Six months later, Lockwood returns to the area and pays a visit at Wuthering Heights. He finds, to his surprise, that Nelly now lives there. She tells him about what happened after he left: Two weeks after Lockwood left, Zillah finds a new job, and Heathcliff asks Nelly to take her place. Soon after Nelly arrives, Cathy admits to her that she feel guilty for mocking Hareton.
Hareton and Cathy are similar to Heathcliff and Catherine, with one crucial difference: Hareton and Cathy both learn to feel remorse for their aggressive or condescending actions.
One day, Hareton accidentally shoots himself while working, and Cathy has to tend to him. At first they argue often, but eventually they come to an understanding and start to get along. Cathy gives Hareton a gift of a book, and promises to teach him to read and not to mock him. Nelly says that the two have come to love each other, and looks forward to an eventual marriage between them.
Cathy has always been attracted to men she could nurse and mother. But unlike Linton, who was a sniveling weakling, Hareton is her equal. Cathy realizes this, as evidenced when she offers to teach Hareton to read. Rather than look down on him for the status that has been forced on him, she now sees him for his potential. She now sees beyond class, and together the two of them find a balance between nature and civilization.