Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell (2015): Season 1, Episode 2 - Chapter Two: How Is Lady Pole? - full transcript
Whilst Norrell is celebrated for a daring illusion, persuading the French that the channel is full of English ships, John Segundus and Mr Honeyfoot visit Jonathan and his wife Arabella, introducing them to Mr Norrell. Norrell is impressed by Jonathan's intuitive form of magic and takes him on as his apprentice though he is dismissive of the younger man's belief that all magic stems from the Raven King, the last practitioner of magic in England some three centuries ago. Lady Pole meanwhile is subject to disturbing dreams, imagining herself in Fairy-land, and Norrell summons the Gentleman, who explains that this was the bargain for her revival, which cannot be reversed. The Gentleman also encounters Pole's valet Stephen Black, transporting him too to Fairy-land, where he is promised that he shall be a king. When Lady Pole explains her predicament to Arabella Stephen swears her to secrecy lest the lady be thought mad. Jonathan amazes the onlookers, incurring Norrell's envy, when he re-floats a stricken ship with horses conjured out of sand, prompting the prime minister. Lord Liverpool, to suggest he goes to Portugal to help the English in the Peninsular War against the French.
Who in the world are you?
- I am the greatest magician of the age.
- He murdered her!
Dig up his bones. Let him be punished!
The magician of Hanover Square!
Mr Norr-ell!
I am come, Sir Walter, to offer you my help
in our present difficulties.
- You mean the war?
- Yes.
There's a wonderful street
magician, Vinculus. He's all lies and doom.
I met a man under a hedge
who told me I was a magician.
Then buy these two spells from me, sir.
"One spell to discover
what mine enemy is doing."
Why on earth would you want to do that?
These are horrible, Jonathan.
Sir Walter's bride is dead.
£1,000 a year and quite dead.
It is a very dangerous thing
to bring someone back from the dead.
It has not been done in 300 years.
- Argh!
- Should I agree...
to restore this beautiful young woman to life,
what would be my reward?
Miss Wintertowne!
- My Lord.
- A miracle!
The magician of Hanover Square has restored
the young lady to life... and to dance!
L'ennemi arrive! Aux arrnes!
Allons-y!
Ripped By mstoll
Well done!
The hero of the blockade!
You, sir, are a hero.
You showed those Frenchies!
You sent those Frenchies packing!
Is that Gilby?
Hello, there!
Gilby!
Er... they cannot hear you, my Lord.
Can we see what Wellington is up to?
Good God!
Of course, the most useful thing would be
to have a magician on the spot.
The Peninsula.
- Mr Norrell?
- I-I am a poor traveller.
What about Nelson,
tor another resurrection, sir?
Bring him back to life.
- He was always the Navy's man. Mr Pitt...
- Lord Marlborough!
Sir Walter Raleigh!
No, no, gentlemen,
this magic is extremely dangerous.
Consider the condition of Mr Pitt's body
and, indeed, Lord Nelson's.
Ah, yes. I suppose they must have both
come a deal unravelled by now.
But I can furnish more blockades, gentlemen.
All manner of weather spells.
And... And I have in mind
a line of sea beacons,
magical defences to ensure that these
islands can never be invaded again.
However, it is my belief that we should do
all in our power, even in a time of war,
to ensure that English magic is respectable.
Er... indeed?
Assistance from the government in putting
down disreputable, old-fashioned magic.
The banishment of street
magicians and the like
would help me wonderfully
for the matter in hand.
Do the business you have offered, Mr Norrell,
my government will assist you
in any way you wish.
We shall be the closest of companions, sir.
Starecross Hall,
formerly the shadow house of Miss Absalom.
I think this will suit our purpose nicely,
don't you?
In strict accordance with our contract,
we should not be doing this at all.
I did not sign that contract.
What an awful lot of work.
Yes, but there is so much history here
to inspire the pupils.
Mr Honeyfoot.
To think this house was built with stones
from the castle of the Raven King himself.
Up there will make a splendid refectory for...
There is...
someone performing magic!
What in hell do you think you're doing here?
John?
John! Mr Segundus!
Mr Segundus!
I said, what in hell
do you think you're doing here?
- You with the twice-turned sleeves.
- Jonathan!
Sir, I would beg you to speak to
this gentleman with more respect.
We're here to view this house.
It is for sale.
- You were in my dream.
- The dream, sir, was mine.
I lay down here on purpose to dream it.
I'm of the opinion that in England
a gentleman's dreams are his own concern.
Jonathan, calm down.
You'll have a nosebleed.
It cannot be the same dream.
Arabella, I no longer have nosebleeds.
I have not had a nosebleed since I was 17.
Of course it was the same dream.
A lady in a blue gown with stars on it.
- Miss Absalom? The enchantress?
- Yes.
Miss Absalom, the... Of course. This was
Miss Absalom the enchantress's house!
Now, really, this is most frustrating.
I'd finally managed to summon her
and I cannot now remember how I did it.
How can I call myself a magician
if I cannot control the magic I do?
- You summoned her, sir?
- Yes, and you, you frightened her away!
What?
But nothing like that has been
done in England for... 300 years.
Oh, well.
I got the idea by reading about
Paris Ormskirk, you see.
Ormskirk's spells never worked.
Well, they never worked for anyone,
not even Ormskirk!
Are you magicians?
We were both members of the York Society,
sir, madam.
Our brotherhood was alas closed by Mr Norrell.
Ah, him. The patron saint
of English booksellers.
Ah, sir, you've come too late. I did have
a great many magical books at one time,
but alas I sold them all
to a learned man of Yorkshire.
You mean to say you have done all this
without books?
In a few months?
Well, I... I do have one book.
My wife gave it to me.
Your husband is a marvel, madam.
Oh, I know nothing of magic.
Do take an egg before he eats them all.
So, tell me, what brings
you two to Starecross?
Mr Segundus has ii in mind
to establish a school for magicians.
Oh.
Could do with a school of magic.
I cannot make it do as I wish, you see.
'Tis a continuous leak, an accident.
- Then you should apply to Mr Norrell, sir.
- Hmph.
No, no. In the Raven King's times, sir.
His times, when there were no books of magic,
a young fellow with a talent would knock
on the door of an older magician
and ask to be apprenticed.
You know that Gilbert Norrell
does not look favourably on other magicians.
Not theoretical magicians, to be sure, sir.
Have you read his periodical,
The Friends Of English Magic?
It's about the most ironical title
for anything I ever heard of.
But you are his equal, Mr Strange.
You are his equal.
Well?
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.
It sounds very well.
We shall write to him on your behalf.
Look at what one magician has been able to
accomplish. Only consider what two might do.
He was no more a magician
than I'm the Duchess of Devonshire!
In every provincial newspaper,
there's two or three reports.
I read in the Bath Chronicle a man called
Gibbons turned two housebreakers into mice.
Believe me, my Lady,
there was no magic. We examined it.
It was mice all along.
All these stories prove false in the end.
There is no magic but Mr Norrell's.
There is no one, my Lady.
In order to perform his extraordinary deeds,
Mr Norr-ell shut himself away
for years and years, reading books!
Because I think you must be a little lonely.
Oh, one is never lonely when one has a book.
Beg your pardon, sir.
Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr Norrell.
Stephen, would you mind?
- Sorry.
- Allow me, sir.
I'm most humbly sorry, sir.
Lady Pole's servants have arrived with her
from Hampshire.
They are... country people.
I've not had the training of them.
Country people?
