That summer, Mr. Edgar caught a bad cold, which developed into pneumonia, and he was forced to stay indoors for most of the winter. Poor Catherine missed her walks with her father, and I could see that she was feeling sad and restless.

One day, we were walking in Thrushcross Park when I noticed she was crying.

«What’s the matter, Miss Catherine?» I asked.

«Oh Nelly, I’m thinking how sad and lonely I’d be if papa dies.»

«Now, miss, you mustn’t think like that,» I said firmly. «I’m sure your father has many happy years ahead of him. Just you make certain you don’t do anything to upset him, and he is sure to recover soon.»

We walked on for about an hour, but just as we were arriving back at our gate, a man on a horse came riding by. I recognized him immediately. It was Heathcliff.

«Miss Linton!» he called out. «I’m very glad to meet you. Please don’t rush away.»

«I won’t speak to you, Mr. Heathcliff,» answered Catherine. «Papa says I must have nothing to do with you.»

«It’s my son I’ve come about, not me. You’ve played a cruel trick on him – first sending him love letters and then plunging him into despair. In fact, he’s so miserable now that I think he’s going to die. He’ll be dead before the summer unless you can help him!»

«How can you lie to her like that?» I called out crossly. «Miss Catherine, don’t listen to his nonsense. No one can die of love for a stranger.»

«I swear Linton is dying,» repeated Heathcliff solemnly. «Come and visit him next week and bring Nelly with you. I shall be away, so your father won’t be angry with you.»

 

Of course, Miss Catherine was desperate with worry.

«I shan’t feel happy until I’ve seen him, Nelly. I must tell Linton that it’s not my fault I haven’t written, and I must convince him there’s no hope for the two of us.»

I tried my best to change her mind, but she was determined to go, and the very next morning we set out for Wuthering Heights. I hoped young Linton would be so uninterested in her that Catherine would see immediately that Heathcliff was lying.

We found Linton on his own, sitting in a chair by the fire and looking very weak and ill. Catherine raced towards him.

«Is that you, Catherine?» he said, slowly raising his head. «No – don’t kiss me, it takes my breath away. Father said you would call. Would you shut the door? I hate being cold.»

«Well, Linton,» Catherine began, when she had closed the door and he had stopped frowning. «Aren’t you pleased to see me?»

«Why didn’t you come before?» he answered peevishly. «You should have come then, instead of writing. It wore me out writing those long letters. And now I’m too tired to do anything at all.»

 

Catherine asked Linton anxiously what she could do to help and, while she was pouring him a drink, her cousin continued, «Father told me you stopped writing because you despised me.»

«No, I don’t despise you, Linton! After papa and Nelly, I love you better than anyone else in the world.»

«And will you come and visit me again?»

«Of course,» said Catherine, stroking his long, soft hair. «If only papa would allow it, I’d spend half my time with you. Pretty Linton! I wish you were my brother, then we could be together all the time.»

«But father says that if you were my wife you’d love me better than anyone else in the world, and that’s what I want.»

«I could never love anyone more than papa,» Catherine said seriously. «You know that sometimes men can hate their wives. Papa told me your father hated your mother and that’s why she left him.»

«That’s not true,» said the boy. «And anyway your mother hated your father, and she loved mine!»

«You little liar! I hate you now!» Catherine snapped, her face red with fury.

«She did! She did!» shouted out Linton, leaning forward to see if she would cry.

Catherine gave her cousin’s chair a violent push, and he fell backwards, coughing violently. His coughing fit lasted so long that even I was frightened, and Catherine was terrified that she had really hurt him. But at last he recovered.

«How do you feel now, Linton?» she asked anxiously «I’m so sorry I hurt you. I thought it was only a little push. Don’t let me go home thinking I’ve hurt you.»

«I can’t speak to you now,» he sulked. «You’ve hurt me so much I’ll lie awake all night choking with this cough. And I was feeling better before you came!»

«Come, Miss Catherine,» I said, trying to hurry her away. «You can see Linton isn’t dying of love for you. And there’s nothing you can do to make him feel better. So come with me and we’ll leave him to sleep.»

I had a very hard time persuading her to leave. And I was alarmed to see, just before we left, that she was whispering something in Linton’s ear.

On our way home, I told Catherine she must never see Linton again, but she only smiled at me.

«The Grange is not a prison, Nelly and you are not my jailer. And, besides, I’m almost seventeen years old. I’m sure that Linton would recover if I was looking after him. He’s a pretty little darling when he’s good, and I’d make such a pet of him that we would never quarrel.»

I frowned to hear this.

«Don’t you like him, Nelly?»

«Like him!» I exclaimed. «He’s the most selfish boy I’ve ever met, and I don’t think he’ll live until he’s twenty. I’m pleased you won’t be marrying him. And if you’ve any ideas of visiting Wuthering Heights again, I’ll tell your father, and you know what that would do to him!»

