Wuthering Heights: Novel Summary: Chapters 21-22

Chapter 21: When they enter the house, Cathy is quite surprised and elated to see Linton there. She cannot understand why Ellen and her father had lied to her, but says that she and Linton must meet all the time. Heathcliff tells her that her father does not like him because he thought him too poor to marry his sister, but Catherine tells him that she likes him and will talk to her father about it someday. Heathcliff tries to get Catherine and Linton to walk about, but Linton says that he wants to stay inside, and so Cathy and Hareton walk out. Linton soon gets jealous though, and he joins them, turning the conversation over to making fun of Hareton and his lack of education. Heathcliff tells Ellen that he sometimes covets Hareton for his own son. He says that it is ironic that the smarter of the two boys should have been the one to be degraded and not educated, while the worse would be the one to be upgraded. He also tells her how fond Hareton is of him. He does not understand how downgraded he is, and how he should hate Heathcliff.
Ellen finally gets Cathy to leave, and the next day Cathy tells her father about the visit. He tries to tell Cathy that Heathcliff hates him and that he is a diabolical man, but Cathy will not believe him because he was so cordial to her. She agrees not to see them again, and that night cries a lot. She asks Ellen if she can at least write Linton a letter explaining why she will not see him or loan the books she promised to him, but Ellen says no. A few weeks later Ellen is surprised to find a drawer full of letters from Linton. It seems that the two have formed quite a friendship and have exchanged almost daily letters and books through the milk boy. When Cathy realizes the letters are gone, she calls Ellen to her room. Ellen tells her that she is going to show them to her father. Cathy tells Ellen that she loves Linton, and Ellen finds this silly, as the two have spent hardly any time together. Cathy talks Ellen into burning the letters instead of showing them to her father. The next morning Ellen has the milk boy deliver a letter saying that Cathy will not be writing anymore and will not receive any letters.
Chapter 22: He tells her that Linton is quite ill because she has stopped writing him. Ellen tells Heathcliff to stop lying to her, and when the lock gives way, she gets Cathy away from him. Ellen can tell that Catherine has believed all of Heathcliff's words, and though Ellen tries to talk her out of it, Cathy needs to tell Linton that it is not her fault that she does not write, and Ellen cannot stand her sorrow, so the next day they head out for Wuthering Heights.