Chapter 32 Chapter Twenty Eight

On the morning of the fifth day, or rather in the afternoon, a different sound of footsteps was heard--lighter and shorter; this time the man entered the house, it was Zilla, in her crimson shawl. , with a black silk hat on his head, and a wicker basket on his arm. "Ah, ah! Mrs. Ding!" she cried. "Well, there's talk of you at Gimmerton. I never thought you'd be stuck in the Black Horse Bog with the lady with you, and then the master told me he had found you, and let you live here! Why! You must have climbed onto an island? How long were you in the cave? Did the master save you, Mrs. Dean? But you're not very thin—you haven't suffered much, have you?"

"Your master is a real rascal!" I answered. "But he's responsible. He doesn't have to tell lies: the truth must come out!" "What do you mean?" Zira asked. "That's not what he made up: that's what the village says--you're lost in the moor; and I asked Earnshaw when I came in--'Well, Mr. Hareton, strange things have happened since I went away Well. It's a pity for that pretty little girl, and Nelly Dean too,' he stared. I thought he hadn't heard, so I told him the gossip. Master listened, smiling to himself. And said, 'Even if they fell in the moor, they're out now, Zilla. Nelly Dean is staying in your room now, and you can tell her to go when you go upstairs; here's the key. but I kept her until she came to her senses. If she can go, tell her to go to the Grange at once, and send me a word that her Miss will come right after, so I can catch up with the funeral."

"Mr. Edgar is not dead?" I gasped. "Oh, Zilla, Zilla!" "No, no; sit down, my dear lady," she answered, "you are still ill. He is not dead. Dr. Kenneth thinks he has a day to live. I asked him when I met him on the road." .” Instead of sitting down, I grabbed my hat and hurried downstairs, for the way was free and open.Once in the hall, I looked around for someone to tell me about Catherine.The place was full of light, and the door was wide open; but there was no one in sight.I was hesitating whether to go at once, or to turn back to my mistress, when a slight cough drew my attention to the fireside.Linton was lying alone on the couch, sucking a lollipop, and watching my movements with indifferent eyes. "Where is Miss Catherine?" I asked him sternly, thinking that since I happened to find him alone there, I might frighten him into giving him some information.But he continued to suck sugar like an idiot.

"Is she gone?" I said. "No," he answered, "she's upstairs. She can't go; we won't let her go." "Don't let her go, you little idiot!" I cried. "Take me to her room at once, or I'll make you scream." "Papa will make you scream if you're going to go there," he answered. "He said I needn't be kind to Catherine. She's my wife, and it would be shameful for her to leave me. He said she hated me and would have me dead, that she might get my money; but she couldn't: she couldn't get it back. Home! She never will!—she can cry, and be sick, as she pleases!"

He continued sucking on the candy again, closing his eyes as if he was going to doze off. "Master Heathcliff," I began again, "have you forgotten all the kindness Catherine did to you last winter? You must have said you loved her then, and she brought you books and Singing, and how many times has she come to see you in the snow? One night when she couldn't come, she cried lest you should be disappointed; then you thought she was hundreds of times better than you: now you believe the lies your father told you Well, you joined him against her, though you knew he hated you both. That's a nice thing to be grateful for, isn't it?"

The corners of Linton's mouth curled down, and he took the lollipop out of his mouth. "Did she come to Wuthering Heights because she hated you?" I went on. "Think about it for yourself; as for your money, she doesn't even know what money you'll have. And you say she's sick; and yet you leave her alone, upstairs in a stranger's house! You've suffered too." Such neglect, you can pity your own misery; she pity yours; but you cannot pity hers! I am weeping, Master Heathcliff, you see—I , an older woman, and no more than a servant—and you, after feigning so much tenderness and almost having a reason to love her, are comfortable saving every tear for yourself Lying there on the ground. Ah, you are a heartless, selfish child!"

