Heathcliff avoided Cathy and sulked to Nelly. It turned out he was jealous and worried about Edgar Linton. He thought since Cathy was now more well-behaved than wild, she would like Edgar more than she would Heathcliff. Nelly convinced him to be proud of himself. For one thing, although younger, Heathcliff was tougher and stronger than Edgar was. Edgar would run to his mama whenever he encountered a problem.
Just then Hindley, Cathy, Edgar, and Isabella entered the kitchen. Upon seeing Heathcliff, Edgar couldnt help making a remark which sounded like an insult. Heathcliff angrily smashed some apple sauce against Edgars face. As a punishment, Hindley gave him a beating and locked him in the garret that whole Christmas Day without any food.
Cathy seemed to be in purgatory that day. Later that night while everyone else listened to the carols, she sneaked in to see Heathcliff and had a long talk with him. The two made up.
Apparently Heathcliff had had enough of Hindleys approach toward him. At the end of the day, he swore to Nelly that he would someday take revenge on Hindley.
Mrs. Dean now feels the story is inappropriate to entertain a guest and stops, followed by an argument whether or not this is true. Eventually, Lockwood manages to sweet-talk her into continuing the story, which she states happened twenty-three years ago.