Seven days glided away, every one marking its course by the henceforth rapid alteration of Edgar Linton\u2019s state. The havoc that months had previously wrought was now emulated by the inroads of hours. Catherine we would fain have deluded yet; but her own quick spirit refused to delude her: it divined in secret, and brooded on the dreadful probability, gradually ripening into certainty. She had not the heart to mention her ride, when Thursday came round; I mentioned it for her, and obtained permission to order her out of doors: for the library, where her father stopped a short time daily\u2014the brief period he could bear to sit up\u2014and his chamber, had become her whole world. She grudged each moment that did not find her bending over his pillow, or seated by his side. Her countenance grew wan with watching and sorrow, and my master gladly dismissed her to what he flattered himself would be a happy change of scene and society; drawing comfort from the hope that she would not now be left entirely alone after his death.<\/p>\n
He had a fixed idea, I guessed by several observations he let fall, that, as his nephew resembled him in person, he would resemble him in mind; for Linton\u2019s letters bore few or no indications of his defective character. And I, through pardonable weakness, refrained from correcting the error; asking myself what good there would be in disturbing his last moments with information that he had neither power nor opportunity to turn to account.<\/p>\n
We deferred our excursion till the afternoon; a golden afternoon of August: every breath from the hills so full of life, that it seemed whoever respired it, though dying, might revive. Catherine\u2019s face was just like the landscape\u2014shadows and sunshine flitting over it in rapid succession; but the shadows rested longer, and the sunshine was more transient; and her poor little heart reproached itself for even that passing forgetfulness of its cares.<\/p>\n
We discerned Linton watching at the same spot he had selected before. My young mistress alighted, and told me that, as she was resolved to stay a very little while, I had better hold the pony and remain on horseback; but I dissented: I wouldn\u2019t risk losing sight of the charge committed to me a minute; so we climbed the slope of heath together. Master Heathcliff received us with greater animation on this occasion: not the animation of high spirits though, nor yet of joy; it looked more like fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is late!\u201d he said, speaking short and with difficulty. \u201cIs not your father very ill? I thought you wouldn\u2019t come.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy<\/i> won\u2019t you be candid?\u201d cried Catherine, swallowing her greeting. \u201cWhy cannot you say at once you don\u2019t want me? It is strange, Linton, that for the second time you have brought me here on purpose, apparently to distress us both, and for no reason besides!\u201d<\/p>\n
Linton shivered, and glanced at her, half supplicating, half ashamed; but his cousin\u2019s patience was not sufficient to endure this enigmatical behaviour.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy father is<\/i> very ill,\u201d she said; \u201cand why am I called from his bedside? Why didn\u2019t you send to absolve me from my promise, when you wished I wouldn\u2019t keep it? Come! I desire an explanation: playing and trifling are completely banished out of my mind; and I can\u2019t dance attendance on your affectations now!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy affectations!\u201d he murmured; \u201cwhat are they? For heaven\u2019s sake, Catherine, don\u2019t look so angry! Despise me as much as you please; I am a worthless, cowardly wretch: I can\u2019t be scorned enough; but I\u2019m too mean for your anger. Hate my father, and spare me for contempt.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNonsense!\u201d cried Catherine in a passion. \u201cFoolish, silly boy! And there! he trembles: as if I were really going to touch him! You needn\u2019t bespeak contempt, Linton: anybody will have it spontaneously at your service. Get off! I shall return home: it is folly dragging you from the hearth-stone, and pretending\u2014what do we pretend? Let go my frock! If I pitied you for crying and looking so very frightened, you should spurn such pity. Ellen, tell him how disgraceful this conduct is. Rise, and don\u2019t degrade yourself into an abject reptile\u2014don\u2019t<\/i>!\u201d<\/p>\n
With streaming face and an expression of agony, Linton had thrown his nerveless frame along the ground: he seemed convulsed with exquisite terror.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh!\u201d he sobbed, \u201cI cannot bear it! Catherine, Catherine, I\u2019m a traitor, too, and I dare not tell you! But leave me, and I shall be killed! Dear<\/i> Catherine, my life is in your hands: and you have said you loved me, and if you did, it wouldn\u2019t harm you. You\u2019ll not go, then? kind, sweet, good Catherine! And perhaps you will<\/i> consent\u2014and he\u2019ll let me die with you!\u201d<\/p>\n
