‘Is that so?’ Rob walked past him and helped Nate to his feet. ‘Are you all right?’

‘He caught me unawares.’ Nate dusted himself down, glaring at Gittins.

‘Just what I’d expect.’ Rob turned to Jay with a scornful curl of his lip. ‘Making war on defenceless women and boys is about your mark.’

Nate fisted his hands, glaring at Jay. ‘Leave my family alone.’

‘We’re safe now, Nate,’ Hilda said urgently. ‘Go to the stables and make sure that the horse is all right.’

Nate looked as though he was about to argue, but Judy gave him a gentle shove in the direction of the kitchen. ‘Do as Ma says. We’ll be fine.’

‘Your sister is right, old chap,’ Rob said easily. ‘I’ll make sure your mother and sister are safe.’

‘Get out of here, Dorning.’ Jay squared up to Rob. ‘I own this premises and I’m telling you to leave.’

‘Please do as he says, Rob,’ Judy said anxiously. ‘This isn’t your battle, it’s mine.’

‘You’re wrong there, Judy. And it’s Tattersall who is the trespasser. I own the Crooked Billet and the land around it.’

‘You’re lying,’ Jay snapped. ‘I have the deeds.’

‘A forgery, I’m afraid. You see I have the original document. That’s why I went to London a few days ago. Until now I’ve kept my identity to myself, but now I think it’s time to put matters straight. I am the true heir to the Creek Manor estate and I can prove it.’

The colour drained from Jay’s face and he turned on Gittins, who was hovering by the door listening to every word. ‘Get out and wait until I call you.’

Gittins obeyed reluctantly, leaving the two men facing each other like gladiators ready for mortal combat.

‘You’re lying,’ Jay said through clenched teeth.

‘You are the bastard son of Esmond Tattersall and a young servant girl whom he seduced.’

‘He repented and married my mother on his deathbed. He left the estate to me.’

Rob shook his head. ‘My mother was Miriam Dorning, a member of the family who ran the preventive men ragged for nearly a century. Despite their own shortcomings, her family forbade her to have anything to do with Esmond Tattersall, but the couple eloped and I was born less than a year later. I am the legal heir to my late father’s estate and I can prove it. I have all the documents here.’

‘But he left everything to me,’ Jay said dazedly.

‘The will is not valid. It was written under duress and I have witnesses who will attest to that. Esmond Tattersall was a dying man, not in a fit state to know what he was doing, and anyway, you are illegitimate. You own nothing, my friend.’

Judy looked from one to the other. ‘Heaven’s above! That means you two are half-brothers.’

‘I’ll hire a good lawyer and I’ll fight you through the courts, Dorning,’ Jay said angrily. ‘It was your rotten family who stole my ship and caused me no end of trouble. I never knew why the Dornings were so against me, until now.’