Wuthering Heights Chapter 23

That wet morning Nelly and Cathy went to Wuthering Heights. They did not find Heathcliff at home, true to his word, and they inquired about Linton. Joseph was alone, ignoring Linton's cries that he replenish the fire in his room. Cathy and Nelly followed the whiny voice. Linton was happy but held back, and Nelly heaped coal to the fire. Linton complained that she should have visited before, because all that letter writing made him tired. He does not like it here; his requests are often ignored, and his father thinks him a joke. Linton missed her, and his father blamed him for their broken correspondence. Cathy tells him she loves him very much, and wishes they were closer. But once Heathcliff returns, she cannot visit. She wishes Linton were her brother, but he says it would be better if he were her husband. Cathy thinks husbands and wives hate each other, and she could never love a man more than she loves her father. At the subject of unhappy marriages, the two quarrel about their families. Cathy tells him that his mother left his father, and he tells Cathy that her mother did not love her father, he loved Heathcliff instead. They fight like children, and Cathy pushes him, causing a terrible coughing fit in the weak boy. Linton complains, and Cathy apologizes. Such a push would not have hurt a normal person. He does his best to make her feel guilty, then urges her to leave. They are about to when they hear a scream. Nelly, exasperated at the invalid, sees that Linton has fallen to the floor. Cathy, still guilt-stricken, cares for him, singing him songs to calm him. Linton is manipulative, and Cathy's sweet soul falls for it. Cathy promised she would come tomorrow, even if she had to sneak over the high wall to get here. Nelly threatened to tell Mr. Linton, but she caught a cold from the wet walks and falls ill. Cathy took care of Nelly and her father during the day, and at night secretly visited Linton.