Chapter 19

Evil influence

01 Mr Heathcliff's visits worried me as well as my master, and his long stay at the Heights was a puzzle with no solution. Sometimes I thought I would go and see how all was at the farm, but then I remembered Mr Hindley's hopelessly bad habits, and I hesitated to re-enter that unhappy house.

02 One time I passed near by, on a journey to Gimmerton. It was a bright cold autumn afternoon, but the yellow sunshine reminded me of summer, and I came to the stone marking the way across the moor. It was a favourite place of my childhood, a place loved by Hindley and myself twenty years before. Bending down I saw at the bottom of the rock a hole, where we used to keep our little treasures, still now full of shells and smooth stones, and then, as fresh as reality, it seemed that I saw my former playfellow seated on the grass.

03 The child lifted its face and stared straight into mine. It disappeared at once, but it was waiting for me when I reached the gate of the Heights, and further thought suggested that this must be Hareton, my Hareton, not changed greatly since I left him ten months before.

04 'God bless you, my little dear!' I cried, forgetting my foolish fears. 'Hareton, it's Nelly, your nurse.'

05 He drew back, and picked up a large stone. He didn't recognize me. I began to speak, but the stone struck my head, and the little fellow shouted a string of curses, twisting his baby face into an evil expression that filled me with horror. Ready to weep, I took an orange from my pocket, and offered it. He hesitated, and then seized it from my hand.

06 'Who taught you those fine words, my child?' I asked. 'The curate?'

07 He swore at me. I offered another orange, but kept it out of reach.

08 'Tell me where you get your lessons, and you shall have it. Who's your master?'

09 'Papa.'

10 'And what do you learn from him?'

11 'Nothing,' he said, 'but to keep out of his way. Papa can't bear me, because I swear at him.'

12 'And who teaches you to swear?'

13 'Heathcliff.'

14 I asked whether he liked Heathcliff.

15 'Yes.'

16 I tried to find out the reason. I could only understand the sentences, 'I don't know; he punishes Papa for what Papa does to me—he curses him. He says I must do as I like.'

17 'And doesn't the curate teach you to read and write, then?' I continued.

18 'No. Heathcliff promised to knock his teeth out if he came.'

19 I put the orange into his hand, and told him to let his father know that a woman called Nelly Dean was waiting to speak to him. He entered the house, but instead of Hindley, Heathcliff appeared at the door, and I turned and ran down the road as hard as I could, as frightened as if I had seen an evil spirit.