CHAPTER 34
For some days after that evening Mr. Heathcliff absented himself from meals; eating once in twenty-four hours seemed sufficient for him.
One night, after the family were in bed, I heard him go downstairs, and out at the front door. In the morning I found he was still away. It was April: the weather was sweet and warm, the grass as green as showers and sun could make it, and the dwarf apple-trees in full bloom. After breakfast, Catherine insisted on my bringing a chair and sitting with my work under the fir-trees at the end of the house; and she beguiled Hareton to dig her little garden.
I was comfortably enjoying the spring fragrance around, and the beautiful soft blue overhead, when my young lady, who had run down to the gate, informed us that Mr. Heathcliff was coming in. ‘And he spoke to me,’ she added, looking perplexed.
‘What did he say?’ asked Hareton.
‘He told me to begone as fast as I could,’ she answered. ‘But he looked so different to usual that I stopped to stare at him.’
‘Different? How?’
‘Why, almost bright and cheerful. No, almost nothing – very much excited, and wild, and glad!’ she replied.
‘Night-walking amuses him, then,’ I remarked, affecting a careless manner, but really as surprised as she was, for to see the master looking glad would not be an everyday sight.
I made an excuse to go in. Heathcliff stood at the door; he was pale, and he trembled: yet, certainly, he had a strange joyful glitter in his eyes, that altered the aspect of his whole face.
‘Will you have some breakfast?’ I said. ‘You must be hungry, rambling about all night!’ I did not like to ask directly where he had been.
‘No, I’m not hungry,’ he answered.
‘I don’t think it right to wander out of doors at night,’ I advised him, ‘it is not wise in this moist season. I daresay you’ll catch a cold or a fever: you have something the matter with you now!’
‘Nothing but what I can bear,’ he replied. ‘Get in, and don’t annoy me.’
In passing him, I noticed he breathed as fast as a cat.
‘Yes!’ I reflected, ‘we shall have a fit of illness. I cannot imagine what he has been doing.’
That noon Heathcliff sat down to dinner with us, and took a heaped-up plate from my hands, as if he intended to make up for his previous fasting.
‘I’ve neither cold nor fever, Nelly,’ he remarked, ‘and I’m ready to do justice to your food.’
He took his knife and fork, and was about to begin eating, when he suddenly laid them on the table, looked eagerly towards the window, and then rose and went out. We saw him walking to and fro in the garden. Hareton said he’d go and ask why he would not dine: he thought we had grieved him in some way.
‘Well, is he coming?’ cried Catherine, when her cousin returned.
‘Nay,’ he answered; ‘but he’s not angry: he seemed pleased; only he bid me return to you: he wondered how I could want the company of anybody else.’
I set his plate to keep warm on the fender; and after an hour or two he re-entered, with the same unnatural appearance of joy under his black brows; the same bloodless hue, and his teeth visible in a kind of smile. He was shivering, not as one shivers with chill or weakness, but as a tight-stretched cord vibrates – a strong thrilling, rather than trembling.
‘Have you heard any good news, Mr. Heathcliff?’ I exclaimed. ‘You look uncommonly animated.’
‘Where should good news come from to me?’ he said. ‘I’m animated with hunger; and, seemingly, I must not eat.’
‘Your dinner is here,’ I returned; ‘why won’t you get it?’
‘I don’t want it now,’ he muttered hastily: ‘I’ll wait till supper. And, Nelly, you warn Hareton and the other away from me. I wish to be troubled by nobody: I wish to have this place to myself.’
‘Why are you so strange, Mr. Heathcliff? Where were you last night? I’m not asking through idle curiosity, but—’
‘You are asking through very idle curiosity,’ he interrupted, with a laugh. ‘Yet I’ll answer. Last night I was on the threshold of hell. Today, I am within sight of my heaven. I have my eyes on it: hardly three feet away! Now you’d better go! And don’t pry any longer.’
Having swept the hearth, I departed, more perplexed than ever.
He did not leave the house again that afternoon, and no one intruded on his solitude; till, at eight o’clock, I carried a candle and his supper to him. He was leaning against the ledge of an open window, but not looking out: his face was turned to the interior gloom. The fire had smouldered to ashes; the room was filled with the damp, mild air of the cloudy evening; and it was so still, that the gurgling of the beck down to Gimmerton could be heard.
