was not sorry to be
provided with such a harbour of refuge.
“ And some time,” said she, “ I will show you the library:
I never examined its shelves , but, I dare say, it is full of wise
books ; and you may go and burrow among them whenever
you please . And now you shall have sometea — it will soon
428 AGNES GREY
be dinner-time, but, I thought as you were accustomed to

dine at one, you would perhaps like better to have a cup of
tea about this time, and to dine when we lunch ; and then,
you know, you can have your tea in this room , and that will
save you from having to dine with Lady Ashby and Sir
Thomas : which would be rather awkward — at least, not
awkward, but rather — a — you know what I mean. I thought
you mightn't like it so well — especially as we may have other
ladies and gentlemen to dine with us occasionally ."
Certainly,” said I, “ I would much rather have it as you
say ; and , if you have no objection, I should prefer having all
my meals in this room . ”
Why so ? "
“ Because, I imagine, it would be more agreeable to Lady
Ashby and Sir Thomas."
“Nothing of the kind.”
At any rate, it would be more agreeable to me .”
She made some faint objections, but soon conceded ; and I
couldsee that the proposal was a considerable relief to her.
“ Now , come into the drawing -room ," said she. “ There's
the dressing bell ; but I won't go yet : it's no use dressing
when there's no one to see you ; and I want to have a little
disc ourse ."
The drawing-room was certainly an imposing apartment,
and very elegantly furnished ; but I saw its young mistress
glance towards me as we entered, as if to notice how I was
impressed by the spectacle, and accordingly I determined to
preserve an aspect of stony indifference, as if I saw nothing
at all remarkable. But this was only for a moment : imme
diately conscience whispered, “ Why should I disappoint her
to save my pride ? No - rather let me sacrifice mypride to
give her a little innocent gratification." And I honestly
looked round, and told her it was a noble room, and very
tastefully furnished. She said little, but I saw she was
pleased.
She showed me her fat French poodle, that lay curled up
on a silk cushion, and the two fine Italian paintings : which ,
however, she would not give me time to examine, but, saying
I must look at them some other day, insisted upon my
admiring the little jewelled watch she had purchased in
Geneva ; and then she took me round the room to point out
sundry articles of vertu she had brought from Italy : an elegant
little time-piece, and several busts, small graceful figures,
AGNES GREY . 429
andvases, all beautifully carved in white marble. She spoke

of these with animation, and heard my admiring comments
with a smile of pleasure : that soon, however, vanished, and
was followed by a melancholy sigh ; as if in consideration of
the insufficiency of all such baubles to the happiness of the
human heart, and their woful inability to supply its insatiate
demands.
Then, stretching herself upon a couch , she motioned me to
a capacious easy -chair that stood opposite — not before the
fire, but before a wide open window ; for it was summer, be
it remembered ; a sweet, warm evening in the latter half of
June. I sat for a moment in silence, enjoying the still, pure
air, and the delightful prospect of the park that lay before
me, rich in verdure and foliage, and basking in yellow_sun
shine, relieved by the long shadows of declining day . But I
must take advantage of this pause : I had inquiries to make ,
and, like the substance of a lady's postscript, the most im
portant must come last. So I began with asking after Mr
and Mrs Murray, and Miss Matilda and the young gentle
men .
I was told that papa had the gout, which made him
very ferocious ; and that he would not give up his choice
wines, and his substantial dinners and suppers, and had
quarrelled with his physician, because the latter had dared tɔ
say that no medicine could cure him while he lived so freely ;
that mamma and the rest were well. Matilda was still wild
and reckless, but she had got a fashionable governess, and
was considerably improved in her manners, and soon to be
introduced to the world ; and John and Charles (now at
home for the holidays) were, by all accounts, “fine , bold,
unruly, mischievous boys."
“ And how are the other people getting on ? ” said I
" the Greens, for instance ? "
“Ah ! Mr Green is heart-broken, you know ," replied she,
with a languid smile : “ he hasn't got over his disappoint
He's doomed to be an
ment yet, and never will, I suppose.
old bachelor ; and his sisters are doing their best to get
married .”
“ And the Melthams ?”
“Oh, they ’re jogging on as usual, I suppose : but I know
very little about any of them - except Harry,” said she,
blushing slightly, and smiling again. " I saw a great deal
of him while we were in London ; for, as soon as he heard
430 AGNES GREY .
we were there, he came up under pretence of visiting his

