Pitt the Younger was very cautious and did not directly respond to Grenville's suggestion that he form a cabinet.
That evening, when the soon-to-depart Prime Minister returned home with a weary body, still pondering how to deal with the conflict between Duncan and Jervis, his wife Anna came to meet him, helped him remove his coat, and said:
"At today's charity bazaar, I met Lady Melville. You know, we don't usually have much contact."
Grenville keenly sensed that this was no ordinary matter—Lord Melville had once served as Minister of the Interior and the Navy Committee's logistics and stores officer, and was currently chairman of the Board of Control for India. He was unquestionably a power player in politics.
He hurriedly asked his wife, "What did she say to you?"
"Mm, the weather, fashion," Anna recalled. "Oh, and she mentioned that Portsmouth Shipyard had built a new battleship Prince, using many new technologies—some kind of sails, rigging, and such. Even the smallest cannons were twenty-four-pounders..."
The doubts in Grenville's heart were immediately cleared away.
He had always wondered why Lord Duncan had launched such a fierce attack over Chatham Shipyard. After all, Duncan was Admiral Jervis's subordinate.
Now it seemed that he was working for Lord Melville. The latter had the seniority to serve as First Lord of the Admiralty, so Jervis needed to vacate the position.
Anna continued, "Oh, she also spoke of Lord Melville and Earl Temple when they were studying at university."
Grenville nodded faintly.
The meaning was already crystal clear—the Temple family wielded immense influence in United Kingdom politics. With a Vote of No Confidence looming over him, gaining that family's support would give him a strong chance of weathering this trial.
However, the problem he faced was far more than a single Vote of No