They bring with them
the most absurd superstitions.
I do not know why. They have it in their heads
that the house is haunted.
Bells where there are no
bells and such the like.
It is really very inconvenient
to the proper running of the household.
There.
The only thing he was able to
make disappear was claret. Ha ha ha!
- We should go dancing.
- Of course we should, dear. Perhaps later.
No, I should like to dance now! Come on.
I'm being asked to dance,
I cannot refuse my wife.
Lord Liverpool, will you join us?
Please, dancing, everybody.
So, slow down! I'm coming.
Grant me half her fife.
Half a life... is better than none.
- Good morning, my dear.
- Good morning.
Shall I fetch your glove?
Are you well, Emma?
Yes, Sir Walter, quite well.
I must be at the House.
There is a dance tonight at Lady Godesdone's?
I'm tired of dancing.
I'm sick of it.
I do not wish to dance any more.
My dear.
Mr Norrell.
Sir Walter tells me
you have not quite been yourself.
Yes. Um...
Well, so, you see,
it began two or three nights ago, I...
There was once a Christian,
named Julius Caesar, who...
Forgive me, um...
...who landed in England and was met by
three gentlemen, all named John Hollyshoes.
Sir, forgive me, that...
Forgive me, that was not what I meant to say.
- Please say what you wish.
- Would you like a glass of water, my dear?
No, um...
The master of the castle of Pity Me had
a magical ring that was stolen by his daughter
and eaten by a Christian goose
at St Matthew's feast.
Forgive me.
Mr Norrell, Walter.
Please.
Please...
As much as it pains me to say it, sir,
I do not believe that whatever has distressed
her Ladyship is within my power to remedy.
But the doctors found nothing.
Not even a cold. Is it not part of the magic?
Whatever ailment her Ladyship has seems
to me to be more spiritual than physical,
- and so belongs to neither magic nor medicine.
- What is her ailment?
I'm sorry. I can do nothing for Lady Pole.
Magic cannot cure madness.
What do you mean by summoning me here?
What have you done to Lady Pole?
I am bringing my Lady to a ball.
A gentleman must prepare.
I summoned you because you cheated me.
I have kept to the terms of our agreement.
- Half her life.
- Yes.
But I thought she would just live to 40
and then seem to die.
I never said so.
I have done what you asked
and now I may come and go as I please.
If you were truly concerned
for Lady Pole's happiness...
I do not,
I care about the success of English magic.
Her husband is my champion
and you are bringing him very low.
It is entirely mysterious to me why you
prefer the help of this person to mine.
What if he were to mistrust me?
Then I shall raise him up
to some lofty position.
He shall be Prime Minister,
or Emperor of Great Britain perhaps?
- I merely want him to be pleased with me.
- Her husband will never know.
No one will ever know where she is
when she sleeps.
Half her life, that was our bargain.
I wish for you to return to your lands.
I wish for you to go there and never come back.
And I was going there
when you summoned me so rudely
and in such ignorance of the proper
customs and forms of magical etiquette.
I could teach you these proper forms.
I can teach you to raise up mountains,
crush your enemies beneath them.
Yes, and you can shackle English magic
to your whims.
You can steal English men and women
from their homes
and you can trap them
in a world of your degenerate race.
Well, I forbid it, sir. I forbid it.
A person may call and call in this house
and yet no one comes.
There is to be a ball tonight,
at Lost-Hope.
And look at me.
I...
How can I meet my Lady like this?
I'm sorry, sir.
Nobody told me you were here.
I must say...
my own ignorant fellow
was not hall your skill.
This is exactly the sort of task I like, sir.
How splendid we look.
But I have taken you for
a servant in this house.
That is quite impossible.
As your reward, Stephen, as my gift...
...I invite you to join
us at our ball tonight.
Do you accept?
Thank you... sir.
The bargain is done.
Will you pass me my little box?
It is a token I wish my Lady to wear.
I invite you to our ball tonight.
The bargain is done.
Mr Black?
Mr Black?
I am so troubled by this bell, sir.
It calls to mind everyone I have ever known
who's died.
Geoffrey.
I have accepted a position
at the Duchess of Devotions.
Are you all right, Mr Black?
I ache.
As does a man who's been dancing all night.
Well, I wish you the best of happiness of it.
Alfred...
...it is your task at this time to lay
out the silver for Mrs Brandy to polish.
Alfred is going back to Hampshire, sir,
to look after his uncle's chickens.
This looks like a magician's house to me.
Do you remember my mother?
Just.
She used to bring me to London
when I was small.
An escape from Father, I suppose.
I'm sure my husband will be kinder than hers.
He will do his best.
Come. Let's see that you're ready.
Never met a magician before.
Not a real one.
A gentleman's magazine
is an odd place to write about magic.
Mr Murray's Friends Of English Magic
is the only reputable periodical.
It's personally approved by Mr Norrell.
- Yes I-I-I have read it.
- Mr Lascelles is the editor.
Perhaps it was reading the Friends
that made you decide to become a magician?
No.
No, to own the truth,
I'd not even heard of Mr Norrell.
I met a strange man under a hedge.
This is all most entertaining, Strange. But the
fact of the matter is that it really won't do.
Oh?
Mr Norrell is the only
magician in England, sir.
That is a fact.
Understandable for an idle chap to want
to amuse himself in this fashionable way.
I should be very glad to see some
of Mr Strange's magic now.
- Mr Norrell...
- If he would favour us.
- Mr Norrell, please.
- Let the man...
do his trick, sir.
Nothing would give me greater pleasure.
This is one of my own spells.
Oh, Mr Strange.
Oh, my dear Mr Strange, this is remarkable.
I have never even heard of such magic.
This is not recorded, sir.
This is not in... This is not in Sutton-Grove.
- Is it a different colour?
- Pick it up. Pick it up, pick it up.
It is backward, it...
That is the reflection.
The real one is in the mirror.
I apologise, sir,
I do not know how to bring it back.
To own the truth,
I have only the haziest notion of what I did.
Well, how did you do it
if you did not know how you did it?
It's like music playing at
the back of one's head.
You understand what I mean, Mr Norrell?
Hearing it for the very first
time and yet one, somehow,
simply knows what the following note will be.
Yes.
Yes, I do understand what you mean.
I have taken the liberty of drawing up a plan
of study tor the next ten years.
It is such a very short time, Mr Strange.
I cannot see that we will achieve very much.
Er...
Ten years. There is rather more to learn
than I had supposed, sir.
The practice of magic is full of frustrations
and disappointment,
but the study is a continual delight.
- Where do you begin?
- Here.
Ah, yes, I see.
How many centuries is it do you think since
two English magicians last sat down together?
I-I-I'm not so very clever on magicians.
I only really know the Raven King.
Yes, well, we must have respectable magic,
above all. Let us make that our first task.
The magio-historian,
Valentine Munday, has many failings,
but he is very strong on the Magicians
of the Golden Age, the so called aureates.
I am sure we will get from him the last time
an English magician took an apprentice.
I have his book... here.
You wish me to read this book, sir?
Yes, indeed.
Then you must give it to me.
Yes.
And Chester's Language Of Birds.
My favourite book. Here we are.
- Ha ha ha!
- What is that?
Most peculiar sound.
I think Mr Norrell is laughing.
We shall have to do something
about this... friendship.
I was wondering when we will come
to the magic of fairies?
I mean to say that, for example, Lanchester
here quotes a book by Ralph Stokesy,
detailing the spells by which he found
his fairy servant, Col Tom Blue.