brother, and either followed me, like a shadow, wherever I
went, or met me, like a reflection, at' every turn . You
needn't look so shocked, Miss Grey ; I was very discreet, I
assure you : but, you know, one can't help being admired.
Poor fellow ! He was not my only worshipper ; though hewas
certainly the most conspicuous, and , I think, the most devoted
among them all . And that detestable — ahem — and Sir
Thomas chose to take offence at him — or my profuse expen
diture, or something I don't exactly know what—and hur
ried me down to the country at a moment's notice ; where
I'm to play the hermit, I suppose, for life.”
And she bit her lip , and frowned vindictively upon the fair
domain she had once so coveted to call her own.
“ And Mr Hatfield,” said I, “ what is become of him ? "
Again she brightened up, and answered gaily
“ Oh ! he made up to an elderly spinster, and married her,
not long since ; weighing her heavy purse against her faded
charms, and expecting to find that solace in gold which was
denied him in love, ha, ha ! ”
“ Well, and I think that's all — except Mr Weston : what
is he doing ? "
“ I don't know, I'm sure. He's gone from Horton. "
“ How long since ? and where is he gone to ? ”
“ I know nothing about him ," replied she, yawning
66
except that he went about a month ago — I never asked
where,” (I would have asked whether it was to a living or
merely another curacy, but thought it better not) " and the
people made a great rout about his leaving," continued she,
“ much to Mr Hatfield's displeasure ; for Hatfield didn't like
him , because he had too much influence with the common
people, and because he was not sufficientlytractable and sub
missive to him — and for some other unpardonable sins, I don't
know what. But now I positively must go and dress: the second
bell will ring directly, and if I cometo dinner in this guise, I
shall never hear the end of it from Lady Ashby. It's a strange
thing.one can't be mistress in one's own house ! Just ring
the bell, and I'll send for my maid, and tell them to get you
some tea. Only think of that intolerable woman
“ Who — your maid ? ”
" No; my mother- in -law — and my unfortunate mistake !
Instead of letting her take herself off to some other house, as
she offered to do when I married, I was fool enough to ask her
AGNES GREY . 431
to live here still, and direct the affairs of the house for me ;
because, in the first place, I hoped we should spend the
greater part of the year in town, and in the second place,
being so young and inexperienced, I was frightened at the
idea of having a houseful of servants to manage, and dinners
to order, and parties to entertain, and all the rest of it, and I
thought she might assist me with her experience ; never
dreaming she would prove a usurper, a tyrant, an incubus,
a spy, and everything else that's detestable. I wish she was
dead ! ”
She then turned to give her orders to the footman, who had
been standing bolt upright within the door for the last half
minute, and had heard the latter part of her animadversions ;
and, of course, made his own reflections upon them, notwith
standing the inflexible, wooden countenance he thought proper
to preserve in the drawing-room. On my remarking after
wards that he must have heard her, she replied
“ Oh,no matter ! I never care about the footmen ; they're
mere automatons: it's nothing to them what their superiors
say or do; they won't dare to repeat it ; and as to what they
think — if they presume to think at all - of course, nobody
cares for that. It would be a pretty thing indeed, if we were
to be tongue-tied by our servants !"
So saying, she ran off to make her hasty toilet, leaving me
to pilot my way back to my sitting -room , where, in due time,
I was served with a cup of tea. After that, I sat musing on
Lady Ashby's past and present condition ; and on what little
information I had obtained respecting Mr Weston, and the
small chance there was of ever seeing or hearing anything
more of him throughout my quiet, drab -colour life : which,
henceforth , seemed offer no alternative between positive
rainy days, and days of dull grey clouds without downfall.
At length, however, I began to weary of my thoughts, and to
wish I knew where to find the library my hostess had spoken
of ; and to wonder whether I was to remain there doing
nothing till bedtime.
As I was not rich enough to possess a watch , I could not
tell how time was passing, except by observing the slowly
lengthening shadows from the window ; which presented a
side view, including acorner of the park, a clump of trees,
whose topmost branches had been colonized by an innu
merable company of noisy rooks, and a high wall with a
massive wooden gate : no doubt communicating with the
432 AGNES GREY .
stable- yard, as a broad carriage-road swept up to it from the

park. The shadow of this wall soon took possession of the
whole of the ground as far as I could see, forcing the golden
sunlight to retreat inch by inch, and at last take refuge in
the very tops of the trees . Ere long, even they were left in
shadow — the shadow of the distant hills, or of the earth
itself ; and , in sympathy for the busy citizens of the rookery,
I regretted to see their habitation, so lately bathed in glorious
light, reduced to the sombre, work -a -day hue of the lower
world, or of my own world within. For a moment, such
birds as soared above the rest might still receive the lustre
on their wings, which imparted to their sable plumage the
hue and brilliance of deep red gold ; at last, that too departed.
Twilight came stealing on ; the rooks became more quiet ; I
became more weary , and wished I were going home to
morrow .
At length it grew dark ; and I was thinking of
ringing for a candle, and betaking myself to bed, when my
hostess appeared , with many apologies for having neglected
me so long, and laying all the blame upon that " nasty old
woman ,” as she called her mother-in-law.
“ If I didn't sit with her in the drawing -room while Sir
Thomas is taking his wine,” said she, “ she would never for
give me ; and, then, if I leave the room the instant he comes
-as I have done once or twice — it is an unpardonable offence
against her dear Thomas. She never showed such disrespect
to her husband ; and as for affection, wives never think of
that now -a -days, she supposes : but things were different in
her time -as if there was any good to be done by staying in
the room , when he does nothing but grumble and scold when
he's in a bad humour, talk disgusting nonsense when he's in
a good one, and go to sleep on the sofa when he's too stupid
for either ; which is most frequently the case now, when he
has nothing to do but to sot over his wine.”
“ But could you not try to occupy his mind with something
better ; and engage him to give up such habits ? I'm sure
you have powers of persuasion, and qualifications for amusing
a gentleman, which many ladies would be glad to possess."
“ And so you think I would lay myself out for his amuse
ment ! No ; that's not my idea of a wife. It 's the husband's
part to please the wife, not hers to please him ; and if he isn't
satisfied with her as she is—and thankful to possess her too
he isn't worthy of her, that's all. And as for persuasion, I
assure you I shan't trouble myself with that : I've enough to
AGNES GREY . 433
do to bear with him as he is, without attempting to work a