 

I must have caught a cold on our walk to the Heights, because the next day I was forced to stay in bed. For three weeks I didn’t leave my room and during that time Catherine behaved like an angel, dividing her days between her father’s room and mine. But I never thought to ask myself what she did in the evenings. Sometimes, I noticed that her cheeks looked very pink when she came to say goodnight to me, but I thought she had been sitting by the fire.

On the first day that I was up again, I asked Miss Catherine to keep me company after tea, but she was very restless. Eventually, she told me she was ill and went off to bed early. Later that evening, I went up to her room and discovered it was empty! So I sat in the dark, waiting for her to return.

At last, Catherine crept in silently. She was just shaking the snow off her clothes when I stood up.

«Miss Catherine!» I said, more sad than angry. «Why you have been deceiving me? And how long has this been going on?»

Soon, she had told me the whole story. For the past three weeks she had been riding over to Wuthering Heights every night. She and Linton had spent every evening together. Sometimes they had been happy, when he made an effort to be less selfish, but most of the time she had been miserable. But, in spite of his difficult moods, Catherine insisted she must keep visiting her cousin – he needed her so badly, and she wanted to make him happy. She tried to make me promise not to tell her father, but I knew that things had gone too far.

I went straight to Mr. Edgar’s study and told him all I knew. He was shocked and upset, and the next morning he told Catherine she must never visit the Heights again. Nothing she could say would make her father change his mind, and she knew she had to obey him, even though it made her very sad.

 

A few days later, my master asked me to tell him truthfully what I thought of young Linton.

«He’s very delicate, sir,» I replied, «and he can be selfish, but he isn’t like his father. I don’t think he is thoroughly wicked.»

Edgar sighed and looked out towards the churchyard.

«I’ve often prayed for death, Nelly, so that I can join my beloved Cathy again. But now I’m afraid of what will happen to Catherine. Young Linton will inherit the Grange when I’m dead, and then where will she live? Perhaps it would be best if Catherine married him.»

«All we can do is wait and see what happens,» was the best answer I could give.

 

Spring arrived, and Mr. Edgar was no better. I could see he was desperately worried about Miss Catherine’s future and, in the end, he decided to do something about it. So he wrote a letter to Linton inviting him to the Grange. The boy replied immediately, saying his father would not allow him to visit the Grange, but perhaps he could meet his cousin for a ride? Edgar was very unhappy about this, because he wasn’t strong enough to accompany his daughter. But after some more letters from Linton – most of which I’m sure were written by Heathcliff– Edgar at last agreed to a meeting.

It was summer by the time Catherine and I set out on our first ride to meet her cousin. We had arranged to meet at the edge of Thrushcross Park, but then a messenger arrived to tell us Master Linton was up on the moors. I was very worried about this change of plan, and I became even more concerned when I saw the state he was in. Linton was lying back on the heather, struggling to breathe. Catherine looked at him in horror.

«Oh Linton, are you very ill? You seem so much worse.»

«No, I’m better. Really, I’m better,» he insisted. But his large blue eyes filled with tears.

Catherine tried her best to comfort him, but he didn’t seem to want to talk to her at all, and he kept glancing fearfully back at the Heights.

«I think you should go home,» Catherine told her cousin. «I can see my tales and chatter don’t amuse you any more.»

This suggestion made Linton very agitated and he clasped her hand, begging her not to go. «Please stay for another half an hour,» he pleaded. «My father will be so angry with me if you go.»

I immediately suspected some plot of Heathcliff’s and wanted to leave immediately. But Catherine agreed to stay a little longer, and she sat beside her cousin while he dozed and whimpered. Before we left, Linton made Catherine promise to meet him again at the same place in a week’s time.

 

We rode back to the Grange together, troubled and unhappy. I advised Miss Catherine to tell her father as little as possible about our meeting – he was now very ill, and I didn’t want to worry him with news about his nephew.

Each day that week, Edgar became noticeably weaker. Catherine realized that her father was dying and spent all the time she could by his bedside. By Thursday, she was looking very strained and pale, and I thought that another ride on the moors might do her some good. Mr. Edgar was happy to let Catherine meet her cousin. He had no idea how ill Linton was.

Linton was lying in the same place on the moors, but this time he was even more feverish and frightened.

«I thought you weren’t coming!» he said angrily.

«Why don’t you be honest and say you don’t want to see me?» Catherine replied. «My father is very ill and I ought to be with him.»

Linton began to sob with fear. «Catherine, please don’t leave me. My life is in your hands. I can’t explain, but if you leave me now, my father would kill me. Please agree to what he says and then perhaps he won’t hurt me.»

Catherine weakened. «Agree to what?» she asked. «You’ve got to explain to me, Linton.»

At that moment, I heard a rustle in the heather, and I looked up to see Heathcliff striding over the moors.

