The Secret History: Chapter 8 Summary & Analysis

Richard doesn’t clearly recall the events following the funeral because he took a bunch of painkillers to keep himself under control. Everyone leaves the Corcoran home as soon as they can, though Richard isn’t able to leave until four in the afternoon. On the way back, he notices that Camilla and Charles are angry with one another, though he doesn’t know why. When Richard returns to campus, he isolates himself from the other Greek students for a while and thinks about his future. At night, he is plagued by bad dreams, all of which are clearly tied to the guilt he feels over Bunny’s death.

When Richard does see his friends again, he notices that the twins are still angry with each other, seemingly because of something to do with Henry. In addition, Charles’s drinking begins to get out of control, and he often drives drunk. In fact, everyone is doing quite poorly, and attendance is regularly low for Julian’s classes. Although Richard is not doing great himself, he is looking forward to the summer. In particular, he is interested in house sitting for a professor from Brooklyn. This will give him a chance to live comfortably and be alone with his thoughts.

One night, not long after Bunny’s funeral, Richard is awoken by a late-night call from Francis, who thinks he’s having a heart attack. Richard doesn’t believe him, but he decides to take him to the emergency room just in case. Francis behaves erratically at the ER, and it takes a lot of convincing before he lets the doctor runs tests. Richard assures the doctor that Francis is not on drugs. Believing Richard to be truthful, the doctor tells Francis that he is likely experiencing a panic attack. After they leave the ER, Francis feels silly; he knows he should see a psychiatrist, but he also knows that he can never tell anyone the truth.

A few nights later, Richard is woken up again in the middle of the night, this time by Henry. Henry tells Richard that Charles has been arrested for drunk driving and he gives Richard money to bail Charles out of jail. Richard complies with the request but realizes on his way to the police station that he has no understanding of what’s happened. When he arrives at the station, the police tell him that Charles must spend the night in jail because his bail hasn’t been posted yet.

Richard waits around until morning and then calls Henry and explains the situation. He asks Henry why he didn’t come and get Charles himself, to which Henry responds, “I am afraid that I’m the last person Charles wants to see.” Apparently, Henry and Charles got into a fight the night before, although Henry doesn’t provide any details. Richard is annoyed that Henry won’t say more, but he sticks around to help his friend. Richard goes to court and posts Charles’s bail. Charles has his license suspended for the time being and has a court date set. Because it was Henry’s car that he got pulled over in, Henry will also be required to attend the hearing.

Charles asks Richard to come home with him because he doesn’t want to be alone. While walking home, Richard asks Charles what happened between him and Henry. Charles doesn’t go into detail but says that he is sick of Henry’s demands. He blames Henry for putting them all in such stressful circumstances in the first place. In addition, he talks to Richard about his conversations with the FBI. Apparently, the agents knew about Henry and Bunny’s fight in Italy and the booked flights to South America. They never put everything together, but they did come close. Charles says that Henry was almost sure that he’d be arrested.

When Charles and Richard arrive at the twins’ place, Charles kisses his sister, aggressively and romantically, in front of Richard. Richard is caught off guard, though he doesn’t say anything. Shortly after he witness this interaction, Richard visits Francis and asks him if Charles and Camilla have an incestuous relationship. Francis laughs and tells Richard that they do and that everyone has known for a long time. He also tells Richard that the twins are exceptionally jealous of one another, especially Charles. In addition, he tells Richard that he—Francis—has slept with Charles in the past, though Charles will never admit to it.

A few days after his conversation with Francis, Richard runs into Cloke, who asks Richard about Camilla’s new place. Richard doesn’t know what Cloke is talking about. Cloke reveals that he saw Henry help Camilla move somewhere, though he doesn’t know the exact location. He also tells Richard that he doesn’t trust Henry. Cloke believes that Henry tried to pin Bunny’s murder on him during his interviews with the FBI. He isn’t sure of this fact, the FBI could have been bluffing, but he thinks it is true. In addition, Cloke tells Richard that the FBI brought his name up as well. Though Cloke can’t prove it, he believes that Henry gave it to them.

The same night, Richard goes out and parties with Cloke, Judy, and Sophie Dearbold. He wakes up the next evening to a knock on the door, which turns out to be Sophie. Sophie has come to check on him to make sure he is okay. Richard appreciates the gesture, and wonders whether he and Sophie slept together. In the middle of their conversation, Francis shows up and says to Richard in Greek, “Important news, my friend.”

When they are alone, Francis tells Richard the important news: Camilla has indeed moved out of her place with Charles. She is living in an expensive inn called the Albemarle, which only Henry could afford. Furthermore, Camilla has cut off all communication with Charles and he doesn’t know how to get ahold of her. Francis worries that this new development will incense Charles and make matters much worse. Francis and Richard speculate whether Henry and Camilla are sleeping together. They don’t know for sure but assume that this is the case.

The next night, while on a walk, Richard finds Charles drunk and passed out on a playground at the Early Childhood Center. Concerned for his friend, Richard takes him back to his room. For the next few days, Richard takes care of Charles, who has a high fever. Charles repeatedly hallucinates that Bunny is in the room, though Richard tells him that this is not the case. When he realizes that Charles isn’t getting better, he decides to take him to the emergency room. The doctors tell Richard that Charles is okay—it’s just a case of bronchitis—but they worry about Charles’s stress levels as well as how dehydrated he is.