reform . But I'm sorry I left you so long alone, Miss Grey.
How have you passed the time? ”
66
Chiefly in watching the rooks.”
Mercy, how dull you must have been ! I really must
show you the library ; and you must ring for everything you
want,just as you would in an inn, and make yourself com
fortable. I have selfish reasons for wishing to make you
happy, because I want you to stay with me, and not fulfil
your horrid threat of running away in a day or two."
“ Well, don't let me keep you out of the drawing-room any
longer to -night, for at present I am tired , and wish to go to
bed ."
CHAPTER XXIII .
THE PARK .
I CAME down a little before eight, next morning, as I knew

by the striking of a distant clock. There was no appearance
of breakfast. I waited above an hour before it came, still
vainly longing for access to the library ; and, after that lonely
repast was concluded, I waited again about an hour and a
half in great suspense and discomfort, uncertain what to do.
At length, Lady Ashby came to bid me good-morning. She
informed me she had only just breakfasted, and now wanted
me to take an early walk with her in the park. She asked
how long I had been up, and on receiving my answer,
expressed the deepest regret, and again promised to show me
the library. I suggested she had better do so at once, and
then there would be no further trouble either with remember
ing or forgetting. She complied, on condition that I would
not think of reading, or bothering with the books now ; for
she wanted to show me the gardens, and take a walk in the
park with me, before it became too hot for enjoyment: which,
indeed, was nearly the case already. Of course, I readily
assented ; and we took our walk accordingly.
As we were strolling in the park , talking of what my com
panion had seen and heard during her travelling experience,
a gentleman on horseback rode up and passed us . As he
turned, in passing, and stared me full in the face,28I had a
434 AGNES GREY.
good opportunity of seeing what he was like. He was tall,

thin , and wasted, with a slight stoop in the shoulders, a pale
face, but somewhat blotchy, and disagreeably red about the
eyelids, plain features, and a general appearance of languor
and flatness, relieved by a sinister expression in the mouth
and the dull, soulless eyes.
" I detest that man !" whispered Lady Ashby, with bitter
emphasis, as he slowly trotted by.
" Who is it ? " I asked , unwilling to suppose that she
should so speak of her husband.
" Sir Thomas Ashby," she replied, with dreary composure.
“ And do you detest him, Miss Murray ? ” said I, for I was
too much shocked to remember her name at the moment.
“ Yes, I do, Miss Grey, and despise him too ; and if you
knew him you would not blame me.”
“ But you knew what he was before you married him .”
“ No ; I only thought so : I did not half know him really.
I know you warned me against it, and I wish I had listened
to you : but it 's too late to regret that now . And besides ,
mamma ought to have known better than either of us, and
she never said anything against it — quite the contrary. And
then I thought he adored me, and would let me have my own
way : he did pretend to do so at first, but now he does not
care a bit about me. Yet I should not care for that : he
might do as he pleased, if I might only be free to amuse
myself and to stay in London , or have a few friends down
here : but he will do as he pleases, and I must be a prisoner
and a slave. The momenthe saw I could enjoy myself with
out him, and that others knew my value better than himself,
the selfish wretch began to accuse me of coquetry and extra
vagance ; and to abuse Harry Meltham , whose shoes he was
not worthy to clean. And then , he must needs have me
down in the country, to lead the life of a nún, lest I should
dishonour him or bring him to ruin ; as if he had not been
ten times worse every way , with his betting book , and his
gaming table, and his opera girls, and his Lady This and
Mrs. That - yes, and his bottles of wine, and glasses of
brandy and water too ! Oh, I would give ten thousand
worlds to be Miss Murray again ! It is too bad to feel life,
health , and beauty wasting away, unfelt and unenjoyed, for
such a brute as that !” exclaimed she, fairly bursting into
tears in the bitterness of her vexation.
Of course , I pitied her exceedingly ; as well for her false
AGNES GREY, 435
idea of happiness and disregard of duty, as for the wretched

