Summary and Analysis
Chapter 28
Summary
Zillah enters the bedroom on the fifth morning of Nelly's imprisonment, telling her that the village gossip has both Cathy and Nelly being lost in the marshes. Nelly finds Linton, who tells her that Cathy is being held prisoner and cannot be released. Unable to get Cathy free and unwilling to face Heathcliff, Nelly returns to the Grange.
She assures Edgar that Cathy is safe and will be home soon. She also dispatches servants to Wuthering Heights to bring Cathy home. The servants return empty-handed. Edgar sends for Mr. Green, a lawyer, to change his will. Nelly thinks she hears him arrive, but it is Cathy. With Linton's help, she has escaped.
Edgar and Cathy are reunited, and Edgar dies content, thinking his daughter is happily married. Later that evening, Mr. Green arrives and immediately takes charge of the Grange, dismissing all the servants except Nelly. He attempts to have Edgar buried in the chapel, but Nelly knows that Edgar's will clearly states that he is to be buried next to his wife. Cathy is permitted to stay at the Grange until after her father's burial.
Analysis
Nelly once again favors a lie instead of the truth, but this is probably advantageous for all involved, for nothing can be gained at this time by telling the truth to Edgar. Although Linton's words to Nelly echo his father's in regards to how he should treat his wife, Linton, in his own weakling way, finally stands up to his father when he enables Cathy to escape.
And Mr. Green symbolizes the extent of Heathcliff's interference, using money and influence to bend the laws, encouraging a lawyer to sacrifice one client for another. Heathcliff's retention of Nelly as housekeeper at Thrushcross Grange is his way of being practical, as well as rewarding her for showing what he considers to be loyalty.