`I have waited here an hour," he resumed, while I continued staring; `and the whole of that time all round has been as still as death. I dared not enter. You do not know me? Look, I"m not a stranger!"来源：www.examda.com
A ray fell on his features; the cheeks were sallow, and half covered with black whiskers; the brows lowering, the eyes deep set and singular. I remembered the eyes.
`What!" I cried, uncertain whether to regard him as a worldly visitor, and I raised my hands in amazement. What! you come back? Is it really you? Is it?"
`Yes, Heathcliff," he replied, glancing from me up to the windows, which reflected a score of glittering moons, but showed no lights from within. `Are they at home? where is she? Nelly, you are not glad! you needn"t be so disturbed. Is she here? Speak! I want to have one word with her——your mistress. Go, and say some person from Gimmerton desires to see her."
`How will she take it?" I exclaimed. `What will she do? The surprise bewilders me——it will put her out of her head! And you are Heathcliff! But altered! Nay, there"s no comprehending it. Have you been for a soldier?"
`Go and carry my message," he interrupted impatiently. `I"m in hell till you do!"
He lifted the latch, and I entered; but when I got to the parlour where Mr and Mrs Linton were, I could not persuade myself to proceed. At length, I resolved on making an excuse to ask if they would have the candles lighted, and I opened the door.
They sat together in a window whose lattice lay back against the wall, and displayed, beyond the garden trees and the wild green park, the valley of Gimmerton, with a long line of mist winding nearly to its top (for very soon after you pass the chapel, as you may have noticed, the sough that runs from the marshes joins a beck which follows the bend of the glen). Wuthering Heights rose above this silvery vapour; but our old house was invisible; it rather dips down on the other side. Both the room and its occupants, and the scene they gazed on, looked wondrously peaceful. I shrank reluctantly from performing my errand; and was actually going away leaving it unsaid, after having put my question about the candles, when a sense of my folly compelled me to return, and mutter——`A person from Gimmerton wishes to see you, ma"am."
`What does he want?" asked Mrs Linton.
`I did not question him," I answered.来源：www.examda.com
`Well, close the curtains, Nelly," she said; `and bring up tea. I"ll be back again directly."
She quitted the apartment; Mr Edgar inquired, carelessly, who it was.
`Someone mistress does not expect," I replied. `That Heathcliff——you recollect him, sir,——who used to live at Mr Earnshaw"s."
`What! the gipsy——the ploughboy?" he cried. `Why did you not say so to Catherine?"
`Hush! you must not call him by those names, master," I said. `She"d be sadly grieved to hear you. She was nearly heartbroken when he ran off. I guess his return will make a jubilee to her."
Mr Linton walked to a window on the other side of the room that overlooked the court. He unfastened it and leant out. I suppose they were below, for he exclaimed quickly——`Don"t stand there, love! Bring the person in, if it be anyone particular." Ere long I heard the click of the latch, and Catherine flew upstairs, breathless and wild; too excited to show gladness: indeed, by her face, you would rather have surmised an awful calamity.
`Oh, Edgar, Edgar!" she panted, flinging her arms round his neck. `Oh Edgar, darling! Heathcliff"s come back-he is!" And she tightened her embrace to a squeeze.
`Well, well," cried her husband crossly, `don"t strangle me for that! He never struck me as such a marvellous treasure. There is no need to be frantic!"
`I know you didn"t like him," she answered, repressing a little the intensity of her delight. `Yet, for my sake, you must be friends now. Shall I tell him to come up?"
`Here?" he said, `into the parlour?"
`Where else?" she asked.来源：www.examda.com
He looked vexed, and suggested the kitchen as a more suitable place for him. Mrs Linton eyed him with a droll expression——half angry, half laughing at his fastidiousness.
