Грозовой перевал / Wuthering Heights

The first time Cathy left her bedroom was early in March. Edgar placed a handful of crocuses on her pillow and she smiled with pleasure, for the first time in months.

«These are the earliest flowers from the Heights!» she said excitedly. «They remind me of spring winds and sunshine and nearly melted snow. Edgar, has the snow almost gone?»

«Yes, the snow has gone now, my dearest,» he replied. «The sky is blue and the larks are singing. Oh Cathy, I wish I could take you onto the moors. I believe that it would cure you!»

«I shall only be there once more,» said the invalid, «and then you must leave me and I’ll stay there forever. Next spring, you’ll look back and think you were happy today»

Edgar tried to cheer her up with kind words and kisses, but Cathy just let the tears roll down her cheeks.

My master told me to light a fire downstairs and put a chair by the window in the sunshine. Then he carried Cathy downstairs, and she sat for a long while, enjoying the gentle warmth. We began to hope, at last, that she might recover. And there was a double reason for us to be hopeful, because she was expecting a baby in the summer.

At about this time, I received a letter from Miss Isabella, who had returned to Wuthering Heights. It was not at all the sort of letter you might expect to receive from a bride who had only just returned from her honeymoon.

As soon as I’d finished reading Isabella’s letter, I went straight to my master and told him his sister’s news. I asked if I could visit her and send her a sign of his forgiveness, but he wouldn’t give in.

«You can call at Wuthering Heights if you like,» Edgar said sadly, «and tell Isabella that I am not angry, but sorry to have lost her. But I won’t be seeing her again. We are divided forever.»

«Won’t you even write her a note, sir?»

«No, Nelly, I can’t do that. I won’t have anything to do with the Heathcliff family. So far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t exist.»

Mr. Edgar’s coldness depressed me greatly, and all the way across the moors I tried to think of a way to comfort Miss Isabella. As I approached the Heights, I saw her looking out of the window, but when I waved to her, she drew back immediately, as if she was afraid of being seen.

I walked straight into the house without knocking. The place was dismal and dreary compared with the home I had left a couple of years before.

Hindley was out and Hareton was nowhere to be seen, but Heathcliff was sitting at a table, working on some papers. He stood up when I came in and offered me a chair. He was the only thing in the house that looked at all decent, and I thought that he had never looked better. But Isabella did not look good – her dress was dirty and her hair hung down in greasy strands[61] around her face. Anyone who didn’t know them would have thought that Heathcliff was the master and she was his servant.

Isabella ran forward eagerly to meet me, holding out her hand for a letter from Edgar. I shook my head, but she followed me to the sideboard and started whispering to me. Meanwhile, Heathcliff had seen what was happening.

«Nelly, if you’ve anything for Isabella, give it to her now. We don’t have any secrets here.»

«I have nothing, sir,» I said, thinking it was best to tell the truth. «My master told me to tell his sister not to expect a letter or a visit from him. He sends his love, madam, and his good wishes for your happiness, but he says there can be no contact between his household and yours.»

Isabella’s lip quivered slightly and she returned to her seat by the window. Her husband stood in front of the fire and started to question me.

«Now, Nelly, tell me, how is Cathy?»

I told him as little as I could about her illness.

«She’s recovering slowly now, sir, but she’ll never be the same as she was, and if you have any feelings for her you’ll keep well away[62].»

«You know I’ll never be able to keep away from her,» he replied. «And you must promise, Nelly, to find a way to let me see her soon.»

«I’ll make no promises to you, Heathcliff. You must not see her – another meeting between you and Edgar would kill her!»

«With your help that could be avoided,» he said slyly.

«No, you will not disturb her now, just as she’s finding some peace and has nearly forgotten you.»

«Do you really think that she has forgotten me?» he said. «Oh, Nelly! You must know that she hasn’t. You know as well as I do that she thinks of me a thousand times more than she thinks of Edgar. He is hardly any dearer to her than her dog or her horse. It’s just not possible for him to love like me.»

«Cathy and Edgar are as fond of each other as any two people can be!» interrupted Isabella. «No one has a right to talk about my brother that way!»

«Your brother is wonderfully fond of you too, isn’t he?» observed Heathcliff cruelly «I see he’s quite happy to turn you out into the world[63].»

«He doesn’t know what I suffer,» Isabella replied. «I didn’t tell him that.»