The Devil and Tom Walker

Tom's wife is excited an intrigued. She urges her husband to comply with Old Scratch's terms. Her reaction, of course, causes him to refuse..... to be completely contradictory.

He was not prone to let his wife into his confidence; but as this was an uneasy secret, he willingly shared it with her. All her avarice was awakened at the mention of hidden gold, and she urged her husband to comply with the black man's terms, and secure what would make them wealthy for life. However Tom might have felt disposed to sell himself to the devil, he was determined not to do so to oblige his wife; so he flatly refused, out of the mere spirit of contradiction.