Wuthering Heights
A face at the window
Ever since my stay in Yorkshire, I have been troubled by bad dreams. In these dreams, I’m always in the same place… the small, bare bedroom at Wuthering Heights, with the snow swirling outside the window and the wind moaning in the trees. As I listen to the wind, the sound begins to change and I hear that ghostly voice once more. Again and again, I hear it crying, “Let me in, Let me in!” But when I run to the window, there is no one there, and the only sound I can hear is the wind wuthering over the moors.
Wuthering Heights – that it is the name of the house where my story begins. I’ve often wished that I had never set foot inside its door…
I have just returned from Wuthering Heights – the loneliest house you could ever imagine. The ancient stone farmhouse stands high up on the moors, blank-faced and grim, with a hedge of stunted trees bent almost double by the wind. Wuthering Heights is the home of Mr. Heathcliff, who also owns Thrushcross Grange, the house where I am staying. So, once I had settled into my rooms at the Grange, I thought it would be polite to visit my landlord, up at the Heights.
It was a hard ride across the moors, and as I approached Wuthering Heights, I was pleased to see a man who I thought must be Heathcliff, leaning on his garden gate, and gazing out over the moors. He was tall and wild-looking, with a mane of thick, dark hair, and as I came nearer, he seemed to shrink away from me, scowling up from under heavy, black eyebrows.
“Mr. Heathcliff?” I asked politely.
The man nodded.
“Let my introduce myself, sir,” I continued. “I am Mr. Lockwood, your new tenant, and I hope I won’t be troubling you too much if…”
“I don’t allow anyone to trouble me,” he interrupted rudely. Then, after a pause, he added gruffly, “Walk in!”
Heathcliff showed me into a large sitting room. The room was dark and plainly furnished, with an enormous fireplace and some vicious-looking pistols hanging on the wall. In one corner, a huge hound was curled up in a basket, surrounded by a mass of squealing puppies, and I could just make out some other large dogs hiding in the shadows.
I sat down by the fireside and tried to stroke one of the wolfish-looking beasts,
“You’d better leave her alone,” growled Heathcliff, “she’s not used to being spoiled.”
Then he strode off in search of a servant, leaving me alone in the room.
Almost as soon as their master had disappeared, the beasts began to close in on me. Two shaggy-haired sheepdogs advanced menacingly towards me and others appeared from all corners of the room. I stayed very still in my chair, but couldn’t resist pulling faces and winking at the dogs. This foolish action drove them into a frenzy, and soon they were attacking me from all sides, tugging at my clothes, and baring their teeth in a storm of snarling and yelping.
Fortunately for me, the housemaid arrived just in time. She swirled around the room swinging at the dogs with her heavy frying pan, and was just chasing away the last of them when her master returned.
“What the devil is the matter?” he asked angrily.
But I was angry too. “What the devil indeed!” I replied. “You might just as well leave your guests alone with a pack of tigers!”
At this, Heathcliff’s face relaxed into a smile.
“Come, come,” he said, “don’t be flustered, Mr. Lockwood. Guests are so exceedingly rare in this house that I and my dogs hardly know how to look after them. Here, take a little wine with me. To your good health, sir!”
I decided to put the unfortunate incident behind me and gracefully accepted Heathcliff’s offer of wine. Then we settled down by the fireplace and talked for almost an hour, discussing the moors and the history of the area. To my surprise, my landlord turned out to be a well-educated man, and I asked myself why a gentleman like him would choose to spend his life cut off from the rest of the world.
All the way back across the moors, I thought about Heathcliff and his lonely life, and by the time I reached the Grange, I had made up my mind. I would make a friend of him, whether he liked it or not.