Heathcliff stood silent and still as a stone.
«Well, Heathcliff, have you forgotten me?»
«Why don’t you talk to Miss Cathy?» said Hindley condescendingly «Just occasionally, that is allowed.»
«I shall not!» shouted the boy, racing from the room, «And I won’t stand being laughed at, I just won’t bear it!»
Later that day, I went to find Heathcliff. He was in the stables, giving the horses their evening feed.
«Come into the kitchen with me, Heathcliff, and let me dress you neatly before Miss Cathy comes down. Then you can sit by the fire and have a long chat together.»
But Heathcliff kept his head turned away from me.
«Are you coming, Heathcliff? There’s some supper waiting for you, but I’ll need a good half hour to clean you up first.»
I waited for five minutes, but there was no answer, so I left him to sulk on his own. Cathy ate supper with her brother and sister-in-law, but Heathcliff marched straight up to bed without stopping to eat.
The next day, the Linton children were invited to the Heights for a Christmas party. We had prepared a great feast and there were presents for everyone… except Heathcliff. Mrs. Linton had accepted the Earnshaws’ invitation on condition that her little darlings were kept well away from that ‘naughty, swearing boy’.
Heathcliff got up very early that morning and went out walking on the moors, and when he came back, all the family was away at church. He hung around the kitchen in awkward silence for a while and then he finally spoke.
«Nelly, make me decent. I’m going to be good.»
«And about time too, Heathcliff,» I replied. «You’ve really upset Miss Cathy. I bet she’s sorry she ever came home! She must think you envy her because the Lintons are her friends.»
«Did she say she was upset?» he asked, looking serious.
«She cried when I told her you were off on the moors this morning.»
«Well, I cried last night,» he replied, «and I had more reason to be sad.»
«Perhaps you deserve it, for being so proud and stubborn. But I’ll see what I can do to make you look good. And by the time I’ve finished with you, you’ll be so handsome that Edgar Linton will seem like a doll beside you.»
I made Heathcliff wash his grimy face and combed his great mane of hair. And when he was dressed in his clean clothes, he looked as handsome as a prince.
«Now, if only you’d try smiling, instead of scowling like thunder, you’d be worth ten of young Edgar. Although you’re younger than him, you’re taller and broader, and you don’t go crying for your mama all the time!»
So I chattered on, and Heathcliff gradually lost his frown and began to look quite pleasant. Then, all at once, we heard the rumble of wheels outside. Heathcliff ran to the window, just in time to see the Lintons climbing down from their carriage, smothered in cloaks and furs. Cathy raced out to meet her two young friends and brought them into the house. Then she settled them down by the fire, which quickly put some warmth into their pale, dolllike faces.
I urged Heathcliff to hurry down and show them how he had changed, and he willingly obeyed. But, as luck would have it, he met Hindley in the corridor. The master was far from pleased to see Heathcliff looking so clean and cheerful, and he called out quickly to Joseph, «Keep this fellow out of the room – and lock him in the attic until dinner is over. He’ll be cramming his fingers into the pies[25], and stealing the fruit, if he’s left alone for a minute.»
«No sir,» I couldn’t stop myself from answering, «he won’t touch anything – and I think he should have his share of the treats as well.»
«He’ll have a share of my hand, if I catch him downstairs again,» roared Hindley, reaching out to grab Heathcliff by the hair. «Just wait till I get hold of these elegant locks – let’s see if I can pull them a little bit longer!»
«They’re long enough already,» observed Master Linton, peeping round the door. «I’m surprised he doesn’t have a headache, with that colt’s mane over his eyes!»
I’m sure that Edgar meant no harm, but Heathcliff couldn’t bear such impertinence from someone he already saw as his rival. So he seized a dish of apple sauce – the first thing he could find – and poured it all over Edgar’s head! Edgar instantly burst into tears[26], and Cathy and Isabella came hurrying to help.
In an instant, Hindley had grabbed Heathcliff by the collar and marched him up to his room, where he obviously thrashed him soundly, because he returned quite red in the face. I found a dishcloth and rubbed at Edgar’s nose and mouth quite roughly, telling him it served him right for interfering. Then his sister began to cry and say she wanted to go home, but Cathy just stood there, staring in horror.
«You shouldn’t have upset Heathcliff like that,» she told the snivelling Edgar. «Now Hindley will beat him – and I hate it when he hurts Heathcliff. I can’t eat my dinner now. Why did you speak to him, Edgar?»
«But I didn’t,» sobbed the boy, escaping from my hands. «I promised mama I wouldn’t say a word to him, and I didn’t!»
«Well there’s no need to cry!» replied Cathy scornfully. «You’re not dead. And you stop crying too, Isabella – has anyone hurt you?»
«Now children – time for dinner,» said Hindley, bustling into the room. «Let’s all enjoy the feast!»
Hindley served up large helpings of food, and his wife kept up a stream of cheerful talk[27]. Gradually, the children recovered and everyone began to enjoy their meal… or at least everyone did except Cathy. I watched her lift a mouthful of food to her lips, and quickly put it down again.Then she dropped her fork and dived under the table to hide her tears. And all through the afternoon I saw that she was in agony, longing to get away and find Heathcliff again.
In the evening, there was dancing in the hall and the house was filled with cheerful music, but I noticed that Miss Cathy was desperate to escape. As soon as she could get away from her guests, she set off up the stairs, saying that the music sounded better from up there. I followed her up to the attic room where Heathcliff was kept prisoner, and left the poor things alone, talking to each other through his locked door.
Later that evening, I persuaded Miss Cathy to come downstairs and say goodbye to her guests. Then I took Heathcliff to the kitchen to give him some food. He hadn’t eaten a thing since lunchtime the day before, but he soon pushed the food away, and sat at the table in silence with his head in his hands. At last, I asked him what he was thinking and he replied very solemnly, «I’m trying to work out how I shall pay Hindley back. And I don’t care how long I wait, just so long as I do it at last.»
Edgar and Cathy
The next summer, Hindley’s son, Hareton, was born. I was working in the fields when a girl came running up from the house, calling to me as she ran,
«Oh such a beautiful boy!» she panted. «The finest lad that ever breathed. But Doctor Kenneth says the mistress won’t last. He says she’s been sick for months. I heard him tell Mr. Hindley that now she’s had the baby, she won’t keep on fighting any more, and he reckons she’ll be dead before the winter. You must come home straightaway, Nelly, to look after the baby. You’re going to be his nurse, and care for him day and night, and soon he’ll be all yours when the mistress is dead!»
«But is she so very ill?» I asked, flinging down my rake.
«I guess she is, although she tries to look cheerful,» replied the girl, «and she talks as though she’ll see her son grow up to be a man. She’s out of her mind with joy because he’s such a beauty!»
I hurried home as fast as I could, excited to see the child, although I was sad for Hindley too. He loved only two people in the world – his wife and himself – and I didn’t know how he would live without her.