Wuthering Heights

Chapter 12

I found that Mr. Edgar had a deep-seated fear of offending her.He concealed this fear from her, but when I contradicted him, or saw any of the servants grow impatient with her domineering orders, he would frown to show his annoyance, and he never He doesn't lose face for his own affairs.Many times he sternly reprimanded me for not knowing the rules, asserting that stabbing him would not hurt more than seeing his wife angry.

In order not to upset a benevolent master, I learned not to make a fuss.so.For half a year the gunpowder was as safe as sand, for no flame came near to ignite it.Catherine would be sullen and silent at intervals, now and then.Her husband always paid respect with a sympathetic silence, which he ascribed to that serious illness, a change in her constitution, since she had never been morose before.Sunshine's Return was also reported as Sunrise Reopening on his side.I believe I can say that they really had a deep and increasing happiness.

Happiness is over.Alas, we are always after ourselves in the end.A gentle and generous man is only more justly selfish than a bully man.Happiness comes to an end when circumstances lead both people to feel that the interests of the one do not occupy the forefront of the other's heart.

On a mild evening in September, I picked a heavy basket of apples from the garden. As dusk was falling, the moon shone in from outside the high wall of the courtyard, reflecting some vague shadows, lurking in many houses. Inside the corner of the protruding part.I put the basket on the kitchen doorstep and rest for a while, taking a few more breaths of soft, sweet air.I was looking at the moon, with my back to the door, when I heard a voice behind me saying:
"Nellie, is that you?"

It was a deep voice, with a foreign accent.But the voice calling my name sounds very familiar.I turned around to see who was talking, but my heart was panicking.Because the door was closed, I didn't see anyone coming up the steps.

There was some movement in the porch, and I went closer and saw a tall man in black with a dark face and black hair.He leaned against the wall with his fingers resting on the bolt, as if intending to open the door himself.

"Who could this be?" I thought. "Mr Earnshaw? Oh, no! That's not his voice."

"I've been waiting here an hour," he said again, while I was still looking at him, "all this time. There's a dead silence all around. I dare not go in. You don't know me? Look, I'm no stranger !"

A ray of moonlight fell on his facial features.The cheeks were disheveled, half of which was covered by the black beard.The eyebrows are lowered, and the eyes are sunken, which is different from others.I recognized those eyes.

"What?" I exclaimed, not sure if he was a visitor from this world at all, and I threw up my hands in astonishment. "What, you're back? Is it really you? Is it?"

"Yes, Heathcliff," he replied, looking away from me to the windows overhead, which reflected many twinkling moons, but saw no light from within. "Are they home? Where is she? Nelly, you're not happy! You needn't be so alarmed. Is she here? Speak! I'll have a word for your mistress. Go, say someone from Gimmerton, Want to see her."

"What to do with her?" I yelled. "What's she to do? I can't understand the suddenness of it--it'll turn her all over the place! You're Heathcliff? But it's changed! No, it's incomprehensible. Are you a soldier? "

"Go, pass on my word," he interrupted impatiently. "I can escape from hell only if you go!"

He lifted the latch and I walked in.But when I reached the drawing-room, where the Lintons were, I had no courage to go any further.

Finally, I made up my mind to find an excuse, asked them if they wanted to light candles, and opened the door.

They sat together at a window, with the latticed window open inwards against the wall, and looked out over the trees in the garden and the lush native garden to the Vale of Gimmerton, and a long cloud of mist winding its way almost to the top of the hill (for Not far from the chapel, you will see that the gurgling water flowing from the swamp is converging into a small stream that winds down the narrow valley).Wuthering Heights towered above this silvery mist, but our old house could not be seen, which fell on the other side of the mountain.

Whether it is the house, the people in it, and the scenery they look at from afar, they all seem strangely peaceful.I hesitated, reluctance to carry out my mission.After asking if I wanted to light a candle, I walked away without actually saying a word.Suddenly I realized my gaffe, I had to turn around, and said:
"Someone from Gimmerton wants to see you, ma'am."

"What can he do?" asked Mrs. Linton.

"I didn't ask him," I replied.

"Well, draw the curtains, Nelly," she said, "and prepare the tea. I'll be right back."

She left the room, and Mr. Linton asked me casually who he was.

"It's someone my wife can't think of." I replied. "That Heathcliff, you remember him, sir, who used to live at Mr Earnshaw's."

"What, that gypsy—that country boy?" he cried. "Why didn't you tell Catherine the truth?"

"Hush! You mustn't call him that, sir," said I. "She was going to be very upset to hear that. She was heartbroken when he went away. I reckon she'd be overjoyed to have him back."

Mr. Linton went to a window on the other side of the room, looking down on the courtyard.He opened the window and leaned out.I guessed they were down there, because right away he shouted:

"Don't stand there, dear! If the visitor is a guest, bring him in."