partner with whom her fate was linked. I said what I could
to comfort her, and offered such counsels as I thought she
most required : advising her, first, by gentle reasoning, by
kindness, example, and persuasion, to try to ameliorate her
husband ; and then , when she had done all she could, if she
still found him incorrigible,to endeavour to abstract herself
from him -- to wrap herself up in her own integrity, and
trouble herself as little about him as possible. I exhorted
her to seek consolation in doing her duty to God and man,
to put her trust in Heaven, and solace herself with the care
and nurture of her little daughter; assuring her she would
be amply rewarded by witnessing its progress in strength
and wisdom , and receiving its genuine affection .
“ But I can't devote myself entirely to a child,” said she :
“ it66 may die — which is not at all improbable."
But, with care, many a delicate infant has become a
strong man or woman .”
“But it may grow so intolerably like its father that I
shall hate it. "
“ That is not likely ; it is a little girl, and strongly resem
bles its mother."
“ No matter ; I should like it better if it were a boy - only
that its father will leave it no inheritance that he can possibly
squander away. What pleasure can I have in seeing a girl
grow up to eclipse me, and enjoy those pleasures that I am
for ever debarred from ? But supposing I could be so
generous as to take delight in this, still it is only a child ; and
I can't centreall my hopes in a child : that is only one degree
better than devoting oneself to a dog. And as for all the
wisdom and goodness you have been trying to instil into me
that is all very right and proper I dare say, and if I were
some twenty years older, I might fructify by it : but people
must enjoy themselves when they are young ; and if others
won't let them — why, they must hate them for it ! "
“ The best way to enjoy yourself is to do what is right and
hate nobody. The end of Religion is not to teach us how to
die, but how to live ; and the earlier you become wise and
good, the more of happiness you secure. And now, Lady
Ashby, I have one more piece of advice to offer you, which
is, that you will not make an enemy of your mother - in - law .
Don't get into the way of holding her at arm's length, and
regarding her with jealous distrust. I never saw her, but I
436 AGNES GREY .
have heard good as well as evil respecting her ; and I imagine

that, though cold and haughty in her general demeanour, and
even exacting in her requirements, she has strong affections
for those who can reach them ; and, though so blindly attached
to her son, she is not without good principles, or incapable of
hearing reason. If you would but conciliate her a little, and
adopt a friendly, open manner-and even confide your griev
ances to her - real grievances, such as you have a right to
complain of — it is my firm belief that she would, in time,
become your faithful friend, and a comfort and support to you,
instead of the incubus you describe her .”
But I fear my advice had little effect upon the unfortunate
young lady; and, finding I could render myself so little ser
viceable, my residence at Ashby Park became doubly painful.
But still, I must stay out that day and the following one, as
I had promised to do so : though, resisting all entreaties and
inducements to prolong my visit further, I insisted upon de
parting the next morning; affirming that my mother would
be lonely without me, and that sheimpatiently expected my
return . Nevertheless, it was with a heavy heart that I bade
adieu to poor LadyAshby, and left her in her princely home.
It was no slight additional proof of her unhappiness, that she
should so cling to the consolation of my presence , and
earnestly desire the company of one whose general tastes and
ideas were so little congenial to her own — whom she had
completely forgotten in her hours of prosperity, and whose
presence would be rather a nuisance than a pleasure, if she
could but have half her heart's desire.
CHAPTER XXIV .
THE SANDS.
Our school was not situated in the heart of the town : on

entering A from the north -west there is a row of respect
able-looking houses, on each side of the broad, white road,
with narrow slips of garden -ground before them, Venetian
blinds to the windows, and a flight of steps leading to each
trim , brass -handled door. In one of the largest of these
habitations dwelt my
mother and I, with such young ladies
AGNES GREY . 437
as our friends and the public chose to commit to our charge.

Consequently, we were a considerable distance from the sea,
and divided from it by a labyrinth of streets and houses.
But the sea was my delight ; and I would often gladly pierce
the town to obtain the pleasure of a walk beside it, whether
with the pupils, or alone with my mother during the vaca
tions. It was delightful to me at all times and seasons, but
especially in the wild commotion of a rough sea - breeze, and
in the brilliant freshness of a summer morning.
I awoke early on the third morning after my return from
Ashby Park — the sun was shining through the blind, and I
thought howpleasant it would be to pass through the quiet
town and take a solitary ramble on the sands while half the
world was in bed. I was not long in forming theresolution ,
nor slow to act upon it. Of course I would not disturb my
mother, so I stole noiselessly down stairs, and quietly
unfastened the door. I was dressed and out, when the
church clock struck a quarter to six. There was a feeling of
freshness and vigour in the very streets; and when I got free
of the town, when my foot was on the sands and my face
towards the broad, bright bay, no language can describe the
effect of the deep, clear azure of the sky and ocean , the bright
morning sunshine on the semi-circular barrier of craggy cliffs
surmounted by green swelling hills, and on the smooth , wide
sands, and the low rocks out at sea-looking, with their
clothing of weeds and moss, like little grass-grown islands
and above all, on the brilliant, sparkling waves. And then ,
the unspeakable purity and freshness of the air ! there was
just enough heat to enhance the value of the breeze, and just
enough wind to keep the whole sea in motion, to make the
waves come bounding to the shore, foaming and sparkling,
as if wild with glee. Nothing else was stirring — no living
creature was visible besides myself. My footsteps were the
first to press the firm , unbroken sands ;—nothing before had
trampled them since last night's flowing tide had obliterated
the deepest marks of yesterday, and left it fair and even,
except where the subsiding water had left behind it the traces
of dimpled pools, and little running streams.
Refreshed, delighted, invigorated, I walked along, for
getting all my cares, feeling as if I had wings to my feet,
and could go at least forty miles without fatigue, and ex
periencing a sense of exhilaration to which I had been an
entire stranger since the days of early youth. About half
438 AGNES GREY .
past six, however, the grooms began to come down to air

