Well, cross one thing off that Scrooge definitely wasn't - a bleeding heart. A real "goody goody" probably would have preached about forgiveness and tolerance. It earned a little smirk.

"Tempting as it has been to give those mongrels exactly what they deserve, I'm not going to give them the satisfaction of being the monster they call me." But pack up shop? What did that even mean? Where could they go, and what could they do? They'd never thought about life beyond the mansion. It was where they were inevitably grow old and die. They didn't have a choice.

Boy, he didn't like going down that road. Time to distract. "And none of this 'Mister' nonsense. Just Poe will do." Then, a devious smile. "Although I wouldn't object to 'Milord Spell'."