«Greetings, Nelly!» he cried out heartily. «How are things at the Grange? Is it true that Edgar Linton is dying?»

«Yes, it is true.»

«How long will he last, do you think?» he asked urgently. «That boy over there is dying too, and I’d thank his uncle to be quick or Linton will die before him and all my plans will be ruined.»

He looked over to where Linton was lying on the grass. «Get up, boy!» he shouted angrily to his son, who flinched away from him. Then he turned to Catherine. «Would you be so kind as to walk home with Linton? The cowardly wretch shudders whenever I touch him.»

«Linton dear,» said Catherine, «you know I can’t go to Wuthering Heights – papa has forbidden it.»

«Well, then the boy will have to come with me,» roared Heathcliff, making a grab for him.

«No, no!» screamed Linton, terrified of what Heathcliff might do to him on their return. «Catherine, you must help me. Come with me please!»

In the end, Catherine simply couldn’t refuse, so we all walked back to the Heights together, Linton leaning heavily on his young cousin’s arm.

As soon as we were inside the house, Heathcliff turned the key in the lock, and I realized with a sinking heart that we were trapped.

«All the servants are out today,» he said calmly, «so we are quite alone.»

«Give me that key,» cried Catherine, her eyes flashing. «I won’t stay here and I’m not afraid of you!»

 

Heathcliff held the key firmly in his fist but she attacked it with her nails and then with her teeth. The next minute, he struck her violently on the side of the face and she staggered back, trembling.

«Now, young lady,» Heathcliff said grimly, «you’ll do as I tell you. I’ll be your father tomorrow and I’ll punish you every day if I see that temper in your eyes again!» Then Heathcliff went out into the yard, locking the door behind him.

 

Catherine and I raced around the kitchen, trying to find a way to escape, but all the doors and windows were locked. Meanwhile, Linton had settled himself comfortably into a chair, happy to see someone else in trouble. I threatened him with a slapping if he didn’t explain his father’s plans, and he soon poured out the whole story to us.

«Father wants Catherine to marry me, so he has control over her as well. But he’s afraid that I’m going to die, so we have to do it tomorrow. You have to stay here all night, and marry me in the morning.»

«Marry you!» I exclaimed. «The man must be insane! Why should a beautiful, healthy girl like Catherine tie herself to a pathetic creature like you.»

I couldn’t resist giving him a shaking , and that started a terrible coughing fit.

«I must get out of here tonight, if I have to burn down the door,» said Catherine desperately. «I love my father more than you, Linton, and I have to see him now.»

 

At that moment, Heathcliff returned, having let our horses loose to run over the moors. He ordered Linton to go to bed immediately and turned to us.

«Mr. Heathcliff,» Catherine began bravely, «I must go home now or papa will be miserable. But I promise you I will marry your son. Papa would like me to and I love Linton. So why do you need to force me to do something I’ll do willingly?»

«Well, Miss Linton,» said the villain, «I’m delighted to hear that your father will be miserable – that’s certainly made up my mind to keep you here overnight. And I’ll make sure you don’t leave Wuthering Heights until you’ve kept your promise to marry Linton.»

«Then please send Nelly to tell my father that I’m all right!» sobbed Catherine bitterly. «Poor papa will think we are lost!»

«I won’t do anything to make that man happy,» growled Heathcliff, «and I’ll be glad to see you miserable too. I’ve taught Linton to be a selfish and cruel husband, and I shall enjoy watching you suffer!»

Then Heathcliff dragged us both upstairs to the housekeeper’s room and locked us in. Neither of us slept at all that night. Catherine stood for hours by the window, gazing out over the moors, and I spent a terrible night, blaming myself for everything that had happened.

 

At seven o’clock the next morning, Heathcliff came and took Catherine away, and I was left alone. For the next four days, I was kept locked up. The only person I saw was Hareton, who delivered my meals in silence, obviously obeying Heathcliff’s orders.

On the fifth day, Zillah came into my room. She was amazed to see me there – everyone had thought that Catherine and I had lost our way on the moors and died out there. I rushed straight out of the room and searched the house for Catherine, but I couldn’t find her anywhere. But I did find Linton, lying on a sofa and sucking a stick of candy.

«Where’s Miss Catherine?» I demanded sternly.

«She’s locked up in a room upstairs,» he replied calmly. «We won’t let her go yet. Father says I mustn’t be soft on her. He says she hates me and wants me to die. So now I’m punishing her. She can cry as much as she likes, I won’t let her go home.»

And he went back to sucking his candy stick.

«Master Heathcliff,» I said angrily, «have you forgotten Miss Catherine’s kindness to you when she came to visit you last winter? Think of all the times she rode through wind and snow to see you. And now you’re believing the lies your father tells you, and turning against her. What a spoiled, selfish boy you are!»

