The Official Book Club Guide: The Binding. Kathryn Cope

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СКАЧАТЬ and de Havilland travel to Castleford. Here, Emmett discovers that while de Havilland undertakes the bindings either in his luxurious consulting rooms or at clients’ houses, the books are produced in a shabby workshop where little care is taken over the work. Confidentiality is not respected, and Emmett’s fellow workers regularly joke about the contents of the books they are working on.

      X

      Emmett is sent to the Darnays’ house to deliver a chest of books and undertake a binding. He is flustered when he is greeted by Lucian, but it quickly becomes clear that the other man does not recognise him. Lucian’s father, Piers Darnay, instructs Emmett to bind his servant and send the book to him within the week.

      When Emmett meets Nell, the young maidservant, he is struck by how lifeless she seems. He struggles to draw Nell into conversation and eventually tells her that he cannot go through with the binding. Nell cries, and when Emmett puts his hand on her shoulder he unwittingly triggers the binding process.

      XI

      Emmett feels himself dragged into Nell’s memories. He relives her experiences and discovers that Piers Darnay has repeatedly raped her. When the binding is over, Emmett is left horrified, while Nell remembers nothing of the process or why she is there. After telling Nell to go and rest, Emmett sees pages covered in his own handwriting beside him and realises that he has written down everything Nell said. Stuffing the pages in his bag, he decides to flee the scene.

      Emmett is unbolting the front door when Lucian catches him and reminds him that he must see his father before he can leave. When Lucian touches him on the shoulder, Emmett feels a physical jolt and lashes out. As the two men grapple, the strap of Emmett’s bag breaks and paper flies everywhere. Hurriedly picking the pages up, Lucian takes Emmett to the study.

      Lucian declares that he hates all binders, revealing that de Havilland binds their servants repeatedly and that his father has shelves full of their books. He tells Emmett that he will be called out to bind Nell again and again.

      Realising that Emmett’s name sounds familiar, Lucian rummages in the chest of newly delivered books and pulls out a binding with ‘Emmett Farmer’ inscribed on the spine. Emmett tries to grab the book, but Lucian holds it out of reach. Kneeing Lucian in the groin, Emmett succeeds in snatching the book but finds he cannot read its pages. As Lucian reaches for the bell-pull, Emmett throws his book into the fire.

      PART TWO

      XII

      Emmett remembers the day he first met Lucian. On the way home from poaching rabbits on Lord Archimbolt’s estate, he and his sister, Alta, encounter a young man in the ruins of an old castle. After the stranger introduces himself as Lucian Darnay, Alta steps into the middle of the frozen moat and falls into the icy waters. Lucian is the first to rescue her and, despite Emmett’s protests, insists on taking Alta back to their farm on horseback.

      Emmett arrives back at the farm to see Lucian wearing his best shirt and being treated like a hero by his family. His mood does not improve when, after rebuking his sister for endangering her life, he learns that she did so deliberately in the hope that Lucian would save her. Left alone with Lucian, Emmett threatens their visitor, instructing him to leave and never come back.

      XIII

      Following her ‘accident’, Alta is confined to bed with a fever. After a couple of weeks, however, she is sufficiently recovered to ask whether Lucian has kept his promise to return. Discovering that her brother banished him, Alta becomes disconsolate, claiming that she loves Lucian (who, she has discovered, is Lord Archimbolt’s nephew.)

      Having reluctantly written an apology letter to Lucian, Emmett goes to Lord Archimbolt’s house. Hoping to leave the letter and a parcel of Lucian’s clothes with the housekeeper, he is dismayed when Lucian answers the door. Clearly enjoying Emmett’s discomfort, Lucian agrees to visit Alta soon.

      Lucian’s next visit to the farm coincides with the Farmer family’s terrier giving birth to two puppies. On learning that the Farmers can only keep one puppy, and the other might be drowned, Lucian asks if he can have the unwanted pup. Emmett reluctantly agrees to him taking the puppy once she is three months old.

      XIV

      Lucian frequently visits his puppy, which he names Splotch. He also spends hours sitting at Alta’s bedside, entertaining her. Asked by his parents to act as a chaperone to Alta and Lucian, Emmett is also forced to spend time with their regular visitor.

      Despite the complex mixture of emotions that Lucian provokes in him, Emmett reluctantly begins to enjoy his company. One day, Lucian pretends to tell Alta’s fortune, pronouncing that she will fall in love with ‘a dark young man’ who will return her love. Emmett reacts furiously.

      As the festive celebration of the Turning approaches, Alta is well enough to spend time out of bed. After asking Lucian to show her how to waltz, she insists that he should also teach her brother. As instructed, the two men briefly dance in each other’s arms until Emmett becomes breathless. Afterwards, Emmett impulsively invites Lucian to join his family for Turning dinner – despite having previously considered inviting Perannon Cooper – an attractive local girl.

      XV

      By the time spring arrives, Lucian has become an everyday part of the Farmers’ lives, accompanying Alta and Emmett almost everywhere. At the Wakening Fair, Emmett and Lucian creep off together when Alta joins the local girls in a ribbon dance. Lucian becomes angry, however, when Emmett wanders over to the book stall. Realising from Emmett’s reaction that he does not understand what the books contain, Lucian explains that they are the worst memories of other peoples’ lives, bound into book form through magic.

      Lucian reveals to Emmett that he has been sent to his uncle’s house as a punishment but, at some stage, his father will summon him back to Castleford to help run his factories. When Emmett asks what he has done to deserve the punishment, however, Lucian refuses to tell him.

      XVI

      One day, during a walk in the woods, Splotch disappears. While searching the upper floor of a dilapidated gatekeeper’s lodge, Emmett and Lucian are interrupted by the arrival of Lord Archimbolt and Perannon Cooper and hide out of sight. Listening to the exchange taking place below, the two young men struggle to contain their mirth. While Lucian’s uncle plays the role of the angry lord of the manor, Perannon acts the part of the penitent poacher. Standing in close proximity to Lucian and listening to the unmistakable sounds of the couple having sex, Emmett is unable to conceal his arousal. The encounter makes Emmett realise that his crush on Perannon is very much a thing of the past.

      After an entire week without a visit from Lucian, Emmett keenly feels his absence. He gloomily concludes that Lucian has been summoned back to Castleford and has abandoned him without a word. On Midsummer’s Day morning, however, Lucian returns when everyone is asleep, waking only Emmett. They walk to the ruined castle and Lucian announces that he is considering asking Alta to marry him.

      XVII

      Unable to hide his emotions any longer, Emmett begs Lucian not to marry his sister. In response, Lucian kisses him. Several hours later, Emmett returns home feeling blissfully happy.

      In the following days, Emmet makes the most of Alta’s decision to rebuff Lucian as a punishment for his absence. Whenever possible, he creeps out to meet Lucian alone, and during one of these encounters Lucian presents him with an ‘engagement ring’.

      Alta decides that she has punished Lucian for long enough and she, Emmett and Lucian again СКАЧАТЬ