"David Weber - Honor 09 - Ashes of Victory" - читать интересную книгу автора (Weber David)

to their financial contributions to the colonizing expedition. Probably as
much as a third of the Star Kingdom's current hereditary peerage held no
actual land on any planetary surface as a direct consequence of its
ennoblement. Well, no, that wasn't quite true. Virtually all the hereditary
members of the Lords had at least acquired properly titled seats somewhere to
support their aristocratic dignity, but the real income which had permitted
them to do so often came from very different sources.

Still, it was highly unusual these days for the Crown to dip into the Crown
Reserve to create those income sources, if for no other reason than that the
Reserve had dwindled over the years since the Star Kingdom's founding. The
usual procedure was for the Crown to request the Commons to approve the
creation of the required "lands" as a charge on the public purse, not to split
them off from the bundle of lands which still belonged personally to Elizabeth
III, which was what the Crown Reserve really was. And that was especially true
for a hereditary title like her own, since unlike the grants for life titles,
its holdings would remain permanently associated with it. So if the Queen had
irrevocably alienated part of the fabulously wealthy Unicorn asteroid belt
from the Crown in Devon's favor, she'd clearly been serious about her desire
for the Harrington title to be properly maintained.

A sudden thought struck her, and she stiffened in her chair.

"Excuse me, My Lord, but you said Devon inherited my Manticoran title?" The
earl nodded. "Do you happen to know what Grayson did about my steadholdership?
Did they pass it on to Devon, as well?"

"I believe there was some discussion of that," White Haven said after a
moment, and Honor's eye narrowed as the sense of amusement she'd already
tasted peaked momentarily. "In the end, however, they made other
arrangements."
"Such as?"

"I really don't think it would be proper for me to go into that, Milady," he
told her, with a commendably straight face. "It's a rather complicated
situation, and your sudden return from the dead is only going to make it even
more complicated. And since it's a purely domestic Grayson problem, I'm not
entitled to any say in its resolution. In fact, it would probably be
inappropriate even for me to express an opinion about it."

"I see." Honor regarded him very levelly for a moment, then smiled thinly. "I
see, indeed, My Lord, and perhaps someday the opportunity will arise for me to
repay your admirable self-restraint in kind."

"We can always hope, Milady," he agreed. "On the other hand, I doubt very much
that I'll ever make a dramatic return from the dead following my very public
execution."

"If I'd guessed that whatever it is you're so darkly hinting at was waiting
for me, I certainly would have thought twice about the idea," Honor said