«I’m tired of her crying,» Linton answered crossly. «She gives me a headache. She promised me that if I gave her the key to her room she’d give me all her books from the Grange, but I told her that they weren’t hers to give and I would inherit them all when her father died. So then she offered me her locket with the pictures of her mother and father, but I said that was mine as well and tried to snatch it from her.

«Then she pushed me away and hurt me so much I screamed and father came in to see what was happening. He hit her on the face and knocked her down. Then he crushed the locket under his foot and took away the picture of her mother.»

«And were you pleased to see her hurt?» I asked.

«I was pleased that father punished her. But I didn’t like to see her mouth full of blood. She hasn’t said a word to me since then. I think she shouldn’t cry so much – she looks so pale and wild she frightens me.»

I saw there was no chance of persuading Linton to help me, so I decided to run back to the Grange as fast as I could, and then try to rescue Catherine later.

 

Everyone at the Grange was delighted to see me – and relieved to hear that my mistress was still alive. I hurried up to Mr. Edgar’s room to give him the news and was horrified to see how much he had changed. It was clear he couldn’t last much longer.

«Catherine,» he murmured, as he heard me walk over to him.

I touched his hand. «Catherine is coming, dear master!» I whispered. «She’s alive and well, and I hope she will be here tonight.»

He half rose up, and looked eagerly around the room, but then he sank back again. I told him as much as I dared about what had happened up at the Heights.

Mr. Edgar gave orders for four servants to go up to the Heights and bring back his daughter immediately. They were gone for hours, but eventually they returned without her – Heathcliff had frightened them away. I began to be afraid that Mr. Edgar would never see Catherine again, when I heard a noise at the door. It was my brave mistress, who had managed to escape from the Heights. And she ran, sobbing, into my arms.

«Nelly! Nelly! Is papa still alive?»

«Yes, he is, my angel,» I cried. «Thank God you’re safe with us again!»

She wanted to run straight up to her father’s room, but I made her sit quietly and catch her breath. I begged her to tell her father that she was happy with Linton, so he could die peacefully, and she promised me that she would.

I stood outside the bedroom door and heard Edgar and Catherine talking quietly together. Everything was calm. Catherine kept her despair to herself and her father died a happy man. Kissing his daughter’s cheek, he murmured, «I am going to be with Cathy now, and one day you, my darling child, shall come and join us too!»

Heathcliff allowed Catherine to stay at the Grange until the day of Mr. Edgar’s funeral, but that evening he came to take her back to the Heights. I begged him to let her stay at the Grange and send Linton to live with us, but he refused.

«I’m looking for a tenant for Thrushcross Grange,» he answered, «and I want my children near me. Besides, I’m going to make sure that Catherine works for her living.»

«I shall work,» said Catherine, bravely. «And I shall look after Linton, because he’s the only person I have to love in the world. But you, Heathcliff, have no one to love you, and nobody to cry for you when you die!»

«Don’t you talk to me like that, you little witch,» said her new father-in-law grimly. «Now go off and get your things.»

While Catherine was gone, Heathcliff looked around the room, and took down the portrait of Cathy to keep for himself.

«Do you have any idea, Nelly, how Cathy has haunted me over the years?» he said. «Every time I leave my house, she’s waiting for me on the moors, and whenever I come home I see her at the door. I tried sleeping in her room for a while, but it was pure torment. She was always there, crying to be let in, but as soon as I opened the window she was gone. She’s been teasing me like that for eighteen years – killing me by inches until I’m insane with grief.»

After a while, Miss Catherine came in, ready for her journey. When she kissed me goodbye, her lips felt like ice.

«Come and see me soon, Nelly. Please don’t forget.»

«You’ll do no such thing!» thundered Heathcliff. «I’ll have no more prying in my house!»

I watched the two of them walk away with a very heavy heart.

 

Since Miss Catherine left the Grange, almost a year ago, I have never seen her face. But Zillah, the housekeeper, has given me some news. I believe that Catherine tried her hardest to look after her husband. Heathcliff refused to call a doctor, and Linton only lasted a few weeks after their marriage. In the end, he died in agony, with only Catherine by his side. Heathcliff inherited all his son’s property and Catherine has nothing of her own.

It must be so lonely for my dear Catherine up at Wuthering Heights. Joseph and Zillah won’t talk to her because they think that she’s too proud, and Heathcliff despises her. Only Hareton shows her any kindness, but she takes no notice of him because he’s so rough and uneducated. What would make me happiest of all would be to rent a little cottage and live with Miss Catherine again, but I know that Heathcliff would never allow it.

 

That was the sad end of Nelly Dean’s story. After weeks of listening to her memories, I wanted to leave the moors and return to my life in London again. So I decided to ride over to Wuthering Heights the very next day and tell my landlord about my plans. I certainly don’t intend to spend another winter in this wild and desolate place.