“They were given no press money, I understand.”
“He had none to give them. Still, we must have men.”
“The thing should be in order. There were those among them, I hear, of quite respectable estate.”
“Aye, but we must have men, I say. Your fool, on occasion, can have his uses.”
The Duke, as if involuntarily, shot a swift glance towards the seated figure.
“Could they, under the circumstances,” he said, “be broke for desertion?”
“I leave that,” answered the seaman dryly, “to your Highness.”
“’Tis not the way, at least, to make the King’s service popular.”
“Well, I could venture a better way.”
He meant, of course, the settlement of long arrears of pay—a chronic scandal in the Navy. But the obvious was not palatable. The Duke, just raising his eyebrows at the speaker, bent them in a frown, and sat drumming for some moments with his fingers on the table. Suddenly he turned to Arran.