Heathcliff sneaks a visit while Edgar and servants are at church to see How ill Catherine is,  and is dismayed to see “no prospect of ultimate recovery is there – she was fated, sure to die” (132).

“Vindictive,” she asks him how long he means to go on living after she is dead. Here, the characters finally trade speeches of the depth of love — indeed, laced with the symbolism of the torments of hell — to the ears of us readers (133).

Catherine is described in ghostly, perhaps vampiric imagery, Heathcliff in animal, perhaps demonic; the novel is in the gothic genre, indeed.

Cathy refuses to let go despite Nell’s warning of Linton’s approach. Heathcliff hands over an unconscious Catherine to Edgar’s arms.