"I can't stay with her," he replied irritably. "I don't want to be there alone. I can't stand her crying. Even though I said I was going to call my father, she still can't stop. I did call him once, and he threatened her. If she didn't When it was quiet, he was going to strangle her; but as soon as he left the room, she began to cry again, and though I yelled annoyed because I couldn't sleep, she cried all night." "Has Mr. Heathcliff gone?" I questioned, seeing that the wretch had no power to sympathize with his cousin's torments of soul.

"He's in the yard," he answered, "talking to Dr. Kenneth; the doctor says my uncle is really dying at last. I'm glad I'm going to succeed him as master of the Grange. Catherine always talks about it. Think of it as her house. It's not hers! It's mine. Daddy says everything she owns is mine. All her good books are mine, and she says if I'll bring them to her we'll The keys to the house, let her out, she would have given me those books, and her pretty birds, and her pony Minnie; but I told her she had nothing to give, and it was all, all of me Yes. Then she wept; and took a little photograph from her neck, and said I might take that; and it was two photographs in a gold box, with her mother on one side and her father on the other, They were all taken when they were young. That happened yesterday. I said it was mine too, and tried to take it from her. The damn thing wouldn't let me take it: she pushed me away, got me It hurt. I yelled—that frightened her—and she heard papa coming, and she broke the hinges, opened the box, and gave me her mother's picture; What happened, I said. He took the picture I got and told her to give me hers; Tear it off and crush it with his feet."

"Do you like watching her get beaten?" I asked, trying to encourage him to talk. "I close my eyes," he answered, "and I close my eyes when I see my father beating a dog or a horse, and he beats him so hard. But I liked it at first—when she pushed me, she deserved it." Suffer. But when papa was gone, she called me to the window, and showed me her mouth was broken by teeth, and her mouth was full of blood; then she gathered up the fragments of the picture, and walked away, facing the wall Sitting, and she has never spoken to me since: I sometimes think she is in so much pain that she cannot speak. I hate to think so! But she cries incessantly, and what a naughty fellow; and she seems so Pale and crazy, I'm afraid of her."

"You can get the key if you want?" I said. "Yes, as long as I'm upstairs," he answered, "but I can't go upstairs now." "Which room?" I asked. "Ah," he cried, "I won't tell you where it is. It's our secret. Nobody knows, not Hareton or Zillar. Oh! You wear me out--go away, go away Go!" He turned his face away, leaned on his arm, and closed his eyes again. I considered it best to go away without seeing Mr. Heathcliff, and bring rescue for my lady from the Grange.At home, my companions were all very pleasantly surprised to see me, and as soon as they heard that their little mistress was safe, two or three of them would hasten to Mr. Edgar's door to shout the news; but I would Inform yourself.In just a few days, I found out how powerful he has become!With a mournful, resigned air he lay waiting to die.He looked very young: although his actual age was thirty-nine.At least, people would treat him as ten years younger.He thought of Catherine as he murmured her name.I touched his hand and said:

