‘Miss Begg,’ Judy said primly. ‘Judith Begg.’

‘Judy. I like that name.’ He moved to the settle and sat down, sprawling his long legs in front of him. ‘I could do with some supper, Judy. What have you got to offer a hungry man?’

She laughed. ‘Are you speaking as a paying customer, or do you expect to be fed for nothing because you did me a favour?’

‘Either would be good. I have money if you want to charge a fellow who saved your ale from being stolen. You don’t leave things unattended round here, Judy. This is a rough area.’

‘I spent the first ten years of my life living in Whitechapel. You probably don’t know London very well, but this place has nothing on Green Dragon Yard.’

‘So how did you come to live in Little Creek?’

‘It’s a long story, but we used to live in Creek Manor. Ma worked for Mrs Tattersall.’ Judy eyed him warily. ‘Anyway, I don’t suppose that’s of any interest to you.’

‘I wouldn’t say that, but I am very hungry and I can pay for my supper.’ He took a handful of coins from his pocket and laid them on the table.

Judy smiled. ‘Well then, I’ll see what we have to offer, Mr Dorning.’

‘It’s Rob.’

Judy acknowledged this with a nod, but she was still wary. Despite his friendly demeanour, good looks and candid smile, she was uneasy, and she hurried to the kitchen to see what supplies her mother had brought back from Maldon.

Nate was seated at the table munching away on a meat pie. A dribble of gravy ran down his chin and his mother tossed a cloth at him.

‘You’re not a baby, Nate. Don’t gobble.’

‘Sorry, Ma, but it tastes so good. We don’t get grub like this in the stables. Mostly it’s some kind of stew or potatoes cooked in the fire and a bit of cheese.’

‘I knew they weren’t looking after you boys properly,’ Hilda said, sniffing. ‘I want you to stay here, Nate. I know this isn’t like Creek Manor, but Judy and I can find work for both you and Pip, if he wants to come here.’

Judy nodded. ‘That’s true. Of course we couldn’t pay you much to begin with, but things will improve.’ She turned to her mother. ‘I have a paying customer who wants something to eat. What can we offer him?’

‘There’s your meat pie. I gave mine to Nate, otherwise it’ll be bread and cheese. I would have brought some bacon but I didn’t have enough money.’

‘I’m sure Mr Dorning would rather have the pie.’

Hilda dropped the plate she had been about to wash and it fell to the floor, smashing into shards on the flagstones. ‘Dorning?’

‘That’s right. His name is Rob Dorning.’

‘We don’t want his sort round here,’ Hilda said urgently. ‘The Dorning family are notorious. You were too young to know what was going on, but they caused no end of trouble for Jay before he went off to Australia.’