"Randall Garrett - Lord Darcy" - читать интересную книгу автора (Garrett Randall)

given his exact age, but since he is depicted as an 18-year-old lieutenant in the "War of '39," it is safe to
assume that by the time "The Eyes Have It" opensтАФin the year 1963 of Garrett's alternate universeтАФhe
is approximately 42 years old.)

The stories contained in Part I, concluding with the novelToo Many Magicians, all take place within a
relatively brief period of about three years. From there, we leap forward several years. Part II contains
three stories beginning in 1972 and ending two or three years later. The three stories in Part III take
place shortly thereafter. We have placed them in their own section because they are closely connected.
"The Napoli Express" is a direct sequel to "The Sixteen Keys," the basis for which, in turn, is set in "The
Ipswich Phial."

Finally, we placed "The Spell of War" as the conclusion to the volume, even though in terms of internal
chronology it is by far the earliest of the tales. The reason we did so is because this story is atypical. It is
a war story, not a detective story. It was the last Darcy story which Garrett wrote, late in his career. It
tells the tale of how Darcy first met Sean O LochlainnтАФnot, as they would become a quarter of a
century later, as Chief Investigator and Master Sorcerer, but as a very young lieutenant and a young
sergeant, fighting together with guns and magic in the trenches of the War of '39.



тАФEric Flint & Guy Gordon, editors



P.S. Those of you who are also fans of the mystery genreтАФas Garrett was himselfтАФwill enjoy spotting
the many clever allusions he tucked into the stories referring to famous detectives of fiction. Some of
them, such as Rex Stout's Nero Wolfe, Archie Goodwin, and even the Pink Panther, are obvious
enough. But our personal favorite is in danger of being lost in time. Not many will remember the
once-popular 1960s TV showThe Man From U.N.C.L.E. The pun, it is often said, is the lowest form of
humor (which, needless to say, never stopped us from laughing at Garrett's superb display of the art).
See if you can spot it three ways in his novelToo Many Magicians .




PART ONE
The Eyes Have It
Sir Pierre Morlaix, Chevalier of the Angevin Empire, Knight of the Golden Leopard, and
secretary-in-private to my lord, the Count D'Evreux, pushed back the lace at his cuff for a glance at his
wrist watchтАФthree minutes of seven. The Angelus had rung at six, as always, and my lord D'Evreux had
been awakened by it, as always. At least, Sir Pierre could not remember any time in the past seventeen
years when my lord had not awakened at the Angelus. Once, he recalled, the sacristan had failed to ring
the bell, and the Count had been furious for a week. Only the intercession of Father Bright, backed by
the Bishop himself, had saved the sacristan from doing a turn in the dungeons of Castle D'Evreux.

Sir Pierre stepped out into the corridor, walked along the carpeted flagstones, and cast a practiced eye
around him as he walked. These old castles were difficult to keep clean, and my lord the Count was
fussy about nitre collecting in the seams between the stones of the walls. All appeared quite in order,
which was a good thing. My lord the Count had been making a night of it last evening, and that always
made him the more peevish in the morning. Though he always woke at the Angelus, he did not always