«Anyway, we laughed so much that Cathy fell off the flowerpot. The Lintons heard the noise and raced to the door, and then you should have heard them howl! ‘Oh, mama, mama! Oh, papa! Oh, mama come here! They really did cry out like that! We both made horrible noises to frighten them some more, but then we decided we had better run away.
«We were running as fast as we could, when Cathy suddenly fell over.
«‘Run, Heathcliff, run!’ she said. ‘They’ve let their bulldog loose and he’s got me by the ankle![23]’
«I could hear the dog’s terrible snorting, but Cathy didn’t yell out – she would have been ashamed to cry. I started swearing at the beast and had just managed to find a stone to thrust between its jaws, when at last a servant appeared with a lantern and hauled the beast away.
«The man lifted Cathy up in his arms. She had fainted – not from fear, I’m sure, but from pain – and I followed him into the house, shouting and swearing.
«‘What’s happening, Robert?’ called Mr. Linton from the entrance.
«‘Skulker’s caught a little girl, sir,’ he replied, ‘and there’s a lad here too, who looks like a real villain. They’re probably a pair of robbers planning to creep through the window and murder us all in our beds.’
«Robert pulled me under the lamp so they could all take a look at me. Mrs. Linton put on her spectacles and peered in horror, and the cowardly children crept closer to her skirts.
«‘What a frightful thing!’ snivelled Isabella. ‘Lock him up in the cellar, papa. He’s a wicked boy!’
«While they were examining me, Edgar was staring at Cathy.
«‘That’s Miss Earnshaw!’ he whispered to his mother. ‘And look how her foot is bleeding and bruised!’
«‘Miss Earnshaw?’ cried Mrs. Linton. ‘Miss Earnshaw – roaming the countryside with a gypsy boy? But you’re right, it is the girl – and she may be lame for life!’
«‘How can her brother allow her out so late?’ said Mr. Linton. I’ve heard he neglects her terribly. And who’s this she has with her? I believe it’s the boy old Earnshaw found in Liverpool…’
«‘A wicked boy, in any case,’ his wife interrupted, ‘and quite unfit for a decent house. Send him away from here immediately!’
«Robert dragged me into the garden and locked the door behind me. But I crept back to the window, determined to shatter it into fragments if Cathy wanted to escape. The curtains were still open, and I could see everything. They had laid Cathy on a sofa and a servant was washing her feet, Isabella had emptied a plateful of cakes into her lap and Edgar was just standing there, gaping open-mouthed. After a while, they started to comb her beautiful hair, and gave her a pair of slippers to wear. Then they wheeled the sofa closer to the fire, and I left her, as cheerful as could be, surrounded by the Lintons, all gazing at her with their empty blue eyes… So you see, Nelly, the Lintons have my Cathy, and who knows when I shall see her again?»
In the end, Miss Cathy stayed at Thrushcross Grange for five weeks. By the end of that time, her ankle was completely better, and her manners had greatly improved as well. Mrs. Linton bought Cathy lots of fine new clothes, and when she returned to us, just before Christmas, she was a very different girl. Instead of the wild, hatless creature who used to rush into the house and squeeze the breath out of us all, a very dignified young lady arrived at the front door. She wore a beautiful silk dress and a long velvet cloak that she had to lift up when she walked. On her head was a velvet hat with a feather, and her wild hair had been tamed and arranged in ringlets[24] around her face.
Hindley was delighted.
«Why Cathy, you’re quite a beauty! I would hardly have recognized you – you look like a young lady now. Isabella Linton is nothing compared to her, is she, Frances?»
«Isabella does not have Cathy’s looks,» replied his wife coolly. «But we must make sure she doesn’t grow wild again.»
Cathy kissed me carefully, anxious not to disarrange her hair – and then she looked around the room for Heathcliff. He was hard to find at first, but at last she saw him, skulking behind a chair. I could see he was ashamed to be seen beside such a sparkling young lady – and he certainly did look a sight. His clothes were covered with grime and dust, his hair was tangled, and his face and hands were a dismal shade of grey.
«Come along Heathcliff, there’s no need to hide,» cried Hindley, obviously enjoying the boy’s shame. «You can come and welcome Miss Catherine, just like the other servants.»
Cathy raced towards her old friend and covered him with kisses just like she used to do, but then she stopped and drew back in surprise, laughing out loud, «I’d forgotten how black and cross you look, Heathcliff, and how funny and grim! But that’s because I’m used to Edgar and Isabella, with their pretty golden hair.»
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