Wuthering Heights From the story by Emily Bronte

«Nelly, will you keep a secret?» she asked, with a look that made all my temper melt away

«Is it worth keeping?» I replied, less sulkily.

«Yes, and it worries me so much I must let it out. I want to know what I should do… Today, Edgar Linton asked me to marry him, and I’ve given him an answer. But before I say what it was – please tell me what you think my answer should have been.»

«Really, Miss Cathy. How can I know? But after the scene this afternoon, I think you should refuse him. If Edgar asked you to marry him after that, he must be either stupid or insane.»

«If you talk to me like that, I won’t tell you any more,» she answered peevishly. «I’ve accepted him, Nelly. Now tell me quickly, was I wrong?»

«Well, if you’ve accepted him, what’s the good of asking me what to do? You’ve given him your word and you can’t take it back.»

«But tell me if I should have done it – please!» she cried out.

«Well,» I said slowly. «The most important question is, do you love Mr. Edgar?»

«Anyone would love him, of course I do.»

«But why do you love him, Miss Cathy?»

«Well, because he is handsome and pleasant to be with.»

«Bad reasons,» was my reply.

«And because he’s young and cheerful.»

«Bad again.»

«And because he will be rich and I will be the richest woman for miles around, and I will be proud to have such a husband.»

«Worst of all! You realize that he won’t always be handsome and young, and he may not always be rich either.»

«Well he is now, and I can only think of the present.»

«Well then – that settles it. If you’re only thinking of the present, then you should marry Mr. Linton.»

«I don’t want your permission, Nelly. I simply want to know whether you think I am right.»

«Well,» I continued, «what’s the problem? If you love Edgar and he loves you, everything seems easy. Tell me where’s the obstacle there?»

«In my heart!» cried Cathy passionately. «Because, in my heart, I’m convinced that I’m wrong.»

«Well that’s very strange. I don’t understand you at all.»

«But that’s my secret, Nelly! Don’t you see? And, if you don’t make fun of me, I’ll try to explain how I feel…»

Cathy’s face grew sadder and her hands began to tremble.

«Nelly,» she said suddenly, after a few minutes’ silence. «Do you ever dream strange dreams?»

«Well, yes, I do – now and then.»

«So do I,» she answered. «I dreamed once I was in heaven, but heaven didn’t seem to be my home and I broke my heart crying to come back to earth again. And the angels were so angry with me that they flung me out^[35] on the middle of the moors, and then I woke up, sobbing for joy. And that is why, Nelly, I cannot marry Edgar!

«I’ve no more right to marry Edgar than I have to be in heaven. And if my wicked brother hadn’t brought Heathcliff so low, I would never have thought of it. But Heathcliff is so much beneath me now that it would degrade me to marry him, so he will never know how much I love him. And I don’t love him because he’s handsome, Nelly, but because he’s more myself than I am. Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same, and Edgar’s is as different as a moonbeam from lightning!»

Before Cathy had finished talking, I realized that Heathcliff was creeping out of the room. He’d been lying behind the kitchen bench all the time and had heard almost everything we said. He stayed until he heard Cathy say that it would degrade her to marry him, and then he silently left the room.

I left Hareton sitting on the bench, and went to the stove to start preparing supper. But Cathy hadn’t finished yet.

«Nelly, do you think Heathcliff ever thinks about love or marriage? Surely he doesn’t know what being in love is?»

«I don’t see why he shouldn’t know as well as you,» I replied. «And if he is in love with you, he’s the most unfortunate creature ever born. Because as soon as you become Mrs. Linton, he’ll lose his love and his only friend. Have you thought about how he’ll cope – how he’ll be completely alone in the world? Because, Miss Cathy…»

«Heathcliff alone?» Cathy interrupted. «But who is going to separate us? No one will do that, as long as I live. Every Linton on the face of the Earth could melt into nothing^[36] before I’d agree to give up Heathcliff. He’ll be as important to me when I marry as he has always been, and Edgar must just learn to like him too. And of course Edgar will, when he understands how I feel.

«I can see you think I’m a heartless wretch, Nelly. But if Heathcliff and I were married, we would be beggars. And if I marry Edgar, I can help Heathcliff to rise, and escape from the clutches of my brother.»

«Do you really think you’ll persuade Edgar to help Heathcliff?» I asked. «You won’t find him as easy to bend as you think. This is your worst reason yet for marrying him.»