AS soon as I had perused this epistle I went to the master, andinformed him that his sister had arrived at the Heights, and sentme a letter expressing her sorrow for Mrs. Linton's situation, andher ardent desire to see him; with a wish that he would transmit toher, as early as possible, some token of forgiveness by me.

'Forgiveness!' said Linton. 'I have nothing to forgive her, Ellen.You may call at Wuthering Heights this afternoon, if you like, andsay that I am not angry, but I'm sorry to have lost her; especiallyas I can never think she'll be happy. It is out of the question mygoing to see her, however: we are eternally divided; and shouldshe really wish to oblige me, let her persuade the villain she hasmarried to leave the country.'

'And you won't write her a little note, sir?' I asked, imploringly.

'No,' he answered. 'It is needless. My communication withHeathcliff's family shall be as sparing as his with mine. It shallnot exist!'

Mr. Edgar's coldness depressed me exceedingly; and all the way fromthe Grange I puzzled my brains how to put more heart into what hesaid, when I repeated it; and how to soften his refusal of even afew lines to console Isabella. I daresay she had been on the watchfor me since morning: I saw her looking through the lattice as Icame up the garden causeway, and I nodded to her; but she drewback, as if afraid of being observed. I entered without knocking.There never was such a dreary, dismal scene as the formerlycheerful house presented! I must confess, that if I had been inthe young lady's place, I would, at least, have swept the hearth,and wiped the tables with a duster. But she already partook of thepervading spirit of neglect which encompassed her. Her pretty facewas wan and listless; her hair uncurled: some locks hanging lanklydown, and some carelessly twisted round her head. Probably she hadnot touched her dress since yester evening. Hindley was not there.Mr. Heathcliff sat at a table, turning over some papers in hispocket-book; but he rose when I appeared, asked me how I did, quitefriendly, and offered me a chair. He was the only thing there thatseemed decent; and I thought he never looked better. So much hadcircumstances altered their positions, that he would certainly havestruck a stranger as a born and bred gentleman; and his wife as athorough little slattern! She came forward eagerly to greet me,and held out one hand to take the expected letter. I shook myhead. She wouldn't understand the hint, but followed me to asideboard, where I went to lay my bonnet, and importuned me in awhisper to give her directly what I had brought. Heathcliffguessed the meaning of her manoeuvres, and said - 'If you have gotanything for Isabella (as no doubt you have, Nelly), give it toher. You needn't make a secret of it: we have no secrets betweenus.'

'Oh, I have nothing,' I replied, thinking it best to speak thetruth at once. 'My master bid me tell his sister that she must notexpect either a letter or a visit from him at present. He sendshis love, ma'am, and his wishes for your happiness, and his pardonfor the grief you have occasioned; but he thinks that after thistime his household and the household here should dropintercommunication, as nothing could come of keeping it up.'

Mrs. Heathcliff's lip quivered slightly, and she returned to herseat in the window. Her husband took his stand on the hearthstone,near me, and began to put questions concerning Catherine. I toldhim as much as I thought proper of her illness, and he extortedfrom me, by cross-examination, most of the facts connected with itsorigin. I blamed her, as she deserved, for bringing it all onherself; and ended by hoping that he would follow Mr. Linton'sexample and avoid future interference with his family, for good orevil.

'Mrs. Linton is now just recovering,' I said; 'she'll never be likeshe was, but her life is spared; and if you really have a regardfor her, you'll shun crossing her way again: nay, you'll move outof this country entirely; and that you may not regret it, I'llinform you Catherine Linton is as different now from your oldfriend Catherine Earnshaw, as that young lady is different from me.Her appearance is changed greatly, her character much more so; andthe person who is compelled, of necessity, to be her companion,will only sustain his affection hereafter by the remembrance ofwhat she once was, by common humanity, and a sense of duty!'

'That is quite possible,' remarked Heathcliff, forcing himself toseem calm: 'quite possible that your master should have nothingbut common humanity and a sense of duty to fall back upon. But doyou imagine that I shall leave Catherine 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 thatyou'll get me an interview with her: consent, or refuse, I WILLsee her! What do you say?'

'I say, Mr. Heathcliff,' I replied, 'you must not: you nevershall, through my means. Another encounter between you and themaster would kill her altogether.'

'With your aid that may be avoided,' he continued; 'and shouldthere be danger of such an event - should he be the cause of addinga single trouble more to her existence - why, I think I shall bejustified in going to extremes! I wish you had sincerity enough totell me whether Catherine would suffer greatly from his loss: thefear that she would restrains me. And there you see thedistinction between our feelings: had he been in my place, and Iin his, though I hated him with a hatred that turned my life togall, I never would have raised a hand against him. You may lookincredulous, if you please! I never would have banished him fromher society as long as she desired his. The moment her regardceased, 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 hishead!'

