Читать книгу The Official Book Club Guide: The Binding - Kathryn Cope - Страница 7

PART ONE

I

Emmett Farmer has suffered a mysterious illness. The strange malady – involving fevers and hallucinations – has left him weak and unable to remember the events of the summer. Feeling weak and useless, he struggles to keep up with the jobs on his parents’ farm.

Emmet is aware that there is something his family are keeping from him. One day, he overhears his parents arguing. When he tries to concentrate on what they are saying, however, a ringing sound drowns out their voices. Soon afterwards, Mr and Mrs Farmer announce that a binder has written to them offering Emmett an apprenticeship. Emmett knows that his parents disapprove of binding: a process which involves removing a person’s memories and putting them in a book. He remembers that, years earlier, his mother and father reacted furiously when he bought a book from the Wakening Fair. Their eagerness for him to accept the apprenticeship is, therefore, mystifying.

II

Emmett and his father travel to an isolated bindery surrounded by marshland. The binder, who lives there alone, is an old woman called Seredith. On entering the bindery, Emmett feels a strange sense of familiarity and, after his father leaves, he faints. Seredith reveals that when he fell ill, months earlier, it was at the bindery.

Seredith insists that Emmett was born to be a binder. She patiently teaches him the craft of bookbinding and he is surprised to find that he feels a natural affinity for the work. Seredith explains that the books are created, not to sell, but to honour the individual who requests a binding. Once they are finished, they are stored in a locked vault.

One day, while Emmett is working, a young man arrives at the bindery. After staring intently at him, the stranger tries to tell Emmett something. Emmett, however, is unable to comprehend what he is saying. They are interrupted by Seredith and the stranger, who introduces himself as Lucian Darnay, says that he has come to be bound. When Seredith takes Lucian into the binding room, Emmett faints again.

III

When Emmett wakes he is tied to a bed by his wrist. Seredith tells him that he has been delirious for five days and was suffering from ‘binder’s fever’: a condition only experienced by those who are born to be binders. Remembering Lucian Darnay’s visit, Emmett feels inexplicable terror and frequently dreams about Darnay’s face.

Autumn turns to winter and Emmett is surprised when two women arrive in treacherous, snowy conditions. One of the women is wailing with distress when she enters the bindery but, after she has been bound by Seredith, emerges calm and quiet. Feeling that there is something sinister in the young woman’s blank expression, Emmett questions Seredith about what the binding process involves. She evades giving him an answer.

IV

Emmett is woken by a pounding on the bindery door. He checks on Seredith who declares that the Crusaders have come to kill them. When Emmett answers the door, he is confronted by a group of men, led by an aggressive spokesman. Referring to Seredith as a witch, the man demands his daughter’s book and threatens to burn the bindery to the ground if he does not get it. He instructs Emmett to get Seredith out of the house or she will suffer the same fate as her books. Seredith locks herself inside the bindery, shutting Emmett outside. In response, the men splash oil over the walls, ready to set the building alight with a flaming torch. Emmett tells the men that they will be cursed if they set fire to the house. In a voice which he feels belongs to someone else, he orders them to leave and a driving rain begins to fall. Frightened by Emmett’s use of ‘magic’, the men flee.

Seredith tells Emmett that sixty years earlier, when she was a young woman, Crusaders (members of an anti-binding movement) came for her and her master. In a moment of confusion, she thought it was happening again. When Emmett asks why she locked herself inside, Seredith replies that she guards her books with her life. Later, Emmett notices that Seredith’s binding room has been left unlocked and he goes inside. On the counter is a book bound in black velvet and decorated with the carefully crafted skeleton of a baby.

V

Shocked at his discovery, Emmett accuses Seredith of binding people and stealing their souls. Seredith corrects him, explaining that she only binds the memories that people want to forget. She goes on to tell him that the velvet-bound book belongs to Milly – the girl who arrived in the snow. Emmett is appalled when he learns that Milly buried her own baby alive and insists that she should not be permitted to forget her crime. Seredith explains, however, that the case is not as black and white as it appears, for the man who threatened to burn down the bindery was the baby’s father – and also Milly’s father. When Emmett asks what happens to people if their books burn, Seredith tells him ‘They remember.’