their master's horses — first one, and then another, till there
were some dozen horses and five or six riders : but that need
not trouble me, for they would not come as far as the low
rocks which I was now approaching . When I had reached
these, and walked over the moist, slippery sea -weed (at the
risk of floundering into one of the numerous pools of clear,
salt water that lay between them), to a little mossy promon
tory with the sea splashing round it, I looked back again to
see who next was stirring. Still, there were only the early
grooms with their horses, and one gentleman with a little
dark speck of a dog running before him , and one water -cart
coming out of the town to get water for the baths. In
another minute or two, the distant bathing machines would
begin to move, and then the elderly gentlemen of regular
habits, and sober quaker ladies would be coming to take
their salutary morning walks. But however interesting such
a scene might be, I could not wait to witness it, for the sun
and the sea so dazzled my eyes in that direction, that I could
but afford one glance ; and then I turned again to delight
myself with the sight and the sound of the sea dashing
against my promontory —with no prodigious force, for the
swell was broken by the tangled sea -weed and the unseen 1
rocks beneath ; otherwise I should soon have been deluged i
with spray. But the tide was coming in ; the water was
rising ; the gulfs and lakes were filling ; the straits were
widening, it was time to seek some safer footing ; so I
walked, skipped, and stumbled back to the smooth, wide
sands, and resolved to proceed to a certain bold projection in
the cliffs, and then return .
Presently, I heard a snuffling sound behind me, and then
a dog came frisking and wriggling to my feet. It was my
own Snap—the little, dark, wire-haired terrier ! When I
spoke his name, he leapt up in my face and yelled for joy.
Almost as much delighted as himself, I caught the little
creature in my arms, and kissed him repeatedly. But how
came he to be there ? He could not have dropped from the
sky, or come all that way alone: it must be either his master,
the ratcatcher, or somebody else that had brought him ; so,
repressing my extravagant caresses, and endeavouring to
repress his likewise, I looked round, and beheld - Mr
Weston !
“Your dog remembers you well, Miss Grey,” said he, warmly
AGNES GREY . 439
grasping the handI offered him without clearly knowing what

I was about. “ You rise early ."
“ Not often so early as this," I replied , with amazing com
posure , considering all the circumstances of the case .
“ How far do you purpose to extend your walk ? "
“ I was thinking of returning - it must be almost time, I
think.”
He consulted his watch — a gold one now — and told me it
was only five minutes past seven.
“ But, doubtless, you have had a long enough walk ," said he,
turning towards the town , to which I now proceeded leisurely
to retrace my steps ; and he walked beside me.
“ In what part of the town do you live ? ” asked he. “ I
never could discover."
Never could discover ? Had he endeavoured to do so then ?
I told him the place of our abode. He asked how we pros
pered in our affairs. I told him we were doing very well
that we had had a considerable addition to our pupils after
the Christmas vacation, and expected a still further increase
at the close of this.
“ You must be an accomplished instructor,” he observed.
“ No, it is my mother," I replied ; "she manages things so
well, and is so active, and clever, and kind.”
“ I should like to know your mother. Will you introduce
me66 to her some time, if I call ? ”
Yes, willingly .”
“ And will you allow me the privilege of an old friend, of
looking in upon you now and then ? ”
Yes, if - I suppose so .”
This was a very foolish answer , but the truth was, I con
sidered that I had no right to invite any one to my mother's
house without her knowledge ; and if I had said, " yes, if my
mother does not object ,” it would appear as if by his question
I understood more than was expected ; so, supposing she would
not, I added , “ I suppose so:" but of course I should have
said something more sensible and more polite , if I had had
my wits about me. We continued our walk for a minute in
silence; which , however , was shortly relieved (no small relief
to me), by Mr Weston commenting upon the brightness of the
morning and the beauty of the bay, and then upon the advan
tages A possessed over many other fashionable places of
resort.
“ You don't ask what brings me to A- " said he.
440 AGNES GREY .
“ You can't suppose I'm rich enough to come for my own

pleasure.”
" I heard you had left Horton."
“ You didn't hear, then, that I had got the living of
F- ?"
F was a village about two miles distant from A
“ No,” said I ; “ we live so completely out of the world,
even here, that news seldom reaches me through any quarter;
except through the medium of the - Gazette. But, I hope
you like your new parish ; and that I may congratulate you
on the acquisition ? "
“ I expect to like my parish better a year or two hence,
when I have worked certain reforms I have set my heart upon
-or, atleast, progressed some steps towards such an achieve
ment. But you may congratulate me now ; for I find it very
agreeable to have a parish all to myself, with nobody to inter
fere with me—to thwart my plans or cripple my exertions :
and besides, I have a respectable house in a rather pleasant
neighbourhood , and three hundred pounds a year ; and , in fact,
I have nothing but solitude to complain of, and nothing but
a companion to wish for.
Helooked at me as he concluded ; and the flash of his dark
eyes seemed to set my face on fire : greatly to my own discom
fiture, for to evince confusion at such a juncture was intole
rable. I made an effort, therefore, to remedy the evil, and
disclaim all personal application of the remark by a hasty,
ill-expressed reply, to the effect that, if he waited till he was
well known in the neighbourhood, he might have numerous
opportunities for supplying his want among the residents of
F- and its vicinity, or the visitors ofA if he required
7
so ample a choice : not considering the compliment implied by