I exclaimed at seeing the dismal grate, and shut the casement windows, one after another, till I came to his.
‘Shall I close this?’ I asked, to rouse him; for he would not stir.
The light flashed on his features as I spoke. Oh, Mr. Lockwood, I cannot express what a terrible shock I had! Those deep black eyes! That smile, and ghastly paleness! It appeared to me, not Mr. Heathcliff, but a goblin; and, in my terror, I let the candle fall sideways and go out.
‘Yes, close it,’ he replied, in his familiar voice. ‘There, that is pure awkwardness! Why did you hold the candle horizontally? Be quick, and bring another.’
I hurried out in a foolish state of dread, and said to Joseph, ‘The master wishes you to take him a light and make the fire.’ For I dared not go in myself just then.
Joseph went: but he came back immediately, with the supper-tray, explaining that Mr. Heathcliff was going to bed, and he wanted nothing to eat till morning. We heard him mount the stairs; he did not go to his ordinary chamber, but turned into that with the panelled bed. Its window is wide enough for anybody to get through; and it struck me that he plotted another midnight excursion.
‘Is he a ghoul or a vampire?’ I mused. I had read of such hideous demons. And then I made myself reflect how I had tended him in infancy, and watched him grow to youth, and what absurd nonsense it was to yield to that sense of horror.
‘But where did he come from, that little, dark, baleful thing?’ muttered Superstition, as I dozed. And I began, half dreaming, to imagine his parentage; and I tracked his existence over again, at last picturing his death and funeral: of which all I can remember is, being vexed at having to decide on the inscription for his gravestone. As he had no surname, and we could not tell his age, we had to content ourselves with the single word, ‘Heathcliff.’ That came true. If you enter the churchyard, you’ll read, on his headstone, only that, and the date of his death.
Dawn restored me to common sense. I rose, and went into the garden, to see if there were any footmarks under his window. There were none.
‘He has stayed at home,’ I thought; ‘he’ll be all right today.’ I prepared breakfast for the household, but told Hareton and Catherine to get theirs before the master came down, for he slept late. They chose to have it out of doors, under the trees.
On my re-entrance, I found Mr. Heathcliff. He and Joseph were talking about some farming business; he gave clear directions about the matter, but he spoke rapidly, and turned his head continually, and had the same excited expression. When Joseph left the room he sat in his usual place, and I put a basin of coffee before him. Heathcliff drew it nearer, and then looked at the opposite wall, surveying one particular portion up and down, with glittering, restless eyes, and with such eager interest that he stopped breathing for half a minute together.
‘Come now,’ I exclaimed, pushing some bread against his hand, ‘eat and drink that, while it is hot.’
He didn’t notice me, and yet he smiled. I’d rather have seen him gnash his teeth than smile so.
‘Mr. Heathcliff! master!’ I cried, ‘don’t, for God’s sake, stare as if you saw an unearthly vision.’
‘Don’t, for God’s sake, shout so loud,’ he replied. ‘Turn round, and tell me, are we by ourselves?’
‘Of course
we are!’
Still, I obeyed him, as if I was not quite sure. With a sweep of his hand he cleared a vacant space among the breakfast things, and leant forward to gaze.
Now, I saw he was not looking at the wall; but at something within two yards’ distance. And whatever it was, it seemed to give him both pleasure and pain in exquisite extremes: at least his anguished, yet raptured, expression suggested that.
The fancied object moved, for his eyes followed it, even when he was speaking to me. I vainly reminded him that he needed to eat; but if he stretched his hand out to get a piece of bread, his fingers clenched before they reached it, and remained on the table, forgetful of their aim.
I patiently tried to attract his absorbed attention until he grew irritable, and got up, asking why I would not allow him to eat in his own time? and then saying that I needn’t wait: I might set the things down and go. He left the house, slowly walked down the garden path, and disappeared through the gate.
The hours crept anxiously by: another evening came. I did not retire to rest till late, and when I did, I could not sleep. He returned after midnight, and, instead of going to bed, shut himself in the room beneath. I listened, and tossed about, and finally dressed and descended, my brain full of a hundred misgivings.
I heard Mr. Heathcliff’s step, restlessly measuring the floor, and he frequently broke the silence by a deeply drawn breath, resembling a groan. He muttered words also; the only one I could catch was the name of Catherine, coupled with some wild term of endearment or suffering; and spoken as one would speak to a person present; low and earnest, and wrung from the depth of his soul.