"Catherine is coming, my dear master!" I whispered, "she's alive and well; coming soon; I hope, this evening." I shuddered at the first effect of the news: he stretched himself on half his body, looked eagerly about the room, and then fainted.When he recovered, I told about our being forced to enter and being detained in the villa.I said Heathcliff forced me in; that was not quite true.I said as little as I could against Linton; I did not describe the whole of his father's brutes--my intention was, if I could, not to add bitterness to his already overflowing cup. He surmised that one of the objects of his enemies was to take his private property and lands, to give to his son, or rather to himself; but what puzzled my master was why he could not wait until his own death, and Little did he know that his nephew was about to die with him.In any case, he thought it best to change his will: Instead of leaving Catherine's property at her own disposal, he decided to put it in the hands of the settlor for her use during her lifetime, and if she had children, it would be given to her after her death. For her children.By this means the property would not fall into Mr. Heathcliff's hands, should Linton die. Having obeyed his orders, I sent one for a lawyer, and four more, armed with available arms, to get my lady back from her jailer.Both parties were late in returning.The servant who went out alone returned first.He said that when he arrived at the home of Mr. Green, the lawyer, Mr. Green was not at home, and he had to wait two hours for the lawyer to come back.Then Mr. Green told him that he had a little business to do in the village; but he would be sure to be at Thrushcross Grange before morning.Those four people did not accompany the lady back either.They sent word back that Catherine was ill--too ill to leave her house, and Heathcliff would not allow them to see her.I scolded these stupid fellows with all my heart, because they believed that nonsense, and I didn't pass it on to my master. People are firmly in our hands.His father must see her, I swear, and swear, if that devil wants to stop this, even if he dies on his own doorstep! Luckily, I saved myself the trip and hassle.I went downstairs at three o'clock to get a pitcher of water, and was carrying it across the hall when a loud knock on the front door startled me. "Oh, that's Green," I said, compiling myself—"It's Green," and I went on, intending to call for someone to open the door; but there was another knock: not loud, but still hurried.I put the jug on the railing, and hastily opened the door myself to let him in.The full moon of Mid-Autumn Festival is shining brightly outside.That's not a lawyer.My own sweet little mistress jumped up and put her arms around my neck crying, "Ellen, Ellen! Is Daddy still alive?" "Yes," I cried, "yes, my angel, he's alive, and thank God you're safe and sound with us again!" She was out of breath, and wanted to run upstairs to Mr. Linton's room; but I forced her to sit in a chair, bid her drink water, washed her pale face, and wiped her face with my apron. Her face flushed slightly.Then I said I must first announce her arrival, and begged her to tell Mr. Linton that she would be very happy with little Heathcliff.She froze, but immediately understood why I persuaded her to tell lies, and she assured me that she would not complain. I couldn't bear to be there and watch them meet.I stood outside the bedroom door for a quarter of an hour, barely daring to approach the bed.But all was peaceful: Catherine's despair was as silent as her father's joy, and she supported him outwardly calmly; he lifted his eyes, dilated with ecstasy, to her face. Blessed was his death, Mr. Lockwood, in this way: he kissed her face, and whispered: "I went to her; and you, dear boy, will come to us!" Then neither moved nor spoke; but the ecstatic bright gaze continued, till his pulse ceased imperceptibly, and his soul departed.No one could notice the exact moment of his death, and it died without any struggle at all. Maybe Catherine drained her tears, maybe the grief was too heavy to cry, and she just sat there with no tears in her eyes until sunrise: she sat there till noon, thinking of the coffin , but I insisted that she go away and take a break.It was a good thing I got her out of the way, because the solicitor came by at lunchtime, and he had been at Wuthering Heights to get instructions on what to do.He sold himself to Mr. Heathcliff: that's why he was so late after my master's summons, fortunately, after his daughter's arrival, he gave no thought to those worldly affairs. Mr. Green took it upon himself to arrange everything and everyone in the place.He fired all the servants except me.He would also carry out his mandate, insisting that Edgar Linton be buried not beside his wife, but in church, with his family.At any rate, the will prevents that from being done, and I protest loudly against any breach of the will's instructions.The funeral was hurriedly over.Catherine, now Lady Linton Heathcliff, is allowed to live at the Grange until her father wakes up. She told me that Linton was at last so irritated by her distress that he risked letting her go.She heard my men arguing at the door, and she read the meaning of Heathcliff's answer.That made her desperate.Linton, who had been carried upstairs into the little drawing-room after my departure, was so frightened that he obtained the key before his father came upstairs again.He unlocked and relocked the door tactfully, but did not close it securely; and when it was time for him to go to bed, he asked Hareton to sleep with him, and his request was this time granted.Catherine sneaks out before dawn.She dared not open the door, lest the dogs should cause a disturbance; she went to the vacant rooms, and examined the windows there; luckily, she went to her mother's room, from which she came out easily, by means of a nearby fir tree, slipped to the ground.Her accomplice, in spite of his cowardly stratagem, suffered for this escape.