"Williams, Tad - MONSIEUR VERGALANT'S CANARD" - читать интересную книгу автора (Williams Tad)

ladies became faint and had to be taken out into the garden. And when it
devoured the pile of oats I set on the table before it, even Guineau could not
keep the astonishment from his face!"

"I am always sorry I cannot see your performances, Gerard," his brother called,
straining slightly to make himself heard. "I am sure that you were very elegant
and clever. You always are."

"It's true that no matter how splendid the object is," Vergalant said
thoughtfully, "it is always more respected when presented in an attractive
manner. Especially by the ladies. They do not like their entertainment rough."
He paused. "The Comtesse de Buise, for instance. There is a woman of beauty and
pretty sentiment . . ."

The duck's head rotated slightly and the bill opened. There was a near-silent
ticking of small gears and the fiat gilded feet took a juddering step, then
another.

"If you please." Henri was apologetic.

"Oh my brother, I am so sorry," Gerard replied, but his tone was still distant,
as though he resented having his memories of the countess sullied by mundane
things. He went to the table and fumbled at the duck's neck for a moment, then
found the catch and clicked it. "The tail seems to move a little slowly," he
said. "Several times tonight I thought I saw it moving out of step with the
legs."

The head and neck vibrated for a moment, then the entire upper structure tipped
sideways on its hinge. Glassy-eyed, the shining duck head lolled as though its
neck had been chopped through with an axe.

"If it was my fault, I apologize, Gerard. I do my best, but this duck, it is a
very complicated piece of work. More stops than an organ, and every little bit
crafted like the world's costliest pocketwatch. It is hard to make something
that is both beautiful and lifelike."

Vergalant nodded emphatically. "True. Only the good Lord can be credited with
consistency in that area." He caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror and
seemed to like what he saw, for he repeated the head movement with careful
gravity. "And the Lord achieved that with the Comtesse de Buise. She has such
lovely eyes, Henri. Like deep wells. A man could drown in them. You should have
seen her.

"I wish I had." The gilded duck shuddered again, ever so slightly, and then a
tiny head appeared in the hollow of the throat. Although it was only a little
larger than the ball of Gerard Vergalant's thumb, the facial resemblance was
notable. "But I cannot make a seeing-glass that will allow me to look out
properly without interfering with the articulation of the throat," said the
little head. Hair was plastered against its forehead in minute ringlets. "One
cannot have everything."