Chapter 28

Hindley plans revenge

01 That Friday was the last of our fine days for a month. In the evening the weather changed. The wind brought first rain and then snow. It seemed that winter had returned.

02 The next day my master remained in his room. I was in the lonely sitting room, with the crying baby on my knee, when suddenly the door opened, and someone entered, breathless and laughing. It was Isabella Heathcliff.

03 She came forward to the fire, holding her hand to her side.

04 'I've run the whole way from Wuthering Heights,' she said. 'Don't be alarmed! I'll explain in a moment, only just be so kind as to step out and order the carriage to take me on to Gimmerton, and tell a maid to find a few of my clothes.'

05 Her hair streamed on her shoulders, wet with snow and water. She was dressed in the girlish silk dress she usually wore, more suited to her age than her position. It was very wet. She had a deep cut under one ear, and her face had the marks of a blow.

06 When I had bound up her wound, and helped her to change her clothes, and she was seated by the fire with a cup of tea in front of her, she began to talk, but first she begged me to put poor Catherine's baby away.

07 'I don't like to see it!' she said. 'You mustn't think I care little for Catherine, because I behaved so foolishly on entering. I've cried too, bitterly. But I wasn't going to sympathize with Heathcliff. This is the last thing of his that I have with me.'

08 She slipped the gold ring from her third finger and threw it into the fire with childish hate.

09 'Necessity forced me to come here for shelter, but I daren't stay,' she went on. 'Heathcliff is quite likely to follow in search of me, to annoy Edgar. And besides, Edgar has not been kind, has he? I won't come begging for assistance, and I won't bring him more trouble. Heathcliff hates the sight of me, and I feel fairly certain that he wouldn't chase me over England, if I managed a clear escape, so I must get quite away.'

10 I inquired what had urged her to come away from Wuthering Heights in such a condition.

11 'I was forced to do so,' she replied, 'because I had succeeded in exciting his fury beyond the control of his caution. Since last Sunday, he has not eaten a meal with us. He has been out every night, has come home in the early morning, and locked himself in his room. Though I was full of grief for Catherine, it was impossible to avoid thinking of the week as a holiday. I was able to move freely about the house, and to sit in peace by the fire.

12 'Last night I stayed up late reading. Hindley, who was less drunk than usual, sat opposite, his head on his hand. He is quieter now than formerly, if nobody annoys him. The silence was broken at last by the sound of Heathcliff at the kitchen door. I suppose he had returned earlier on account of the weather.

13 'The door was fastened. My companion turned and looked at me.

14 '"I'll keep him out for five minutes," he exclaimed. "You and I have each a great debt to settle with the man outside. Are you as soft as your brother? Are you willing to suffer to the last, without revenge?"

15 '"I'm weary of suffering," I answered, "and I'd be glad of a revenge that would not bring harm to myself, but violence and faithlessness wound those who use them."

16 '"I'll ask you to do nothing," he replied, "but sit still and be silent. Promise to hold your tongue, and before that clock strikes—it is three minutes to one—you're a free woman!"

17 'He drew from inside his coat the little gun with the double-edged knife fixed on, which he had shown me on the night of his arrival. He then began to turn down the candle. I seized it, and grasped his arm.

18 '"I'll not hold my tongue," I said. "You mustn't touch him. Be quiet!"

19 '"I've made up my mind," he cried. "It's time to make an end."

20 'It was useless for me to struggle with him. I could only run and open the window.

21 '"You'd better find shelter somewhere else," I called out, rather joyfully. "Mr Earnshaw is planning to shoot you."

22 'Heathcliff with a curse ordered me to let him in. I shut the window, and returned to my place by the fire. Hindley swore at me, saying that I loved the devil still.

23 'A blow from Heathcliff broke the window and his dark face looked furiously through. The bars were too close for his body to follow, and I smiled, imagining myself safe.

24 '"Isabella, let me in," he commanded.

25 '"I can't commit murder," I answered. "Hindley stands waiting with a knife and loaded gun. And that's a poor love of yours that cannot bear a shower of snow. Heathcliff, if I were you, I'd go and stretch myself over her grave and die like a faithful dog!"

26 'I was motionless with terror at the results of my insulting words, when Heathcliff leaned in and seized Hindley's weapon from him. The gun exploded, and the knife, springing back, closed into the owner's wrist. Heathcliff pulled it away, roughly tearing the flesh, then took a stone and struck down the narrow division between two windows, and sprang in.'