My young lady, on witnessing his intense anguish, stooped to raise him. The old feeling of indulgent tenderness overcame her vexation, and she grew thoroughly moved and alarmed.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsent to what?\u201d she asked. \u201cTo stay! tell me the meaning of this strange talk, and I will. You contradict your own words, and distract me! Be calm and frank, and confess at once all that weighs on your heart. You wouldn\u2019t injure me, Linton, would you? You wouldn\u2019t let any enemy hurt me, if you could prevent it? I\u2019ll believe you are a coward, for yourself, but not a cowardly betrayer of your best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut my father threatened me,\u201d gasped the boy, clasping his attenuated fingers, \u201cand I dread him\u2014I dread him! I dare<\/i> not tell!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh, well!\u201d said Catherine, with scornful compassion, \u201ckeep your secret: I\u2019m<\/i> no coward. Save yourself: I\u2019m not afraid!\u201d<\/p>\n
Her magnanimity provoked his tears: he wept wildly, kissing her supporting hands, and yet could not summon courage to speak out. I was cogitating what the mystery might be, and determined Catherine should never suffer to benefit him or any one else, by my good will; when, hearing a rustle among the ling, I looked up and saw Mr. Heathcliff almost close upon us, descending the Heights. He didn\u2019t cast a glance towards my companions, though they were sufficiently near for Linton\u2019s sobs to be audible; but hailing me in the almost hearty tone he assumed to none besides, and the sincerity of which I couldn\u2019t avoid doubting, he said\u2014<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is something to see you so near to my house, Nelly. How are you at the Grange? Let us hear. The rumour goes,\u201d he added, in a lower tone, \u201cthat Edgar Linton is on his death-bed: perhaps they exaggerate his illness?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo; my master is dying,\u201d I replied: \u201cit is true enough. A sad thing it will be for us all, but a blessing for him!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHow long will he last, do you think?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBecause,\u201d he continued, looking at the two young people, who were fixed under his eye\u2014Linton appeared as if he could not venture to stir or raise his head, and Catherine could not move, on his account\u2014\u201cbecause that lad yonder seems determined to beat me; and I\u2019d thank his uncle to be quick, and go before him! Hallo! has the whelp been playing that game long? I did<\/i> give him some lessons about snivelling. Is he pretty lively with Miss Linton generally?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLively? no\u2014he has shown the greatest distress,\u201d I answered. \u201cTo see him, I should say, that instead of rambling with his sweetheart on the hills, he ought to be in bed, under the hands of a doctor.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe shall be, in a day or two,\u201d muttered Heathcliff. \u201cBut first\u2014get up, Linton! Get up!\u201d he shouted. \u201cDon\u2019t grovel on the ground there: up, this moment!\u201d<\/p>\n
Linton had sunk prostrate again in another paroxysm of helpless fear, caused by his father\u2019s glance towards him, I suppose: there was nothing else to produce such humiliation. He made several efforts to obey, but his little strength was annihilated for the time, and he fell back again with a moan. Mr. Heathcliff advanced, and lifted him to lean against a ridge of turf.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow,\u201d said he, with curbed ferocity, \u201cI\u2019m getting angry and if you don\u2019t command that paltry spirit of yours\u2014damn<\/i> you! get up directly!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI will, father,\u201d he panted. \u201cOnly, let me alone, or I shall faint. I\u2019ve done as you wished, I\u2019m sure. Catherine will tell you that I\u2014that I\u2014have been cheerful. Ah! keep by me, Catherine; give me your hand.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTake mine,\u201d said his father; \u201cstand on your feet. There now\u2014she\u2019ll lend you her arm: that\u2019s right, look at her. You would imagine I was the devil himself, Miss Linton, to excite such horror. Be so kind as to walk home with him, will you? He shudders if I touch him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLinton dear!\u201d whispered Catherine, \u201cI can\u2019t go to Wuthering Heights: papa has forbidden me. He\u2019ll not harm you: why are you so afraid?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can never re-enter that house,\u201d he answered. \u201cI\u2019m not<\/i> to re-enter it without you!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cStop!\u201d cried his father. \u201cWe\u2019ll respect Catherine\u2019s filial scruples. Nelly, take him in, and I\u2019ll follow your advice concerning the doctor, without delay.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019ll do well,\u201d replied I. \u201cBut I must remain with my mistress: to mind your son is not my business.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou are very stiff,\u201d said Heathcliff, \u201cI know that: but you\u2019ll force me to pinch the baby and make it scream before it moves your charity. Come, then, my hero. Are you willing to return, escorted by me?\u201d<\/p>\n
