A Marvellous Light

Edwin convinces Belinda and Charlie to do nothing to either Blyth. As a parting shot, Belinda says, “I suppose it’s easier for you, all things considered, to live like one of them […] but do remember that you’re one of us?” (222). Edwin lacks the strength to ague, and realizes his sister seems unmoved by his injuries, suggesting she is not involved. Edwin resolves not to trust the rest of the party.

Edwin retreats to the library and rereads the folktale of the Last Contract. He notices the reference to three magical objects and remembers Flora Sutton hinting that her house was only one key to the puzzle. Edwin feels overwhelmed by the scale of the threat, given his own lack of power and unsociability.

Later, Robin finds him in a window seat and joins him there companionably, teasing him for his bookishness, “I’m no longer surprised you creak like a rusty gate when trying to make friends” (225). Edwin is at ease, moving part of his foot against Robin’s leg. Robin says he does not know what is best for Maud, as their parents would have forbidden her from attending Newnham. Robin decides he owes Maud her freedom.

Robin explains that he chose civil service because his parents saw it as a kind of trophy in their social arsenal. Robin says his family was not cruel as Edwin’s: His parents simply saw both their children as props in their greater drama. Edwin takes Robin’s hand, relieved when he returns the touch. Robin confides further that he has been avoiding managing his family’s financial future. Edwin realizes that Robin, too, is vulnerable.

Edwin tells his mother about his new inheritance and his anxieties. Edwin dresses for dinner, hoping Robin will come in, which he does, claiming to be looking for his cufflinks. Edwin is disconcerted by how safe he feels in Robin’s presence. After a faint protest, Edwin soon gives way to passion, kissing Robin, who promises him they will be together after dinner.

Robin visits Maud in her guest room before bed. She reminds Robin that even if she could have magic, it is Cambridge she wants. Robin promises he will return to London with her as soon as his curse is resolved. Maud, contrite, apologizes for her intrusion. Robin offers his own apology for avoiding her.

Robin goes to Edwin and finds him sitting on the bed in obvious distress. Edwin confesses that he is feeling unexpected grief for Reggie. When Robin asks about his feelings for the other man, Edwin explains only that “He…was safe” (235). Robin thinks about his own crushes on unattainable men as an outlet for desire. Robin offers to leave, but Edwin, uncharacteristically, admits that being with Robin is never an intrusion.

Before they can have sex, the curse attacks Robin, terrifying Edwin with the length of the episode. As he uses a spell to cool Robin’s arm, Edwin admits, “I hate that this is what magic is to you” (237). He offers to show Robin a spell he devised, insisting on describing it in detail and getting formal permission. Edwin moves the spell, a small ball of light, down Robin’s body, stimulating his nerve endings for pleasure. The encounter is intense, and Edwin admits he has performed it on himself while reading erotica. After Robin’s orgasm, he asks Edwin to penetrate him, eventually panting his consent to the spell’s contract.

Afterward, Robin asks about the spell’s use in breathplay, a technique of reducing respiration to heighten arousal. He is pleased when Edwin tells him he has never done that spell with other partners, including Hawthorn. Edwin suggests Robin return to his own room, and Robin agrees, stung by the reminder that their relationship must always be hidden. Robin accepts the depth of his feelings for Edwin.

The next morning, Robin goes to the library alone, resolved to take a more proactive approach to his magical problems. He researches foresight and learns that intense concentration on specific topics may bring on visions, though this can also produce danger. He briefly sees the future in the form of a battlefield explosion (alluding to World War I, which will begin in several years). He sees his past, including his mother. He then sees the blond woman from before becoming intimate with another woman. Robin quickly loses control of the process.

Edwin, now the point of view character, wakes remembering sex with Robin and the temptation to be truly uninhibited with him. A maid interrupts, summoning him to the library. He finds his sister and Charlie gathered around an unconscious Robin. Edwin remembers Flora Sutton’s remarks about transition states and tells Charlie he wants to lift the curse. He runs outside and makes a pledge to the estate with his blood. He returns to the library and recalls the reminder some curses can only be removed through death.

