The Prestige by Christopher Priest

greatest attention.” Then to his assistant: “Get him out of
     here!”
    Moments later I was sprawling in the street. Mustering as much dignity as I could, and
     ignoring the gawping passers-by, I straightened my clothes and walked quickly away down
     the street.
    For a few days afterwards I was sustained by the righteousness of my cause, the knowledge
     that the family were being robbed of their money, that the skills of the stage magician
     were being put to warped uses. Then, inevitably, I began to be assailed by doubts.
    The comfort that Angier's clients gained from the séances seemed genuine enough, no matter
     how derived. I remembered the faces of those children, who for a few minutes had been led
     to believe that their lost mother was sending consoling messages from the other side. I
     had seen their innocent expressions, their smiles, their happy glances at each other.
    Was any of this so different from the pleasurable mystification a magician gives to his
     music hall audience? Indeed, was it not rather more? Was expecting payment for this any
     more reprehensible than expecting payment for a performance at a music hall?
    Full of regrets I brooded unhappily for nearly a month, until my conscience reached such
     depths of guilty feelings that I had to act. I penned an abject note to Angier, begging
     forgiveness, apologizing unconditionally.
    His response was immediate. He returned my note in shreds, with a note of his own
     challenging me sarcastically to restore the paper with my own superior form of magic.
    Two nights later, while I was performing at the Lewisham Empire, he stood up from the
     front row of the circle and shouted for all to hear, “His female assistant is concealed
     behind the curtain at the left-hand side of the cabinet!”
    It was of course true. Other than bringing down the main curtain and abandoning my act I
     had no alternative but to continue with the trick, produce my assistant with as much
     theatrical brio as possible, then wilt before the trickle of embarrassed applause. In the
     centre of the circle's front row an empty seat gaped like a missing tooth.
    So was begun the feud that has continued over the years.
    I can plead only youth and inexperience for starting the feud, a misguided professional
     zeal, an unfamiliarity with the ways of the world. Angier should shoulder some of the
     blame; my apology, although not swift enough, was sincerely meant and its rejection was
     mean-spirited. But then, Angier too was young. It is difficult to think back to that time,
     because the dispute between us has gone on so long, and has taken so many different forms.
    If I committed both wrong and right at the outset, Angier must accept the blame for
     keeping the feud alive. Many times, sick of the whole thing, I have tried to get on with
     my life and career, only to find that some new attack was being mounted against me. Angier
     would often find a way of sabotaging my magical equipment, so that a production I was
     attempting on stage went subtly wrong; one night the water I was turning into red wine
     remained water; another time the string of flags I pulled flamboyantly from an opera hat
     appeared as string alone; at another performance the lady assistant who was supposed to
     levitate remained unmovably and mortifyingly on her bed.
    On yet another occasion the placards announcing my act outside the theatre were defaced
     with “The sword he uses is a fake”, “The card you will choose is the Queen of Spades’,
     ”Watch his left hand during the mirror trick", and so on. All these graffiti were clearly
     visible to the audience as they trooped in.
    I suppose these attacks might be dismissed as practical jokes, but they could damage my
     reputation as a magician, as Angier well knew.
    How did I know he was behind them? Well, in some cases he clearly declared his
     involvement; if one of my productions had been sabotaged, he would be there in the