When Heathcliff learns of Cathy’s illness he blames Edgar for this.
Nelly visits Wuthering Heights, but she can give no words of comfort to Isabella from Edgar who still will have no contact with her. Heathcliff is eager to learn about Cathy’s situation, clearly hurting Isabella. Heathcliff wants to see Cathy and asks Nelly to arrange this. She refuses, and Heathcliff responds by saying that he will go to the Grange and Nelly will be kept at Wuthering Heights. Nelly then reluctantly agrees to take a letter to Cathy.
Four days pass before Nelly is able to deliver the letter to Cathy while the rest of the household are at church. Cathy is close to death and cannot even summon up the strength to hold the letter. Just then Heathcliff bursts into the room and Cathy accuses him and Edgar of breaking her heart. They embrace and then Heathcliff accuses Cathy of neglecting herself, bringing death upon her. The distraught Cathy cries and begs forgiveness. Heathcliff says that she is responsible for breaking both their hearts. He tells her, ‘I forgive what you have done to me. I love my murderer, but yours! How can I?’ He considers Cathy to be the murderer of both of them. Cathy begs Heathcliff to stay and Edgar returns from church, and bursting into Cathy’s room Heathcliff puts Cathy’s body into Edgar’s arms begging him to take care of her before he attacks Heathcliff.
Nelly promises to keep Heathcliff advised of Cathy’s condition.
Chapter 16-18
Cathy gives birth to a daughter called Catherine. She is two month’s premature and shortly after, Cathy dies.
Heathcliff soon learns of Cathy’s death and is angered to learn that she did not mention his name during her dying moments. He curses her spirit while grieving over his loss. Before the funeral Edgar watches over Cathy’s body by day and Heathcliff watches by night. Cathy wears a locket around her neck, which contains a lock of Edgar’s hair. Heathcliff removes this and replaces it with a lock of his own hair. Nelly finds the strands of Edgar’s hair and ends up entwining both his and Heathcliff’s in the locket. Cathy is buried in the plot closest to the moors away from her relatives and also the Linton tomb.
Isabella arrives at the Grange in a poor state, but she knows that Edgar will not allow her to stay. She is merely seeking assistance. There has been confrontation at Wuthering Heights, for when Heathcliff returned from keeping vigil at Cathy’s grave, Hindley locked him out. Hindley wants to murder Heathcliff. Eventually Heathcliff gains access and beats Hindley viciously. The next day the fighting resumes and Isabella makes her escape. After this, Isabella went to London and gave birth to a son, Linton. The brother and sister engage in correspondence and are reconciled to some extent. Isabella dies 13 years later.
Hindley died 6 months after Cathy’s death and Nelly returned to Wuthering Heights in order to bring young Hareton back to Thrushcross Grange. It transpires that Hindley was in debt, and Heathcliff had loaned him large amounts of money in order to feed his gambling habits, and he now owns Wuthering Heights. Heathcliff tells Nelly that he will raise Hareton and that he also plans to take his son, Linton, from Isabella in London.
Chapters 18-20
During the next 13 years, Catherine grows up at the Grange under the guidance of a very protective Edgar. She is not allowed to leave the grounds on her own and she is totally unaware of Wuthering Heights. However, she is an inquisitive girl and has learned about the fairy cave at Penistone Crags (a place well-known to her mother). She asks her father to take here there, but he is not willing to go as the road passes Wuthering Heights.
Around this time, Isabella writes to Edgar informing him of her impending death. She requests that he comes to London to bring Linton back to the Grange in order to keep him out of the clutches of Heathcliff. Edgar leaves to go to London, leaving Nelly in charge of Catherine.
One day Catherine goes missing and it transpires that her pony leaped the hedge and made for the Penistone Crags. Catherine ended up at Wuthering Heights where she spent the day with Hareton. They had a great time together.
Nelly insists on getting Catherine back to the Grange. A servant at Wuthering Heights tells Catherine that Hareton is her cousin. Catherine in turn tells Hareton that his father is off to London to fetch her cousin back to the Grange. This further upsets Nelly and she tells Catherine not to mention their visit to Wuthering Heights to her father.
Edgar returns from London with the pale, delicate Linton who greatly resembles Edgar. Catherine treats him like a pet because he is too weak to play with her. Edgar hopes that Heathcliff will allow Linton to stay at the Grange, but that night Joseph arrives, demanding to take Linton to Wuthering Heights. Edgar says that he will deliver him the next morning.
Nelly takes Linton to Wuthering Heights and she tries to comfort Linton by making up falsehoods concerning his father. When he arrives, Heathcliff refers to his son as property and calls Isabella a wicked slut. Linton is distraught at being left at Wuthering Heights, pleading with Nelly not to leave him.
Chapter 21-23
It is now 3 years later and Catherine delights in playing on the moors under the watchful eye of Nelly. However, the exuberant Catherine is no match for Nelly who has difficulty in controlling Catherine when she runs wildly through the heather. She is thus unable to prevent Catherine from speaking to Heathcliff who has Hareton by his side. On this occasion Heathcliff asks Catherine and Nelly to come to the house and despite Nelly’s reservations, they agree. Catherine is curious about Heathcliff’s son. According to Nelly, it is Heathcliff’s intentions that the two cousins should fall in love and get married. Linton is still delicate although he has grown in height. Hareton offers to show Catherine around Wuthering Heights and Heathcliff orders Linton to follow his cousins so as not to be left out. Catherine is overheard mocking Hareton’s poor education and his difficulty in reading.
Back at the Grange, Catherine tells her father about her visit to Wuthering Heights. Edgar tries in vain to explain to Catherine why he has kept her from her cousins. He specifically asks her not to have any further contact with Linton. This action only serves to make Catherine liaise with Linton via a series of secret letters. Nelly eventually discovers what is going on and destroys Linton’s letters to Catherine.
Winter approaches and Edgar’s health starts to fail, and Catherine spends most of her time nursing him. When out walking one day Catherine and Nelly happen to meet Heathcliff who scolds Catherine for stopping the letters to Linton, accusing her of trifling with Linton’s affections. He has become sicklier and is dying of a broken heart. He goes on to tell Catherine that he has to go away for a week and hopes that she will visit her poorly cousin. Feeling guilty about what Heathcliff has said to her, she and Nelly decide to visit Wuthering Heights the next day.
On their way to Wuthering Heights, the weather turns for the worse and eventually when they arrive they find Linton in a poor state. He complains about the servants and the moans at Catherine for not visiting sooner and the cessation of the letters.
Clearly Heathcliff has put the notion of marriage into Linton’s mind, and Linton mentions this to Catherine, which angers her, and when she pushes Linton’s chair, he has a coughing fit. Linton tries to make Catherine feel guilty about her behavior and hopes that she will help to nurse him back to health. Nelly and Catherine return to the Grange, but Nelly develops a severe cold due to getting wet the previous day, and now Catherine has two patients to care for, but at night time she rides across the moors to visit Linton without the knowledge of Nelly and Edgar.