such an assertion , till his answer made me aware of it.
“ I am not so presumptuous as to believe that,” said he,
though you tell it me ; but if it were so, I am rather particu
lar in my notions of a companion for life, and perhapsI might
not find one to suit me among the ladies you mention."
“ If you require perfection, you never will."
“ I do not - I have no right to require it, as being so far
from perfect myself.”
Here the conversation was interrupted by a water -cart
lumbering past us, for we were now come to the busy part of
the sands; and, for the next eight or ten minutes,between
carts and horses, and asses, and men, there was little room for
AGNES GREY . 441
social intercourse, till we had turned our backs upon the sea,
and began to ascend the precipitous road leading into the town.
Here my companion offered me his arm , which I accepted,
though not with the intention of using it as a support.
" You don't often come on to the sands, I think,” said he,
“ for I have walked there many times, both morning and even
ing, since I came, and never seen you till now ; and several
times, in passing through the town, too, I have looked about
for your school — but I did not think of the Road ; and
once or twice I made inquiries, but without obtaining the
requisite information .
When we had surmounted the acclivity, I was about to
withdraw my arm from his, but by a slight tightening of the
elbow was tacitly informed that such was not his will, and
accordingly desisted. Discoursing on different subjects, we
entered the town, and passed through several streets. I saw
that he was going out of his way to accompany me, notwith
standing the long walk that was yet beforehim ; and, fearing
that he might be inconveniencing himself from motives of
politeness, I observed
“ I fear I am taking you out of your way , Mr Weston - I
believe the road to — lies quite in another direction .”
“I'll leave you at the end of the next street,” said he.
" And when will you come to see mamma ? ”
" To-morrow—God willing ."
The end of the next street was nearly the conclusion of my
journey. He stopped there, however, bid me good-morning,
and called Snap, who seemed a little doubtful whether to follow
his old mistress or his new master, but trotted away upon
being summoned by the latter.
“ I won't offer to restore him to you, Miss Grey,” said Mr
Weston, smiling, “ because I like him ."
Oh, I don't wanthim ,” replied I, now that he has a good
master; I'm quite satisfied.”
“ You takeit for granted that I am a good one, then ? "
The man and the dog departed, and I returned home, full
of gratitude to Heaven for so much bliss, and praying that
my hopes might not again be crushed .
442 AGNES GREY .
CHAPTER XXV .
CONCLUSION.
“ WELL, Agnes, you must not take such long walks again
before breakfast,” said my mother, observing that I drank an
extra cup of coffee and ate nothing — pleading the heat of the
weather, and the fatigue of my long walk as an excuse. I
certainly did feel feverish, and tired too.
“ You always do things by extremes : now, if you had
taken a short walk everymorning, and would continue to do
so, it would do you good ."
Well, mamma, I will.”
“ But this is worse than lying in bed or bending over your
books: you have quite put yourself into a fever .”
“ I won't do it again ,” said I.
I was racking my brains with thinking how to tell her
about Mr Weston, for she must know he was coming to -morrow .
However, I waited till the breakfast things were removed , and
I was more calm and cool ; and then, having sat down to my
drawing, I began
“ I met an old friend on the sands to -day, mamma.”
“ An old friend ! Who could it be ? ”
“ Two old friends, indeed. One was a dog ; ” and then I
reminded her of Snap, whose history I had recounted before,
and related the incident of his sudden appearance and remark
able recognition ; " and the other,” continued I, was Mr
Weston, the curate of Horton .” 12
“ Mr Weston ! I never heard of him before."
“ Yes, you have : I've mentioned him several times, I be
lieve : but you don't remember ."
“ I've heard you speak of Mr Hatfield.”
“ Mr Hatfield was the rector, and Mr Weston the curate :
I used to mention him sometimes in contradistinction to Mr
Hatfield , as being a more efficient clergyman. However, he 1
was on the sands this morning with the dog—he had bought
it, I suppose, from the ratcatcher; and he knew me as well
as it did - probably through its means : and I had a little
conversation with him, in the course of which , as he asked
about our school, I was led to say somethingabout you and
your good management ; and he said he should like to know
you, and asked if I would introduce him to you, if he should
AGNES GREY . 443
take the liberty of calling to -morrow ; so I said I would .

