‘All right, since you’ve pressed the point, Ma, I’ll tell you all the truth. I have come back to claim my inheritance, and I intend to sell the estate, lock, stock and barrel. Then I’ll return to Australia, where I have done rather well. I invested money in a gold mine, but I need more capital. As soon as I’ve got the means I’ll be returning to New South Wales. You can come too, Ma, but only if you behave yourself and promise not to nag me.’

‘How can you treat your mother like this?’ Daisy turned away and went to stand beside her husband. He placed his arm around her waist and held her close. Jay’s sisters clung to each other, and Dove was in tears, although Linnet scowled angrily at her brother. Judy was waiting for someone to speak up when the sound of the landau arriving outside made heads turn. It seemed to Judy that everyone were holding their breath as they waited for the bride and groom to enter. She had the eerie feeling that even the old house was waiting to see what happened next.

Arm in arm Hilda and Wilfred walked into the great hall, but they were greeted by silence. Hilda came to a halt, gazing round wide-eyed until she spotted Jay, and then she dropped her posy and her hand flew to cover her mouth. She broke away from her husband and hurried to Mary’s side.

‘What’s going on? Why is he here?’

Mary shook her head. ‘Jay has come to put us all out onto the street. He’s so like his father that it’s unbelievable.’

‘I’d ask you all to leave my house,’ Jay said casually, ‘but it seems a shame to waste good food. Eat and drink and celebrate the return of the master. Oh, and by the way, congratulations, Faulkner, you’ve made a wise choice. Hilda is all right. In fact I’d say she’s too good for the likes of you, but there’s no accounting for taste.’ He paused, gazing round at the stunned faces of the guests. ‘Come on then. Start celebrating or I’m afraid I’ll have to throw you all out.’

‘You’re a bastard, Jay,’ Nick said in a low voice. ‘In every sense of the word you are rotten to the core.’

Jay shrugged and turned away. His gaze fell on Judy and he beckoned to her. She hesitated, looking round in the hope that someone else would step forward. However, most of the guests seemed to have taken Jay at his word, and had hurried off to help themselves to the food and drink. Daisy and her husband had remained, but Jay’s sisters had walked away, leaving their mother to deal with her errant son.

‘Leave Judy out of this, Jay,’ Mary said nervously. ‘She’s served me well since she was a child.’

‘Maybe she’d like to accompany us to Australia.’ Jay leaned towards Judy, fixing her with a hard stare. ‘You’re fond of my brother, so he tells me, and he needs someone to take care of him during the voyage.’