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the Devil might be interested in its purchase. Jim’s silence was inconclusive. When he eventually spoke it was with quiet authority.

9
    ‘Nearly driven insane by the astonishing success of some of my mediocre colleagues,’ Jim said, ‘I fell on my knees one night and summoned the Devil. I did this, following an ancient prescribed ritual that I found in an antiquarian bookshop, for seven consecutive nights. And then, after my blood was involved, he appeared.’
    ‘He appeared?’ Lao asked incredulously.
    ‘He appeared, in my room, in person, in all his satanic majesty. He was not at all what I expected.’
    ‘What did you expect?’
    ‘He was not ugly, he had no horns, he had no hoofs, and no fires burned around him. His aura was not horrible.’
    ‘What was he like?’ Lao asked in the voice of a child.
    ‘He had a very sweet smell,’ said Jim, without drama. ‘He was simply dazzling. I realised at once that he had indeed been one of the brightest angels in heaven. His charm and beauty were seductive beyond belief. He was the image of the most successful, the most famous, and the most youthful person you can imagine. You sensed, in his presence, that he knew everything. And there he was, in person, in my house, in Kent.’
    Jim paused. He appeared to be musing. Occasionally a street lamp would light up his face. After a moment he continued in the same tone as before.
    ‘His presence brightened the house and glamorised everything in his vicinity. The Devil, as I saw him, was beautiful, delightful, thoughtful, reasonable, and kind. He understood everything. His conversation was exquisite. I had never known before that conversation could be one of the ecstasies of life.’
    He paused again, like one whose every memory was a rare pearl which had to be examined in a magical light. Then he shook his head, and turned on Lao an intense pair of eyes that burned with cherished reminiscence.
    ‘He was the very incarnation of seduction,’ said Jim quietly. ‘I would have done anything for him.’
    A longer pause followed, and a drop in his tone, as his voice became more contemplative.
    ‘When someone is better than you expect them to be, you are already halfway seduced. When someone is worse than you expect, you are halfway repelled. The Devil seduced me not by anything he did or said. He seduced me with his serenity.’
    Jim gave an airy little laugh.
    ‘Isn’t that strange?’
    Lao didn’t know what to say. He was so fascinated that he was wholly unaware of the motion of the coach through the dark countryside. Jim sighed.
    ‘He didn’t try to sell me atheism, humanism, existentialism, evil dogmas, satanic rituals, or any such thing. He didn’t rail against God, religion, or purity. He didn’t offer me the world. He didn’t try to buy me. He didn’t promise me the kingdoms of fame or success. In fact, to my chagrin, he wasn’t interested. He was cool. He wasn’t buying, and he wasn’t selling.’
    Jim stopped again, and then, in an odd rhythm, he said:
    ‘I would have given him everything.’
    Then what followed was something close to a sob. Then a long sigh, like a lingering regret.
    ‘He had only appeared because I had so insistently summoned him. He was, it seemed, mildly curious about me. But his curiosity was such, I sensed, that he already knew the answer. He was very polite. I had the distinct feeling that he might be interested in me in the future, if I ever did anything extraordinary. He seemed to know I mightn’t. I would dearly love to surprise him.’
    The coach was slowing down, the purr of the engine became a growl, and then turned smoother. Lao was only dimly conscious of this. Jim’s words had him enthralled, as though he too were under a seduction. Jim shifted his position in the seat, and was almost upright, his face lost in thought.
    ‘He actually said very little. In fact, I’m not sure that he uttered a single word.’
    Jim turned and touched Lao on the shoulder, as if to secure