Mr Murray had scarcely time to think that both footman and livery looked familiar before the man was gone.

Inside they found Mr Edwards deep in conversation with John Childermass. As Murray and Shackleton came in, Mr Edwards looked round with a guilty expression, but Childermass was just as usual. “Ah, Mr Murray!” he said. “I am glad to see you, sir. This spares me a walk in the rain.”

“What is happening?” demanded Mr Murray. “What are you doing?”

“Doing? Mr Norrell is purchasing some books. That is all.”

“Ha! If your master means to suppress Mr Strange’s book by buying up all the copies, then he will be disappointed. Mr Norrell is a rich man but he must come to the end of his fortune at last and I can print books as fast as he can buy them.”

“No,’ said Childermass. “You can’t.”

Mr Murray turned to Mr Edwards. “Robert, Robert! Why do you let them tyrannize over you in this fashion?”

Poor Mr Edwards looked most unhappy. “I am sorry, Mr Murray, but the books were all disappearing. I have had to give more than thirty people their money back. I stood to lose a great deal. But now Mr Norrell has offered to buy up my entire stock of Strange’s book and pay me a fair price for them, and so I …”

“Fair?” cried Shackleton, quite unable to bear this. “Fair? What is fair about it, I should like to know? Who do you suppose is making the books disappear in the first place?”

“Quite!” agreed Mr Murray. Turning to Childermass, he said, “You will not attempt to deny that all this is Norrell’s doing?”

“No, no. Upon the contrary Mr Norrell is eager to declare himself responsible. He has a whole list of reasons and will be glad to tell them to any one who will listen.”

“And what are these reasons?” asked Mr Murray, coldly.

“Oh, the usual sort of thing, I expect,” said Childermass, looking, for the first time, slightly evasive. “A letter is being prepared which tells you all about it.”

“And you think that will satisfy me, do you? A letter of apology?”

“Apology? I doubt you will get much in the way of an apology.”

“I intend to speak to my attorney,” said Mr Murray, “this very afternoon.”

“Of course you do. We should not expect any thing less. But be that as it may, it is not Mr Norrell’s intention that you should lose money by this. As soon as you are able to give me an account of all that you have spent in the publication of Mr Strange’s book, I am authorized to give you a banker’s draft for the full amount.”

This was unexpected. Mr Murray was torn between his desire to return Childermass a very rude answer and his consciousness that Norrell was depriving him of a great deal of money and ought in fairness to pay him.

Shackleton poked Mr Murray discreetly in the arm to warn him not to do any thing rash.