"David Drake - The Way to Glory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Drake David)

Daniel scanned the crowd, checking for anyone he might know among those present. The invitation had
been to all four officers from thePrincess Cecile : Midshipmen Dorst and Vesey, and First Lieutenant
Conn Medorn, who not coincidentally was the nephew of Admiral Keith.

ThePrincess Cecile 's signals officer, Adele Mundy, had been invited alsoтАФbut not because she was an
RCN warrant officer. Adele was Mundy of Chatsworth, head and sole survivor of one of the most noble
families in the Republic. Her fatherтАФbefore his execution for treasonтАФhad been leader of the Popular
Party. That was the territory if not precisely the title which Bruno Kearnes appeared to have marked for
his own.

Daniel didn't see any of his fellows from theSissie , but there was plenty of room in this swirling crowd to
get lost. Besides, Daniel hadn't come here to find shipmates. . . .

The small orchestra in the loft above the balcony swung into a polacca. Couples who weren't up to the
lively music left the dance floor in the center of the enormous hall, but others took their place.

A portly banker with investments in shipbuilding remained with the younger couples, however; he
danced with an enthusiasm that made up for his limited skills. His partner was probably closer to his
granddaughter's age than that of his daughter. She complemented the banker's steps perfectly, just as the
tiara of sapphires she wore complemented her blue eyes.

And those blue eyes caught Daniel's across the room as she dipped and spun.

Much of the Republic's wealth and beauty was here tonight. Daniel Leary could have any share of it he
chose,any share, simply by stretching out his hand.

He grinned: which he'd likely do before long. He was a healthy young man, and the voyage back from
the Galactic North with Admiral Keith's dispatches had been a long one.

"Leary!" called a saturnine man in a red velvet suit; his waistcoat flashed with metallic gold.Mawhire of
Rondolet , recalled a rarely visited portion of Daniel's mind; an acquaintance of Daniel's father.
Mawhire's clothing had made an impression on a child who even at seven was more comfortable hunting
on the family estate than he was with the much crueler games that politicians got up to. "Daniel Leary!
Come over here, boy, and let me introduce you to some friends of mine. My but you've grown since I
last saw you!"

Which would've been about seventeen years ago, when Speaker Corder Leary broke the Three Circles
Conspiracy and drowned it in blood. Daniel vaguely recalled that Mawhire had lost a cousin in the
Proscriptions. . . .
 "Daniel Leary, may I present Senator RussellтАФthat's Russell of Walsingham, you know . . ." Mawhire
said. Daniel bowedтАФnodded deeplyтАФto a man with vacant eyes and more facets glittering on his fingers
than there were in the crystal chandeliers above.

" . . . and Tomas Bayard of Bayard and Sons." Daniel bowed again, this time to an ancient manтАФhe
supposed Bayard was maleтАФsupporting himself in a walker. Stone-faced servants stood at either elbow
just in case they were needed.

"Surprised to see you here, Leary," Bayard said in a cracked voice. "Given how your father and Bruno
Kearnes get along.Don't get along."