Wuthering Heights: Novel Summary: Chapters 1-2

Chapter 1: While at the Heights, Lockwood pets a dog, but she snarls at him and Heathcliff warns him about touching her. When Heathcliff is out of the room, Lockwood makes a face at the dog, and she jumps at him, along with six or so other dogs that seem to come out of nowhere. No one seems to heed his cries, but then a woman finally does come out of the kitchen to fight the dogs off, and Heathcliff returns. He gives Lockwood some wine; they talk of Thrushcross Grange, and when Lockwood leaves, he feels that Heathcliff does not want him to repeat the visit, but he has decided to anyway.
Chapter 2: The tea comes, and Lockwood tries to start a conversation with the ill-tempered people, saying that Heathcliff must be happy with his family around him and his amiable lady, when Heathcliff interrupts him to ask where his amiable lady is. Lockwood says that he means his wife, and Heathcliff tells him that she is dead. Lockwood then notices the differences between the ages of Heathcliff and the young woman, and then assumes that she is the wife of the shabby, rude, young man. He thinks that Heathcliff is corroborating his assumption when he says that she is his daughter-in-law (looking at her with hatred), but when he turns to the young man saying that she must be his wife, all are angry, and Heathcliff says that neither are married to her, and that the young man is not his son, but Hareton Earnshaw. Lockwood feels quite out of place and everyone is quite dismal.
Lockwood tries to figure out how he will get home, but no one will help him, and finally Heathcliff tells him that he can sleep with Earnshaw or Joseph, as Heathcliff does not trust him to run about the house while he is sleeping. Lockwood is insulted and tries to leave the house, running into Hareton. They all fight about what to do with him. Lockwood can take no more, but when he runs and grabs a lantern and starts to run away saying that he will send it back the next day, Joseph yells that he is stealing and sets the dogs after him. Zillah, the housekeeper comes out, scolds Hareton, and takes Lockwood into the house to clean him up, telling him that she will put him to bed.