The Secret History

Content Warning: This section of the guide describes murder.

The next semester draws near, and there is no sign of Henry, Charles, Camilla, or Francis. When Richard meets with Julian to process his registration cards, Julian expresses mild concern that he hasn’t seen the other students. Richard feels left out. Back in the commons area of his dorm, Richard sees Bunny drunkenly watching TV. Bunny appears to be in a bad mood, and when Richard inquires about what happened in Rome, Bunny ominously tells him that Henry is “not what [he] think[s] he is” (140). The next morning, Richard looks for his missing Greek textbook in Henry’s apartment and finds a disturbing scene of disarray. He discovers that Henry has booked four one-way, nonrefundable flights to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Richard spends the next few days in a state of anxious despair, wondering what the four students have planned without him. On a whim, he calls Francis’s mother in Boston, but she believes that Francis is at school. Bunny then approaches Richard, who lies on Francis’s behalf. When Richard asks about Rome again, Bunny remains tight-lipped but admits that Henry was annoyed about supporting his lavish spending habits.