He approached once more, and made as if he would seize the fragile being; but, shrinking back, Linton clung to his cousin, and implored her to accompany him, with a frantic importunity that admitted no denial. However I disapproved, I couldn\u2019t hinder her: indeed, how could she have refused him herself? What was filling him with dread we had no means of discerning; but there he was, powerless under its grip, and any addition seemed capable of shocking him into idiocy. We reached the threshold; Catherine walked in, and I stood waiting till she had conducted the invalid to a chair, expecting her out immediately; when Mr. Heathcliff, pushing me forward, exclaimed\u2014\u201cMy house is not stricken with the plague, Nelly; and I have a mind to be hospitable to-day: sit down, and allow me to shut the door.\u201d<\/p>\n
He shut and locked it also. I started.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou shall have tea before you go home,\u201d he added. \u201cI am by myself. Hareton is gone with some cattle to the Lees, and Zillah and Joseph are off on a journey of pleasure; and, though I\u2019m used to being alone, I\u2019d rather have some interesting company, if I can get it. Miss Linton, take your seat by him<\/i>. I give you what I have: the present is hardly worth accepting; but I have nothing else to offer. It is Linton, I mean. How she does stare! It\u2019s odd what a savage feeling I have to anything that seems afraid of me! Had I been born where laws are less strict and tastes less dainty, I should treat myself to a slow vivisection of those two, as an evening\u2019s amusement.\u201d<\/p>\n
He drew in his breath, struck the table, and swore to himself, \u201cBy hell! I hate them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am not afraid of you!\u201d exclaimed Catherine, who could not hear the latter part of his speech. She stepped close up; her black eyes flashing with passion and resolution. \u201cGive me that key: I will have it!\u201d she said. \u201cI wouldn\u2019t eat or drink here, if I were starving.\u201d<\/p>\n
Heathcliff had the key in his hand that remained on the table. He looked up, seized with a sort of surprise at her boldness; or, possibly, reminded, by her voice and glance, of the person from whom she inherited it. She snatched at the instrument, and half succeeded in getting it out of his loosened fingers: but her action recalled him to the present; he recovered it speedily.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, Catherine Linton,\u201d he said, \u201cstand off, or I shall knock you down; and, that will make Mrs. Dean mad.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of this warning, she captured his closed hand and its contents again. \u201cWe will<\/i> go!\u201d she repeated, exerting her utmost efforts to cause the iron muscles to relax; and finding that her nails made no impression, she applied her teeth pretty sharply. Heathcliff glanced at me a glance that kept me from interfering a moment. Catherine was too intent on his fingers to notice his face. He opened them suddenly, and resigned the object of dispute; but, ere she had well secured it, he seized her with the liberated hand, and, pulling her on his knee, administered with the other a shower of terrific slaps on both sides of the head, each sufficient to have fulfilled his threat, had she been able to fall.<\/p>\n
At this diabolical violence I rushed on him furiously. \u201cYou villain!\u201d I began to cry, \u201cyou villain!\u201d A touch on the chest silenced me: I am stout, and soon put out of breath; and, what with that and the rage, I staggered dizzily back and felt ready to suffocate, or to burst a blood-vessel. The scene was over in two minutes; Catherine, released, put her two hands to her temples, and looked just as if she were not sure whether her ears were off or on. She trembled like a reed, poor thing, and leant against the table perfectly bewildered.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know how to chastise children, you see,\u201d said the scoundrel, grimly, as he stooped to repossess himself of the key, which had dropped to the floor. \u201cGo to Linton now, as I told you; and cry at your ease! I shall be your father, to-morrow\u2014all the father you\u2019ll have in a few days\u2014and you shall have plenty of that. You can bear plenty; you\u2019re no weakling: you shall have a daily taste, if I catch such a devil of a temper in your eyes again!\u201d<\/p>\n