I had not courage to walk straight into the room; but to divert him, I stirred the kitchen fire, and scraped the embers. He opened the door immediately, and said, ‘Nelly – is it morning? Come in with your light.’
‘It is striking four,’ I answered. ‘You want a candle to take upstairs.’
‘No, I don’t wish to go upstairs,’ he said. ‘Come in, and kindle me a fire.’
While I got the bellows, he roamed to and fro in a distracted state, sighing constantly and heavily.
‘When day breaks I’ll send for Green,’ he said; ‘I wish to make some legal inquiries while I can act calmly. I have not written my will yet; and I cannot decide how to leave my property. I wish I could annihilate it from the face of the earth.’
‘Do not talk so, Mr. Heathcliff,’ I said. ‘Leave your will be a while: you’ll be spared to repent of your injustices yet! Your nerves are disordered, and it is your own fault. The way you’ve passed these three last days might exhaust a Titan. Do take some food, and rest. Your cheeks are hollow, and your eyes blood-shot, like a person starving with hunger and going blind with loss of sleep.’
‘It is not my fault that I cannot eat or rest,’ he replied. ‘I’ll do both, as soon as I can. But you might as well bid a man struggling in the water to rest within arms’ length of the shore! I must reach it first, and then I’ll rest. Well, never mind Mr. Green: as to injustice, I’ve done none, and I repent of nothing. I’m too happy; and yet I’m not happy enough. My soul’s bliss kills my body, but does not satisfy itself.’
‘Happy, master?’ I cried. ‘Strange happiness! I might offer some advice that would make you happier.’
‘What is that?’ he asked.
‘You are aware, Mr. Heathcliff,’ I said, ‘that since you were thirteen years old you have lived a selfish, unchristian life; and hardly had a Bible in your hands during all that time. You must have forgotten the contents of that book. Could it hurt to send for a minister, who will show you how very far you have erred, and how unfit you will be for its heaven, unless a change takes place before you die?’
‘I’m obliged, Nelly,’ he said, ‘for you remind me of the manner in which I desire to be buried. It is to be carried to the churchyard in the evening. You and Hareton may, if you please, accompany me: and mind, particularly, to see that the sexton obeys my directions concerning the two coffins! No minister need come; nor need any words be said over me. I have nearly attained my heaven; and that of others is altogether unvalued and uncoveted by me.’
‘And supposing you died because of your obstinate fast, and they refused to bury you in the churchyard?’ I said, shocked at his godless indifference. ‘How would you like it?’
‘They won’t do that,’ he replied: ‘if they did, you must have me moved secretly, or I shall haunt you!’
On hearing other members of the family stirring, he retired to his den, and I breathed freer. But in the afternoon, he came into the kitchen again, and, with a wild look, bid me come and sit in the house: he wanted somebody with him. I declined; telling him plainly that he frightened me.
‘I believe you think me a fiend,’ he said, with his dismal laugh. Then turning to Catherine, who drew behind me, he added, half sneeringly, ‘Will you come? I’ll not hurt you. No! to you I’m worse than the devil. Well, there is one who won’t shrink from my company! By God! she’s relentless. Oh, damn it! It’s too much for flesh and blood to bear – even mine.’
He asked no more for company. At dusk he went into his chamber. Through the whole night, and far into the morning, we heard him groaning and murmuring to himself. Hareton was anxious to enter; but I bid him fetch Dr. Kenneth.
When he came, and I tried to open the door, I found it locked; and Heathcliff bid us be damned. He said he was better, and would be left alone; so the doctor went away.
The following evening was very wet: indeed, it poured down till dawn; and, as I took my morning walk round the house, I observed the master’s window swinging open, and the rain driving straight in. He cannot be in bed, I thought: those showers would drench him through. He must either be up or out. I decided to go and look.
Having got in with another key, I ran to unclose the panels, for the chamber was vacant; quickly pushing them aside, I peeped in.
Mr. Heathcliff was there – laid on his back. His eyes met mine so keen and fierce, I started; and then he seemed to smile. I could not think him dead: but his face and throat were washed with rain; the bed-clothes dripped, and he was perfectly still. The lattice window, flapping to and fro, grazed one hand that rested on the sill. No blood trickled from the broken skin, and when I put my fingers to it, I could doubt no more: he was dead and stark!
