Rob shrugged. ‘I can’t be held responsible for that branch of the family. I inherited my fortune from a Dorning who was transported for life to Australia. It seems we are somewhat bound to that country, Tattersall. You’ve obviously done well enough for yourself out there, and you had the money from the sale of Creek Manor. I think you’ve come out of it very well.’

‘You can’t take my birthright away from me, Dorning. You’ll hear from my solicitor. This is just the beginning.’ Jay’s dramatic departure turned to farce when his coat snagged on a nail as he stormed through the shattered door. He uttered an explosive stream of expletives as he stamped on the hard-packed snow outside. He slammed what remained of the door, sending a shower of splintered wood onto the floor.

Judy turned to Rob, staring at him as if seeing a stranger. ‘I don’t understand. Why do you call yourself Dorning? If it was such a love match, why didn’t Squire Tattersall bring you up?’

‘Tattersall abandoned my mother in favour of a wealthy heiress. He married her bigamously and it broke my mother’s heart. She died when I was two, and, as I told you before, I was brought up by my aunt Adeline. She knew what Tattersall had done, and she impressed upon me that I was a Dorning. In fact I knew virtually nothing about my father until I was sixteen, when my aunt told me the whole story.’

Hilda sank down on the settle by the fire. ‘Did you try to contact your father?’

‘I did, just the once, and I was not impressed. I decided that I was a Dorning and not a Tattersall. I’m nothing like him and I certainly wouldn’t behave as he did.’

‘Then why do you want the estate?’ Judy struggled to come to terms with what she had just heard. ‘It doesn’t make sense.’

‘My father took what he wanted without a thought for anyone else. I don’t want to end up like him, Judy. I didn’t earn the fortune that was bestowed on me, but for my dead mother’s sake I feel I need to make amends for what my father did. My mother was a good person and she didn’t deserve to be cast aside because Tattersall had his sights set on marrying money, even if it was bigamously. It seems that Jay inherited that particular trait.’

‘So you want to run the estate in a way she would have wanted,’ Judy said slowly. ‘Is that it?’

‘I knew you’d understand. As far as I can see, Jay is just like our father. We might be half-brothers, but we couldn’t be more different. If Jay owned Creek Manor he would be just like the old squire, and the so-called curse of Creek Manor would continue for ever.’

‘Surely you don’t believe in that story?’ Judy studied his expression. ‘Do you?’

‘Not as such. I don’t think the house was cursed. It was my father’s lack of conscience that created such unhappiness. From what I’ve learned about Jay I can see the same thing happening again and again. If he has a heart he keeps it well hidden.’