Wuthering Heights, Page 32

  CHAPTER XXXII

  1802.--This September I was invited to devastate the moors of a friend inthe north, and on my journey to his abode, I unexpectedly came withinfifteen miles of Gimmerton. The ostler at a roadside public-house washolding a pail of water to refresh my horses, when a cart of very greenoats, 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 growndim 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 scarcelynoon, and I conceived that I might as well pass the night under my ownroof as in an inn. Besides, I could spare a day easily to arrangematters with my landlord, and thus save myself the trouble of invadingthe neighbourhood again. Having rested awhile, I directed my servant toinquire the way to the village; and, with great fatigue to our beasts, wemanaged the distance in some three hours.

  I left him there, and proceeded down the valley alone. The grey churchlooked greyer, and the lonely churchyard lonelier. I distinguished amoor-sheep cropping the short turf on the graves. It was sweet, warmweather--too warm for travelling; but the heat did not hinder me fromenjoying the delightful scenery above and below: had I seen it nearerAugust, I'm sure it would have tempted me to waste a month among itssolitudes. 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 thefamily had retreated into the back premises, I judged, by one thin, bluewreath, curling from the kitchen chimney, and they did not hear. I rodeinto the court. Under the porch, a girl of nine or ten sat knitting, andan old woman reclined on the housesteps, smoking a meditative pipe.

  'Is Mrs. Dean within?' I demanded of the dame.

  'Mistress Dean? Nay!' she answered, 'she doesn't bide here: shoo's up atth' 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 wurcoming? Yah sud ha' send word. They's nowt norther dry nor mensfulabaht t' place: nowt there isn't!'

  She threw down her pipe and bustled in, the girl followed, and I enteredtoo; soon perceiving that her report was true, and, moreover, that I hadalmost 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 cornerof a sitting-room for me to sup in, and a bedroom to sleep in. Nosweeping and dusting, only good fire and dry sheets were necessary. Sheseemed willing to do her best; though she thrust the hearth-brush intothe grates in mistake for the poker, and malappropriated several otherarticles of her craft: but I retired, confiding in her energy for aresting-place against my return. Wuthering Heights was the goal of myproposed excursion. An afterthought brought me back, when I had quittedthe 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 hotcinders.

  I would have asked why Mrs. Dean had deserted the Grange, but it wasimpossible to delay her at such a crisis, so I turned away and made myexit, 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 otherbrightening--as I quitted the park, and climbed the stony by-roadbranching off to Mr. Heathcliff's dwelling. Before I arrived in sight ofit, 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 of grass, bythat splendid moon. I had neither to climb the gate nor to knock--ityielded to my hand. That is an improvement, I thought. And I noticedanother, by the aid of my nostrils; a fragrance of stocks and wallflowerswafted on the air from amongst the homely fruit-trees.

  Both doors and lattices were open; and yet, as is usually the case in acoal-district, a fine red fire illumined the chimney: the comfort whichthe eye derives from it renders the extra heat endurable. But the houseof Wuthering Heights is so large that the inmates have plenty of spacefor withdrawing out of its influence; and accordingly what inmates therewere had stationed themselves not far from one of the windows. I couldboth see them and hear them talk before I entered, and looked andlistened in consequence; being moved thereto by a mingled sense ofcuriosity and envy, that grew as I lingered.

  'Con-_trary_!' said a voice as sweet as a silver bell. 'That for thethird time, you dunce! I'm not going to tell you again. Recollect, orI'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 dressedand seated at a table, having a book before him. His handsome featuresglowed with pleasure, and his eyes kept impatiently wandering from thepage to a small white hand over his shoulder, which recalled him by asmart slap on the cheek, whenever its owner detected such signs ofinattention. Its owner stood behind; her light, shining ringletsblending, at intervals, with his brown looks, as she bent to superintendhis studies; and her face--it was lucky he could not see her face, or hewould never have been so steady. I could; and I bit my lip in spite, athaving thrown away the chance I might have had of doing something besidesstaring at its smiting beauty.