I-I-I don't know that.
- I do not have that book.
- Sir, you've made a note of the shelf reference.
No, I do not have that book.
Erm... yes, perhaps... perhaps I'm wrong.
Stephen!
Stop them, Stephen! Stop them!
Ahh!
My Lady. My Lady, be calm.
What is it?
My dear? What... What might I do?
These bells.
These bells. They summon me.
They call me to the dance
and I must go through the minors.
Bells?
St Georges.
They struck seven and ii set her to this.
Perhaps you have tired yourself. Stephen.
- No! No!
- Yes.
- No, I must not go to sleep.
- Come on.
No!
No! No!
No!
Stephen, my dear fellow.
How noble you look.
Seeing you so...
I know you are truly destined...
to be a king.
The nameless slave
shall be a king in a strange land.
I have... I have certainly dreamt of you.
Lost-Hope is no dream.
It is the finest of my mansions.
You are merely under an enchantment
that brings you each night to join our revels.
We have been dancing there for days...
...and days...
and days.
Forgive me, sir. If you were to
find it in your heart to release...
No. That is impossible.
The bargain was made.
I do not know what I've done
to deserve such kindness, sir.
I'm sure I've not done anything at all.
Sir?
Yours are the most excellent manners, Stephen.
Sir.
(Music plays}
Lady Pole?
Lady Pole!
Lady Pole!
Lady Pole!
Lady Pole!
I do find it queer that he is so against
the Raven King and the notion of fairies.
The Duke of Roxburghe has died.
It says here that he has a lot of debts
and a very large library.
I mean, we're not to touch upon it at all.
- It seems to me the key to everything.
- I need to find out more about that.
You need your own books, Jonathan.
There's a myth that the Raven King
wrote a book.
We ought to visit your aunt.
We should thank her for finding Mary for us.
- Who?
- New maid.
Do we have a new maid?
You're greatly changed by your occupation.
I'm sure a month ago you would have certainly
noticed a new maid.
It's like attending a priest's seminary
and being taught nothing about God.
In fact, being given the impression
that God is wholly irrelevant.
What do you mean, I would certainly
have noticed a new maid?
- Sir Walter Pole, sir.
- Excuse the interruption, Mr Strange.
Madam.
The blockade - three French destroyers slipped
through. We do not know where they are.
Er... I believe Mr Norrell has gone...
We do not have the time
to find Mr Norrell, sir.
Our boats must catch the tide.
You will do, will you not?
Come in.
Dratted watch must be fast.
- Sony?
- Midday, no bells.
The bells in this neighbourhood
are no longer rung.
Why ever not?
My wife's illness has left her nerves
in a sad condition.
The tolling of a bell is
very distressing to her.
I shall not detain your husband long, madam.
Perhaps a tea? Seed cake?
Arabella does not care for seed cake.
It is a thing that she particularly dislikes.
Arabella is not a three year old, Jonathan.
Go.
The locating of objects
is a particularly imprecise form of magic,
- that I have not yet mastered.
- Indeed.
Well, I'm sure you'll do your best.
Mr Norrell seems particularly disinclined.
Er... through here.
Oh, I beg your pardon.
Don't think of going.
It's so rare that I see anyone.
So many mournful little boats and buildings
and skies, they seem to lose the people.
Venice is a labyrinth.
A vast and beautiful labyrinth, to be sure,
but a labyrinth no less.
I would give anything to go there.
If you had spent eternity, as I have done,
wearily parading up and down dark alleyways,
you would feel differently.
I'm Arabella Strange.
My husband has the erm... honour
of being Mr Norrell's assistant and pupil.
Norrell?
Mm.
We've heard much of the great friendship
that he's extended to you.
Norrell is no friend to me.
I would be better dead than as I am.
Looks to me as though they have headed
for the West Indies. Erm...
There, I think Captain McBrien has gone
in search of them, if that would make sense?
- Mm-hm.
- I should take this to Mr Norrell.
Does he ever speak of my wife?
Er...
No, sir.
He is a very modest man.
He will not speak of her to me neither.
It is a closed subject.
Tell me, does your husband perform magic
by himself or only under Norrell's eye?
Well, if there's anything that your Ladyship
would like me to ask Mr Strange,
- if there's any service he can do...
- What I have to tell you
is more for your husbands sake than mine.
I fear I am lost.
Mr Strange should know
what kind of a man he is dealing with.
What was done to Lady Pole?
How was it done?
There are many books
that I am not yet permitted to read.
Is there any way in which it may be undone?
Undone?
I fear neither of us can bear it much longer.
I will enquire.
I cannot promise an answer, sir...
Thank you.
I should warn you, I have made many attempts
to tell people of what has been done
and I have not yet succeeded.
In 1607,
there was a silversmith named Redshaw
who lived in the Kingdom of Halifax,
West Yorkshire, who inherited a Turkish rug.
He woke to find the carpet covered in legions
of tiny people about two inches high.
They rode white polecats
and were battling with knives and forks.
I'm sorry, that is not what I meant to say.
Madam, may I implore you deeply to say nothing
of what you've heard here today?
When anyone new comes to the house,
Lady Pole is excited to these...
...outlandish speeches.
It is of great distress to Sir Walter
that anyone should know of this private grief.
I hope they will let you come again,
Mrs Strange.
I see no one.
Or rather I see roomfuls of people
and not a Christian amongst them.
- Except for Stephen, of course.
- I'm sorry, my Lady.
It's hardly your fault.
Goodbye.
I do not understand why Sir Walter
would have come to you, Mr Strange,
when it was only the matter of an hour or two.
Some urgency about the tides...
It really was an ill-mannered thing,
since I was engaged
in attempting to establish
his wretched sea beacons.
And of little use
since you can hardly have found the ships.
You did not find the ships, did you?
They wish this in an impossibly short time.
1,000 miles of coast are surrounded.
- It will take years.
- Do you wish me to assist you, sir?
Where do you begin?
Portsmouth, naturally.
And you're using Belasis?
I'm adding Pevensey's spells
of Ward and Watch. There.
May I ask a question?
I mean, Sir Walter is primarily concerned
that I should put a bell on them.
A bell! I ask you!
I'm so sorry. What was your question?
Well, I read more and
more of the Raven King.
Is not fairy magic useful?
It's usefulness is much exaggerated
and the dangers are much underestimated.
Forgive me, but what are the dangers?
Please believe me that almost all forms
of respectable magic
are achievable
without the assistance of anyone.
What have I ever done
that needed a fairy's help?
I do not know.
The question was rhetorical.
But does not all English magic
come from the Raven King?
Who was stolen away to a fairy court
and who was raised and learnt his magic...
The Raven King rode out of these lands
300 years ago...
...abandoning us,
and abandoning English magic.
If we cannot make his name and the name
of his fairy servants utterly forgotten,
then it is our duty, yours and mine,
to broadcast our hatred of him.
To let ii be known everywhere our abhorrence
of his corrupt nature and his evil deeds.
Forgive me, Mr Strange, I have a headache.
- I have a terrible headache.
- Yes.
Yes, of course.
Gentlemen.
You should read this.
- The Duke of Roxburghe...
- Is dead.
- Should we um...
- No, no.
Let us wait.
Oh, well.
Ah, there you are.
I hope you do not mind me bringing you here,
Stephen.
Oh, do not concern yourself about him.
He can neither see nor hear us.
He attempts to summon me,
but I do not allow myself to be seen.
Look, he is just as stupid as the other one.