Shortly afterwards, Seredith falls ill. When the postman makes his weekly visit to the bindery, Emmett asks him to send for a doctor and to contact anyone Seredith is in correspondence with.

VI

Emmett nurses Seredith and her condition neither worsens nor greatly improves. One day, he goes into the room where Seredith takes people to be bound and, after a feeling of overwhelming terror, experiences a sense of clarity for the first time. Afterwards, Seredith notices the change in him and observes that he has ‘made peace’ with his calling. She promises to teach him the entire binding process once she has recovered.

Two men arrive at the bindery and introduce themselves as de Havilland and Dr Ferguson. As soon as he crosses the threshold, de Havilland behaves as if he owns the bindery and treats Emmett like a servant. Seredith refuses to let the doctor perform an examination but de Havilland declares that he will stay and keep an eye on her.

VII

Seredith makes it clear to de Havilland that his presence is unwelcome, and Emmett cannot understand why she does not ask him to leave. De Havilland owns a bindery in the town of Castleford and unsuccessfully tries to persuade Seredith to work there. Seredith tells Emmett that, for de Havilland, binding is all about power and money. She makes it clear that she does not want Emmett to become the same sort of binder as their visitor. One morning, after Emmett oversleeps, de Havilland coldly announces that Seredith has died.

VIII

De Havilland declares that Seredith’s death means that he is now Emmett’s master. He plans to take him to his bindery in Castleford where he will learn more ‘progressive’ methods of binding. Here, Emmett’s first job will be to visit a regular client whose maidservant requires a binding. When Emmett protests that he has never bound anyone before, de Havilland is unconcerned. He claims that all Emmett has to do is take a pen and paper, lay hands on the subject, and listen.

During the night, Emmett discovers that his new master has unlocked Seredith’s vault and is emptying the shelves of books. Packing the books in a chest, de Havilland picks out Lucian Darnay’s binding and observes that he had better omit it from the Darnays’ delivery. Emmett accuses de Havilland of stealing the vault key from Seredith’s body, insisting that if she were to entrust it to anyone, it would have been to her apprentice. De Havilland reveals that he is Seredith’s son.

IX

Emmett 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 become a threesome. Desperate to get Lucian alone, Emmett comes up with a plan to keep his sister at home. By hiding one of her boots, he ensures that, when Lucian comes to call, Alta has to stay behind.

Finally alone together, Emmet and Lucian make love at the ruined castle. Afterwards, Lucian repeats his former proposal that Emmett should become his secretary. Eventually persuaded, Emmett also agrees to spend the night with Lucian at Lord Archimbolt’s house.

After spending the night together, Lucian and Emmett ignore a knocking on the front door in the early hours of the morning. Later, Lucian discovers a note from his father instructing him to return to Castleford immediately. Emmett returns home to find that his parents have been crying.

XVIII

Initially assuming that something has happened to Alta, Emmett soon realises that his parents know about his affair with Lucian. Unable to find her hidden boot, Alta had put on her dancing shoes to follow Emmett and Lucian and had seen everything. On hearing what his daughter had witnessed, Mr Farmer had written to Lucian’s father. Confronting their son, Emmett’s parents issue Emmett with an ultimatum – he can continue to be their son but only if he never touches Lucian, or any other man, again.

Soon afterwards, the Farmers receive a visit from Acre – an employee of Lucian’s father. Implying that Lucian is in the habit of seducing young men and women (including the recent conquest of an underage scullery maid), Acre offers to pay for Emmett to visit a binder so that he can forget the whole experience. Determined to retain his memories of Lucian, Emmett turns down the offer. Before leaving, Acre returns the shirt that Emmett once lent to Lucian. When Acre has gone, Emmett finds a message from Lucian sewn into the collar. The note instructs him to go to the crossroads of the Castleford road that night.

XIX

As soon as night falls, Emmett runs to the crossroads When he approaches, however, he realises that the waiting figure is Acre and not Lucian. In a nearby horse and cart, Alta lies, unconscious, under the watchful eye of a thug named Wright. Acre tells Emmett that, if he does as he is told, his sister will receive no further injuries. To underline his point, he produces a sack containing Splotch and restrains Emmett while Wright hits the sack repeatedly with a cudgel.