Was I right ? "
66 Of course . What kind of a man is he ? "
“ A very respectable man, I think : but you will see him
to -morrow .He is the new vicar of F-, and as he has
only been there a few weeks, I suppose he has made no
friends yet, and wants a little society .”
The morrow came. What a fever of anxiety and expec
tation I was in from breakfast till noon-
1-at which time he
made his appearance ! Having introduced him to my mother,
I took mywork to the window , and sat down to await the
result of the interview. They got on extremely well toge
ther ; greatly to my satisfaction , for I had felt very anxious
about what my mother would think of him. He did not stay
long that time : but when he rose to take leave, she said she
should be happy to see him , whenever he might find it con
venient to callagain ; and when he was gone, I was gratified
by hearing her say ,
“ Well ! I think he's a very sensible man. But why did
you sit back there, Agnes,” she added, “ and talk so little ?"
Because you talked so well, mamma, I thought you re
quired no assistance from me : and, besides, he was your
visitor, not mine.”
After that, he often called upon us-several times in the
course of a week. He generally addressed most of his con
versation to my mother: and no wonder, for she could con
verse. I almost envied the unfettered , vigorous fluency of
her discourse, and the strong sense evinced by everything she
said—and yet, I did not ; for, though I occasionally regretted
my own deficiencies for his sake, it gave me very great
pleasure to sit and hear the two beings I loved and honoured
above every one else in the world, discoursing together so
amicably, so wisely, and so well. I was not always silent,
however ; nor was I at all neglected. I was quite as much
noticed as I would wish to be : there was no lack of kind
words and kinder looks, no end of delicate attentions, too fine
and subtle to be grasped by words, and therefore indescribable
—but deeply felt at heart.
Ceremony was quickly dropped between us : Mr Weston
came as an expected guest, welcome at all times, and never
deranging the economy of our household affairs. He even
called me “Agnes” : the name had been timidly spoken at
first, but, finding it gave no offence in any quarter, he seemed
greatly to prefer that appellation to “ Miss Grey ” ; and so did
444 AGNES GREY .
I. How tedious and gloomy were those days in which he did

not come ! And yet not miserable ; for I had still the remem
brance of the last visit and the hope of the next to cheer me.
But when two or three days passed without my seeing him, I
certainly felt very anxious - absurdly, unreasonably so ; for,
of course, he had his own business and the affairs of his
parish to attend to. And I dreaded the close of the holidays,
when my business also would begin, and I should be some
times unable to see him, and sometimes — when my mother
was in the schoolroom-obliged to be with him alone : a
position I did not at all desire , in the house ; though to meet
him out of doors, and walk beside him, had proved by no
means disagreeable.
One evening, however, in the last week of the vacation, he
arrived - unexpectedly : for a heavy and protracted thunder
shower during the afternoon had almost destroyed my hopes
of seeing him that day ; but now the storm was over, and the
sun was shining brightly.
“ A beautiful evening, Mrs. Grey !” said he, as he entered.
“ Agnes, I want you to take a walk with me to- ” (he named
a certain part of the coastma bold hill on the land side, and
towards the sea a steep precipice, from the summit of which a
glorious view is to be had ). " The rain has laid the dust, and
cooled and cleared the air, and the prospect will be magnifi
cent. Will you come ? "
“ Can I go, mamma ? ”
66
}
Yes ; to be sure.”
I went to get ready, and was down again in a few minutes ;
though , of course, I took a little more pains with my attire
than if I had merely been going out on some shopping expe
dition alone. The thunder-shower had certainly had a most
beneficial effect upon the weather, and the evening was most
delightful. Mr Weston would have me to take his arm : he
said little during our passage through the crowded streets, but
walked very fast, andappeared grave and abstracted . I won
dered what was the matter, and felt an indefinite dread that
something unpleasant was on his mind ; and vague surmises ,
concerning what it might be, troubled me not a little, and
made me grave and silent enough. But these fantasies
vanished upon reaching the quiet outskirts of the town ; for
as soon as we came within sight of the venerable old church,
and the hill, with the deep blue sea beyond it, I found
my companion was cheerful enough.
“ I'm afraid I've been walking too fast for you, Agnes,"
AGNES GREY. 445
said he : “ in my impatience to be rid of the town, I forgot

to consult your convenience ; but now, we'll walk as slowly
as you please. I see, by those light clouds in the west, there
will be a brilliant sunset, and we shall be in time to witness its
effect upon the sea, at the most moderate rate of progression .”
When we had got about half-way up the hill , we fell into
silence again ; which, as usual, he was the first to break .
“My house is desolate yet, Miss Grey ," he smilingly ob
served, “ and I am acquainted now with all the ladiesin my
parish, and several in this town too ; and many others I know
by sight and by report ; but not one of them will suit me for
a companion : in fact, there is only one person in the world
that will ; and that is yourself; and I want to know your
decision ? "
“ Are you in earnest, Mr Weston ?"
“In earnest ! How could you think I should jest on such
a subject ? "
He laid his hand on mine that rested on his arm : he must
have felt it tremble — but it was no great matter now.
“ I hope I have not been too precipitate,” he said, in a
serious tone. “ You must have known that it was not my
way to flatter and talk soft nonsense, or even to speak the
admiration that I felt ; and that a single word or glance of
mine meant more than the honied phrases and fervent protes
tations of most other men .”
I said something about not liking to leave my mother, and
doing nothing without her consent.
“ I settled everything with Mrs Grey, while you were
putting on your bonnet," replied he. She said I might
have her consent, if I could obtain yours ; and I asked her, in
case I should be so happy, to come and live with us — for I
was sure you would like it better. But she refused , saying
she could now afford to employ an assistant, and would con
tinue the school till she could purchase an annuity sufficient
to maintain her in comfortable lodgings; and, meantime, she
would spend her vacations alternately with us and your sister,
and should be quite contented if you were happy. And so
now I have overruled your objections on her account. Have
you any other ?"
66 No - none."
“ You love me then ? ” said he, fervently pressing my hand.
6 Yes ."
446 AGNES GREY .
Here I pause. My diary, from which I have compiled

