“That wouldn’t have found me a jeweler willing to pay a fair price for my pearls, nor an auction house interested in the paintings and other objects of art I mean to dispose of,” she told him.

Vincent almost panicked. He’d already assured her that she didn’t need to sell anything. There had to be a reason that she’d subjected herself to horrid weather and risked her own personal safety. He was either frightening her away, or she was running from things she didn’t understand.

She was an innocent. She might not realize yet that the strong feelings she had been experiencing were sexual in nature and perfectly normal. Yet he couldn’t explain—and end up frightening her even more.

There was no need to panic, though, since he’d already planned to let her think that her valuables had been stolen or were otherwise unavailable to barter for currency. He would have preferred not to have to lie to her about them, but wouldn’t feel too much remorse in doing so. Any means to keep her under his roof was permissible, as far as he was concerned, short of locking her in.

“I thought I assured you that you are most welcome to stay here until your father returns.”

“And if he doesn’t return?” she asked in a quavering voice. “No, Lord Everett, we can’t continue to accept your charity, which is what it is. You required an address of us. That is why we are here. But I assure you I will have an address for you before we leave—I just need to go out and find one, which I intend to do.”

“Nonsense,” he countered. “You can at least wait until the beginning of the New Year. Surely you can give your father a few more weeks to make an appearance. Or do you mean to disrupt your brother’s Christmas as well as his recovery, when you don’t have to? And after we just agreed that you shall have your Christmas tree?”

She worried at her lower lip in indecision, seriously chewed on it. He wished she hadn’t, because he now had an overwhelming urge to help her chew on it. Such lovely lips she had. Did she realize what her simple action was doing to him?

“I suppose a few weeks more—”

Vincent gave in to the urge. He had meant to further his seduction today, to draw it closer to the inevitable conclusion. And he could see no reason, really, to wait any longer for that conclusion. Once she shared his bed, there would be no more talk of leaving, which was the deciding factor for him. And the sooner she did, the longer he would have to enjoy her, before her father arrived to take her away.