  The task was done, not free from further blunders; but the pupil claimeda reward, and received at least five kisses; which, however, hegenerously returned. Then they came to the door, and from theirconversation I judged they were about to issue out and have a walk on themoors. I supposed I should be condemned in Hareton Earnshaw's heart, ifnot by his mouth, to the lowest pit in the infernal regions if I showedmy unfortunate person in his neighbourhood then; and feeling very meanand malignant, I skulked round to seek refuge in the kitchen. There wasunobstructed admittance on that side also; and at the door sat my oldfriend Nelly Dean, sewing and singing a song; which was often interruptedfrom within by harsh words of scorn and intolerance, uttered in far frommusical accents.

  'I'd rayther, by th' haulf, hev' 'em swearing i' my lugs fro'h morn toneeght, nor hearken ye hahsiver!' said the tenant of the kitchen, inanswer to an unheard speech of Nelly's. 'It's a blazing shame, that Icannot oppen t' blessed Book, but yah set up them glories to sattan, andall t' flaysome wickednesses that iver were born into th' warld! Oh!ye're a raight nowt; and shoo's another; and that poor lad 'll be lostatween ye. Poor lad!' he added, with a groan; 'he's witched: I'm sartinon't. Oh, Lord, judge 'em, for there's norther law nor justice among werrullers!'

  'No! or we should be sitting in flaming fagots, I suppose,' retorted thesinger. 'But wisht, old man, and read your Bible like a Christian, andnever mind me. This is "Fairy Annie's Wedding"--a bonny tune--it goes toa dance.'

  Mrs. Dean was about to recommence, when I advanced; and recognising medirectly, she jumped to her feet, crying--'Why, bless you, Mr. Lockwood!How could you think of returning in this way? All's shut up atThrushcross Grange. You should have given us notice!'

  'I've arranged to be accommodated there, for as long as I shall stay,' Ianswered. '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 wentto London, and stay till you returned. But, step in, pray! Have youwalked 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 ofhaving another opportunity in a hurry.'

  'What business, sir?' said Nelly, conducting me into the house. 'He'sgone out at present, and won't return soon.'
r />   'About the rent,' I answered.

  'Oh! then it is with Mrs. Heathcliff you must settle,' she observed; 'orrather with me. She has not learnt to manage her affairs yet, and I actfor her: there's nobody else.'

  I looked surprised.

  'Ah! you have not heard of Heathcliff's death, I see,' she continued.

  'Heathcliff dead!' I exclaimed, astonished. 'How long ago?'

  'Three months since: but sit down, and let me take your hat, and I'lltell 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. Inever dreamt of his dying! Let me hear how it came to pass. You say youdon't expect them back for some time--the young people?'

  'No--I have to scold them every evening for their late rambles: but theydon't care for me. At least, have a drink of our old ale; it will do yougood: you seem weary.'

  She hastened to fetch it before I could refuse, and I heard Joseph askingwhether 'it warn't a crying scandal that she should have followers at hertime of life? And then, to get them jocks out o' t' maister's cellar! Hefair shaamed to 'bide still and see it.'

  She did not stay to retaliate, but re-entered in a minute, bearing areaming 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 leavingus, she said; and I obeyed joyfully, for Catherine's sake. My firstinterview with her grieved and shocked me: she had altered so much sinceour separation. Mr. Heathcliff did not explain his reasons for taking anew mind about my coming here; he only told me he wanted me, and he wastired of seeing Catherine: I must make the little parlour mysitting-room, and keep her with me. It was enough if he were obliged tosee her once or twice a day. She seemed pleased at this arrangement; and,by degrees, I smuggled over a great number of books, and other articles,that had formed her amusement at the Grange; and flattered myself weshould get on in tolerable comfort. The delusion did not last long.Catherine, contented at first, in a brief space grew irritable andrestless. For one thing, she was forbidden to move out of the garden, andit fretted her sadly to be confined to its narrow bounds as spring drewon; for another, in following the house, I was forced to quit herfrequently, and she complained of loneliness: she preferred quarrellingwith Joseph in the kitchen to sitting at peace in her solitude. I didnot mind their skirmishes: but Hareton was often obliged to seek thekitchen also, when the master wanted to have the house to himself! andthough in the beginning she either left it at his approach, or quietlyjoined in my occupations, and shunned remarking or addressing him--andthough he was always as sullen and silent as possible--after a while, shechanged her behaviour, and became incapable of letting him alone: talkingat him; commenting on his stupidity and idleness; expressing her wonderhow he could endure the life he lived--how he could sit a whole eveningstaring into the fire, and dozing.