When Charles regains consciousness, he asks Richard to go to his house and get him some of his things, including a bottle of scotch. After consulting with Francis and Henry, Richard does as Charles asks. Francis comes with Richard to the hospital to see Charles. When they arrive, Charles is in a bad mood. Francis mentions that he’s seen Camilla and Charles tells him, “I hope you told her I said go to hell.” On their way out of the hospital, Francis tells Richard that he isn’t sure what is going on, but he thinks they should stay out of it.

Richard returns to his room, where he finds Camilla. At first, he treats her coldly, but then Camilla starts to explain the situation. She tells Richard that Charles has been physically abusive since Bunny’s funeral and shows him a cigarette burn on her arm as proof. Richard feels bad and apologizes, but then is angry again when the topic of conversation turns to Henry. He tells Camilla that she puts too much faith in him. Camilla doesn’t understand why Richard is so upset with her and when she asks him, he tells her to leave. In the following days, Richard finds himself contemplating his previous interactions with Henry and wonders what to believe.

A few days later, Richard has a heated conversation with Henry. He is annoyed that Henry continues to act like the boss of everyone while leaving them in the dark. Quickly, Henry changes the subject and says to Richard, “You don’t feel a great deal of emotion for other people, do you?” Richard says that he does, though Henry doesn’t believe him. Henry then tells Richard that he’s always felt dead inside or, at least, he always had until he killed the man as part of the bacchanal. He tells Richard that the night of the bacchanal was the best night of his life because he was able “to live without thinking.” Richard is deeply disturbed by what Henry says, but he also thinks that he might be right.

The same day, Francis and Richard go to see Julian, hoping he will lift their spirits. When they find him, Julian shows them a letter addressed to him that was accidentally slipped into the mailbox of a professor who was on sabbatical. The letter is purportedly from Bunny, although Julian thinks it must be a fake. However, when Richard and Francis read the letter, they quickly realize that it may be genuine. The letter talks about the bacchanal murder and Bunny’s fear that Henry wants to murder him. When Richard and Francis flip the letter over, they see that it was printed on “hotel stationary, engraved, at the top, with the address and letterhead of the Excelsior: the hotel where Bunny and Henry had stayed in Rome.” Frightened that Julian will learn the truth, Francis and Richard realize that they must try to get the letter away from him.

Francis and Richard try and fail to lure Julian away from the letter. Upon leaving, they decide to involve Henry, who they know has a key to Julian’s office. As it turns out, Henry is already at Julian’s office, though it takes them some time to discover this fact. As quickly as he can, Richard bursts into Julian’s office and urges Henry to talk to him in private. Henry is annoyed by Richard’s presence and arrogantly denies his request. Richard continues to beg and eventually Henry agrees, but not before exposing the letterhead of the Excelsior to Julian.

A moment of silence pervades Julian’s office as everyone connects the dots at the same time. Realizing they can no longer hide the truth, Henry tells Julian everything. When he finishes, “the expression on [Julian’s] face [is] impossible to read.” Julian hands Henry the letter and says, “I think you better keep this.” Afterwards, he leaves the room; it is the last time Richard ever sees him. In retrospect, Richard cannot bring himself to fully love or hate Julian. On the one hand, he finds him “silly and vain and remote and often cruel,” but on the other hand, he believes that he is an amazing teacher and he still loves him.

The next day, Charles is released from the hospital, so Richard and Francis take him to lunch. However, Charles refuses to eat anything and only orders alcohol. The next day, the Dean shows up in place of Julian for Richard’s Greek class. He tells the Greek students that Julian suddenly had to depart, likely due to his relationship with the Isrami government. The Dean tells them that the classics department is likely to get discontinued, though he does plan to find them a substitute to finish the semester. In the middle of all of this, Charles bursts in drunk, asking after Julian. The Dean reexplains the situation and then Charles leaves, assuming that Julian’s rapid departure is Henry’s fault.

The next day, everyone except Charles shows up on time to class. The substitute teacher is awful and turns out to know less Greek than his students. Midway through his lesson, Charles stumbles in drunk and the teacher starts again from the beginning. After class, Henry vows never to go back, regardless of if he fails. Charles is annoyed by Henry’s headstrong attitude and mocks him. Richard worries that things are spiraling too far out of control between Henry and Charles. Soon, they will have to appear in court together, and that appearance is shaping up to be a disaster.

Hoping to mollify Charles, Francis and Richard convince him to ride with them out to the country house. Charles worries that this is a trap set up by Henry, though Francis and Richard assure him that that is not the case. On the way to the house, Francis and Richard reassure Charles that they are his friends and want what’s best for him. This seems to calm him down. While at the country house, Charles spends his time alone, drinking. Things go sideways when Henry calls the house and Charles overhears him talking to Richard on the phone. Although Richard does nothing to comprise Charles, Charles is convinced that Richard, Francis, and Henry are scheming to have him killed. He runs away by borrowing a truck from Francis’ gardener.

Francis and Richard look everywhere for Charles but fail to find him. They realize that if they don’t find him soon, the police will. Eventually, they end up back at Camilla’s hotel room at the Albemarle, where they find Camilla and Henry. They begin strategizing a plan to find Charles, but before they can get far, Charles bursts into the room, drunk, angry, and holding a gun. Charles tells Henry that he’s come to kill him for ruining his life. 

Henry, Francis, Camilla, and Richard try to calm Charles down, but they fail. They do manage to get the gun away from him, but not before he fires it, hitting Richard in the stomach. Chaos erupts below them, and they know it is only a matter of time before the police are called. In the confusion, Henry whispers something in Camilla’s ear, takes the gun, and shoots himself in the head just as the innkeeper opens the door.