One man stirred restlessly in his chair, and Anthony Jackson, big-bellied and long-legged, smirked.
“They’re hardly an enemy,” Jackson said. “A bunch of ragged malcontent Colonials. One whiff of powder, and they’ll be begging the king for forgiveness.”
Jack grunted. “The Colonies contributed greatly to our victories in North America and the Caribbean during the last war,” he said. “I would not discount them.”
Jackson continued to smirk. He stretched his legs lazily under the table. “You’ll see that I’m correct, Mr Smith. We’ll give them a few b****y noses, and they’ll crawl to us with their hands raised in supplication.”
Bancroft shook his head, glanced at Smith and said nothing.
“I have some points to raise.” Smith ignored Jackson. “Firstly, I want all our ships to be armed. We’ll ne