The other one?
And very nearly as ugly.
What?
Bell?
Bell?
Yes, darling?
Sshh.
Can you hear voices next door?
I could swear I heard one person
call the other stupid and ugly.
Really?
I think two old ladies live on that side.
Well, we should be going soon.
Norrell is not likely to be late.
Jonathan, do you remember the first spell
that you cast,
the spell lo find out what my enemy
is doing presently?
That was only the name of the spell
on the scrap of paper.
Sir?
Do you remember who you were shown?
Who your enemy was?
How could Mr Norrell be my enemy?
Come, dear, we must be ready
to leave for Portsmouth.
What a strikingly attractive woman.
Sir.
The Government's situation is, I'm afraid,
madam, about as bad as it could possibly be.
The French are everywhere triumphant.
Our allies have discovered their mistake
and become our enemies.
Trade is ruined by the war.
The harvest has failed for two straight years
and the King has gone mad again.
Everywhere things are going to ruin.
Apart, of course, from magic.
Magic has become a booming industry.
It is done.
The sea defences are now in place.
I cannot see anything.
You will not see anything.
They are invisible.
But they are there.
It is done.
Huzzah to Mr Norr-ell!
Hip, hip!
Huzzah.
Huzzah to baffling the French Navy! Hip, hip.
- Excuse me.
- Huzzah!
Congratulations.
You must be exhausted, an extraordinary feat.
What about these beacons, sir?
Why did he not put a bell on them?
Will they work, do you think?
If Mr Norrell says they work, then...
You really think it will repel the French?
I believe Strange and Sir Walter
accord very well together.
They are men of a similar temperament.
How are you finding Portsmouth, sir?
I dislike Portsmouth intensely.
Jonathan...
Jonathan...
Beg pardon, sir.
The Port Admiral has sent to say that a packet
ship has run aground upon Horse Sand.
Right.
The other magician has a headache
and will not come.
Right, well tell the Port,
whatever he's called...
Admiral.
Tell him to wait, I'm coming.
Don't dozens of ships go in and out of here
every day? How did this happen?
Presumably, the invisible beacon.
So, the boat's on her side.
Um... shall I just turn her up?
Good God, no. You'll split the keel in two.
- They'll all drown.
- A fresher breeze will move her at high water.
Well, I can make a fresher breeze.
We've done that.
No, good God, what are you thinking?
It's coming Sou'west.
You'll batter her on the sands.
They'll all drown.
What is the sand called?
The sand?
The thing, what... the ship is standing on,
the Horse's... something.
It is a shoal and it is called Horse Sand.
Excuse me.
Good.
What the hell are they?
They're called horses.
I made them out of Horse Sand.
Hot rolls and marmalade, anyone?
Morning, sir.
Gentlemen.
Do you still have that newspaper?
Yes, Henry.
I do.
We should send Mr Strange to the Peninsula.
Norrell won't be pleased.
Norrell never is.
Send him to Portugal!
I'm astonished you would even suggest
such a thing.
Every man must be prepared to make sacrifices
for his country in time of war.
- Many thousands have done so.
- Yes, but they were soldiers.
I daresay a soldier is
valuable in his own way.
Have you considered, sir, the great respect
it might achieve for English magic?
Nothing is more likely to evoke the Raven King
and that mischievous, reckless magic
than an English magician on a battlefield.
People will start to think that we consort
with fairies and talk to owls and bears and...
No, sir. No, no, I'm afraid not.
Mr Strange must stay and assist me and learn.
And nothing will sway me from this.
Nothing.
They're going to sell
the Duke of Roxburghe's books.
Well, now that he is dead, the first concern
of the new Duke will be the estate's debts.
He will be looking for something to sell,
and yes, as you know,
he does have a very fine library
with many magical volumes.
What you afraid of now?
Book sales are the thing
most calculated to please you.
Yes, but that was before.
When no one in England had interest
in books of magic, but me.
Now I fear many people might try to buy them.
And he has a copy
of Revelations Of Thirty-Six Different Worlds.
I've been after that for years.
But if these books are bought by someone else,
you may complain to the ministers.
It is not in the interest of the nation
that books of magic
should be in anyone's possession but your own.
Oh, except Strange, of course.
Oh, I had forgot Strange.
Surely Mr Strange would understand that it is
proper for the books to be mine, would he not?
Oh. Mr Strange is a gentleman.
He will behave as a gentleman
and expect you to do the same.
If the books were offered privately to you
alone, then I expect you may buy them.
But if they are auctioned,
he will feel entitled to bid against you.
And how do you suppose
these books will be sold?
By private transaction or by auction?
Auction.
Mr Strange, please.
Your leaving is of great pain to me, sir.
It is of great pain.
I hope, sir, that your change of heart does not
result from any offence I may have given you?
Oh, no, no. Mr Strange.
In the past, I've feared the appearance
of another magician,
but when it happened I was delighted.
I fear I am sending you to the war unprepared.
In which case, I wonder...
if I might take some books with me.
- Books?
- I fear I'll need books, if I am to perform magic.
I should not imagine I would need to take
more than about... 40.
- 40?
- Yes, you couldn't carry more than 40.
Carry them about!
No! No, they must be in a library.
No, you must put them in
a library in a castle.
It is so very dirty abroad.
They shall be little use to him in a library.
He will be in battlefields and so must they.
Well, can... can we not have
some sort of iron box made?
Saddlebags.
Thank you, Childermass.
You've done so very much for me, sir.
I hope with all my heart to come back safely and
to live as your friend and assistant once again.
Give me your list.
I believe Mr Strange
will do very well in the war, sir.
He's already outmanoeuvred you.
I wish I'd never come to London.
Room for more?
I wish I'd never undertaken
to restore English magic.
I should have stayed at Hurtfew,
reading and doing spells for my own pleasure.
None of it is worth the loss of 40 books!
You are of no help!
Why do you make me sleep?
Why at every request do you insist that I sleep?
Why can you not control yourself?
You're of no help! Nothing
you do is of any help!
Nothing is of the least help!
- You do not understand.
- What is it?
- Sir, I...
- Please!
Stephen, why is the house in such disorder?
- Sir.
- Why have you not found new staff?
- I...
- I am lost!
You are as dull and heavy as the rest of them!
Lady Pole is to be confined to her room.
Lost. I am lost.
Good morning.
Well, not married a year
and he runs away to join the army.
Wars do not last forever, Bell.
But they do tend to be dangerous.
Jonathan, when I saw Lady Pole
at Harley Street,
I promised her that I
should tell you something.
What is it?
She told me that a man from Halifax
bought a new rug
and he fell asleep beside the fire
and when he awoke...
...he saw lots of little people
running about upon it.
Lady Pole is not in her wits.
She hates Mr Norrell, Jonathan.
I-I must go.
- I love you, Bell.
- I love you too.
Be careful.
I shall write every day.
I will look out for you, Bell.
I would rather you look our for yourself.
Ladies and gentlemen.
If I could have your attention.
Thank you. Gentlemen.
And we'll begin with an assortment of volumes
from the Duke of Roxburghe's library.
This is the second greatest collection
of magical books in the land.
And this first lot,
who will start me at 200 guineas?
200 guineas.
Do I hear any advance on 200...?
220 guineas, sir.
Thank you. 240?
260? 260 guineas?
280 guineas. Thank you, 300 guineas?
300 guineas.
Do I hear any advance on 300 guineas?
And 300 guineas.
350 guineas, madam. Thank you.