Presently I heard the bolt rattle, and Catherine came running up the stairs, out of breath and with a wild air.She was so excited that she couldn't even express her joy.Indeed, by the look of her face, you might have thought that something was going on.

"Oh, Edgar, Edgar!" she gasped, throwing her arms around his neck. "Oh, Edgar, my love! Heathcliff is back—he's back!" He turned her embrace into a crush.

"All right, all right," said her husband angrily, "don't strangle me so hard! I never thought he was such a rare treasure. No need to be crazy!"

"I know you don't like him," she replied, suppressing her intense joy a little. "But, for me, you must be friends now, too. May I ask him to come up now?"

"Here?" he said. "To the living room?"

"Where else?" she asked.

He looked annoyed and said the kitchen would be a more suitable place for him.

Mrs. Linton gave him a wry look, both annoyed and amused at his fault-finding.

"No," she added after a moment's pause, "I cannot sit in the kitchen. Set up two tables here, Ellen, one for your master and Miss Isabella, who are gentlemen; the other for Heathcliff and myself, we are inferior people. Are you happy with that, my dear? Or shall I have to find another place to light a fire? If so, give me orders. I must go down to my guests. I I'm really afraid that this happiness is too great, it's not real!"

She was about to rush out again, but Edgar stopped her.

"You tell him to come up," he said to me. "And Catherine, be happy, but don't be mad! This family needn't watch you welcome a runaway servant as a brother."

I went down the stairs and found Heathcliff waiting in the porch, obviously waiting to be invited in.He went upstairs with me, not to mention much.I led him to the master and lady, who had evidently had a quarrel with flushed cheeks.But as soon as the madam saw her friend appear at the door, another emotion flashed from the redness of her face.She sprang forward, took him by both hands, and led him to Linton.Then she took Linton's reluctant fingers and forced them into his hands.

At this time, under the reflection of the fire and the bright candlelight, I was even more amazed at the change in Heathcliff's appearance.He grew into a tall, burly, handsome man.Beside him, my master looked very slender, like a teenager.His straight body looks like he has served in the army.His countenance was far older than Mr. Linton's in expression and determination.He looked smart and sensible, and the traces of chaos earlier were gone.Although there still lurks a kind of half-civilized wildness in the low-pressure eyebrows and eyes full of black fire, this wildness has been domesticated.His demeanor was even dignified, free from brutality, though more austere than elegant.

My master was astonished, perhaps even more so than I was.For a minute he was at a loss, trying to figure out what to call the redneck boy as he usually called him.Heathcliff put down his thin hand, and stood looking at him coldly, waiting for him to speak.

"Sit down, sir," he said at last. "Mrs Linton reminisced about my hospitality. And, of course, I was always happy to please her."

"Me too," replied Heathcliff, "especially if I can help a little. I should be glad to stay an hour or two."

He sat down opposite Catherine, and she kept staring at him, as if afraid that if she looked away for a moment, he would disappear without a trace.He didn't raise his eyes to look at her frequently, just glanced at her from time to time, and was satisfied.But there was a flash of undisguised joy in his eyes, which he drew from her eyes, and he became more confident every time.

They were so deeply immersed in each other's joy that they completely forgot about their embarrassment.Not so with Mr. Edgar.He was angry and pale.Edgar's exasperation came to a head when his wife got up, walked across the carpet, and took Heathcliff's hands again, laughing wildly.

"To-morrow I'll think it's a dream!" she cried. "I would not believe that I saw you again, touched you, came to talk to you again. But, cruel Heathcliff! You do not deserve such a welcome. For three years without a trace or a word, nothing at all." Don't think of me!"

"A little more than you think of me," he murmured. "I heard you were married, Cathy, not so long ago. While waiting for you in the yard below, I was thinking of this plan: to see your face, to see your astonishment, perhaps, and to pretend that I'm happy. Then settle the bill with Hindley, and end up with myself, so as not to trouble the law again. Your welcome puts all these thoughts out of me. But be careful not to see me with a different face next time! No, you Won't drive me away again. You really worry about me, don't you? Yeah, for a reason. Fighting has been miserable since the last time I heard your voice. You gotta forgive me because I Struggling just for you!"

"Catherine, if you don't want your cold tea, come to the table," interrupted Linton, trying to maintain his usual tone of proper decorum. "Wherever Heathcliff sleeps tonight, he's got a long way to go. I'm thirsty."

She took the seat in front of the teapot.Here comes Miss Isabella, summoned by the bell.Then, after moving the chair forward for them, I left the room.

The refreshment didn't take 10 minutes.Catherine's cup was not filled with tea at all, and she could neither eat nor drink, and Edgar's tea spilled a lot in the saucer, and she almost didn't take a sip.

Their guests stayed for an hour that night and then took their leave.As he was gone, I asked, was he going to Gimmerton?
"Go, to Wuthering Heights," he answered. "Mr Earnshaw invited me to go, and I called on him this morning."

