He is riding towards I; he knows it is there, yet it takes forever for him to reach it. Catherine always loved Heathcliff, however, it was only at her death that she truly admitted it, only when she was on her deathbed did she let Heathcliff know that she had always loved him, and would love him past the day so of her life. At first, he travels: "Beneath the evening moon- (RPV #88, line 8), or when Catherine is still alive and well: "like a rose in June- (RPV #88, line 60. Catherine is still young, still full of life. Heathcliff travels "beneath- the moon because her death is not in close proximity; he still sees their life together within reach. The closer Heathcliff gets to acquiring her love, the farther her life slips away. As he reaches the "orchard plot-, the edge of Lucy's cottage, and the outskirts of Catherine's love, the moon: "descended still- (RPV #88, line 16). Heathcliff continues to take steps towards Catherine, yet the more he takes, the more the moon descends. When he finally is near enough to the cottage, close enough to see the achievement of his goal, Catherine dies: "when down behind the cottage roof at once the planet dropped- (RPV #88, lines 23-24). The moon dropped because Heathcliff was finally at the cottage, finally to her love, and because he was so close to it, the moon disappeared behind it. Catherine never confessed her true feelings for Heathcliff until the moments right before her death, just as the "planet dropped- just when Heathcliff reached its door. There seemed to be no way that Catherine and Heathcliff's mortal lives could be lived out together in perfect harmony, without outside influences, such as society, ruining what they had. Therefore, Catherine, after confessing her feelings to Heathcliff, had to die because it was the only way to keep their love for each other completely untainted. It was only through her death, and her subsequent haunting of Heathcliff, that they could be together.