400 guineas?
Thank you, sir.
400 guineas.
500 guineas?
600?
700 guineas?
800 guineas? Madam. Thank you.
800 guineas.
Any advance on 800 guineas?
With the lady. At 800 guineas.
Mr Norrell.
Going once...
- Sir, sir, your books.
- Going twice.
- Your books, sir.
- 2,000 guineas!
2,000 guineas?
Do I hear any advance on 2,000 guineas?
Going once. Going twice.
And sold.
Mr Norrell. Hanover Square.
No, thank you, no.
Excuse me.
Ripped By mstoll
- I am the greatest magician of the age.
- He murdered her!
Dig up his bones. Let him be punished!
The magician of Hanover Square!
Mr Norr-ell!
I am come, Sir Walter, to offer you my help
in our present difficulties.
- You mean the war?
- Yes.
There's a wonderful street
magician, Vinculus. He's all lies and doom.
I met a man under a hedge
who told me I was a magician.
Then buy these two spells from me, sir.
"One spell to discover
what mine enemy is doing."
Why on earth would you want to do that?
These are horrible, Jonathan.
Sir Walter's bride is dead.
£1,000 a year and quite dead.
It is a very dangerous thing
to bring someone back from the dead.
It has not been done in 300 years.
- Argh!
- Should I agree...
to restore this beautiful young woman to life,
what would be my reward?
Miss Wintertowne!
- My Lord.
- A miracle!
The magician of Hanover Square has restored
the young lady to life... and to dance!
L'ennemi arrive! Aux arrnes!
Allons-y!
Ripped By mstoll
Well done!
The hero of the blockade!
You, sir, are a hero.
You showed those Frenchies!
You sent those Frenchies packing!
Is that Gilby?
Hello, there!
Gilby!
Er... they cannot hear you, my Lord.
Can we see what Wellington is up to?
Good God!
Of course, the most useful thing would be
to have a magician on the spot.
The Peninsula.
- Mr Norrell?
- I-I am a poor traveller.
What about Nelson,
tor another resurrection, sir?
Bring him back to life.
- He was always the Navy's man. Mr Pitt...
- Lord Marlborough!
Sir Walter Raleigh!
No, no, gentlemen,
this magic is extremely dangerous.
Consider the condition of Mr Pitt's body
and, indeed, Lord Nelson's.
Ah, yes. I suppose they must have both
come a deal unravelled by now.
But I can furnish more blockades, gentlemen.
All manner of weather spells.
And... And I have in mind
a line of sea beacons,
magical defences to ensure that these
islands can never be invaded again.
However, it is my belief that we should do
all in our power, even in a time of war,
to ensure that English magic is respectable.
Er... indeed?
Assistance from the government in putting
down disreputable, old-fashioned magic.
The banishment of street
magicians and the like
would help me wonderfully
for the matter in hand.
Do the business you have offered, Mr Norrell,
my government will assist you
in any way you wish.
We shall be the closest of companions, sir.
Starecross Hall,
formerly the shadow house of Miss Absalom.
I think this will suit our purpose nicely,
don't you?
In strict accordance with our contract,
we should not be doing this at all.
I did not sign that contract.
What an awful lot of work.
Yes, but there is so much history here
to inspire the pupils.
Mr Honeyfoot.
To think this house was built with stones
from the castle of the Raven King himself.
Up there will make a splendid refectory for...
There is...
someone performing magic!
What in hell do you think you're doing here?
John?
John! Mr Segundus!
Mr Segundus!
I said, what in hell
do you think you're doing here?
- You with the twice-turned sleeves.
- Jonathan!
Sir, I would beg you to speak to
this gentleman with more respect.
We're here to view this house.
It is for sale.
- You were in my dream.
- The dream, sir, was mine.
I lay down here on purpose to dream it.
I'm of the opinion that in England
a gentleman's dreams are his own concern.
Jonathan, calm down.
You'll have a nosebleed.
It cannot be the same dream.
Arabella, I no longer have nosebleeds.
I have not had a nosebleed since I was 17.
Of course it was the same dream.
A lady in a blue gown with stars on it.
- Miss Absalom? The enchantress?
- Yes.
Miss Absalom, the... Of course. This was
Miss Absalom the enchantress's house!
Now, really, this is most frustrating.
I'd finally managed to summon her
and I cannot now remember how I did it.
How can I call myself a magician
if I cannot control the magic I do?
- You summoned her, sir?
- Yes, and you, you frightened her away!
What?
But nothing like that has been
done in England for... 300 years.
Oh, well.
I got the idea by reading about
Paris Ormskirk, you see.
Ormskirk's spells never worked.
Well, they never worked for anyone,
not even Ormskirk!
Are you magicians?
We were both members of the York Society,
sir, madam.
Our brotherhood was alas closed by Mr Norrell.
Ah, him. The patron saint
of English booksellers.
Ah, sir, you've come too late. I did have
a great many magical books at one time,
but alas I sold them all
to a learned man of Yorkshire.
You mean to say you have done all this
without books?
In a few months?
Well, I... I do have one book.
My wife gave it to me.
Your husband is a marvel, madam.
Oh, I know nothing of magic.
Do take an egg before he eats them all.
So, tell me, what brings
you two to Starecross?
Mr Segundus has ii in mind
to establish a school for magicians.
Oh.
Could do with a school of magic.
I cannot make it do as I wish, you see.
'Tis a continuous leak, an accident.
- Then you should apply to Mr Norrell, sir.
- Hmph.
No, no. In the Raven King's times, sir.
His times, when there were no books of magic,
a young fellow with a talent would knock
on the door of an older magician
and ask to be apprenticed.
You know that Gilbert Norrell
does not look favourably on other magicians.
Not theoretical magicians, to be sure, sir.
Have you read his periodical,
The Friends Of English Magic?
It's about the most ironical title
for anything I ever heard of.
But you are his equal, Mr Strange.
You are his equal.
Well?
Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell.
It sounds very well.
We shall write to him on your behalf.
Look at what one magician has been able to
accomplish. Only consider what two might do.
He was no more a magician
than I'm the Duchess of Devonshire!
In every provincial newspaper,
there's two or three reports.
I read in the Bath Chronicle a man called
Gibbons turned two housebreakers into mice.
Believe me, my Lady,
there was no magic. We examined it.
It was mice all along.
All these stories prove false in the end.
There is no magic but Mr Norrell's.
There is no one, my Lady.
In order to perform his extraordinary deeds,
Mr Norr-ell shut himself away
for years and years, reading books!
Because I think you must be a little lonely.
Oh, one is never lonely when one has a book.
Beg your pardon, sir.
Oh, I'm so sorry, Mr Norrell.
Stephen, would you mind?
- Sorry.
- Allow me, sir.
I'm most humbly sorry, sir.
Lady Pole's servants have arrived with her
from Hampshire.
They are... country people.
I've not had the training of them.
Country people?
They bring with them
the most absurd superstitions.
I do not know why. They have it in their heads
that the house is haunted.
Bells where there are no
bells and such the like.
It is really very inconvenient
to the proper running of the household.
There.
The only thing he was able to
make disappear was claret. Ha ha ha!
- We should go dancing.
- Of course we should, dear. Perhaps later.
No, I should like to dance now! Come on.
I'm being asked to dance,
I cannot refuse my wife.
Lord Liverpool, will you join us?
Please, dancing, everybody.
So, slow down! I'm coming.
Grant me half her fife.
Half a life... is better than none.
