"Robin Hobb - The Inheritance" - читать интересную книгу автора (Hobb Robin)

much and so blindly.


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 тАШI warned her. Her friends warned her, saying that if she listened
to that rogue again, they would disown her. But Aubretia cared nothing
for anyone but him. And he, speaking so nobly, said he would not let
her family think her a fool. Howarth would not marry her while he was
penniless. A fortune was still within his grasp. If only he had enough
money, he could recoup his losses and go on.тАЩ
тАШHow could that be?тАЩ I demanded.
тАШAn excellent question. One that your grandmother never asked,
or at least not directly. He implied all sorts of things. That a bribe to a
tariff official would free up a seized shipment, that it he were seen to be
successful, others would lend him the money to complete some
transaction. He spoke so skillfully and knowingly of how one must have
money and spend money in order to make money.тАЩ
A terrible sadness welled up in me. How often had I heard my
mother lament our poor circumstances and wish for better days, only to
have Grandmother say, тАШBut it is hopeless, my dear. One must have
money in order to make money.тАЩ
тАШShe went to her grave believing that was soтАЩ I said.
The pendant was silent for a moment. Then it gave a tiny sigh. тАШI
feared as much. For of course you have guessed the rest of the story.
Aubretia sold all she had and gave him the money to redeem his
fortune. When she dared to ask to go with him, he said that her passage
south would cost too much, and the hardships would be too much for
her to endure. That ring you wear once held an emerald, flawless and
deep green. Even that he took. Howarth pried the stone out of the
setting himself, saying he would sell the stone in Jamaillia only if he
had to, but that he hoped to bring it back and restore it to her hand. He
promised her that, no matter how he fared, he would come back within
a year. She watched him sail from the Bingtown docks. Then she went
to her oldest friend and confessed her situation. She threw herself on
her mercy. Well, they had been friends since girlhood. Despite her
threats, she took your grandmother in, and gave her a bed to sleep in
and a place at the table. Aubretia was, after all, still a Lantis and a


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Trader. It was expected that she would find a way to make her way in
the world, and eventually make a suitable match. There is a saying in
Bingtown. тАШMoney does not make a Trader, it is the Trader that makes
the money.тАЩ Her friends hoped she had learned her lesson.
Yet it was hard for them to be patient with her, for she did little
except moon after her absent lover. A year went by and then another.
All of us told her both man and fortune were gone, and she should
make a fresh start for herself. Aubretia insisted she would wait, that
Howarth would come back from her.тАЩ The carved face pursed its lips in
ancient disappointment. тАШShe waited. And that was all she did.тАЩ