  'He's just like a dog, is he not, Ellen?' she once observed, 'or acart-horse? He does his work, eats his food, and sleeps eternally! Whata blank, dreary mind he must have! Do you ever dream, Hareton? And, ifyou 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 lookagain.

  'He's, perhaps, dreaming now,' she continued. 'He twitched his shoulderas Juno twitches hers. Ask him, Ellen.'

  'Mr. Hareton will ask the master to send you up-stairs, if you don'tbehave!' I said. He had not only twitched his shoulder but clenched hisfist, as if tempted to use it.

  'I know why Hareton never speaks, when I am in the kitchen,' sheexclaimed, on another occasion. 'He is afraid I shall laugh at him.Ellen, what do you think? He began to teach himself to read once; and,because I laughed, he burned his books, and dropped it: was he not afool?'

  '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, andmuttered, 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'mgoing to bed.'

  Then she whispered me to watch whether he touched it, and departed. Buthe would not come near it; and so I informed her in the morning, to hergreat disappointment. I saw she was sorry for his persevering sulkinessand indolence: her conscience reproved her for frightening him offimproving himself: she had done it effectually. But her ingenuity was atwork to remedy the injury: while I ironed, or pursued other suchstationary employments as I could not well do in the parlour, she wouldbring some pleasant volume and read it aloud to me. When Hareton wasthere, she generally paused in an interesting part, and left the booklying about: that she did repeatedly; but he was as obstinate as a mule,and, instead of snatching at her bait, in wet weather he took to smokingwith 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 wouldhave called it, the younger doing his best to seem to disregard it. Onfine evenings the latter followed his shooting expeditions, and Catherineyawned and sighed, and teased me to talk to her, and ran off into thecourt or garden the moment I began; and, as a last resource, cried, andsaid she was tired of living: her life was useless.

  Mr. Heathcliff, who grew more and more disinclined to society, had almostbanished Earnshaw from his apartment. Owing to an accident at thecommencement of March, he became for some days a fixture in the kitchen.His gun burst while out on the hills by himself; a splinter cut his arm,and he lost a good deal of blood before he could reach home. Theconsequence was that, perforce, he was condemned to the fireside andtranquillity, till he made it up again. It suited Catherine to have himthere: 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 mightaccompany me.

  On Easter Monday, Joseph went to Gimmerton fair with some cattle; and, inthe afternoon, I was busy getting up linen in the kitchen. Earnshaw sat,morose as usual, at the chimney corner, and my little mistress wasbeguiling an idle hour with drawing pictures on the window-panes, varyingher amusement by smothered bursts of songs, and whispered ejaculations,and quick glances of annoyance and impatience in the direction of hercousin, who steadfastly smoked, and looked into the grate. At a noticethat I could do with her no longer intercepting my light, she removed tothe hearthstone. I bestowed little attention on her proceedings, but,presently, I heard her begin--'I've found out, Hareton, that I want--thatI'm glad--that I should like you to be my cousin now, if you had notgrown so cross to me, and so rough.'

  Hareton returned no answer.

  'Hareton, Hareton, Hareton! do you hear?' she continued.

  'Get off wi' ye!' he growled, with uncompromising gruffness.

  'Let me take that pipe,' she said, cautiously advancing her hand andabstracting it from his mouth.

  Before he could attempt to recover it, it was broken, and behind thefire. He swore at her and seized another.

  'Stop,' she cried, 'you must listen to me first; and I can't speak whilethose clouds are floating in my face.'

  'Will you go to the devil!' he exclaimed, ferociously, 'and let me be!'

  'No,' she persisted, 'I won't: I can't tell what to do to make you talkto me; and you are determined not to understand. When I call you stupid,I don't mean anything: I don't mean that I despise you. Come, you shalltake 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 damnedmocking tricks!' he answered. 'I'll go to hell, body and soul, before Ilook sideways after you again. Side out o' t' gate, now, this minute!'

