“Good,” said Childermass. “In your interest, Mr Norrell, I have taken care to improve my acquaintance with all Vinculus’s wives. It has always seemed to me nigh on impossible that one of them did not know something that would help us. It seemed to me that all I had to do was to go with them to enough gin-houses, buy them enough gin, and let them talk, and eventually one of them would reveal it to me. Well, I was right. Three weeks ago Nan Purvis told me a story which finally put me on the track of Vinculus’s book.”

“Which one is Nan Purvis?” inquired Lascelles.

“The first. She told me something that happened twenty or thirty years ago when Vinculus and she were first married. They had been drinking at a gin-house. They had spent their money and exhausted their credit and it was time to return to their lodgings. They staggered along the street and in the gutter they saw a creature even worse for drink than themselves. An old man was lying there, dead drunk. The filthy water flowed around him and over his face, and it was only by chance that he did not drown. Something about this wretch caught Vinculus’s eye. It seemed that he recognized him. He went and peered at him. Then he laughed and gave the old man a vicious kick. Nan asked Vinculus who the old man was. Vinculus said his name was Clegg. She asked how he knew him. Vinculus replied angrily that he did not know Clegg. He said he had never known Clegg! What was more, he told her, he was determined never to know him! In short there was no one in the world whom he despised more than Clegg! When Nan complained that this was not a very full explanation, Vinculus grudgingly said that the man was his father. After this he refused to say any more.”

“But what has this to do with any thing?” interrupted Mr Norrell. “Why do you not ask these wives of Vinculus’s about the book?”

Childermass looked annoyed. “I did so, sir. Four years ago. You may remember I told you. None of them knew any thing about it.”

With an exasperated wave of his hand Mr Norrell indicated that Childermass was to continue.