“Oh!” cried Mr Norrell. “I know that in character …” He made a gesture of dismissal. “But what does that matter? We are magicians. That is the beginning and end of me and the beginning and the end of you. It is all that either of us cares about. If you leave this house today and pursue your own course, who will you talk to? – as we are talking now? —there is no one. You will be quite alone.” In a tone almost of pleading, he whispered, “Do not do this!”

Strange stared in perplexity at his master. This was by no means what he had expected. Far from being driven into a passion of fury by Strange’s review, Mr Norrell seemed only to have been provoked into an outburst of honesty and humility. At that moment it seemed to Strange both reasonable and desirable to return to Mr Norrell’s tutelage. It was only pride and the consciousness that he was certain to feel differently in an hour or two which prompted him to say, “I am sorry, Mr Norrell, but ever since I returned from the Peninsula it has not felt right to me to call myself your pupil. I have felt as if I was acting a part. To submit my writings for your approval so that you can make changes in any way that you see fit – it is what I can no longer do. It is making me say what I no longer believe.”

“All, all is to be done in public,” sighed Mr Norrell. He leaned forward and said with more energy, “Be guided by me. Promise me that you will publish nothing, speak nothing, do nothing until you are quite decided upon these matters. Believe me when I tell you that ten, twenty, even fifty years of silence is worth the satisfaction of knowing at the end that you have said what you ought – no more, no less. Silence and inaction will not suit you – I know that. But I promise to make what amends I can. You will not lose by it. If you have ever had cause to consider me ungrateful, you shall not find me so in future. I shall tell everyone how highly I prize you. We shall no longer be tutor and pupil. Let it be a partnership of equals! Have I not in any case learnt almost as much from you as you have from me? The most lucrative business shall all be yours! The books …” He swallowed slightly. “The books which I ought to have lent you and which I have kept from you, you shall read them! We will go to Yorkshire, you and I together – tonight if you wish it! – and I will give you the key to the library and you shall read whatever you desire. I …” Mr Norrell passed his hand across his brow, as if in surprize at his own words. “I shall not even ask for a retraction of the review. Let it stand. Let it stand. And in time, you and I, together, will answer all the questions you raise in it.”