Taking Emmett to Seredith’s bindery, Acre instructs him to say that he wants to forget about Lucian Darnay. Going into the bindery alone, Emmett repeats his lines to Seredith and darkness consumes him.

PART THREE

XX

Emmett collapses, his memories flooding back to him as his book burns in the hearth. Meanwhile, Lucian looks on dispassionately. Only when Emmett vomits on the rug and falls face down does Lucian finally ring the bell to summon help. Piers Darnay instructs his staff to carry Emmett out of the room and return him to de Havilland’s workshop.

Once they are alone, Lucian confronts his father about his repeated rape and binding of the servants. Taking a perverse pleasure in the fact that his son knows about his crimes, Darnay senior tells Lucian that he is welcome to read any of their servants’ bindings.

Lucian recalls that, only a year earlier, he was his ‘father’s favourite’. Their relationship changed on the day when, alone in his father’s study, he tried to open the curiosity cabinet and discovered a secret bookshelf behind it. The books bore the names of their female servants – many of them repeated several times. Lucian read one of the books until he was discovered by his father and then threatened to tell his mother. His father responded by saying that, if he did so, Mrs Darnay would also have to be bound. Shortly afterwards, Lucian was packed off to his uncle’s house.

Unable to sleep, Lucian goes to Nell’s room and asks to talk to her. When he offers her money and advises her to pack her things, however, Nell assumes that she is being sent away as a punishment. As Lucian tries to explain that he is trying to protect her, Piers Darnay enters the room and instructs his son to tell Nell everything.

XXI

Lucian’s father sits beside Nell and recounts the many times he has raped her. Unable to hear his words, Nell is confused and chews her lip until it oozes with blood. Before leaving her, Darnay senior tells Nell that if she fails to remove the vomit stains from the rug in his study, money will be docked from her wages.

Having demonstrated the futility of his son’s attempt to undo Nell’s binding, Piers Darnay hits Lucian across the face. He then advises his son to put a steak on the injury as a bruised face may deter Honour Ormonde from marrying him.

De Havilland calls on the Darnays to deliver Nell’s binding. Congratulating Lucian on his forthcoming marriage, he suggests that he and his future bride may wish to undertake pre-nuptial bindings – adding that it could be arranged for Lucian to read Miss Ormonde’s. Lucian declines, declaring that he would never agree to be bound under any circumstances. When Piers Darnay opens Nell’s binding, an envelope, addressed to Lucian, falls to the floor. Recognising the handwriting as Emmett’s, Lucian snatches the envelope and throws it in the fire.

XXII

During afternoon tea with the Darnay family, Honour Ormonde asks Lucian to escort her around the garden. Once they are alone, she says she knows that Lucian does not love her but hopes that he will be a kind husband. Honour explains that, since marrying, her sister has regularly been bound and she fears meeting the same fate.

Lucian and Honour are interrupted by an unexpected visit from Emmett. Unapologetically, Lucian tells Emmett that he did not read his letter. He also frostily informs the binder that his visit will have to be brief, as he is due to be fitted for his wedding suit. Visibly distressed at the news of Lucian’s forthcoming marriage, Emmett says there is something he must tell him. When he continues, however, Lucian finds his words unintelligible. Frustrated, Emmett realises that Lucian will not be able to hear or read anything that concerns their shared history. In a final attempt to get through to him, he reveals that Lucian has been bound. Angrily denying this, Lucian suggests that Emmett is trying to blackmail him. Emmett leaves as Lucian rings the bell to have him ejected.

Later, a red-eyed Nell brings Lucian tea and thanks him for trying to help her. Soon afterwards, he hears one of the servants screaming and, following the sounds to his father’s study, sees Nell hanging against the curiosity cabinet. Smashing the cabinet, Lucian uses a shard of glass to cut down Nell’s dead body. Lucian’s father arrives on the scene and, showing no signs of distress, instructs a servant to have Nell’s body removed. When Lucian confronts his father, accusing him of raping Nell again, Piers Darnay declares that he is not the only one with secrets. Confirming that Lucian has been bound, he claims not to know the whereabouts of his book but assures his son that the contents are horrifying.

XXIII

Lucian calls on de Havilland demanding to see Emmett, but the binder tells him that his apprentice has been sacked. De Havilland denies any knowledge of Lucian’s binding and says he cannot help him.

