One Spell to Discover what My Enemy is doing Presently

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One spell to discover what my enemy is doing presently was the title of one of the spells that Vinculus obtained from Gilbert Norrell via John Childermass [20]. Vinculus then sold it, along with the two spells to make an obstinate man leave London, to Jonathan Strange for seven shillings and sixpence at Monk Gretton. Strange later used this spell while talking to Arabella Woodhope about becoming a magician; involves arranging dead flowers around a mirror, drawing a circle on the surface of the mirror, quartering the circle, and striking the mirror three times while uttering the spell. At the time the spell is cast, any mirror that happens to show the caster's enemy in it will then pass that same image to the caster's mirror [22].

A drawback to this spell is that if no mirrors are presently reflecting the image of the enemy, the spell cannot work. This is seen later when Norrell tries to spy on Strange, presumably using this same spell; Strange was able to evade Norrell's gaze by the simple expedient of turning all the mirrors in the room to the wall.

Mr Norrell seems to have adapted a description of a Lancashire spell in Peter Watershippe's Death's Library (1448) [22].