Some of Mr Norrell’s conversation – the more entertaining part – was supplied by Mr Drawlight and Mr Lascelles. They sat upon either side of him, busily conveying his opinions upon modern magic about the table. Magic was a favourite subject that evening. Finding themselves at one and the same time in the presence of England’s only magician and of the most famous subject of his magic, the guests could neither think nor talk of any thing else. Very soon they fell to discussing the numerous claims of successful spells which had sprung up all over the country following Lady Pole’s resurrection.

“Every provincial newspaper seems to have two or three reports,” agreed Lord Castlereagh. “In the Bath Chronicle the other day I read about a man called Gibbons in Milsom-street who awoke in the night because he heard thieves breaking into his house. It seems that this man has a large library of magical books. He tried a spell he knew and turned the housebreakers into mice.”

“Really?” said Mr Canning. “And what happened to the mice?”

“They all ran away into holes in the wainscotting.”

“Ha!” said Mr Lascelles. “Believe me, my lord, there was no magic. Gibbons heard a noise, feared a housebreaker, said a spell, opened a door and found – not housebreakers, but mice. The truth is, it was mice all along. All of these stories prove false in the end. There is an unmarried clergyman and his sister in Lincoln called Malpas who have made it their business to look into supposed instances of magical occurrences and they have found no truth in any of them.”

“They are such admirers of Mr Norrell, this clergyman and his sister!” added Mr Drawlight, enthusiastically. “They are so delighted that such a man has arisen to restore the noble art of English magic! They cannot bear that other people should tell falsehoods and claim to imitate his great deeds! They hate it that other people should make themselves seem important at Mr Norrell’s expense! They feel it as a personal affront! Mr Norrell has been so kind as to supply them with certain infallible means of establishing beyond a doubt the falsity of all such claims and Mr Malpas and Miss Malpas drive about the country in their phaeton confounding these imposters!”

“I believe you are too generous to Gibbons, Mr Lascelles,” said Mr Norrell in his pedantic fashion. “It is not at all certain that he did not have some malicious purpose in making his false claim. At the very least he lied about his library. I sent Childermass to see it and Childermass says there is not a book earlier than 1760. Worthless! Quite worthless!”

“Yet we must hope,” said Lady Pole to Mr Norrell, “that the clergyman and his sister will soon uncover a magician of genuine ability – someone to help you, sir.”

“Oh! But there is no one!” exclaimed Drawlight. “No one at all! You see, in order to accomplish his extraordinary deeds Mr Norrell shut himself away for years and years reading books. Alas, such devotion to the interests of one’s country is very rare! I assure you there is no one else!”