Edwin begins working, thinking of Robin asking about slowing his breath. He brings Robin’s heart to a stop, then orders Charlie to conduct the removal spell. He restores Robin’s heartbeat and he regains consciousness. Robin is overjoyed. Maud credits Edwin for the spell and asks what he did. Edwin admits that he tricked the curse into assuming Robin’s momentary death was genuine, and Robin thanks him.

After the others leave, Edwin admits he was desperate for a solution when finding Robin lost in his visions. He is furious to learn Robin did it deliberately to help their investigation but apologizes for insulting him. Robin kisses him.

Over breakfast, Robin has a vision, seeing an Indian woman in an office. He is shocked and so is Edwin, as both had assumed the visions would end with the curse. Belinda mocks Edwin for trying to conceal this secret from the rest of them. Miggs, cruelly, points out that he now understands why Robin has been left with his memories, as he is now a magical spectacle. Trudie explains that they often invite nonmagical people to house parties as entertainment, only to erase their memories later.

Robin is horrified, seeing his dreams of a future with Edwin as particularly foolish since Edwin never intended to let him remember their relationship. Robin tells Maud they are leaving. Belinda reminds Edwin of his promise to oversee the Blyths, leading Robin to remark, “I suppose consent’s only needed between magicians” (268). Robin and Maud leave the room.

Edwin, now the point of view character, waits in the library. Robin finds him and demands to know how lethe-mint works. Edwin insists he has long let the idea of using it go, even though it is still possible. Robin, furious, says he has always been drawn to Edwin, but what matters to him is “the intention of discarding me later, like a stone in your shoe […] but then I turned out to be a rare kind of stone” (271). Edwin, inwardly, realizes he has triggered Robin’s greatest fear: being seen only for his value, the way his parents saw him. Robin is unconvinced when Edwin tries to tell him he values him for more than his visions, pointing out that Edwin has always resisted his efforts to understand magic on his own terms.

Robin is so angry that he accuses Edwin of using him for sex, as a reminder of Reggie. He takes this back, promising Edwin he will resign and keep all his secrets. Edwin says that leaving may not be a full escape, as news of his visions will soon reach more powerful magicians. Robin accepts this but insists that he will manage without Edwin.

Robin tries to touch Edwin in farewell, and as Edwin draws back, silent, Robin asks him if he has any concern for him at all. Edwin suddenly remembers asking Jack Allston the same question and getting only contempt in turn, so he reluctantly says he does care. Robin, furious and full of feeling, says he would be willing to stay, if Edwin would ask. Edwin is too terrified to imagine a future and silently lets Robin leave.

Edwin returns to London alone, stopping at the bookstore and then at his office. Edwin recalls quickly finding Penhallick unbearable, thinking to himself, “it didn’t take long to become so accustomed to something that you could describe the exact shape of its absence” (276). Edwin finds Miss Morrissey alone in the office, and she shows him Robin’s resignation letter. Edwin accepts her reminders they have work to do, and they sit down to go through letters. When she asks about the results of the trip, he finds himself thinking about how lonely he has been due to his relative lack of magic and decides to confide in her. She remembers their adversaries’ insistence that the object is in the office. They search it again.

As they work, Edwin is struck by the large silver ring on Miss Morrissey’s hand, which she explains was a birthday gift from Reggie. Edwin recognizes the ring from the clock he found at the Gatlings. She finally agrees to let him visit the family alone, to confirm his hypothesis.

At the Gatling home, Edwin meets Anne again and asks about the clock. Anne gives him a receipt to the magical repair shop so he can find it. At the shop, Edwin opens the clock and finds a second ring. Billy Byatt enters, surprising Edwin, and greets him. He slips a Goblin’s Bridle onto him, telling him that he personally assured the conspirators Edwin would solve the puzzle.