- Good morning, my dear.
- Good morning.
Shall I fetch your glove?
Are you well, Emma?
Yes, Sir Walter, quite well.
I must be at the House.
There is a dance tonight at Lady Godesdone's?
I'm tired of dancing.
I'm sick of it.
I do not wish to dance any more.
My dear.
Mr Norrell.
Sir Walter tells me
you have not quite been yourself.
Yes. Um...
Well, so, you see,
it began two or three nights ago, I...
There was once a Christian,
named Julius Caesar, who...
Forgive me, um...
...who landed in England and was met by
three gentlemen, all named John Hollyshoes.
Sir, forgive me, that...
Forgive me, that was not what I meant to say.
- Please say what you wish.
- Would you like a glass of water, my dear?
No, um...
The master of the castle of Pity Me had
a magical ring that was stolen by his daughter
and eaten by a Christian goose
at St Matthew's feast.
Forgive me.
Mr Norrell, Walter.
Please.
Please...
As much as it pains me to say it, sir,
I do not believe that whatever has distressed
her Ladyship is within my power to remedy.
But the doctors found nothing.
Not even a cold. Is it not part of the magic?
Whatever ailment her Ladyship has seems
to me to be more spiritual than physical,
- and so belongs to neither magic nor medicine.
- What is her ailment?
I'm sorry. I can do nothing for Lady Pole.
Magic cannot cure madness.
What do you mean by summoning me here?
What have you done to Lady Pole?
I am bringing my Lady to a ball.
A gentleman must prepare.
I summoned you because you cheated me.
I have kept to the terms of our agreement.
- Half her life.
- Yes.
But I thought she would just live to 40
and then seem to die.
I never said so.
I have done what you asked
and now I may come and go as I please.
If you were truly concerned
for Lady Pole's happiness...
I do not,
I care about the success of English magic.
Her husband is my champion
and you are bringing him very low.
It is entirely mysterious to me why you
prefer the help of this person to mine.
What if he were to mistrust me?
Then I shall raise him up
to some lofty position.
He shall be Prime Minister,
or Emperor of Great Britain perhaps?
- I merely want him to be pleased with me.
- Her husband will never know.
No one will ever know where she is
when she sleeps.
Half her life, that was our bargain.
I wish for you to return to your lands.
I wish for you to go there and never come back.
And I was going there
when you summoned me so rudely
and in such ignorance of the proper
customs and forms of magical etiquette.
I could teach you these proper forms.
I can teach you to raise up mountains,
crush your enemies beneath them.
Yes, and you can shackle English magic
to your whims.
You can steal English men and women
from their homes
and you can trap them
in a world of your degenerate race.
Well, I forbid it, sir. I forbid it.
A person may call and call in this house
and yet no one comes.
There is to be a ball tonight,
at Lost-Hope.
And look at me.
I...
How can I meet my Lady like this?
I'm sorry, sir.
Nobody told me you were here.
I must say...
my own ignorant fellow
was not hall your skill.
This is exactly the sort of task I like, sir.
How splendid we look.
But I have taken you for
a servant in this house.
That is quite impossible.
As your reward, Stephen, as my gift...
...I invite you to join
us at our ball tonight.
Do you accept?
Thank you... sir.
The bargain is done.
Will you pass me my little box?
It is a token I wish my Lady to wear.
I invite you to our ball tonight.
The bargain is done.
Mr Black?
Mr Black?
I am so troubled by this bell, sir.
It calls to mind everyone I have ever known
who's died.
Geoffrey.
I have accepted a position
at the Duchess of Devotions.
Are you all right, Mr Black?
I ache.
As does a man who's been dancing all night.
Well, I wish you the best of happiness of it.
Alfred...
...it is your task at this time to lay
out the silver for Mrs Brandy to polish.
Alfred is going back to Hampshire, sir,
to look after his uncle's chickens.
This looks like a magician's house to me.
Do you remember my mother?
Just.
She used to bring me to London
when I was small.
An escape from Father, I suppose.
I'm sure my husband will be kinder than hers.
He will do his best.
Come. Let's see that you're ready.
Never met a magician before.
Not a real one.
A gentleman's magazine
is an odd place to write about magic.
Mr Murray's Friends Of English Magic
is the only reputable periodical.
It's personally approved by Mr Norrell.
- Yes I-I-I have read it.
- Mr Lascelles is the editor.
Perhaps it was reading the Friends
that made you decide to become a magician?
No.
No, to own the truth,
I'd not even heard of Mr Norrell.
I met a strange man under a hedge.
This is all most entertaining, Strange. But the
fact of the matter is that it really won't do.
Oh?
Mr Norrell is the only
magician in England, sir.
That is a fact.
Understandable for an idle chap to want
to amuse himself in this fashionable way.
I should be very glad to see some
of Mr Strange's magic now.
- Mr Norrell...
- If he would favour us.
- Mr Norrell, please.
- Let the man...
do his trick, sir.
Nothing would give me greater pleasure.
This is one of my own spells.
Oh, Mr Strange.
Oh, my dear Mr Strange, this is remarkable.
I have never even heard of such magic.
This is not recorded, sir.
This is not in... This is not in Sutton-Grove.
- Is it a different colour?
- Pick it up. Pick it up, pick it up.
It is backward, it...
That is the reflection.
The real one is in the mirror.
I apologise, sir,
I do not know how to bring it back.
To own the truth,
I have only the haziest notion of what I did.
Well, how did you do it
if you did not know how you did it?
It's like music playing at
the back of one's head.
You understand what I mean, Mr Norrell?
Hearing it for the very first
time and yet one, somehow,
simply knows what the following note will be.
Yes.
Yes, I do understand what you mean.
I have taken the liberty of drawing up a plan
of study tor the next ten years.
It is such a very short time, Mr Strange.
I cannot see that we will achieve very much.
Er...
Ten years. There is rather more to learn
than I had supposed, sir.
The practice of magic is full of frustrations
and disappointment,
but the study is a continual delight.
- Where do you begin?
- Here.
Ah, yes, I see.
How many centuries is it do you think since
two English magicians last sat down together?
I-I-I'm not so very clever on magicians.
I only really know the Raven King.
Yes, well, we must have respectable magic,
above all. Let us make that our first task.
The magio-historian,
Valentine Munday, has many failings,
but he is very strong on the Magicians
of the Golden Age, the so called aureates.
I am sure we will get from him the last time
an English magician took an apprentice.
I have his book... here.
You wish me to read this book, sir?
Yes, indeed.
Then you must give it to me.
Yes.
And Chester's Language Of Birds.
My favourite book. Here we are.
- Ha ha ha!
- What is that?
Most peculiar sound.
I think Mr Norrell is laughing.
We shall have to do something
about this... friendship.
I was wondering when we will come
to the magic of fairies?
I mean to say that, for example, Lanchester
here quotes a book by Ralph Stokesy,
detailing the spells by which he found
his fairy servant, Col Tom Blue.
I-I-I don't know that.
- I do not have that book.
- Sir, you've made a note of the shelf reference.
No, I do not have that book.
Erm... yes, perhaps... perhaps I'm wrong.
Stephen!
Stop them, Stephen! Stop them!
Ahh!
My Lady. My Lady, be calm.
What is it?
My dear? What... What might I do?
These bells.
These bells. They summon me.
They call me to the dance
and I must go through the minors.
Bells?
St Georges.
They struck seven and ii set her to this.
Perhaps you have tired yourself. Stephen.
- No! No!
- Yes.