these pages, goes but little further. I could go on for years;
but I will content myself with adding, that I shall never for
get that glorious summer evening, and always remember
with delight that steep hill, and the edge of the precipice
where we stood together, watching the splendid sunset mil
rored in the restless world of waters at our feet with hearts
filled with gratitude to Heaven, and happiness , and love
almost too full for speech.
A few weeks after that, when my mother had supplied her
self with an assistant, I became the wife of Edward Weston ;
and never have found cause to repent it, and am certain that
I never shall. We have had trials, and we know that we
must have them again ; but we bear them well together, and
endeavour to fortify ourselves and each other against the final
separation — that greatest of all afflictions to the survivor .
But, if we keep in mind the glorious heaven beyond, where
both may meet again, and sin and sorrow are unknown ,
surely that too may be borne : and, meantime, we endeavour
to live to the glory of Him who has scattered so many bless
ings in our path.
Edward , by his strenuous exertions, has worked surprising
reforms in his parish , and is esteemed and loved by its inhabi
tants—as he deserves ; for whatever his faults may be as a
man (and no one is entirely without), I defy anybody to
blame him as a pastor , a husband , or a father.
Our children , Edward, Agnes, and little Mary , promise
well ; their education, for the time being, is chiefly com
mitted to me ; and they shall want no good thing that a
mother's care can give. Our modest income is amply sufficient
for our requirements : and by practising the economy we learnt
in harder times, and never attempting to imitate our richer
neighbours, we manage not only to enjoy comfort and con
tentment ourselves, but to have every year something to
lay by for our children, and something to give to those who
need it.
And now I think I have said sufficient.
END OF AGNES GREY .

14
London : Printed by SMITH, ELDER and Co., Old Balley, E.C.
This book should be returned to
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stamped below .
A fine is incurred by retaining it
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Wuthering Height
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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronthe

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Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronthe

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Harvard College Library

FRANKLIN HAVEN , JR.

WITH A PREFACE, AND MEMOIR OF BOTH AUTHORS ,

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF ELLIS AND ACTON BELL, BY

CURRER BELL'S PREFACE TO WUTHERING HEIGHTS xiv

WUTHERING HEIGHTS, BY ELLIS BELL 1

AGNES GREY, BY ACTON BELL 283

ELLIS AND ACTON BELL .

It has been thought that all the works published under

social intercourse beyond our own domestic circle, we

One day, in the autumn of 1845, I accidentally lighted

these rerses, too, had a sweet sincere pathos of their

We had very early cherished the dream of one day

FROM THE LIBRARY OF

FRANKLIN HAVEN , JR.

WITH A r2t. L. ANI, YUCE BUT ITEN

WITH A PREFACE , AND MEMOIR OF BOTH AUTHORS,

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTICE OF ELLIS AND ACTON BELL, BY

CURRER BELL'S PREFACE TO WUTHERING HEIGHTS xiv

WUTHERING HEIGHTS, BY ELLIS BELL 1

AGNES GREY, BY ACTON BELL 283

ELLIS AND ACTON BELL .

It has been thought that all the works published under

social intercourse beyond our own domestic circle, we

these verses, too, had a sweet sincere pathos of their

We had very early cherished the dream of one day

Bell. The fixed conviction I held, and hold, of the

been working while the one volume tale was plodding

its beauties and touched on its faults. Too often do

others. She hated her work , but would pursue it.

eyes, the same service was exacted as they had rendered

she would fail to defend her most manifest rights, to

TO THE NEW EDITION OF

I HAVE just read over “Wuthering Heights,” and, for

strong utterance, the harshly manifested passions, the

and locality are concerned, it could scarcely have been

natures so relentless and implacable, of spirits so lost

or of lionesty in the midst of perverted passion and

in subjection ; and then , haply without any warning of

1801.- -I have just returned from a visit to my landlord

When he saw my horse's breast fairly pushing the barrier

distinguished a chatter of tongues, and a clatter of culinary

tion is almost peculiar : my dear mother used to say I should

language, the merest idiot might have guessed I was over

demand, aloud, assistance from some of the houschold in re

IIe evidently wished no repetition of my intrusion. I shall

YESTERDAY afternoon set in misty and cold. I had half a

“Nor-ne me ! I'll hae no hend wi't," muttered the head,

ever had the pleasure of beholding; small features, very fair ;

clothes ; “ I wonder you should select the thick of a snow

Perceiving myself in a blunder, I attempted to correct it.

stare, for fear I might be tempted either tobox his ears or

rheumatism can hardly be reckoned among providential visita

modations for visitors : you must share a bed with Hareton or

peril to keep me one minute longer — with several incoherent

While leading the way up -stairs, she recommended that I

a chair, a clothes- press, and a large oak case, with squares

“ An awful Sunday !" commenced the paragraph beneath.

-4, a sudden inspiration

· within these four walls ,

ves, after a solemn pause ,