Cathy ran to me instead of Linton, and knelt down and put her burning cheek on my lap, weeping aloud. Her cousin had shrunk into a corner of the settle, as quiet as a mouse, congratulating himself, I dare say, that the correction had alighted on another than him. Mr. Heathcliff, perceiving us all confounded, rose, and expeditiously made the tea himself. The cups and saucers were laid ready. He poured it out, and handed me a cup.<\/p>\n
\u201cWash away your spleen,\u201d he said. \u201cAnd help your own naughty pet and mine. It is not poisoned, though I prepared it. I\u2019m going out to seek your horses.\u201d<\/p>\n
Our first thought, on his departure, was to force an exit somewhere. We tried the kitchen door, but that was fastened outside: we looked at the windows\u2014they were too narrow for even Cathy\u2019s little figure.<\/p>\n
\u201cMaster Linton,\u201d I cried, seeing we were regularly imprisoned, \u201cyou know what your diabolical father is after, and you shall tell us, or I\u2019ll box your ears, as he has done your cousin\u2019s.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes, Linton, you must tell,\u201d said Catherine. \u201cIt was for your sake I came; and it will be wickedly ungrateful if you refuse.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGive me some tea, I\u2019m thirsty, and then I\u2019ll tell you,\u201d he answered. \u201cMrs. Dean, go away. I don\u2019t like you standing over me. Now, Catherine, you are letting your tears fall into my cup. I won\u2019t drink that. Give me another.\u201d Catherine pushed another to him, and wiped her face. I felt disgusted at the little wretch\u2019s composure, since he was no longer in terror for himself. The anguish he had exhibited on the moor subsided as soon as ever he entered Wuthering Heights; so I guessed he had been menaced with an awful visitation of wrath if he failed in decoying us there; and, that accomplished, he had no further immediate fears.<\/p>\n
\u201cPapa wants us to be married,\u201d he continued, after sipping some of the liquid. \u201cAnd he knows your papa wouldn\u2019t let us marry now; and he\u2019s afraid of my dying if we wait; so we are to be married in the morning, and you are to stay here all night; and, if you do as he wishes, you shall return home next day, and take me with you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTake you with her, pitiful changeling!\u201d I exclaimed. \u201cYou<\/i> marry? Why, the man is mad! or he thinks us fools, every one. And do you imagine that beautiful young lady, that healthy, hearty girl, will tie herself to a little perishing monkey like you? Are you cherishing the notion that anybody, let alone Miss Catherine Linton, would have you for a husband? You want whipping for bringing us in here at all, with your dastardly puling tricks: and\u2014don\u2019t look so silly, now! I\u2019ve a very good mind to shake you severely, for your contemptible treachery, and your imbecile conceit.\u201d<\/p>\n
I did give him a slight shaking; but it brought on the cough, and he took to his ordinary resource of moaning and weeping, and Catherine rebuked me.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay all night? No,\u201d she said, looking slowly round. \u201cEllen, I\u2019ll burn that door down but I\u2019ll get out.\u201d<\/p>\n
And she would have commenced the execution of her threat directly, but Linton was up in alarm for his dear self again. He clasped her in his two feeble arms sobbing:\u2014\u201cWon\u2019t you have me, and save me? not let me come to the Grange? Oh, darling Catherine! you mustn\u2019t go and leave, after all. You must<\/i> obey my father\u2014you must<\/i>!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI must obey my own,\u201d she replied, \u201cand relieve him from this cruel suspense. The whole night! What would he think? He\u2019ll be distressed already. I\u2019ll either break or burn a way out of the house. Be quiet! You\u2019re in no danger; but if you hinder me\u2014Linton, I love papa better than you!\u201d The mortal terror he felt of Mr. Heathcliff\u2019s anger restored to the boy his coward\u2019s eloquence. Catherine was near distraught: still, she persisted that she must go home, and tried entreaty in her turn, persuading him to subdue his selfish agony. While they were thus occupied, our jailor re-entered.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour beasts have trotted off,\u201d he said, \u201cand\u2014now Linton! snivelling again? What has she been doing to you? Come, come\u2014have done, and get to bed. In a month or two, my lad, you\u2019ll be able to pay her back her present tyrannies with a vigorous hand. You\u2019re pining for pure love, are you not? nothing else in the world: and she shall have you! There, to bed! Zillah won\u2019t be here to-night; you must undress yourself. Hush! hold your noise! Once in your own room, I\u2019ll not come near you: you needn\u2019t fear. By chance, you\u2019ve managed tolerably. I\u2019ll look to the rest.\u201d<\/p>\n