- No, I must not go to sleep.
- Come on.
No!
No! No!
No!
Stephen, my dear fellow.
How noble you look.
Seeing you so...
I know you are truly destined...
to be a king.
The nameless slave
shall be a king in a strange land.
I have... I have certainly dreamt of you.
Lost-Hope is no dream.
It is the finest of my mansions.
You are merely under an enchantment
that brings you each night to join our revels.
We have been dancing there for days...
...and days...
and days.
Forgive me, sir. If you were to
find it in your heart to release...
No. That is impossible.
The bargain was made.
I do not know what I've done
to deserve such kindness, sir.
I'm sure I've not done anything at all.
Sir?
Yours are the most excellent manners, Stephen.
Sir.
(Music plays}
Lady Pole?
Lady Pole!
Lady Pole!
Lady Pole!
Lady Pole!
I do find it queer that he is so against
the Raven King and the notion of fairies.
The Duke of Roxburghe has died.
It says here that he has a lot of debts
and a very large library.
I mean, we're not to touch upon it at all.
- It seems to me the key to everything.
- I need to find out more about that.
You need your own books, Jonathan.
There's a myth that the Raven King
wrote a book.
We ought to visit your aunt.
We should thank her for finding Mary for us.
- Who?
- New maid.
Do we have a new maid?
You're greatly changed by your occupation.
I'm sure a month ago you would have certainly
noticed a new maid.
It's like attending a priest's seminary
and being taught nothing about God.
In fact, being given the impression
that God is wholly irrelevant.
What do you mean, I would certainly
have noticed a new maid?
- Sir Walter Pole, sir.
- Excuse the interruption, Mr Strange.
Madam.
The blockade - three French destroyers slipped
through. We do not know where they are.
Er... I believe Mr Norrell has gone...
We do not have the time
to find Mr Norrell, sir.
Our boats must catch the tide.
You will do, will you not?
Come in.
Dratted watch must be fast.
- Sony?
- Midday, no bells.
The bells in this neighbourhood
are no longer rung.
Why ever not?
My wife's illness has left her nerves
in a sad condition.
The tolling of a bell is
very distressing to her.
I shall not detain your husband long, madam.
Perhaps a tea? Seed cake?
Arabella does not care for seed cake.
It is a thing that she particularly dislikes.
Arabella is not a three year old, Jonathan.
Go.
The locating of objects
is a particularly imprecise form of magic,
- that I have not yet mastered.
- Indeed.
Well, I'm sure you'll do your best.
Mr Norrell seems particularly disinclined.
Er... through here.
Oh, I beg your pardon.
Don't think of going.
It's so rare that I see anyone.
So many mournful little boats and buildings
and skies, they seem to lose the people.
Venice is a labyrinth.
A vast and beautiful labyrinth, to be sure,
but a labyrinth no less.
I would give anything to go there.
If you had spent eternity, as I have done,
wearily parading up and down dark alleyways,
you would feel differently.
I'm Arabella Strange.
My husband has the erm... honour
of being Mr Norrell's assistant and pupil.
Norrell?
Mm.
We've heard much of the great friendship
that he's extended to you.
Norrell is no friend to me.
I would be better dead than as I am.
Looks to me as though they have headed
for the West Indies. Erm...
There, I think Captain McBrien has gone
in search of them, if that would make sense?
- Mm-hm.
- I should take this to Mr Norrell.
Does he ever speak of my wife?
Er...
No, sir.
He is a very modest man.
He will not speak of her to me neither.
It is a closed subject.
Tell me, does your husband perform magic
by himself or only under Norrell's eye?
Well, if there's anything that your Ladyship
would like me to ask Mr Strange,
- if there's any service he can do...
- What I have to tell you
is more for your husbands sake than mine.
I fear I am lost.
Mr Strange should know
what kind of a man he is dealing with.
What was done to Lady Pole?
How was it done?
There are many books
that I am not yet permitted to read.
Is there any way in which it may be undone?
Undone?
I fear neither of us can bear it much longer.
I will enquire.
I cannot promise an answer, sir...
Thank you.
I should warn you, I have made many attempts
to tell people of what has been done
and I have not yet succeeded.
In 1607,
there was a silversmith named Redshaw
who lived in the Kingdom of Halifax,
West Yorkshire, who inherited a Turkish rug.
He woke to find the carpet covered in legions
of tiny people about two inches high.
They rode white polecats
and were battling with knives and forks.
I'm sorry, that is not what I meant to say.
Madam, may I implore you deeply to say nothing
of what you've heard here today?
When anyone new comes to the house,
Lady Pole is excited to these...
...outlandish speeches.
It is of great distress to Sir Walter
that anyone should know of this private grief.
I hope they will let you come again,
Mrs Strange.
I see no one.
Or rather I see roomfuls of people
and not a Christian amongst them.
- Except for Stephen, of course.
- I'm sorry, my Lady.
It's hardly your fault.
Goodbye.
I do not understand why Sir Walter
would have come to you, Mr Strange,
when it was only the matter of an hour or two.
Some urgency about the tides...
It really was an ill-mannered thing,
since I was engaged
in attempting to establish
his wretched sea beacons.
And of little use
since you can hardly have found the ships.
You did not find the ships, did you?
They wish this in an impossibly short time.
1,000 miles of coast are surrounded.
- It will take years.
- Do you wish me to assist you, sir?
Where do you begin?
Portsmouth, naturally.
And you're using Belasis?
I'm adding Pevensey's spells
of Ward and Watch. There.
May I ask a question?
I mean, Sir Walter is primarily concerned
that I should put a bell on them.
A bell! I ask you!
I'm so sorry. What was your question?
Well, I read more and
more of the Raven King.
Is not fairy magic useful?
It's usefulness is much exaggerated
and the dangers are much underestimated.
Forgive me, but what are the dangers?
Please believe me that almost all forms
of respectable magic
are achievable
without the assistance of anyone.
What have I ever done
that needed a fairy's help?
I do not know.
The question was rhetorical.
But does not all English magic
come from the Raven King?
Who was stolen away to a fairy court
and who was raised and learnt his magic...
The Raven King rode out of these lands
300 years ago...
...abandoning us,
and abandoning English magic.
If we cannot make his name and the name
of his fairy servants utterly forgotten,
then it is our duty, yours and mine,
to broadcast our hatred of him.
To let ii be known everywhere our abhorrence
of his corrupt nature and his evil deeds.
Forgive me, Mr Strange, I have a headache.
- I have a terrible headache.
- Yes.
Yes, of course.
Gentlemen.
You should read this.
- The Duke of Roxburghe...
- Is dead.
- Should we um...
- No, no.
Let us wait.
Oh, well.
Ah, there you are.
I hope you do not mind me bringing you here,
Stephen.
Oh, do not concern yourself about him.
He can neither see nor hear us.
He attempts to summon me,
but I do not allow myself to be seen.
Look, he is just as stupid as the other one.
The other one?
And very nearly as ugly.
What?
Bell?
Bell?
Yes, darling?
Sshh.
Can you hear voices next door?
I could swear I heard one person
call the other stupid and ugly.
Really?
I think two old ladies live on that side.
Well, we should be going soon.
Norrell is not likely to be late.
Jonathan, do you remember the first spell
that you cast,
the spell lo find out what my enemy
is doing presently?
That was only the name of the spell
on the scrap of paper.
Sir?
Do you remember who you were shown?
Who your enemy was?
How could Mr Norrell be my enemy?
