A black-edged letter announces Edgar Linton's return and Isabella's death. Edgar instructs Nelly to prepare mourning for Cathy and accommodations for young Linton, while Cathy is delighted by the thought of her father's return and the arrival of the cousin she imagines as an ideal playfellow.

On the evening of the arrival, Cathy impatiently walks with Nelly to meet the carriage. Edgar and Cathy are overjoyed to see each other, but Linton remains asleep inside, wrapped up despite the season. Nelly observes that the boy strongly resembles Edgar but is pale, delicate, and peevish.

At the Grange, Edgar warns Cathy that Linton is weak, grieving, and not ready for energetic play. When introduced, Linton shrinks from Cathy's greeting and asks only to go to bed. During tea in the library, he cries because he cannot sit in a chair, and Cathy tries to comfort him by treating him tenderly like a baby, which briefly soothes him.

Edgar hopes that Cathy's companionship will strengthen Linton if they can keep him at the Grange. Nelly privately fears they will not be able to keep him and wonders how such a frail child could survive at Wuthering Heights under Heathcliff and Hareton.

That same night, Joseph arrives from Wuthering Heights and insists on speaking to Edgar. He announces that Heathcliff has sent for his son and that Joseph must bring Linton back. Edgar, grieved but unable to deny Heathcliff's legal claim, refuses to wake the exhausted boy and says Linton will go to Wuthering Heights the next day. Joseph leaves angrily, warning that Heathcliff will come himself if necessary.