«Cathy and I were running over the moors together, when we saw the lights on in the Grange, and decided to see how Edgar and Isabella Linton spent their evenings. Do you think they are forced to stand shivering outside like us, Nelly, while their parents roast themselves beside the fire^[22]? So, we raced all the way from the Heights to Thrushcross Park without stopping once, and Cathy lost her shoes. Then we crept through a broken hedge and groped our way up a path, and stood on a flowerpot just under a low window.

«The living room curtains were still open so we could see right inside, and it was just like a palace – all crimson and gold. Edgar and Isabella had the room to themselves, and can you guess what they were doing? Isabella was lying screaming on the floor, shrieking as if witches were pushing needles into her skin, and Edgar was standing by the fire, weeping like a baby! And what do you think all the fuss was about? In the middle of the table was a little dog, shaking its paw and yelping – and nearly pulled in two by the spoiled brats! We laughed out loud at the idiots! What sort of fun do you think that was to quarrel over a stupid puppy dog? And when would you catch me arguing with Cathy or taking anything she wanted?»

«Anyway, we laughed so much that Cathy fell off the flowerpot. The Lintons heard the noise and raced to the door, and then you should have heard them howl! ‘Oh, mama, mama! Oh, papa! Oh, mama come here! They really did cry out like that! We both made horrible noises to frighten them some more, but then we decided we had better run away.

«We were running as fast as we could, when Cathy suddenly fell over.

«‘Run, Heathcliff, run!’ she said. ‘They’ve let their bulldog loose and he’s got me by the ankle!^[23]’

«I could hear the dog’s terrible snorting, but Cathy didn’t yell out – she would have been ashamed to cry. I started swearing at the beast and had just managed to find a stone to thrust between its jaws, when at last a servant appeared with a lantern and hauled the beast away.

«The man lifted Cathy up in his arms. She had fainted – not from fear, I’m sure, but from pain – and I followed him into the house, shouting and swearing.

«‘What’s happening, Robert?’ called Mr. Linton from the entrance.

«‘Skulker’s caught a little girl, sir,’ he replied, ‘and there’s a lad here too, who looks like a real villain. They’re probably a pair of robbers planning to creep through the window and murder us all in our beds.’

«Robert pulled me under the lamp so they could all take a look at me. Mrs. Linton put on her spectacles and peered in horror, and the cowardly children crept closer to her skirts.

«‘What a frightful thing!’ snivelled Isabella. ‘Lock him up in the cellar, papa. He’s a wicked boy!’

«While they were examining me, Edgar was staring at Cathy.

«‘That’s Miss Earnshaw!’ he whispered to his mother. ‘And look how her foot is bleeding and bruised!’

«‘Miss Earnshaw?’ cried Mrs. Linton. ‘Miss Earnshaw – roaming the countryside with a gypsy boy? But you’re right, it is the girl – and she may be lame for life!’

«‘How can her brother allow her out so late?’ said Mr. Linton. I’ve heard he neglects her terribly. And who’s this she has with her? I believe it’s the boy old Earnshaw found in Liverpool…’

«‘A wicked boy, in any case,’ his wife interrupted, ‘and quite unfit for a decent house. Send him away from here immediately!’

«Robert dragged me into the garden and locked the door behind me. But I crept back to the window, determined to shatter it into fragments if Cathy wanted to escape. The curtains were still open, and I could see everything. They had laid Cathy on a sofa and a servant was washing her feet, Isabella had emptied a plateful of cakes into her lap and Edgar was just standing there, gaping open-mouthed. After a while, they started to comb her beautiful hair, and gave her a pair of slippers to wear. Then they wheeled the sofa closer to the fire, and I left her, as cheerful as could be, surrounded by the Lintons, all gazing at her with their empty blue eyes… So you see, Nelly, the Lintons have my Cathy, and who knows when I shall see her again?»

In the end, Miss Cathy stayed at Thrushcross Grange for five weeks. By the end of that time, her ankle was completely better, and her manners had greatly improved as well. Mrs. Linton bought Cathy lots of fine new clothes, and when she returned to us, just before Christmas, she was a very different girl. Instead of the wild, hatless creature who used to rush into the house and squeeze the breath out of us all, a very dignified young lady arrived at the front door. She wore a beautiful silk dress and a long velvet cloak that she had to lift up when she walked. On her head was a velvet hat with a feather, and her wild hair had been tamed and arranged in ringlets^[24] around her face.

Hindley was delighted.

«Why Cathy, you’re quite a beauty! I would hardly have recognized you – you look like a young lady now. Isabella Linton is nothing compared to her, is she, Frances?»

«Isabella does not have Cathy’s looks,» replied his wife coolly. «But we must make sure she doesn’t grow wild again.»

Cathy kissed me carefully, anxious not to disarrange her hair – and then she looked around the room for Heathcliff. He was hard to find at first, but at last she saw him, skulking behind a chair. I could see he was ashamed to be seen beside such a sparkling young lady – and he certainly did look a sight. His clothes were covered with grime and dust, his hair was tangled, and his face and hands were a dismal shade of grey.

«Come along Heathcliff, there’s no need to hide,» cried Hindley, obviously enjoying the boy’s shame. «You can come and welcome Miss Catherine, just like the other servants.»

