The Madness Of Love | The Secret History

IV

I don't think there is anything very exciting in this chapter, it's more like a filler. Just Richard getting to know all of them a little bit more and talking about them.

I suppose there is a certain crucial interval in everyone's life when character is fixed forever; for me, it was that first fall term I spent in Hampden. So many things remain with me from that time, even now: those preferences in clothes and books and even food have stayed with me through the years.

It is easy for me to remember what their daily routines, which over time became my own, were like. Regardless of circumstances they lived like clockwork. There were certain times of the day or night, even when the world was falling in, when you could always find Henry in the all-night study room of the library, or when you knew it would be useless to even look for Bunny, because he was on his Wednesday date with Marion or his Sunday walk. When you couldn't find Lilith on Friday evenings because she went to the local Hampden music shows, or when you could see her every early morning sitting on the porch and reading.

I was surprised by how easily they managed to incorporate me into their cyclical, Byzantine existence. They were all so used to one another that I think they found me refreshing, and they were intrigued by even most mundane of my habits: by my fondness for mystery novels and by the fact that I read papers and watched news on television from time to time.

None of them were the least bit interested in anything that went on in the world. Sure, like once a month I'd see Lilith reading a paper but she was never really interested in what was written there, and most of the time those papers were published years and years earlier. Their ignorance of current events and even recent history was rather astounding. Once, over dinner, Henry was quite startled to learn from me that men had walked on the moon. "No" he said, putting his fork down. "It's true" chorused the rest, who had somehow managed to pick this up along the way. "I don't believe it" "I don't either. But I saw it on the television" said Lilith. "I saw it too" Bunny said. "On the television."

They were still overwhelming as a group, but it was on an individual basis that I really got to know them. Because he kept late hours, too, Henry would sometimes stop by late at night, on his way home from the library. Francis, who was a terrible hypochondriac and refused to go to the doctor alone, frequently draged me along. At first I was very surprised that he didn't take Lilith with him, since they were very close, but later I realised that she was a hypochondriac too, and didn't go to the doctor under any circumstances, even with Francis. Oddly enough, it was during those drives to the doctor, me and Francis became friends.

I liked the twins and Lilith the most. The twins treated me in a happy, offhand manner, which implied I'd known them much longer than I had. Camilla I was fondest of, but as much as I enjoyed her company I was slightly uneasy in her presence; not because of any lack of charm and kindness on her part, but because of a too-strong wish to impress her on mine. Though I looked forward to seeing her, I was more comfortable with Charles. He was a lot like his sister and I got along with him well.

I felt the most comfortable with Lilith. She may have looked a bit mean and cold at first, but after a while she became the nicest to me. I learned a lot about her in just a few weeks. For example the fact, that she despised calling and phones, and would much rather write letters. That she had a record player and everytime she went to town she would come back with a new record. Still, the thing I liked the most about her was that she'd actually write letters to me and leave it on my doorstep. She would do it about once a month and I've always waited for those letters. Sometimes they would be really short, sometimes so long I would read them and re-read them for hours. Even after Bunny's death she kept writing them to me.

Bunny's girlfriend, Marion, was around surprisingly little; partially, I think, because she was even less interested in us than we were in her. No one would talk about it much, but I gathered that earlier, abortive attempts to include Marion in the activities of the group had ended in disaster. She liked Charles, who was generally polite to everyone and had the unflagging capacity to carry on conversations with everyone; and she regarded Henry with a kind of fearful respect; but she hated Camilla, and between her, Francis and Lilith there had been some catastrophic incident which was so frightful that no one would even talk about it. I tried asking Lilith, but she just looked at me and shook her head.

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