Robin, distracted by all the tumult in his life, leaves his boxing club early. He has been seeing to the family estate. He fights his memories of Edwin, and has a vision of a picnic with him, the young blond woman, and Hawthorn (this scene occurs in the final book in the trilogy). Robin avoids answering when Maud asks if he is truly going to abandon his magical job, changing the subject by asking her what she would think of moving to a smaller house. Maud agrees, and Robin feels accomplished when the family accountant supports his plan.

Despite himself, Robin thinks of Edwin and his continual surprise that Robin never resented him. He realizes Edwin has never believed himself worthy of care and decides he would like to try again. On his way to find Edwin, he meets Miss Morrissey in the street. He ushers her in, and she explains that Edwin has been missing for most of a day, after promising to visit the Gatlings. She eventually realizes they can visit the headquarters of the Magical Assembly, known as the Barrel, for help. Miss Morrissey affects a particularly aristocratic accent when speaking with his housekeeper, surprising Robin. As they walk, she explains that she attended an elite girls’ school, that her mother married a British magician during a family visit to England, and that her maternal grandfather was prominent in Indian magical society. She and her sister both work in the Civil Service.

Inside the Barrel, Robin is struck by watching magicians open doors by magic to traverse the space. Miss Morrissey explains that the doors are oak, which will facilitate the magical transport to her sister, Kitty Kaur. Kitty agrees to take them to a place called the Lockroom, insisting that she and her sister pretend Robin overpowered them both to justify her actions.

The Lockroom is a hushed space full of small cabinets that remind Robin of Edwin’s library. He provides Kitty with Edwin’s full name and is presented with a lock of his hair—all magical families register their children this way, enabling them to be located. Edwin is found in his rooms. Robin has a sudden vision of Edwin sleeping in a chair. Only the Goblin’s Bridle and Billy’s presence indicate that anything is wrong. Robin explains they must go rescue Edwin. Kitty is shocked by Robin’s foresight, and more surprised when Robin explains his vision, as she is the woman Billy had hoped to marry.

Billy gives Edwin enchanted tea to force him to sleep. He wakes and immediately asks Billy if his family knows what is happening. Billy says he has been discreet, conspicuously omitting Walt’s central role in the scheme. Billy tells him the rings have been sent away and asks if Edwin knows why they stayed hidden. Edwin wonders if the conspirators are still searching for other components. Edwin finally asks about the value of the Last Contract. Billy explains that Edwin could have figured it out at Penhallick based on his conversation with Charlie—the contract allows magicians to share power, using their common bloodlines, which “negate{s] the need to rely on an individual’s consent” (308). Billy points out the implications for weaker magicians like them.

Edwin realizes that Billy hopes he will join the conspiracy. Billy explains that the “ghosts” in Yorkshire were actually traces of a past spell the others unearthed, showing a group of women finding the Last Contract’s core objects. Billy believes that Reggie hoped these objects would give him the magic he craved. He claims that the women did not know how to use what they found. Privately, Edwin realizes that they did, and he wonders about Flora Sutton’s life. Edwin admits Billy’s offer is tempting. When Edwin brings up the murders, Billy says that only the Last Contract will help Britain avert a coming disaster, and that the overall cause matters more than any moral scruples. The Magical Assembly sanctioned the search, if not the recent deaths.

When Edwin asks why he was not recruited sooner, Billy explains that they assumed he, or Robin, had been briefed by Reggie. Edwin, hating himself for dismissing Robin so readily, refers to him as a “paperwork error” (313). Billy admits to nearly drowning Robin to try to get him to return to London and find the missing objects. Edwin has a kind of epiphany at this, realizing that no magical power is worth harming innocent people: “[H]e’d found a line in himself, right where Billy’s casual shrugs met the memory of Robin gasping on the lakeshore” (314). Billy begins working on erasing Edwin’s memory. Suddenly, Edwin hears Robin’s voice. Robin enters the room with the Morrissey sisters. Adelaide is holding a bow and arrow and Robin orders Billy to remain still.