Cathy raced towards her old friend and covered him with kisses just like she used to do, but then she stopped and drew back in surprise, laughing out loud, «I’d forgotten how black and cross you look, Heathcliff, and how funny and grim! But that’s because I’m used to Edgar and Isabella, with their pretty golden hair.»

Heathcliff stood silent and still as a stone.

«Well, Heathcliff, have you forgotten me?»

«Why don’t you talk to Miss Cathy?» said Hindley condescendingly «Just occasionally, that is allowed.»

«I shall not!» shouted the boy, racing from the room, «And I won’t stand being laughed at, I just won’t bear it!»

Later that day, I went to find Heathcliff. He was in the stables, giving the horses their evening feed.

«Come into the kitchen with me, Heathcliff, and let me dress you neatly before Miss Cathy comes down. Then you can sit by the fire and have a long chat together.»

But Heathcliff kept his head turned away from me.

«Are you coming, Heathcliff? There’s some supper waiting for you, but I’ll need a good half hour to clean you up first.»

I waited for five minutes, but there was no answer, so I left him to sulk on his own. Cathy ate supper with her brother and sister-in-law, but Heathcliff marched straight up to bed without stopping to eat.

The next day, the Linton children were invited to the Heights for a Christmas party. We had prepared a great feast and there were presents for everyone… except Heathcliff. Mrs. Linton had accepted the Earnshaws’ invitation on condition that her little darlings were kept well away from that ‘naughty, swearing boy’.

Heathcliff got up very early that morning and went out walking on the moors, and when he came back, all the family was away at church. He hung around the kitchen in awkward silence for a while and then he finally spoke.

«Nelly, make me decent. I’m going to be good.»

«And about time too, Heathcliff,» I replied. «You’ve really upset Miss Cathy. I bet she’s sorry she ever came home! She must think you envy her because the Lintons are her friends.»

«Did she say she was upset?» he asked, looking serious.

«She cried when I told her you were off on the moors this morning.»

«Well, I cried last night,» he replied, «and I had more reason to be sad.»

«Perhaps you deserve it, for being so proud and stubborn. But I’ll see what I can do to make you look good. And by the time I’ve finished with you, you’ll be so handsome that Edgar Linton will seem like a doll beside you.»

I made Heathcliff wash his grimy face and combed his great mane of hair. And when he was dressed in his clean clothes, he looked as handsome as a prince.

«Now, if only you’d try smiling, instead of scowling like thunder, you’d be worth ten of young Edgar. Although you’re younger than him, you’re taller and broader, and you don’t go crying for your mama all the time!»

So I chattered on, and Heathcliff gradually lost his frown and began to look quite pleasant. Then, all at once, we heard the rumble of wheels outside. Heathcliff ran to the window, just in time to see the Lintons climbing down from their carriage, smothered in cloaks and furs. Cathy raced out to meet her two young friends and brought them into the house. Then she settled them down by the fire, which quickly put some warmth into their pale, dolllike faces.

I urged Heathcliff to hurry down and show them how he had changed, and he willingly obeyed. But, as luck would have it, he met Hindley in the corridor. The master was far from pleased to see Heathcliff looking so clean and cheerful, and he called out quickly to Joseph, «Keep this fellow out of the room – and lock him in the attic until dinner is over. He’ll be cramming his fingers into the pies^[25], and stealing the fruit, if he’s left alone for a minute.»

«No sir,» I couldn’t stop myself from answering, «he won’t touch anything – and I think he should have his share of the treats as well.»

«He’ll have a share of my hand, if I catch him downstairs again,» roared Hindley, reaching out to grab Heathcliff by the hair. «Just wait till I get hold of these elegant locks – let’s see if I can pull them a little bit longer!»

«They’re long enough already,» observed Master Linton, peeping round the door. «I’m surprised he doesn’t have a headache, with that colt’s mane over his eyes!»

I’m sure that Edgar meant no harm, but Heathcliff couldn’t bear such impertinence from someone he already saw as his rival. So he seized a dish of apple sauce – the first thing he could find – and poured it all over Edgar’s head! Edgar instantly burst into tears^[26], and Cathy and Isabella came hurrying to help.

In an instant, Hindley had grabbed Heathcliff by the collar and marched him up to his room, where he obviously thrashed him soundly, because he returned quite red in the face. I found a dishcloth and rubbed at Edgar’s nose and mouth quite roughly, telling him it served him right for interfering. Then his sister began to cry and say she wanted to go home, but Cathy just stood there, staring in horror.

«You shouldn’t have upset Heathcliff like that,» she told the snivelling Edgar. «Now Hindley will beat him – and I hate it when he hurts Heathcliff. I can’t eat my dinner now. Why did you speak to him, Edgar?»

«But I didn’t,» sobbed the boy, escaping from my hands. «I promised mama I wouldn’t say a word to him, and I didn’t!»

«Well there’s no need to cry!» replied Cathy scornfully. «You’re not dead. And you stop crying too, Isabella – has anyone hurt you?»

«Now children – time for dinner,» said Hindley, bustling into the room. «Let’s all enjoy the feast!»

Hindley served up large helpings of food, and his wife kept up a stream of cheerful talk^[27]. Gradually, the children recovered and everyone began to enjoy their meal… or at least everyone did except Cathy. I watched her lift a mouthful of food to her lips, and quickly put it down again.Then she dropped her fork and dived under the table to hide her tears. And all through the afternoon I saw that she was in agony, longing to get away and find Heathcliff again.