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Wuthering Heights Chapter 12
In the following days Isabella moped, Edgar waited, and Catherine fasted in her room. On the third day, she opened the door and asked Nelly for some gruel, because she felt she was dying. She ate, moaning that Edgar didn't miss her. Miserably, she asked Nelly what her husband was doing; when Nelly answered that he read in the library, Catherine went crazy. She was certain she was dying, and she couldn't understand why he was not more concerned.
Nelly did nothing to calm her wild mistress, but soon realized how bad off she was. Catherine tore at her pillows with her teeth, and cannot recognize her own face in the mirror. She is delusional, and has trouble remembering the time or place. She made Nelly open a window, anxious to feel the air from the moors. She yelled out to Heathcliff that even if she dies, she will not rest until they are together.
Topic Tracking: Nature 4
Topic Tracking: Madness 5
At this commotion, Edgar entered, and helped Nelly move Catherine from the window. He was shocked at the deterioration of his wife, and angry that Nelly did not tell him how bad she was. Catherine scorned Edgar, telling him that her love and her soul belong not to him, but to the moors and to Heathcliff. Nelly left the room, leaving Catherine to rave at Edgar. Outside, she saw Isabella's dog hanging from a wall, nearly dead. Nelly cut it down, and thought she heard hoofbeats in the distance. Mr. Kenneth, the doctor, told Nelly that Catherine was very ill and may not live. The doctor told her that Heathcliff was seen with Isabella; they were planning to run away together. In a panic, Nelly checked on her, but Isabella was gone. A servant girl delivered the news to Edgar, as someone told her that the two ran off together. Edgar was disappointed and sad, but his sister left willingly, and so he does not try to bring her home.