'And yet,' I interrupted, 'you have no scruples in completelyruining all hopes of her perfect restoration, by thrusting yourselfinto her remembrance now, when she has nearly forgotten you, andinvolving her in a new tumult of discord and distress.'

'You suppose she has nearly forgotten me?' he said. 'Oh, Nelly!you know she has not! You know as well as I do, that for everythought she spends on Linton she spends a thousand on me! At amost miserable period of my life, I had a notion of the kind: ithaunted me on my return to the neighbourhood last summer; but onlyher own assurance could make me admit the horrible idea again. Andthen, Linton would be nothing, nor Hindley, nor all the dreams thatever I dreamt. Two words would comprehend my future - DEATH andHELL: existence, after losing her, would be hell. Yet I was afool to fancy for a moment that she valued Edgar Linton'sattachment more than mine. If he loved with all the powers of hispuny being, he couldn't love as much in eighty years as I could ina day. And Catherine has a heart as deep as I have: the sea couldbe as readily contained in that horse-trough as her whole affectionbe monopolised by him. Tush! He is scarcely a degree dearer toher than her dog, or her horse. It is not in him to be loved likeme: how can she love in him what he has not?'

'Catherine and Edgar are as fond of each other as any two peoplecan be,' cried Isabella, with sudden vivacity. 'No one has a rightto talk in that manner, and I won't hear my brother depreciated insilence!'

'Your brother is wondrous fond of you too, isn't he?' observedHeathcliff, scornfully. 'He turns you adrift on the world withsurprising alacrity.'

'He is not aware of what I suffer,' she replied. 'I didn't tellhim that.'

'You have been telling him something, then: you have written, haveyou?'

'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 ofcondition,' 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. 'She degeneratesinto a mere slut! She is tired of trying to please me uncommonlyearly. You'd hardly credit it, but the very morrow of our weddingshe was weeping to go home. However, she'll suit this house somuch the better for not being over nice, and I'll take care shedoes not disgrace me by rambling abroad.'

'Well, sir,' returned I, 'I hope you'll consider that Mrs.Heathcliff is accustomed to be looked after and waited on; and thatshe has been brought up like an only daughter, whom every one wasready to serve. You must let her have a maid to keep things tidyabout her, and you must treat her kindly. Whatever be your notionof Mr. Edgar, you cannot doubt that she has a capacity for strongattachments, or she wouldn't have abandoned the elegancies, andcomforts, and friends of her former home, to fix contentedly, insuch a wilderness as this, with you.'

'She abandoned them under a delusion,' he answered; 'picturing inme a hero of romance, and expecting unlimited indulgences from mychivalrous devotion. I can hardly regard her in the light of arational creature, so obstinately has she persisted in forming afabulous notion of my character and acting on the false impressionsshe cherished. But, at last, I think she begins to know me: Idon't perceive the silly smiles and grimaces that provoked me atfirst; and the senseless incapability of discerning that I was inearnest when I gave her my opinion of her infatuation and herself.It was a marvellous effort of perspicacity to discover that I didnot love her. I believed, at one time, no lessons could teach herthat! And yet it is poorly learnt; for this morning she announced,as a piece of appalling intelligence, that I had actually succeededin making her hate me! A positive labour of Hercules, I assureyou! If it be achieved, I have cause to return thanks. Can Itrust your assertion, Isabella? Are you sure you hate me? If Ilet you alone for half a day, won't you come sighing and wheedlingto me again? I daresay she would rather I had seemed alltenderness before you: it wounds her vanity to have the truthexposed. But I don't care who knows that the passion was wholly onone side: and I never told her a lie about it. She cannot accuseme of showing one bit of deceitful softness. The first thing shesaw me do, on coming out of the Grange, was to hang up her littledog; and when she pleaded for it, the first words I uttered were awish that I had the hanging of every being belonging to her, exceptone: possibly she took that exception for herself. But nobrutality disgusted her: I suppose she has an innate admiration ofit, if only her precious person were secure from injury! Now, wasit not the depth of absurdity - of genuine idiotcy, for thatpitiful, slavish, mean-minded brach to dream that I could love her?Tell your master, Nelly, that I never, in all my life, met withsuch an abject thing as she is. She even disgraces the name ofLinton; and I've sometimes relented, from pure lack of invention,in my experiments on what she could endure, and still creepshamefully cringing back! But tell him, also, to set his fraternaland magisterial heart at ease: that I keep strictly within thelimits of the law. I have avoided, up to this period, giving herthe slightest right to claim a separation; and, what's more, she'dthank nobody for dividing us. If she desired to go, she might:the nuisance of her presence outweighs the gratification to bederived 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, shehas borne with you hitherto: but now that you say she may go,she'll doubtless avail herself of the permission. You are not sobewitched, ma'am, are you, as to remain with him of your ownaccord?'

