“What of my profit?” asked Mr Murray, trying to gain a little time.

“Oh, you wish that to be taken into consideration, do you? That is only fair, I suppose. Let me speak to Mr Norrell.” With that Childermass bowed and walked out of the shop.

There was no reason for Mr Murray and Shackleton to remain any longer. As soon as they were out in the street again, Mr Murray turned to Shackleton and said, “Go down to Thames-street …” (This was the warehouse where Mr Murray kept his stock.) “… and find out if any of Mr Strange’s books are left. Do not allow Jackson to put you off with a short answer. Make him shew them to you. Tell him I need him to count them and that he must send me the reckoning within the hour.”

When Mr Murray arrived back at Albermarle-street he found three young men loitering in his shop. They shut up their books the moment they saw him, surrounded him in an instant and began talking at once. Mr Murray naturally supposed that they must have come upon the same errand as Mr Green. As two of them were very tall and all of them were loud and indignant, he became rather nervous and signalled to the office-boy to run and fetch help. The office-boy stayed exactly where he was and watched the proceedings with an expression of unwonted interest upon his face.

Some rather violent exclamations from the young men such as, “Desperate villain!” and “Abominable scoundrel!” did little to reassure Mr Murray, but after a few moments he began to understand that it was not he whom they were abusing, but Norrell.

“I beg your pardon, gentlemen,” he said, “but if it is not too much trouble, I wonder if you would do me the kindness of informing me who you are?”

The young men were surprized. They had supposed they were better known than that. They introduced themselves. They were Strange’s three pupils-in-waiting, Henry Purfois, William Hadley-Bright and Tom Levy.

William Hadley-Bright and Henry Purfois were both tall and handsome, while Tom Levy was a small, slight figure with dark hair and eyes. As has already been noted, Hadley-Bright and Purfois were well-born English gentlemen, while Tom was an ex-dancing-master whose forefathers had all been Hebrew. Happily Hadley-Bright and Purfois took very little notice of such distinctions of rank and ancestry. Knowing Tom to be the most talented amongst them, they generally deferred to him in all matters of magical scholarship, and, apart from calling him by his given name (while he addressed them as Mr Purfois and Mr Hadley-Bright) and expecting him to pick up books they left behind them, they were very much inclined to treat him as an equal.

“We cannot sit about doing nothing while this villain, this monster destroys Mr Strange’s great work!” declared Henry Purfois. “Give us something to do, Mr Murray! That is all we ask!”

“And if that something could involve running Mr Norrell through with a very sharp sabre, then so much the better,” added William Hadley-Bright.