She sat beside me quite quietly, and never made a remark of any kind till the Defence business had been gone through.

Both Sir Colin and Admiral Rooke were in perfect agreement as to the immediate steps to be taken for defence.

In the first instance, the seaboard was to be properly fortified in the necessary places, and the navy largely strengthened.
When we had got thus far I asked Rooke to tell of the navy increase already in hand.

Whereupon he explained that, as we had found the small battleship _The Lady_ of an excellent type for coast defence, acting only in home waters, and of a size to take cover where necessary at many places on our own shores, we had ordered nine others of the same pattern.
Of these the first four were already in hand, and were proceeding with the greatest expedition.

The General then supplemented this by saying that big guns could be used from points judiciously chosen on the seaboard, which was in all so short a length that no very great quantity of armament would be required.
"We can have," he said, "the biggest guns of the most perfect kind yet accomplished, and use them from land batteries of the most up-to-date pattern.