第121章

He did not quit the house again that afternoon, and no one intruded on his solitude; till, at eight o'clock, I deemed it proper, though unsummoned, to carry a candle and his supper to him.He was leaning against the ledge of an open lattice, but not looking out: his face was turned to the interior gloom.The fire had smouldered to ashes; the room was filled with the damp, mild air of the cloudy evening; and so still, that not only the murmur of the beck down Gimmerton was distinguishable, but its ripples and its gurgling over the pebbles, or through the large stones which it could not cover.I uttered an ejaculation of discontent at seeing the dismal grate, and commenced shutting the casements, one after another, till I came to his.

`Must I close this?' I asked, in order to rouse him; for he would not stir.

The light flashed on his features as I spoke.Oh, Mr Lockwood, I cannot express what a terrible start I got by the momentary view! Those deep black eyes! That smile, and ghastly paleness! It appeared to me, not Mr Heathcliff, but a goblin; and, in my terror, I let the candle bend towards the wall, and it left me in darkness.

`Yes, close it,' he replied, in his familiar voice.`There, that is pure awkwardness! Why did you hold the candle horizontally? Be quick, and bring another.'

I hurried out in a foolish state of dread, and said to Joseph:

`The master wishes you to take him a light and rekindle the fire.'

For I dare not go in myself again just then.

Joseph rattled some fire into the shovel, and went; but he brought it back immediately, with the supper tray in his other hand, explaining that Mr Heathcliff was going to bed, and he wanted nothing to eat till morning.We heard him mount the stairs directly; he did not proceed to his ordinary chamber, but turned into that with the panelled bed: its window, as I mentioned before, is wide enough for anybody to get through; and it struck me that he plotted another midnight excursion, of which he had rather we had no suspicion.

`Is he a ghoul or a vampire?' I mused.I had read of such hideous incarnate demons.And then I set myself to reflect how I had tended him in infancy, and watched him grow to youth, and followed him almost through his whole course; and what absurd nonsense it was to yield to that sense of horror.`But where did he come from, the little dark thing, harboured by a good man to his bane?' muttered Superstition, as I dozed into unconsciousness.

And I began, half dreaming, to weary myself with imagining some fit parentage for him; and, repeating my waking meditations, I tracked his existence over again, with grim variations; at last, picturing his death and funeral:

of which, all I can remember is, being exceedingly vexed at having the task of dictating an inscription for his monument, and consulting the sexton about it; and, as he had no surname, and we could not `tell his age, we were obliged to content ourselves with the single word, `Heathcliff'.That came true: we were.If you enter the kirkyard, you'll read on his headstone, only that, and the date of his death.

Dawn restored me to common sense.I rose, and went into the garden, as soon as I could see, to ascertain if there were any footmarks under his window.There were none.`He has stayed at home~ought, `and he'll be all right today.' I prepared breakfast for the household, as was my usual custom, but told Hareton and Catherine to get theirs ere the master came down, for he lay late.They preferred taking it out of doors, under the trees, and I set a little table to accommodate them.

On my re-entrance, I found Mr Heathcliff below.He and Joseph were conversing about some farming business; he gave clear, minute directions concerning the matter discussed, but he spoke rapidly, and turned his head continually aside, and had the same excited expression, even more exaggerated.

`When Joseph quitted the room he took his seat in the place he generally chose, and I put a basin of coffee before him.He drew it nearer, and then rested his arms on the table, and looked at the opposite wall, as I supposed, surveying one particular portion, up and down, with glittering, restless eyes, and with such eager interest that he stopped breathing during half a minute together.

`Come now, I exclaimed, pushing some bread against his hand, `eat and drink that, while it is hot: it has been waiting near an hour.'

He didn't notice me, and yet he smiled.I'd rather have seen him gnash his teeth than smile so.

`Mr Heathcliff! master!' I cried, `don't, for God's sake, stare as if you saw an unearthly vision.'

`Don't, for God's sake, shout so loud,' he replied.`Turn round, and tell me, are we by ourselves?'

`Of course,' was my answer; `of course we are.'

Still I involuntarily obeyed him, as if I were not quite sure.

`With a sweep of his hand he cleared a vacant space in front among the breakfast things, and leant forward to gaze more at his ease.

Now, I perceived he was not looking at the wall; for when I regarded him alone, it seemed exactly that he gazed at something within two yards'

distance.And whatever it was, it communicated, apparently, both pleasure and pain in exquisite extremes: at least the anguished, yet raptured, expression of his countenance suggested that idea.The fancied object was not fixed:

either his eyes pursued it with unwearied diligence, and, even in speaking to me, were never weaned away.I vainly reminded him of his protracted abstinence from food: if he stirred to touch anything in compliance with my entreaties, if he stretched his hand out to get a piece of bread, his fingers clenched before they reached it, and remained on the table, forgetful of their aim.