Wuthering Heights - Chapter 16
Heathcliffs_Death
One stormy night in September, Heathcliff lay on his bed, too weak to move. Mrs. Dean sat with him, watching over him.
The wind howled around the house, and the rain beat against the windows. But Heathcliff seemed to hear something else.
'She is coming,' he whispered. 'I can feel her.'
Mrs. Dean did not know what to say. She held his hand and prayed for him.
Heathcliff's face changed. The anger and pain that had marked it for so many years seemed to melt away. For a moment, he looked young and peaceful.
'I have waited so long,' he said. 'Tonight, I will see her again.'
He closed his eyes, and a strange smile appeared on his lips. Mrs. Dean watched in amazement as the tension left his body. He looked almost happy.
Outside, the storm grew worse. Thunder crashed, and lightning lit up the sky. Inside the room, everything was still.
Mrs. Dean checked his pulse and found nothing. Heathcliff was dead.
Cathy and Hareton entered the room a few minutes later. They stood beside the bed, looking at the man who had caused so much suffering. But in death, his face was peaceful, and he looked almost young again.
'He is finally at peace,' Cathy said softly.
Mrs. Dean nodded. 'All his life, he wanted revenge. But in the end, he only wanted to be with Catherine.'
Hareton felt a strange emotion. He could not mourn the man who had treated him so cruelly, but he could not hate him either. He was just glad that the suffering was over.
The next day, they buried Heathcliff next to Catherine, on the windy hill overlooking the moors. Some people in the village whispered that they had seen the ghosts of Heathcliff and Catherine walking together on the moors, but Mrs. Dean did not believe this. She knew that Heathcliff had found his peace, not with Catherine's ghost, but in letting go of his hatred.