'Take care, Ellen!' answered Isabella, her eyes sparkling irefully;there was no misdoubting by their expression the full success ofher partner's endeavours to make himself detested. 'Don't putfaith 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 conversationto my brother or Catherine. Whatever he may pretend, he wishes toprovoke Edgar to desperation: he says he has married me on purposeto obtain power over him; and he sha'n't obtain it - I'll diefirst! I just hope, I pray, that he may forget his diabolicalprudence 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 youare called upon in a court of law, you'll remember her language,Nelly! And take a good look at that countenance: she's near thepoint which would suit me. No; you're not fit to be your ownguardian, Isabella, now; and I, being your legal protector, mustretain you in my custody, however distasteful the obligation maybe. Go up-stairs; I have something to say to Ellen Dean inprivate. That's not the way: up-stairs, I tell you! Why, this isthe road upstairs, 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, themore I yearn to crush out their entrails! It is a moral teething;and I grind with greater energy in proportion to the increase ofpain.'

'Do you understand what the word pity means?' I said, hastening toresume 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: I must eitherpersuade or compel you to aid me in fulfilling my determination tosee Catherine, and that without delay. I swear that I meditate noharm: I don't desire to cause any disturbance, or to exasperate orinsult Mr. Linton; I only wish to hear from herself how she is, andwhy she has been ill; and to ask if anything that I could do wouldbe 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 theplace, and every day, till I find an opportunity of entering. IfEdgar Linton meets me, I shall not hesitate to knock him down, andgive him enough to insure his quiescence while I stay. If hisservants oppose me, I shall threaten them off with these pistols.But wouldn't it be better to prevent my coming in contact withthem, or their master? And you could do it so easily. I'd warnyou when I came, and then you might let me in unobserved, as soonas she was alone, and watch till I departed, your conscience quitecalm: you would be hindering mischief.'

I protested against playing that treacherous part in my employer'shouse: and, besides, I urged the cruelty and selfishness of hisdestroying Mrs. Linton's tranquillity for his satisfaction. 'Thecommonest occurrence startles her painfully,' I said. 'She's allnerves, and she couldn't bear the surprise, I'm positive. Don'tpersist, sir! or else I shall be obliged to inform my master ofyour designs; and he'll take measures to secure his house and itsinmates from any such unwarrantable intrusions!'

'In that case I'll take measures to secure you, woman!' exclaimedHeathcliff; 'you shall not leave Wuthering Heights till to-morrowmorning. It is a foolish story to assert that Catherine could notbear to see me; and as to surprising her, I don't desire it: youmust prepare her - ask her if I may come. You say she nevermentions my name, and that I am never mentioned to her. To whomshould she mention me if I am a forbidden topic in the house? Shethinks you are all spies for her husband. Oh, I've no doubt she'sin 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 mindbeing unsettled. How the devil could it be otherwise in herfrightful isolation? And that insipid, paltry creature attendingher from DUTY and HUMANITY! From PITY and CHARITY! He might aswell plant an oak in a flower-pot, and expect it to thrive, asimagine he can restore her to vigour in the soil of his shallowcares? Let us settle it at once: will you stay here, and am I tofight my way to Catherine over Linton and his footman? Or will yoube my 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 himfifty times; but in the long run he forced me to an agreement. Iengaged to carry a letter from him to my mistress; and should sheconsent, I promised to let him have intelligence of Linton's nextabsence 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 outof the way. Was it right or wrong? I fear it was wrong, thoughexpedient. I thought I prevented another explosion by mycompliance; and I thought, too, it might create a favourable crisisin Catherine's mental illness: and then I remembered Mr. Edgar'sstern rebuke of my carrying tales; and I tried to smooth away alldisquietude on the subject, by affirming, with frequent iteration,that that betrayal of trust, if it merited so harsh an appellation,should be the last. Notwithstanding, my journey homeward wassadder than my journey thither; and many misgivings I had, ere Icould 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 better youare. My history is DREE, as we say, and will serve to while awayanother morning.

Dree, and dreary! I reflected as the good woman descended toreceive the doctor: and not exactly of the kind which I shouldhave chosen to amuse me. But never mind! I'll extract wholesomemedicines from Mrs. Dean's bitter herbs; and firstly, let me bewareof the fascination that lurks in Catherine Heathcliff's brillianteyes. I should be in a curious taking if I surrendered my heart tothat young person, and the daughter turned out a second edition ofthe mother.