’I’m sure Mr Haddo was going to tell us something very interesting about him,’ said Susie.

’I wished merely to give you his account of how he raised the spirit of Apollonius of Tyana in London.’

Susie settled herself more comfortably in her chair and lit a cigarette.

’He went there in the spring of 1856 to escape from internal disquietude and to devote himself without distraction to his studies.  He had letters of introduction to various persons of distinction who concerned themselves with the supernatural, but, finding them trivial and indifferent, he immersed himself in the study of the supreme Kabbalah.  One day, on returning to his hotel, he found a note in his room.  It contained half a card, transversely divided, on which he at once recognized the character of Solomon’s Seal, and a tiny slip of paper on which was written in pencil:  The other half of this card will be given you at three o’clock tomorrow in front of Westminster Abbey.  Next day, going to the appointed spot, with his portion of the card in his hand, he found a baronial equipage waiting for him.  A footman approached, and, making a sign to him, opened the carriage door.  Within was a lady in black satin, whose face was concealed by a thick veil.  She motioned him to a seat beside her, and at the same time displayed the other part of the card he had received.  The door was shut, and the carriage rolled away.  When the lady raised her veil, Eliphas Levi saw that she was of mature age; and beneath her grey eyebrows were bright black eyes of preternatural fixity.’

Susie Boyd clapped her hands with delight.

‘I think it’s delicious, and I’m sure every word of it is true,’ she cried.  ’I’m enchanted with the mysterious meeting at Westminster Abbey in the Mid-Victorian era.  Can’t you see the elderly lady in a huge crinoline and a black poke bonnet, and the wizard in a ridiculous hat, a bottle-green frock-coat, and a flowing tie of black silk?’

’Eliphas remarks that the lady spoke French with a marked English accent,’ pursued Haddo imperturbably.  ’She addressed him as follows:  “Sir, I am aware that the law of secrecy is rigorous among adepts; and I know that you have been asked for phenomena, but have declined to gratify a frivolous curiosity.  It is possible that you do not possess the necessary materials.  I can show you a complete magical cabinet, but I must require of you first the most inviolable silence.  If you do not guarantee this on your honour, I will give the order for you to be driven home."’

Oliver Haddo told his story not ineffectively, but with a comic gravity that prevented one from knowing exactly how to take it.