'D'you think they did right to go?' she asked.

'I don't see what else they could have done,' Dan replied, after
thinking it over.

'D'you think she did right to send 'em?' The lady's voice rose a
little.

'Well,' said Dan, 'I don't see what else she could have done,
either - do you? How did they stop King Philip from getting Virginia?'

'There's the sad part of it. They sailed out that autumn from
Rye Royal, and there never came back so much as a single
rope-yarn to show what had befallen them. The winds blew, and
they were not. Does that make you alter your mind, young Burleigh?'
'I expect they were drowned, then. Anyhow, Philip didn't
score, did he?'

'Gloriana wiped out her score with Philip later. But if Philip
had won, would you have blamed Gloriana for wasting those
lads' lives?'

'Of course not. She was bound to try to stop him.'

The lady coughed. 'You have the root of the matter in you.
Were I Queen, I'd make you Minister.'

'We don't play that game,' said Una, who felt that she disliked
the lady as much as she disliked the noise the high wind made