- Some time has passed since Lockwood left, when he finds himself in the vicinity of the Grange.
- He arrives at the Grange to find that Nelly has moved up to the Heights. Lockwood visits the Heights and is immediately struck by the changes in its appearance. The gate, for once, is not locked. Doors and windows are open and a fire lights up the chimney. More shocking than the change in atmosphere is the fact that Cathy is teaching Hareton to read.
- Lockwood observes affection between the two cousins, who then leave for a walk.
- He encounters Nelly, who tells Lockwood that Zillah has left and that she has been at the Heights since he left for London.
- Nelly tells Lockwood that Heathcliff is dead. Cathy is now in charge of the Grange.
- Nelly resumes the narrative, telling Lockwood of Heathcliff's "queer" end. She begins:
- Shortly after Lockwood left the Grange, Heathcliff calls for Nelly to return to the Heights. Cathy spends her time picking on Hareton, though she is clearly interested in his attention.
- A gun accident confines Hareton to the fireside. Now he and Cathy are stuck together. They make amends. She tells him she is glad that he is her cousin. He informs her that he had often stuck up for her side against Heathcliff.
- Cathy and Hareton enjoy looking at books and reading together. Though Joseph is disgusted at the sight of any friendship, "the intimacy," Nelly announces, "grew rapidly" (32.110).
- Back to the present, momentarily, Nelly announces that Hareton and Cathy are soon to be married.