Lucian wanders past the town’s binderies searching for Emmett. Eventually, he finds him, cold and destitute, trying to secure a job at Fogatini’s – one of the most disreputable binderies. Lucian tells Emmett that he wants to get his book back before he gets married in three days’ time. Emmett reveals that the book is in a locked vault in a bindery many miles away. Only de Havilland has the key and Emmett lost his job trying to steal it. Lucian vows that he will get his hands on the key somehow and tells Emmett to stay at a nearby inn until he sends word.

XXIV

Lucian goes to his father, intending to ask for his help in retrieving his book. Back in his father’s study, however, he is reminded of Nell’s death and changes his mind. Trying to conceal the real purpose of his visit, he tells his father he has heard that de Havilland is producing illegal copies of bindings and that Nell’s is one of them.

Unsure what to do next, Lucian roams around Castleford. Spotting de Havilland in the street, he sees that the binder is being followed by Acre and Wright. As he watches, Wright hits de Havilland over the head with a cosh and the two men drag him into an alleyway. Realising that his father has ordered the attack, Lucian approaches the men and pretends that he is in on the plan. Wright reveals that they plan to set fire to de Havilland’s bindery with the binder drugged inside. Claiming that he has his father’s prior approval, Lucian removes a key from de Havilland’s pocket.

XXV

Lucian meets Emmett and reveals that he has de Havilland’s key. They travel to Seredith’s bindery but when they unlock the vault, find it empty. When Emmett notices that Lucian’s hand is bleeding, Lucian tells him about Nell’s suicide and how he injured himself cutting her body down. Emmett gently tends to the wound and Lucian gives in to his impulse to lean against the other man.

XXVI

After spending the night with Emmett, Lucian persuades himself that the sexual encounter meant nothing. Getting up while Emmett is still sleeping, he rides back to Castleford alone.

Lucian returns home just in time for his wedding suit fitting. Then, during a hellish dinner party, he overhears guests gossiping about the fire at de Havilland’s bindery. Escaping into another room, he finds one of the guests – Lord Latworthy – already in situ. Latworthy’s manner is over-familiar and, without much preamble, he takes off Lucian’s tie and begins to unbutton his shirt. Lucian flees the room. Overwhelmed with self-disgust, he assumes that Lord Latworthy must have sensed his depraved nature and reflects on what terrible deeds must lie in his past.

On the day of his wedding, Lucian stands in the Town Hall waiting for Honour to arrive. As he does so, he sees Lord Latworthy among the guests. When the aristocrat gives him a knowing look, Lucian suddenly realises that Latworthy has read his book. Running out of the building, he encounters Emmett, who has been watching the wedding party arrive from a distance. Lucian reveals his theory and Emmett confirms that he knows where Lord Latworthy lives.

XXVII

At Lord Latworthy’s home, the door is answered by a scullery maid. Despite Emmett’s claim that he is there on ‘binder’s business’, she refuses to let them in until Emmett threatens to take away her memories.

Inside Latworthy’s library, there are thousands of books displayed in no obvious order. Eventually, Emmett spots Lucian’s book but cannot retrieve it as the shelf is protected by glass and an iron grille. When he suggests that they break the glass and place a burning coal through the grille to destroy the book, Lucian refuses, insisting that he does not wish to recover his memories. Unable to reason with him, Emmett disregards Lucian’s wishes and takes a coal from the fire with a pair of tongs. Lucian intercepts him, and they wrestle until Emmett falls and hits his head. Realising that the bookshelves are beginning to burn from a stray ember, Lucian grabs a poker and runs up the library staircase towards the fire.

XXVIII

As shouts from outside indicate Lord Latworthy’s return, Lucian tries to smash the grille that still stands between him and his book. Regaining consciousness, Emmett urges him to leave and let it burn, promising to bind him again if he wants him to do so. He kisses Lucian and tells him that he loves him. At that moment, the bookcase housing Lucian’s binding catches fire and Lucian’s memories return.

Lucian wakes in a field near Latworthy’s house. Overwhelmed with happiness, he remembers the details of his former life with Emmett. As Lord Latworthy’s library burns, Lucian expresses concern for the many other people whose memories will be restored. When Emmett reassures him that most of the bindings were trade publications, they picture the joy of the books’ owners as their most cherished memories return to them.