He spoke these words, holding the door open for his son to pass, and the latter achieved his exit exactly as a spaniel might which suspected the person who attended on it of designing a spiteful squeeze. The lock was re-secured. Heathcliff approached the fire, where my mistress and I stood silent. Catherine looked up, and instinctively raised her hand to her cheek: his neighbourhood revived a painful sensation. Anybody else would have been incapable of regarding the childish act with sternness, but he scowled on her and muttered\u2014\u201cOh! you are not afraid of me? Your courage is well disguised: you seem damnably afraid!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI am<\/i> afraid now,\u201d she replied, \u201cbecause, if I stay, papa will be miserable: and how can I endure making him miserable\u2014when he\u2014when he\u2014Mr. Heathcliff, let me<\/i> go home! I promise to marry Linton: papa would like me to: and I love him. Why should you wish to force me to do what I\u2019ll willingly do of myself?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cLet him dare to force you,\u201d I cried. \u201cThere\u2019s law in the land, thank God! there is; though we be in an out-of-the-way place. I\u2019d inform if he were my own son: and it\u2019s felony without benefit of clergy!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSilence!\u201d said the ruffian. \u201cTo the devil with your clamour! I don\u2019t want you<\/i> to speak. Miss Linton, I shall enjoy myself remarkably in thinking your father will be miserable: I shall not sleep for satisfaction. You could have hit on no surer way of fixing your residence under my roof for the next twenty-four hours than informing me that such an event would follow. As to your promise to marry Linton, I\u2019ll take care you shall keep it; for you shall not quit this place till it is fulfilled.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSend Ellen, then, to let papa know I\u2019m safe!\u201d exclaimed Catherine, weeping bitterly. \u201cOr marry me now. Poor papa! Ellen, he\u2019ll think we\u2019re lost. What shall we do?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNot he! He\u2019ll think you are tired of waiting on him, and run off for a little amusement,\u201d answered Heathcliff. \u201cYou cannot deny that you entered my house of your own accord, in contempt of his injunctions to the contrary. And it is quite natural that you should desire amusement at your age; and that you would weary of nursing a sick man, and that man only<\/i> your father. Catherine, his happiest days were over when your days began. He cursed you, I dare say, for coming into the world (I did, at least); and it would just do if he cursed you as he<\/i> went out of it. I\u2019d join him. I don\u2019t love you! How should I? Weep away. As far as I can see, it will be your chief diversion hereafter; unless Linton make amends for other losses: and your provident parent appears to fancy he may. His letters of advice and consolation entertained me vastly. In his last he recommended my jewel to be careful of his; and kind to her when he got her. Careful and kind\u2014that\u2019s paternal. But Linton requires his whole stock of care and kindness for himself. Linton can play the little tyrant well. He\u2019ll undertake to torture any number of cats, if their teeth be drawn and their claws pared. You\u2019ll be able to tell his uncle fine tales of his kindness<\/i>, when you get home again, I assure you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re right there!\u201d I said; \u201cexplain your son\u2019s character. Show his resemblance to yourself: and then, I hope, Miss Cathy will think twice before she takes the cockatrice!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t much mind speaking of his amiable qualities now,\u201d he answered; \u201cbecause she must either accept him or remain a prisoner, and you along with her, till your master dies. I can detain you both, quite concealed, here. If you doubt, encourage her to retract her word, and you\u2019ll have an opportunity of judging!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll not retract my word,\u201d said Catherine. \u201cI\u2019ll marry him within this hour, if I may go to Thrushcross Grange afterwards. Mr. Heathcliff, you\u2019re a cruel man, but you\u2019re not a fiend; and you won\u2019t, from mere<\/i> malice, destroy irrevocably all my happiness. If papa thought I had left him on purpose, and if he died before I returned, could I bear to live? I\u2019ve given over crying: but I\u2019m going to kneel here, at your knee; and I\u2019ll not get up, and I\u2019ll not take my eyes from your face till you look back at me! No, don\u2019t turn away! do look<\/i>! you\u2019ll see nothing to provoke you. I don\u2019t hate you. I\u2019m not angry that you struck me. Have you never loved anybody<\/i> in all your life, uncle? never<\/i>? Ah! you must look once. I\u2019m so wretched, you can\u2019t help being sorry and pitying me.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cKeep your eft\u2019s fingers off; and move, or I\u2019ll kick you!\u201d cried Heathcliff, brutally repulsing her. \u201cI\u2019d rather be hugged by a snake. How the devil can you dream of fawning on me? I detest<\/i> you!\u201d<\/p>\n