I shut the window. I combed his black long hair from his forehead; I tried to close his eyes, to extinguish, if possible, that frightful gaze of exultation. They would not shut: they seemed to sneer at my attempts; and his parted lips and sharp white teeth sneered too! I cried out for Joseph, who shuffled up, but resolutely refused to meddle with him.
‘Th’ devil’s harried off his soul,’ he cried, ‘and he may have his carcass too, for aught I care! Ech! what a wicked ’un he looks, girning at death!’ and the old sinner grinned in mockery. Then, suddenly composing himself, he fell on his knees, and gave thanks that the lawful master was restored to his rights.
I felt stunned; and I remembered former times with a sort of oppressive sadness. But poor Hareton, the most wronged, was the only one who really suffered much. He sat by the corpse all night, weeping in bitter earnest. He pressed its hand, and kissed the sarcastic, savage face that everyone else shrank from contemplating; and bemoaned him with that strong grief which springs naturally from a generous heart, though it be tough as tempered steel.
Dr. Kenneth was perplexed to say what disorder the master died of. I concealed the fact of his having swallowed nothing for four days, fearing it might lead to trouble; in any case, it was the consequence of his strange illness, not the cause.
We buried him, to the scandal of the whole neighbourhood, as he wished. Hareton and I, the sexton, and six men accompanied the coffin. The six men departed when they had let it down into the grave. Hareton, with a streaming face, laid green sods over the brown soil. Now it is as smooth and verdant as its companion mounds – and I hope its tenant sleeps as soundly.
But the country folks would swear on the Bible that he
walks: there are those who speak of having met him near the church, and on the moor, and even within this house. Idle tales – yet that old man in the kitchen affirms he has seen two of ’em looking out of Heathcliff’s chamber window on every rainy night since his death.
And an odd thing happened to me about a month ago. I was going to the Grange one dark evening, and, near the Heights, I encountered a little boy with a sheep and two lambs. He was crying terribly.
‘What is the matter, my little man?’ I asked.
‘There’s Heathcliff and a woman yonder,’ he blubbered, ‘an’ I daren’t pass ’em.’
I saw nothing; but neither the sheep nor he would go on, so I bid him take the road lower down. He had probably been thinking of some nonsense he had heard his parents repeat. Yet, still, I don’t like being out in the dark now; and I don’t like being left by myself in this grim house. I shall be glad when they leave it, and move to the Grange.
‘They are going to Thrushcross Grange, then?’ I said.
‘Yes,’ answered Mrs. Dean, ‘as soon as they are married, and that will be on New Year’s Day.’
‘And who will live at Wuthering Heights then?’
‘Why, Joseph will take care of the house, with perhaps, a lad to keep him company. They will live in the kitchen, and the rest will be shut up.’
‘For the use of such ghosts as choose to inhabit it?’ I observed.
‘No, Mr. Lockwood,’ said Nelly, shaking her head. ‘I believe the dead are at peace.’
At that moment the garden gate swung to; the ramblers were returning. As they halted in the doorway to take a last look at the moon – or, more correctly, at each other – I felt impelled to escape them again; and, pressing the hand of Mrs. Dean, I vanished through the kitchen.
On my walk home I went past the church. Here, I perceived decay had made progress, even in seven months: many a window showed black gaps deprived of glass; and slates jutted from the roof, to be gradually worked off in coming autumn storms.
I soon discovered the three headstones on the slope next to the moor: the middle one grey, and half buried in the heath; Edgar Linton’s with turf and moss creeping up its foot; Heathcliff’s still bare.
I lingered round them, under that benign sky: watched the moths fluttering among the heath and harebells, listened to the soft wind breathing through the grass, and wondered how any one could ever imagine unquiet slumbers for the sleepers in that quiet earth.
The End
In addition, she has edited a free ebook of Tennyson’s selected verse, which can be downloaded from her website here.
The rest of Emma’s website, Megamouse Books, is devoted to free children’s online stories and ebooks.
Emma studied English Language and Literature at the University of Liverpool, before taking a PGCE at Manchester CHE and, later, an MA in Librarianship at the University of Sheffield. She spent most of her working life in primary schools, public libraries and school library services, while also writing for children. She has had seven children’s novels published in print form.
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