Wuthering Heights - Chapter 3
The_Story_of_Heathcliff
The next morning, the housekeeper, Mrs. Dean, told me the story of Heathcliff and the strange ghost I had seen.
Thirty years ago, Mr. Earnshaw, the owner of Wuthering Heights, went to Liverpool on business. When he returned, he brought with him a dirty, homeless boy. He had found the child in the streets, starving and alone. Mr. Earnshaw named the boy Heathcliff, after a son who had died.
At first, Mrs. Earnshaw and her children did not like the strange boy. The daughter, Catherine, and her brother Hindley were angry that their father had brought this gypsy child home. But Catherine soon became fond of Heathcliff, and the two children became inseparable.
Heathcliff was proud, silent, and stubborn, but he loved Catherine deeply. Hindley, however, hated him. He saw Heathcliff as a rival for his father's love and for his inheritance.
When Mr. Earnshaw died, Hindley became the master of Wuthering Heights. He treated Heathcliff badly, making him work as a servant in the fields and denying him an education. Catherine tried to comfort Heathcliff, but she was sent away to study at a nearby house.
Heathcliff grew bitter and angry. He promised himself that one day he would have his revenge on Hindley. But he never stopped loving Catherine. Their love was wild and passionate, like the windy moors around them.
One day, Catherine and Heathcliff ran away to the moors together, pretending to be ghosts and spirits. They found a world of freedom there, away from the rules and restrictions of Wuthering Heights. But this happiness was not to last. Fate had other plans for them.
As they grew older, Catherine met Edgar Linton, a wealthy gentleman from Thrushcross Grange. Edgar was kind and gentle, but he could not understand Catherine's wild spirit. Yet Catherine was drawn to him, for he offered her a life of comfort and safety.
Heathcliff watched with jealousy and pain. He felt that Catherine was slipping away from him. One night, when Catherine told him that she intended to marry Edgar, Heathcliff disappeared into the dark night, never to return to Wuthering Heights for three long years.
Mrs. Dean finished her story and looked at me. 'And that, Mr. Lockwood, is why the ghost of Catherine still haunts this house. She died young, but her love for Heathcliff was so strong that her spirit cannot rest.'