Come, dear, we must be ready
to leave for Portsmouth.
What a strikingly attractive woman.
Sir.
The Government's situation is, I'm afraid,
madam, about as bad as it could possibly be.
The French are everywhere triumphant.
Our allies have discovered their mistake
and become our enemies.
Trade is ruined by the war.
The harvest has failed for two straight years
and the King has gone mad again.
Everywhere things are going to ruin.
Apart, of course, from magic.
Magic has become a booming industry.
It is done.
The sea defences are now in place.
I cannot see anything.
You will not see anything.
They are invisible.
But they are there.
It is done.
Huzzah to Mr Norr-ell!
Hip, hip!
Huzzah.
Huzzah to baffling the French Navy! Hip, hip.
- Excuse me.
- Huzzah!
Congratulations.
You must be exhausted, an extraordinary feat.
What about these beacons, sir?
Why did he not put a bell on them?
Will they work, do you think?
If Mr Norrell says they work, then...
You really think it will repel the French?
I believe Strange and Sir Walter
accord very well together.
They are men of a similar temperament.
How are you finding Portsmouth, sir?
I dislike Portsmouth intensely.
Jonathan...
Jonathan...
Beg pardon, sir.
The Port Admiral has sent to say that a packet
ship has run aground upon Horse Sand.
Right.
The other magician has a headache
and will not come.
Right, well tell the Port,
whatever he's called...
Admiral.
Tell him to wait, I'm coming.
Don't dozens of ships go in and out of here
every day? How did this happen?
Presumably, the invisible beacon.
So, the boat's on her side.
Um... shall I just turn her up?
Good God, no. You'll split the keel in two.
- They'll all drown.
- A fresher breeze will move her at high water.
Well, I can make a fresher breeze.
We've done that.
No, good God, what are you thinking?
It's coming Sou'west.
You'll batter her on the sands.
They'll all drown.
What is the sand called?
The sand?
The thing, what... the ship is standing on,
the Horse's... something.
It is a shoal and it is called Horse Sand.
Excuse me.
Good.
What the hell are they?
They're called horses.
I made them out of Horse Sand.
Hot rolls and marmalade, anyone?
Morning, sir.
Gentlemen.
Do you still have that newspaper?
Yes, Henry.
I do.
We should send Mr Strange to the Peninsula.
Norrell won't be pleased.
Norrell never is.
Send him to Portugal!
I'm astonished you would even suggest
such a thing.
Every man must be prepared to make sacrifices
for his country in time of war.
- Many thousands have done so.
- Yes, but they were soldiers.
I daresay a soldier is
valuable in his own way.
Have you considered, sir, the great respect
it might achieve for English magic?
Nothing is more likely to evoke the Raven King
and that mischievous, reckless magic
than an English magician on a battlefield.
People will start to think that we consort
with fairies and talk to owls and bears and...
No, sir. No, no, I'm afraid not.
Mr Strange must stay and assist me and learn.
And nothing will sway me from this.
Nothing.
They're going to sell
the Duke of Roxburghe's books.
Well, now that he is dead, the first concern
of the new Duke will be the estate's debts.
He will be looking for something to sell,
and yes, as you know,
he does have a very fine library
with many magical volumes.
What you afraid of now?
Book sales are the thing
most calculated to please you.
Yes, but that was before.
When no one in England had interest
in books of magic, but me.
Now I fear many people might try to buy them.
And he has a copy
of Revelations Of Thirty-Six Different Worlds.
I've been after that for years.
But if these books are bought by someone else,
you may complain to the ministers.
It is not in the interest of the nation
that books of magic
should be in anyone's possession but your own.
Oh, except Strange, of course.
Oh, I had forgot Strange.
Surely Mr Strange would understand that it is
proper for the books to be mine, would he not?
Oh. Mr Strange is a gentleman.
He will behave as a gentleman
and expect you to do the same.
If the books were offered privately to you
alone, then I expect you may buy them.
But if they are auctioned,
he will feel entitled to bid against you.
And how do you suppose
these books will be sold?
By private transaction or by auction?
Auction.
Mr Strange, please.
Your leaving is of great pain to me, sir.
It is of great pain.
I hope, sir, that your change of heart does not
result from any offence I may have given you?
Oh, no, no. Mr Strange.
In the past, I've feared the appearance
of another magician,
but when it happened I was delighted.
I fear I am sending you to the war unprepared.
In which case, I wonder...
if I might take some books with me.
- Books?
- I fear I'll need books, if I am to perform magic.
I should not imagine I would need to take
more than about... 40.
- 40?
- Yes, you couldn't carry more than 40.
Carry them about!
No! No, they must be in a library.
No, you must put them in
a library in a castle.
It is so very dirty abroad.
They shall be little use to him in a library.
He will be in battlefields and so must they.
Well, can... can we not have
some sort of iron box made?
Saddlebags.
Thank you, Childermass.
You've done so very much for me, sir.
I hope with all my heart to come back safely and
to live as your friend and assistant once again.
Give me your list.
I believe Mr Strange
will do very well in the war, sir.
He's already outmanoeuvred you.
I wish I'd never come to London.
Room for more?
I wish I'd never undertaken
to restore English magic.
I should have stayed at Hurtfew,
reading and doing spells for my own pleasure.
None of it is worth the loss of 40 books!
You are of no help!
Why do you make me sleep?
Why at every request do you insist that I sleep?
Why can you not control yourself?
You're of no help! Nothing
you do is of any help!
Nothing is of the least help!
- You do not understand.
- What is it?
- Sir, I...
- Please!
Stephen, why is the house in such disorder?
- Sir.
- Why have you not found new staff?
- I...
- I am lost!
You are as dull and heavy as the rest of them!
Lady Pole is to be confined to her room.
Lost. I am lost.
Good morning.
Well, not married a year
and he runs away to join the army.
Wars do not last forever, Bell.
But they do tend to be dangerous.
Jonathan, when I saw Lady Pole
at Harley Street,
I promised her that I
should tell you something.
What is it?
She told me that a man from Halifax
bought a new rug
and he fell asleep beside the fire
and when he awoke...
...he saw lots of little people
running about upon it.
Lady Pole is not in her wits.
She hates Mr Norrell, Jonathan.
I-I must go.
- I love you, Bell.
- I love you too.
Be careful.
I shall write every day.
I will look out for you, Bell.
I would rather you look our for yourself.
Ladies and gentlemen.
If I could have your attention.
Thank you. Gentlemen.
And we'll begin with an assortment of volumes
from the Duke of Roxburghe's library.
This is the second greatest collection
of magical books in the land.
And this first lot,
who will start me at 200 guineas?
200 guineas.
Do I hear any advance on 200...?
220 guineas, sir.
Thank you. 240?
260? 260 guineas?
280 guineas. Thank you, 300 guineas?
300 guineas.
Do I hear any advance on 300 guineas?
And 300 guineas.
350 guineas, madam. Thank you.
400 guineas?
Thank you, sir.
400 guineas.
500 guineas?
600?
700 guineas?
800 guineas? Madam. Thank you.
800 guineas.
Any advance on 800 guineas?
With the lady. At 800 guineas.
Mr Norrell.
Going once...
- Sir, sir, your books.
- Going twice.
- Your books, sir.
- 2,000 guineas!
2,000 guineas?
Do I hear any advance on 2,000 guineas?
Going once. Going twice.
And sold.
Mr Norrell. Hanover Square.
No, thank you, no.
Excuse me.
Ripped By mstoll