"Anthony, Piers- Incarnations of Immortality 2- Bearing an Hourglass" - читать интересную книгу автора (Anthony Piers)

"Oh, I'm sure," Gawain said confidently. "She is a good and honest woman. She is not trying to renege. She merely wants to do it exactly properly. She has this magic talent: she can tell by looking at a man how good a consort he would make. That's one reason my family selected her. They didn't want the heir sired by some ne'er-do-well bum with poor heredity. She really is special. If I had met her in life, I surely would have loved her, though I wouldn't have had much patience with her views about dragons. She can't bear to hurt any living creature. So 'f I bring her a man she deems good enough to-"

Realization struck Norton. "This favor-"

The ghost nodded. "Precisely. I want you to meet my wife, and if she likes you-"

"Wait!" Norton spluttered. "I take my women where I find them, when they are amenable, but never a married one! That wouldn't be right."

"I like you, Norton. You have the right instincts. I was afraid out here in the park I'd find only wishy-washy sentimentalists, but you've got style. I think my wife would like you, when she didn't like the warrior types I sent before. Look at it this way: I have no physical body and I need an heir. I'm asking you to substitute for me in this one respect. After that you can go your way, with no further commitment. It's like repairing my house for me, and I'll pay you for the service-"

"Some service!"

"Literally." The ghost chuckled. "I realize this is hard for you to accept right away and I like that in you. But at least come to meet Orlene. Maybe she'll reject you."

From the way the ghost spoke, Norton had no certainty of that. Gawain thought this girl, Orlene, would like him. If he went, expecting to be rejected, and then... "I don't know-"

"Please, Norton! You're a good man-and I must have that heir."

"I understand that part. But to cuckold you-that's against my philosophy."

"I am, after all, a ghost. You can consider her a widow. If it helps, you can remember that you will have no rights over her at all. You can not marry her, and your part will be forever unrecognized. Legally there is no adultery here. So this is the ultimate chance to sow wild oats-"

"Complete irresponsibility! That's not what I-"

"Well, then, think of it as artificial insemination, and you're the donor. Hell, man, that's done all the time, in life, when the living husband is infertile."

This was haywire, but the concept helped. The ghost did have a case. "All right-I'll meet her," Norton said guardedly.

"And I'll teach you how to slay dragons!"

"Oh, you don't really need to-"

"Yes, I do. I insist on paying for it!"

Norton realized that what a man paid for belonged to him. Gawain had to have his personal, private claim on the heir. "Yes. But first we had better find out whether she's even interested. This may all be for nothing." He wondered what this fine girl who had sold her body in such fashion for security actually looked like. Quality and lineage could normally net a girl a good husband, unless she was ugly or had a vile temper. That latter kind might be the sort who would settle for a ghost.

"We can go right now," Gawain said eagerly. "There's an elevator not far from here."

Norton thought to protest, but remembered that he was broke, so would not be able to camp out much longer anyway. A stay with a good woman, even an ugly one, was at least worth considering. He really could not claim to have anything better to do.

He doused the fire and cleaned up the area so that future hikers would not be annoyed. Wilderness hiking and camping were privileges, not rights, and were strictly licensed. He was always careful not to mistreat the cultivated wilds. He burned only deadwood, left the animals alone, and tried not to harm even caterpillars and worms. He never littered. It was not that anyone was watching; it was that Norton had genuine respect for the heritage of nature and for the parks that sought to emulate it.

They walked a quarter mile to a giant blazed oak tree. Norton touched the lowest branch and stepped inside the chamber that opened in the trunk. The elevator descended to the residential level, where they stepped out and took a conveyor belt to the ghost's address. Gawain, of course, could simply have popped across directly, but he preferred to honor the living conventions among the living.

This was an affluent section of the city, as befitted the ghost's description of his family's status. Poor people did not worry much about preservation of their estates.

They stepped off the belt, took a smaller side-passage belt, and moved into the really refined region of the Who's Who lineages. A uniformed guard barred the way as they stepped off. "Identity?" he asked Norton sternly.

"It's all right, Trescott," Gawain said. "He's with me."