'THESE things happened last winter, sir,' said Mrs. Dean; 'hardlymore than a year ago. Last winter, I did not think, at anothertwelve months' end, I should be amusing a stranger to the familywith relating them! Yet, who knows how long you'll be a stranger?You're too young to rest always contented, living by yourself; andI some way fancy no one could see Catherine Linton and not loveher. You smile; but why do you look so lively and interested whenI talk about her? and why have you asked me to hang her pictureover your fireplace? and why - ?'

'Stop, my good friend!' I cried. 'It may be very possible that Ishould love her; but would she love me? I doubt it too much toventure my tranquillity by running into temptation: and then myhome is not here. I'm of the busy world, and to its arms I mustreturn. Go on. Was Catherine obedient to her father's commands?'

'She was,' continued the housekeeper. 'Her affection for him wasstill the chief sentiment in her heart; and he spoke without anger:he spoke in the deep tenderness of one about to leave his treasureamid perils and foes, where his remembered words would be the onlyaid that he could bequeath to guide her. He said to me, a few daysafterwards, "I wish my nephew would write, Ellen, or call. Tellme, sincerely, what you think of him: is he changed for thebetter, or is there a prospect of improvement, as he grows a man?"

'"He's very delicate, sir," I replied; "and scarcely likely toreach manhood: but this I can say, he does not resemble hisfather; and if Miss Catherine had the misfortune to marry him, hewould not be beyond her control: unless she were extremely andfoolishly indulgent. However, master, you'll have plenty of timeto get acquainted with him and see whether he would suit her: itwants four years and more to his being of age."'

Edgar sighed; and, walking to the window, looked out towardsGimmerton Kirk. It was a misty afternoon, but the February sunshone dimly, and we could just distinguish the two fir-trees in theyard, and the sparely-scattered gravestones.

'I've prayed often,' he half soliloquised, 'for the approach ofwhat is coming; and now I begin to shrink, and fear it. I thoughtthe memory of the hour I came down that glen a bridegroom would beless sweet than the anticipation that I was soon, in a few months,or, possibly, weeks, to be carried up, and laid in its lonelyhollow! Ellen, I've been very happy with my little Cathy: throughwinter nights and summer days she was a living hope at my side.But I've been as happy musing by myself among those stones, underthat old church: lying, through the long June evenings, on thegreen mound of her mother's grave, and wishing - yearning for thetime when I might lie beneath it. What can I do for Cathy? Howmust I quit her? I'd not care one moment for Linton beingHeathcliff's son; nor for his taking her from me, if he couldconsole her for my loss. I'd not care that Heathcliff gained hisends, and triumphed in robbing me of my last blessing! But shouldLinton be unworthy - only a feeble tool to his father - I cannotabandon her to him! And, hard though it be to crush her buoyantspirit, I must persevere in making her sad while I live, andleaving her solitary when I die. Darling! I'd rather resign herto God, and lay her in the earth before me.'

'Resign her to God as it is, sir,' I answered, 'and if we shouldlose you - which may He forbid - under His providence, I'll standher friend and counsellor to the last. Miss Catherine is a goodgirl: I don't fear that she will go wilfully wrong; and people whodo their duty are always finally rewarded.'

Spring advanced; yet my master gathered no real strength, though heresumed his walks in the grounds with his daughter. To herinexperienced notions, this itself was a sign of convalescence; andthen his cheek was often flushed, and his eyes were bright; shefelt sure of his recovering. On her seventeenth birthday, he didnot visit the churchyard: it was raining, and I observed - 'You'llsurely not go out to-night, sir?'

He answered, - 'No, I'll defer it this year a little longer.' Hewrote again to Linton, expressing his great desire to see him; and,had the invalid been presentable, I've no doubt his father wouldhave permitted him to come. As it was, being instructed, hereturned an answer, intimating that Mr. Heathcliff objected to hiscalling at the Grange; but his uncle's kind remembrance delightedhim, and he hoped to meet him sometimes in his rambles, andpersonally to petition that his cousin and he might not remain longso utterly divided.

That part of his letter was simple, and probably his own.Heathcliff knew he could plead eloquently for Catherine's company,then.

'I do not ask,' he said, 'that she may visit here; but am I neverto see her, because my father forbids me to go to her home, and youforbid her to come to mine? Do, now and then, ride with hertowards the Heights; and let us exchange a few words, in yourpresence! We have done nothing to deserve this separation; and youare not angry with me: you have no reason to dislike me, youallow, yourself. Dear uncle! send me a kind note to-morrow, andleave to join you anywhere you please, except at ThrushcrossGrange. I believe an interview would convince you that my father'scharacter is not mine: he affirms I am more your nephew than hisson; and though I have faults which render me unworthy ofCatherine, she has excused them, and for her sake, you should also.You inquire after my health - it is better; but while I remain cutoff from all hope, and doomed to solitude, or the society of thosewho never did and never will like me, how can I be cheerful andwell?'

Edgar, though he felt for the boy, could not consent to grant hisrequest; because he could not accompany Catherine. He said, insummer, perhaps, they might meet: meantime, he wished him tocontinue writing at intervals, and engaged to give him what adviceand comfort he was able by letter; being well aware of his hardposition in his family. Linton complied; and had he beenunrestrained, would probably have spoiled all by filling hisepistles with complaints and lamentations. but his father kept asharp watch over him; and, of course, insisted on every line thatmy master sent being shown; so, instead of penning his peculiarpersonal sufferings and distresses, the themes constantly uppermostin his thoughts, he harped on the cruel obligation of being heldasunder from his friend and love; and gently intimated that Mr.Linton must allow an interview soon, or he should fear he waspurposely deceiving him with empty promises.

Cathy was a powerful ally at home; and between them they at lengthpersuaded my master to acquiesce in their having a ride or a walktogether about once a week, under my guardianship, and on the moorsnearest the Grange: for June found him still declining. Though hehad set aside yearly a portion of his income for my young lady'sfortune, he had a natural desire that she might retain - or atleast return in a short time to - the house of her ancestors; andhe considered her only prospect of doing that was by a union withhis heir; he had no idea that the latter was failing almost as fastas himself; nor had any one, I believe: no doctor visited theHeights, and no one saw Master Heathcliff to make report of hiscondition among us. I, for my part, began to fancy my forebodingswere false, and that he must be actually rallying, when hementioned riding and walking on the moors, and seemed so earnest inpursuing his object. I could not picture a father treating a dyingchild as tyrannically and wickedly as I afterwards learnedHeathcliff had treated him, to compel this apparent eagerness: hisefforts redoubling the more imminently his avaricious and unfeelingplans were threatened with defeat by death.