This was rather extraordinary and Mr Drawlight and Mr Lascelles looked round at their friend in some surprize.

“Indeed, sir,” said Mr Drawlight, “and no one proposes that you should.”

“Of course I know the form of it,” continued Mr Norrell as if Drawlight had not spoken, “but it is precisely the sort of magic that I have set my face against! – It relies so much upon … It relies so much … That is to say the outcome must be entirely unpredictable. – Quite out of the magician’s power to determine. No! I shall not attempt it. I shall not even think of it.”

There was a short silence. But despite the magician’s resolve to think no more about the dangerous magic, he still fidgeted in his chair and bit his finger-ends and breathed very quick and exhibited other such signs of nervous agitation.

“My dear Mr Norrell,” said Drawlight slowly, “I believe I begin to perceive your meaning. And I must confess that I think the idea an excellent one! You have in mind a great act of magic, a testimony to your extraordinary powers! Why, sir! Should you succeed all the Wintertownes and Poles in England will be on your doorstep soliciting the acquaintance of the wonderful Mr Norrell!”

“And if he should fail,” observed Mr Lascelles, drily, “every one else in England will be shutting his door against the notorious Mr Norrell.”

“My dear Lascelles,” cried Drawlight, “what nonsense you talk! Upon my word, there is nothing in the world so easy to explain as failure – it is, after all, what every body does all the time.”

Mr Lascelles said that that did not follow at all, and they were just beginning to argue about it when an anguished cry burst from the lips of their friend, Mr Norrell.

“Oh, God! What shall I do? What shall I do? I have laboured all these months to make my profession acceptable in the eyes of men and still they despise me! Mr Lascelles, you know the world, tell me …”

“Alas, sir,” interrupted Mr Lascelles quickly, “I make a great point of never giving advice to any one.” And he went back to his newspaper.

“My dear Mr Norrell!” said Drawlight (who did not wait to be asked for his opinion). “Such an opportunity is hardly likely to occur again …” (A potent argument this, and one which caused Mr Norrell to sigh very deeply.) “… and I must say I do not think that I could forgive myself if I allowed you to pass it by. With one stroke you return to us that sweet young woman – whose death no one can hear of without shedding a tear; you restore a fortune to a worthy gentleman; and you re-establish magic as a power in the realm for generations to come! Once you have proved the virtue of your skills – their utility and so forth – who will be able to deny magicians their dues of veneration and praise? They will be quite as much respected as admirals, a great deal more than generals, and probably as much as archbishops and lord chancellors! I should not be at all surprized if His Majesty did not immediately set up a convenient arrangement of degrees with magicians-in-ordinary and magicians-canonical, non-stipendiary magicians and all that sort of thing. And you, Mr Norrell, at the top as Arch-Magician! And all this with one stroke, sir! With one stroke!”