Mr Earnshaw please!He called on Mr Earnshaw!After he left, I thought hard about this sentence.Had he become a bit of a hypocrite, and came to the country to change his face and do bad things?I figured it out.I had a hunch in the back of my mind that he'd better get away.

In the middle of the night, my first sleep was awakened by Mrs. Linton, who slipped into my bedroom, sat down on the edge of my bed, and pulled me up by the hair.

"I can't sleep, Ellen," she said, apologetically. "I want a living man to share my pleasures with me! Edgar is angry because my pleasures have no interest in him. He won't talk except to whine and say stupid things. He says I'm cruel and selfish , because he was so sick and drowsy, and I wanted to babble. He always complained of being sick at the slightest sign of trouble! I said a few nice things about Heathcliff, but he, I don't know if he was Got a headache and jealous heartache and started crying. So I just got up and left him.

"What's the use of speaking well of Heathcliff to him?" I answered. "They were enemies when they were children, and Heathcliff hated hearing good things about him as much. It's human nature. Don't bother Mr. Linton with him, unless you mean to have a frank quarrel between them."

"But doesn't that show a great weakness?" she said, staring. "I'm not jealous. Isabella's blond and white, pretty and graceful, and the whole family loves her like hell, but I've never been in a bad mood. It's you, Nelly, when we quarrel, you Helped Isabella right away, too. I threw up my hands like a foolish mother; I called her babe and coaxed her to change her mind. Seeing us making out made her brother happy, and her brother's pleasure made me happy. But they are exactly the same, they are both spoiled children who fantasized that the world was created to accept them. Although I follow their wishes, I think that punishing them once can make them change their appearance of."

"You're wrong, Mrs. Linton," I said. "They do what you want. I know what it's like if they don't do what you want. As long as they obey you, you can tolerate their rare temper tantrums. But in the end, you always They would quarrel over something that was equally important to both sides. People who were considered weak by you at that time could really be as stubborn as you."

"And then we'll fight to the death, won't we, Nelly?" she replied, laughing. "No! I tell you, I have such confidence in Linton's love: I believe that if I kill him, he will not think of revenge."

I advised her to cherish him even more because of his feelings.

"I cherish it," she replied, "but he needn't have whimpered at the slightest thing! He's like a child like that. He shouldn't be weeping in tears just because I said Heathcliff Now he is a man in everyone's eyes, and even the first gentleman in the country would be proud to have him as his friend, and he should speak for me, and be glad to feel as I do. He Gotta get used to him, and ought to like him. Think how much Heathcliff had reason to hate him, but I'm sure he did a great job!"

"What do you think of him going to Wuthering Heights?" I asked. "He's reformed in every way, and of course, a true Christian, extending a friendly right hand to his enemies all around him!"

"He explained," she replied. "I'm as puzzled as you are. He said he came to visit to get information about me from you, and thought you still lived there. Joseph told Hindley, and he came out, and asked him what he had been doing all these years, yes How it went. At last, he was called into the house. There were several persons playing cards, and Heathcliff joined in. My brother lost some money to him, and, finding his purse really full, demanded He came again in the evening, and he agreed. Hindley was so unscrupulous, and he didn't think about choosing friends carefully. He didn't bother to think whether he should be wary of people he had viciously abused. But Heathcliff Certainly he reconnected with his former persecutors mainly because he wanted to be not far from the Grange, and was also attached to the old house we used to live together. I'll have more chances to see him. He's going to pay a lot of money to live in the hills. No doubt my brother's greed will win him over. He's always greedy, though he always What is grabbed with one hand is squandered with the other.”

"That's a good place for young people!" I said. "You don't fear the consequences, Mrs. Linton?"

"I'm not worried about my friend," she answered, "his strong mind will keep him out of danger. I'm a little worried about Hindley, but he couldn't be more morally corrupt than he is today. This is the situation. Besides, with me blocking him, he can avoid physical injuries. The incident tonight made me reconcile with God and humanity! I used to be angry and rebel against the law of heaven, oh, I endured How much bitterness and suffering, Nelly! The man should be ashamed, if he knew how deep it was, to spread a cloud of inexplicable anger when it was gone. I did it out of kindness to him. Bear it alone. If I express the pain I feel at this moment, he will learn to be as eager as I am to relieve it. Anyway, it passes, and I don't want to avenge his stupidity. Henceforth Well, I can bear anything! Even if the most vicious man gives me a slap, I will not only stick the other side of my face up, but ask him to forgive me for getting a slap. As a proof, I am going to fight with Edgar Fix it. Good night! I'm an angel!"

She was so smug and walked away confidently.The consummation of her resolution was evident the next day.Although Mr. Linton's spirit still seemed to be suppressed by Catherine's joy, he not only calmed down his anger, but even for the first time did not object to Catherine taking Isabella to Wuthering Heights in the afternoon.She returned him with such abundance of tenderness that for a few days the house was like heaven.Both master and servant are bathed in the infinite sunshine.

(End of this chapter)