10 Times Camilla and Henry Were Obviously
a Couple Before (anyone knew) They Were a Couple
Page numbers are from the April 2004 Vintage Contemporaries paperback published in the U.S.
10. There was a brief silence after she had finished; rather to my surprise, Henry winked solemnly at her from across the table. (p. 38)
9. “Henry, I wish you’d put me down. I’m too heavy for you.”
He smiled at her. There was a slight chip in one of his front teeth I’d never noticed before; it gave his smile a very engaging quality. “You’re light as a feather, he said.” (p. 98)
8. “What do you and Henry need a secret code for?”
“It’s not a secret.”
“Then why didn’t you tell me?”
“Charles, don’t be such a baby.” (p. 248)
7. Henry took the box from her and struck one himself; it flared up high and strong and she leaned close to it, one hand cupped around the flame and the other resting upon his wrist. (p. 309)
Note: This is such a favorite of mine because it seems like such a tiny thing, but there’s a section break right after this—so we’re meant to focus on Camilla’s hand resting on Henry’s wrist, and on the act of lighting someone’s cigarette for them: an action that’s totally casual and yet remarkably intimate.
6. Henry was distracted. The FBI had paid him another visit the night before—what they wanted he didn’t say—and he was talking on and on in a low voice about Schliemann’s Ilios…
…She hadn’t been there when I brought Charles home, and she looked like she’d just got out of bed herself; tousle-haired, no lipstick, wearing a gray wool sweater that came down past her wrists. (p. 369)
Note: We find out later from Charles that Henry was so distraught that morning because he was “almost sure he was going to be arrested.” Charles also says that Camilla had no idea that Henry (and Charles himself) were in so much trouble. I very much doubt that: It’s almost certain that Camilla was with Henry all night. Was this the first time they slept together? I don’t know, but just two pages later, we get this:
5. “Leave me alone,” he muttered, seizing Camilla by the wrist and trying to push through to the door. (p. 371)
Note: There’s only one other time Henry has been physically protective of Camilla, and that was at the lake when she cut her foot—a scene that Tartt obviously considered important enough to spend nearly four pages on. But is Henry shielding Camilla here, or reaching out to her as a lifeline? Either way, it’s a visible continuation of whatever went on between the two of them the night before.
4. “…I’ve heard her talking on the phone.”
“And saying what?”
“Oh nothing, but like two or three in the morning, whispering, you’ve got to wonder.” (p. 399)
3. “Do you suppose Henry’s all right?”
“Oh, he’s fine,” said Camilla, busy with knife and fork.
“How do you know?”
She paused, the fork in mid-air; her glance was like a light turned suddenly into my face. “Because I just saw him.”
“Where?”
“At his apartment. This morning.” (p. 425-426)
2. The twins weren’t like Henry; if they were home, they would generally answer the phone. But no one did answer, I dialed again and glanced at my watch. Eleven-twenty. I couldn’t think where Camilla would be that time of night. (p. 428)
1. …it wasn’t that though, but something else, indefinable, that somehow had changed since I had seen him last…
Henry glanced up. “Salve, amice,” he said, and a subtle animation flickered in his rigid features, usually so locked up, and distant…
“You look well,” I said to him, and he did. (p. 429)
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