He shrugged his shoulders: shook himself, indeed, as if his flesh crept with aversion; and thrust back his chair; while I got up, and opened my mouth, to commence a downright torrent of abuse. But I was rendered dumb in the middle of the first sentence, by a threat that I should be shown into a room by myself the very next syllable I uttered. It was growing dark\u2014we heard a sound of voices at the garden-gate. Our host hurried out instantly: he<\/i> had his wits about him; we<\/i> had not. There was a talk of two or three minutes, and he returned alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought it had been your cousin Hareton,\u201d I observed to Catherine. \u201cI wish he would arrive! Who knows but he might take our part?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was three servants sent to seek you from the Grange,\u201d said Heathcliff, overhearing me. \u201cYou should have opened a lattice and called out: but I could swear that chit is glad you didn\u2019t. She\u2019s glad to be obliged to stay, I\u2019m certain.\u201d<\/p>\n
At learning the chance we had missed, we both gave vent to our grief without control; and he allowed us to wail on till nine o\u2019clock. Then he bid us go upstairs, through the kitchen, to Zillah\u2019s chamber; and I whispered my companion to obey: perhaps we might contrive to get through the window there, or into a garret, and out by its skylight. The window, however, was narrow, like those below, and the garret trap was safe from our attempts; for we were fastened in as before. We neither of us lay down: Catherine took her station by the lattice, and watched anxiously for morning; a deep sigh being the only answer I could obtain to my frequent entreaties that she would try to rest. I seated myself in a chair, and rocked to and fro, passing harsh judgment on my many derelictions of duty; from which, it struck me then, all the misfortunes of my employers sprang. It was not the case, in reality, I am aware; but it was, in my imagination, that dismal night; and I thought Heathcliff himself less guilty than I.<\/p>\n
At seven o\u2019clock he came, and inquired if Miss Linton had risen. She ran to the door immediately, and answered, \u201cYes.\u201d \u201cHere, then,\u201d he said, opening it, and pulling her out. I rose to follow, but he turned the lock again. I demanded my release.<\/p>\n
\u201cBe patient,\u201d he replied; \u201cI\u2019ll send up your breakfast in a while.\u201d<\/p>\n
I thumped on the panels, and rattled the latch angrily and Catherine asked why I was still shut up? He answered, I must try to endure it another hour, and they went away. I endured it two or three hours; at length, I heard a footstep: not Heathcliff\u2019s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve brought you something to eat,\u201d said a voice; \u201coppen t\u2019 door!\u201d<\/p>\n
Complying eagerly, I beheld Hareton, laden with food enough to last me all day.<\/p>\n
\u201cTak\u2019 it,\u201d he added, thrusting the tray into my hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cStay one minute,\u201d I began.<\/p>\n
\u201cNay,\u201d cried he, and retired, regardless of any prayers I could pour forth to detain him.<\/p>\n
And there I remained enclosed the whole day, and the whole of the next night; and another, and another. Five nights and four days I remained, altogether, seeing nobody but Hareton once every morning; and he was a model of a jailor: surly, and dumb, and deaf to every attempt at moving his sense of justice or compassion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":299,"menu_order":27,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-50","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":3,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/50","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/299"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/50\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/50\/revisions\/177"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/3"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/50\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=50"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/wutheringheights\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=50"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}