  Catherine frowned, and retreated to the window-seat chewing her lip, andendeavouring, by humming an eccentric tune, to conceal a growing tendencyto sob.

  'Yo
u should be friends with your cousin, Mr. Hareton,' I interrupted,'since she repents of her sauciness. It would do you a great deal ofgood: 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 towipe her shoon! Nay, if it made me a king, I'd not be scorned forseeking her good-will any more.'

  'It is not I who hate you, it is you who hate me!' wept Cathy, no longerdisguising her trouble. 'You hate me as much as Mr. Heathcliff does, andmore.'

  'You're a damned liar,' began Earnshaw: 'why have I made him angry, bytaking your part, then, a hundred times? and that when you sneered at anddespised me, and--Go on plaguing me, and I'll step in yonder, and say youworried me out of the kitchen!'

  'I didn't know you took my part,' she answered, drying her eyes; 'and Iwas miserable and bitter at everybody; but now I thank you, and beg youto forgive me: what can I do besides?'

  She returned to the hearth, and frankly extended her hand. He blackenedand scowled like a thunder-cloud, and kept his fists resolutely clenched,and his gaze fixed on the ground. Catherine, by instinct, must havedivined it was obdurate perversity, and not dislike, that prompted thisdogged conduct; for, after remaining an instant undecided, she stoopedand impressed on his cheek a gentle kiss. The little rogue thought I hadnot seen her, and, drawing back, she took her former station by thewindow, quite demurely. I shook my head reprovingly, and then sheblushed and whispered--'Well! what should I have done, Ellen? Hewouldn't shake hands, and he wouldn't look: I must show him some way thatI 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 raiseit, he was sadly puzzled where to turn his eyes.

  Catherine employed herself in wrapping a handsome book neatly in whitepaper, 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 thepresent to its destined recipient.

  'And tell him, if he'll take it, I'll come and teach him to read itright,' she said; 'and, if he refuse it, I'll go upstairs, and nevertease 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 notstrike it off, either. I returned to my work. Catherine leaned her headand arms on the table, till she heard the slight rustle of the coveringbeing removed; then she stole away, and quietly seated herself beside hercousin. He trembled, and his face glowed: all his rudeness and all hissurly harshness had deserted him: he could not summon courage, at first,to utter a syllable in reply to her questioning look, and her murmuredpetition.

  'Say you forgive me, Hareton, do. You can make me so happy by speakingthat little word.'

  He muttered something inaudible.

  'And you'll be my friend?' added Catherine, interrogatively.

  'Nay, you'll be ashamed of me every day of your life,' he answered; 'andthe 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, andcreeping close up.

  I overheard no further distinguishable talk, but, on looking round again,I perceived two such radiant countenances bent over the page of theaccepted book, that I did not doubt the treaty had been ratified on bothsides; and the enemies were, thenceforth, sworn allies.

  The work they studied was full of costly pictures; and those and theirposition had charm enough to keep them unmoved till Joseph came home. He,poor man, was perfectly aghast at the spectacle of Catherine seated onthe same bench with Hareton Earnshaw, leaning her hand on his shoulder;and confounded at his favourite's endurance of her proximity: it affectedhim too deeply to allow an observation on the subject that night. Hisemotion was only revealed by the immense sighs he drew, as he solemnlyspread his large Bible on the table, and overlaid it with dirtybank-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 gangup to my own rahm. This hoile's neither mensful nor seemly for us: wemun side out and seearch another.'

  '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'll leave this book upon the chimney-piece, and I'll bringsome 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 asshe passed Hareton, went singing up-stairs: lighter of heart, I ventureto say, than ever she had been under that roof before; except, perhaps,during her earliest visits to Linton.

  The intimacy thus commenced grew rapidly; though it encountered temporaryinterruptions. Earnshaw was not to be civilized with a wish, and myyoung lady was no philosopher, and no paragon of patience; but both theirminds tending to the same point--one loving and desiring to esteem, andthe other loving and desiring to be esteemed--they contrived in the endto 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 bethe union of those two. I shall envy no one on their wedding day: therewon't be a happier woman than myself in England!